The Dandy

The Dandy is a British children's comic book published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee, which was first issued on 3 December 1937, and is currently the longest running comic in the world, which it became as of issue 3007 in 1999. This beat the previous record holder, Comic Cuts, which ran for 3006 issues between 1890 - 1953.

There have been several long-running strips over the years. The longest running strips in The Dandy are Desperate Dan who has been in all issues since the first one in 1937, bar a brief period in 1997 where he 'left' The Dandy, only to return for the comic's 60th anniversary issue in that year. Korky the Cat also featured in the first issue and still made regular appearances up until the 2004 relaunch. It is currently unknown whether this character has been dropped after 67 years.

Originally, Korky the Cat occupied the front cover, but Desperate Dan took over in 1984. Cuddles and Dimples also occupied the front page between 1999 - 2000.

An 8 foot bronze statue of Desperate Dan stands in the centre of his birthplace - Dundee.

A first issue of The Dandy, complete with free gift, sold for a record £20,350 on 7 September 2004; the highest price ever paid for a British comic at an auction.

In October 2004, in an attempt to boost sales, The Dandy underwent a radical format overhaul. It is now printed on glossy magazine paper instead of newsprint, the price was raised from 79p to £1.20 (99p for the first two weeks), a new comic strip called Office Hours appeared, and two supposedly new ones also started, though were actually revivals from a few years earlier. The first was Dreadlock Holmes, billed as The Dandy's first ethnic character (though this wasn't true either- Barney the Wonder Winger was the first back in the early-mid 1990s) and the second was Jak.

Other Dandy stars over the years have included:

• Bananaman
• Beryl the Peril
• Black Bob
• Blinky
• Brain Duane
• Brassneck
• Bully Beef and Chips
• Corporal Clott
• Cowrin' Wolf
• Dinah Mo
• Dirty Dick
• Freddy the Fearless Fly
• Growing Paynes
• Jimmy's Green Genie (revised reprint of Ali's Baba from The Topper)
• Jonah
• Keyhole Kate
• Molly
• Oliver Twister
• Ollie Fliptrik
• Owen Goal
• Peter's Pocket Grandpa
• Puss 'n' Boots
• The Jocks and the Geordies
• The Nutters (revised reprint from Cracker)
• The Smasher
• Winker Watson

Nutty merged with The Dandy in 1985, followed by Hoot in 1986.

See also

• British comics
• List of DC Thomson publications
• The Dandy Annual
• Beano

External links

• Comics UK: Dandy (http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/ComicInformationPages/DandyPages/DandyHomePage.asp)