In the late 1930s, The Beano and The Dandy brought a new format to comics. They came in a handy size with a mixture of picture stories and comic strips and they were a big hit with their young readers.
Early favourites were Lord Snooty and the cow-pie-eating Desperate Dan, drawn by Dudley D Watkins. When the war came, the number of pages was cut due to paper shortages and the comics appeared on alternate weeks, but they never ceased production and did their bit to raise morale.
The 1950s saw the British comic enter one of its most dynamic periods. At DC Thomson, artists such as David Law, Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid were producing ingenious drawings, which inspired many future cartoonists and animators.
It was also the decade that saw the introduction of many classic characters, some of whom are still with us today, such as Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx and Roger the Dodger.
This period also coincided with record comic sales. In the week beginning April 22 1950 the Beano sold a staggering 1,974,072 copies and sales stayed well over one-and-a-half million copies weekly throughout the decade.
Some things have changed. For instance, the comics’ graphic style has evolved to suit modern tastes. Children of all ages however still love the mischief and mayhem created every week in The Beano and The Dandy.
