Concept
The first strip featured Tim looking for a bicycle in the town dump, and finding an unusual one. Pulling a dial at the front he was transported to caveman times, at which point he realised the bike could travel through time. He and Crazy for Daisy were the joint winners of the poll, beating Camp Cosmos, Have a Go Jo, Sydd and Trash Can Ally. It was drawn by Vic Neill until his death in 2000. However, Neill strips continued to run for some time in the comic as they had been stockpiled. Once these had run out, Keith Reynolds drew it up to 2004 when the strip was dropped. Only 5 strips appeared in the character's final twelve months in the comic. In the 2003 Beano annual, his strip was drawn by Richard Elson.
Tim Traveller would use his bicycle to travel back and forth in time, encountering all sorts of crazy mishaps, occasionally getting in so much trouble he had to rush back to the present day to avoid it. Some of his trips resulted in him causing or learning the truth about various historical mysteries, such as why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leaned (it fell over in an earthquake and Tim only managed to partly pull it back into position) or what happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste (Tim visited the ship and fell into a large fish, appearing to the crew as a sea monster, causing them to dive overboard).
The character was revived briefly in 2019 this time written by Tommy Donbavand. [1]
The Beano is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and well-known comic strips and characters include Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty and His Pals, Ivy the Terrible, General Jumbo, Jonah, and Biffo the Bear.
The Germs is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. It first appeared in issue 2374, dated 16 January 1988, replacing the Rasher strip, where the characters had been introduced the previous week.
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.
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.
Tricky Dicky is a British comic strip which debuted in the magazine Topper in December 1976 and was drawn by John Dallas. From 1979 to 1986 he was the cover star of the comic, succeeding Danny's Tranny and preceding Beryl the Peril. The strip survived the merger with the Beezer in 1990 and continued in The combined Beezer and Topper comic til it ended in 1993. The character later reappeared in The Beano.
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.
Biffo the Bear is a fictional character from the British comic magazine The Beano who stars in the comic strip of the same name, created in 1948 by Dudley D. Watkins. He was the mascot of The Beano for several decades.
Big Eggo was a British comic strip series about an eponymous ostrich, published in the British comic magazine The Beano. He first appeared in issue 1, dated 30 July 1938, and was the first ever cover star. His first words in the strip were "Somebody's taken my egg again!". It was drawn throughout by Reg Carter.
Ping the Elastic Man was a British comic strip that appeared in The Beano. It was about a boy who could stretch his limbs as if they were made of elastic and was created by Hugh McNeill.
Lesley Presley Pretend is a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano with the byline "the Little kid with the big imagination". Originally drawn by John Sherwood, he first appeared in issue 2493, dated 28 April 1990. In each issue, Les pretends to be something and dresses up like it, beginning with a martian in his debut. His dad is called Des, an Elvis Presley fan and impersonator, hence Les' middle name of Presley. Recurring features of the strip are the feasibility of Les' costumes, and the readiness with which Des accepts things like the appearance of a giant creature, and attempts to deal with it in a rational and unfazed way.
Pansy Potter is a British comic strip character from the magazine The Beano. She first appeared in Pansy Potter the Strong Man's Daughter issue 21 in 1938 and was first illustrated by Hugh McNeill.
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.
Crazy for Daisy was a British comic strip published in the magazine The Beano. It was created and drawn by Nick Brennan and made its debut in issue 2865, dated 14 June 1997. It was part of an ongoing selection of six comic strips that were to be voted into the comic by readers. This strip was the winner, beating Camp Cosmos, Have a Go Jo, Sydd and Trash Can Ally.
Nick Brennan is a British cartoonist who works mainly for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. He started drawing for the company in 1993, drawing a revival of Peter Piper from The Dandy, revived from The Magic Comic, but with a departure from Watkins' creation, with Peter instead sporting an Elvis-like hairdo and purple jumper.
David Sutherland was a Scottish illustrator and comics artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids (1962–2023), Dennis the Menace (1970–1998), Fred's Bed (2008–2012) for The Beano, and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s.
The Magic Comic was a British comics magazine. It was the ill-fated third comics magazine from DC Thomson. It was aimed at a younger audience, with more emphasis on picture stories. The first issue was published on 22 July 1939. The comic ran for only 80 issues until 25 January 1941. Paper rationing resulting from the outbreak of the Second World War caused its demise. Its Editor Bill Powrie promised that 'the Magic' would return; however, he was killed in action in 1942.
Tommy Donbavand was an English actor, teacher and writer from Liverpool, best known for his books and comics for children, such as Scream Street. He often wrote under pseudonyms.
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.
Comic Idol is a competition held in The Beano every few years. In it, 3 to 6 new strips, run as guest strips in Beano for a few weeks, and the most popular, determined by votes, gets a permanent place in the Beano. See below for a full list of winners and the losing strips.
Vic Neill was a British cartoonist who drew for D.C. Thomson and I.P.C.'s comics. His first notable comic work was on Sparky strip Peter Piper. In 1969, he replaced Dudley Dexter Watkins on Topper cover star Mickey the Monkey after Watkins' sudden death. Neill was a big admirer of Watkins' artwork. He made his debut in the Beano with The McTickles in 1971. In 1974, this was replaced by another Scottish-themed strip, Wee Ben Nevis.
