UK Comics

Comics are listed in the order that they were first published in.

The only ones that are still being published are the Dandy, the Beano, and Viz.

Various (1)

1908–40: featured stories of Greyfriars School, often featuring Billy Bunter (not really a comic, as the stories were written in prose and not as comic strips)		Magnet
1919–29 and 1950–65: Bessie Bunter, The Storyteller. Merged with June 1965		School Friend
1922–63: The Amazing Wilson (Wonder Athlete), Wolf of Kabul, Limpalong Leslie		Wizard

The Dandy

First published in 1937: Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Black Bob, Hungry Horace		Dandy
Cow pie was the favourite meal of (Dandy favourite)		Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan lives in		Cactusville
Border collie who appeared from 1944 to 1982 – parodied in Viz's Black Bag ("the faithful border bin liner")		Black Bob
Female equivalent of Dennis the Menace (same creator): first appeared in Issue 1 of the Topper (1953); transferred to the Dandy in 1993, when Beezer and Topper folded; owned (at different times) a turkey called Gobbler and a dog called Pearl		Beryl the Peril

The Beano

First published in 1938: the Bash Street Kids, Biffo the Bear, Billy Whizz, Dennis the Menace, Little Plum (your Redskin chum), Lord Snooty and his pals, Minnie the Minx, Roger the Dodger: all appear(ed) in		Beano
Lord Marmaduke of Bunkerton (resident of Bunkerton Castle) was better known as		Lord Snooty
Last survivor from the original Beano (1938) – discontinued in 1991
First appeared in The Beano in 1948; replaced on the front page in 1974 (see below)		Biffo the Bear
Introduced in 1951; replaced the above on the front page in 1974; overtook Lord Marmaduke (see above) in 2003 as the longest–running strip in The Beano		Dennis the Menace
Walter Brown, a.k.a. Walter the Softy, is the arch–rival and antagonist to
Pet dog of the above (not Walter ... )		Gnasher
Breed of the above		Tripe hound
... and the pet pig of the same character		Rasher
Dennis the Menace: Dasher is a		Spider
Popular Beano character who is Dennis's cousin		Minnie the Minx
Hermione Makepeace is better known as
Little Plum's tribe		Smellyfeet
Leon Baxendale's most famous creation; Danny, Plug and Smiffy are three of		The Bash Street Kids
Percival and Proudfoot were the real first names of		Plug
Bash St. Kids: Teacher's pet		Cuthbert Cringeworthy
"The Cutest Bandit in the West": first appeared in 1972 as a minor character in Little Plum		Baby Face Finlayson

The Eagle

1950–69: Dan Dare, Harris Tweed, PC 49		Eagle
The Eagle's 'Pilot of the Future' (from 1950)		Dan Dare
Sir Hubert Guest, Controller of the Space Fleet (a veteran of the first mission to the Moon and leader of the first mission to Mars – based on the father of the creator) was the boss of
Creator of Dan Dare		Frank Hampson
Dan Dare's arch–enemy		The Mekon
Albert Fitzwilliam Digby was batman to		Dan Dare
"Extra Special Agent" in the Eagle, named after a type of cloth – created by John Ryan, after Captain Pugwash was dropped after 3 months being considered too young for Eagle's readership (Pugwash was later featured in Radio Times)		Harris Tweed

Various (2)

1952–63: Alf Tupper (the 'Tough of the Track') and Matt Braddock (World War II bomber pilot) first appeared in		Rover
Merged with the Victor in 1963 (both of the above transferred)
1952–74: Robot Archie, The Spider, The Sludge		Lion
1953–90: Beryl the Peril started in (later moved to The Dandy); Tricky Dicky, Mickey the Monkey		Topper

The Tiger – and Roy of the Rovers

Roy of the Rovers probably comes up in quizzes more than any other comic character – but you'll very rarely* hear any questions about him other than these three:

1954–85: Roy of the Rovers, Bulldog Bryant		Tiger
Roy of the Rovers played for		Melchester Rovers
Surname of Roy of the Rovers		Race

* apart, that is, from classics such as "Who scored a hat–trick in an FA Cup final, then went in goal when the goalkeeper was injured and saved a penalty?" – to which the answer is, of course, "Roy of the Rovers". There may be other similar questions with the same answer.

Various (3)

1956–90: Baby Crockett, Little Mo, The Banana Bunch, The Badd Ladds, Colonel Blink		Beezer
1958–2001: The Four Marys, "Luv, Lisa", The Comp		Bunty
1961–92: Alf Tupper (the 'Tough of the Track'), Matt Braddock, Gorgeous Gus		Victor
1962–76: Captain Hurricane, Billy Bunter, Sexton Blake, Kelly's Eye, Legge's Eleven		Valiant
D. C. Thomson, 1968–99 – "picture paper specially for little girls": Nurse Nancy, Jenny Wren, Witch Winkle, Goody Gumdrops, Mollie and her Dollies		Twinkle
Founded in 1979 by Chris and Simon Donald in Jesmond, Newcastle: includes Sid the Sexist, Fat Slags, Roger Mellie (the Man on the Telly), Billy the Fish, Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres, Millie Tant (a left–wing feminist and champion of wimmin's rights), Buster Gonad and his "unfeasibly large testicles"		Viz
Fictional setting (town or city) for many Viz stories – including Billy the Fish; bizarrely, the same name was used in the Granada TV drama series Crown Court (1972–84)		Fulchester
Billy the Fish plays in goal for		Fulchester United FC

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23