As Christmas approaches many of us will have memories being given annuals as presents from various relatives. Back in the day there were a huge number to choose from up to a couple of hundred some years as these included all sorts of publications from Lion, Valiant and Victor to Blue Peter books and of course The Dandy.
Most people I know (myself included) were primarily fans of The Beano rather than The Dandy though in my childhood it was Wham!, Smash! and Pow! that were at the top of my "wants" list. Sadly most of these comics except for The Beano are long gone. However all is not lost for fans of The Dandy as Scottish publisher DC Thomson still bring us The Dandy Annual every year!
Of course it's not the same as the one I remember from my misspent childhood. Some of the arts a "bit different" (to say the least) but there enough recognisable characters including Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat though joined by Beryl the Peril and Corporal Clott from The Beezer.
New characters include the amusing Dreadlock Holmes and the quite dreadful Space Raoul which takes the prize for the worst art. Oddly the artist for the Corporal Clott strips looked disappointingly nothing like the traditional character though he did get drawn correctly elsewhere. Ye Editor needs a word with him (or her) self.
Over-all this is a Dandy for the modern times but at this time of year I cannot but reminisce about the heydays of the British humour comic.
Rating: 3 Stars
Beryl was from Topper not Beezer, and moved to Dandy when the merged Beezer and Topper folded in 1993. Corporal Clott was always a Dandy character. Dreadlock Holmes and Space Raoul aren't new - they were in the Dandy in the mid 2000s.
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