The Smasher (later shortened to just Smasher) was a British comic strip, published in the British comic The Dandy. The title character was a boy with a tendency to destroy things and who was reminiscent of Dennis The Menace from The Beano, though when he destroyed things it usually tended to be by accident rather than design. Initially Smasher had a bright red hairstyle that was similar to that of Dennis, though it soon changed to being black. He wore a similar sort of jumper to Roger the Dodger, albeit it is a diamond pattern rather than chequered pattern.
The strip was first drawn by Hugh Morren[1] in 1958, who drew it until 1984, when Dave Gudgeon took over. He drew the strip until 1986, after which the strip was handed over to Brian Walker, around the time "The" was dropped from the title. Walker made some changes to the character, giving Smasher a more teenaged look, a slightly longer hairstyle and a jacket in place of his jumper; his attitude was also toned down somewhat (The character was rewritten to be a more accident-prone figure), as the editor felt, that he had become too openly malicious by that time. Walker carried on drawing the strip for most of the next two decades; its appearances became more sporadic in the late 1990s, however, and the strip was finally dropped completely with the comic's relaunch in 2004.
However, some of the strips were reprinted in the Comix section of Dandy Xtreme in 2007. He reappeared in the Dandy Annual 2013 drawn by Postman Prat artist Lew Stringer.
David Law was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
Nutty was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with The Dandy. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, Nutty was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic comic compared to many on sale at the time.
Minnie the Minx, whose real name is Hermione Makepeace is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine The Beano. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, making her the third longest running Beano character behind Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger.
Calamity James is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. It is about a boy, named Calamity James, who has disastrous luck. He first appeared on 1 November 1986, in issue no. 2311. A copy of his first strip is viewable here. His strip replaced Biffo the Bear and Little Plum, which had both been reduced to a half-page by this time. He has a pet called Alexander Lemming,.
Little Plum is a British humoristic western comics series about a little Native American, originally created by Leo Baxendale and published in the magazine The Beano.
Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character originally appeared in Nutty as the back page strip in Issue 1, dated 16 February 1980 drawn by John Geering.
The Dandy was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after Il Giornalino and Detective Comics. From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.
Ivy the Terrible is a fictional character featured in The Beano. She is a four-year-old girl who annoys her parents with her misbehaviour. She first appeared in The Beano in 1985 in the comic strip of the same name, but has starred in other comic strips throughout Beano history.
Beryl the Peril is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of The Topper comic published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black and red apparel, and devilishly tormented her parents and other members of her community. Despite not having quite as many appearances as other DC Thomson characters such as Dennis the Menace or Desperate Dan, Beryl is still considered one of the classic characters which define the popularity of British comics.
Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic The Beano, first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His speed often causes chaos yet at the same time his ability can prove useful. He also has a younger brother called Alfie Whizz of similar appearance. Alfie is usually shown as a normal boy but occasionally he is shown to be just as fast as his brother.
Winker Watson is a British comic strip, created by Eric Roberts, which ran in the British comic book magazine The Dandy for almost half a century. It debuted in 1961 and only terminated its run in 2007. It was revived in 2012.
Helpful Henry was the name of two comic strips—one from the United States, the other from the United Kingdom.
Wee Peem was a British comic strip character in The Beano, first written and designed by James Jewell. He starred in two comic strips between 1938 and 1957, and would get up to various forms of mischief in a similar way to later Beano strips such as Dennis the Menace and Minnie the Minx.
Korky the Cat is a character in a comic strip in the British comics magazine The Dandy. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 4 December 1937, except for one issue, No. 294 when Keyhole Kate was on the cover. For several decades he was the mascot of The Dandy. In 1984, after 47 virtually continuous years, Korky was replaced on the front cover by Desperate Dan.
Jak Hurley and Todd Nolan are two fictional comic strip characters from the UK comic The Dandy who rose to popularity as the comic's main strip after its re-launch in 2004. Originally known as simply Jak, both characters received equal billing after the popularity of Todd from readership.
Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy.
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by DC Thomson, of Dundee, Scotland. The comic stars a boy named Dennis the Menace and his dog, an "Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound" named Gnasher.
Keyhole Kate was a 1930s British comic strip series in The Dandy. The strip featured a nosy young girl who liked to look through people's keyholes. She appeared in The Dandy's first issue, drawn by Allan Morley back in 1937. She continued in The Dandy until 1955 and appeared as the cover strip of issue 295. She later appeared in the new Sparky comic released in 1965, alongside Hungry Horace another character who appeared in The Dandy''s first issue and was drawn by Morley. The character was featured alongside Hungry Horace on the front cover of the Sparky book from 1970 to 1972.
Corporal Clott was a strip in the British comic The Dandy. It started in the issued dated 12 November 1960 and was drawn by Dennis the Menace artist David Law. The strip was drawn by David Law until issue 1496 dated 25 July 1970. The strip continued after David Law left it with these strips being drawn by Bully Beef and Chips artist Jimmy Hughes. Jimmy Hughes version of the strip ended in the 1970s however the strip was revived in 1987 by Steve Bright and later dropped again. The character was also featured in a few Dandy Comic Libraries devoted entirely to him. The strip reappeared in the 2012 Dandy Annual, drawn by Nigel Auchterlounie and later appeared in the comic in late 2012 again drawn by Nigel Auchterlounie.
David Alan Parkins is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for D.C. Thomson, publisher of The Beano and The Dandy. Now based in Canada, he illustrates children's picture books.
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