Ah, those were the great comic days

Aug 4 2008 by Our Correspondent, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HAPPY Birthday to The Beano, 70 years old and still making youngsters and grandads grin at the exploits of Dennis the Menace and The Bash Street Kids.

I’ve been a fan since childhood and still get the Beano annual every year, along with that of its sister comic The Dandy.

Ah yes, comics were comics back then. As well as the cartoon strip exploits of Desperate Dan and Roger the Dodger this was the era that gave us the story papers of The Wizard, Adventure, Hotspur and Rover.

These were packed with novellas and serials of thrilling adventure and home-grown heroes like Alf Tupper the Tough of the Track and the mysterious Wilson, who lived in a cave on the Yorkshire moors.

How the British Olympic team could do with Alf right now. He would have pie and chips on the way to an athletic event, run the five miles to get there after missing the bus and still win.

And the England cricket team would love to be able to have Wilson in their ranks. If I recall correctly he once took on the Australians virtually single handed and beat them handsomely.

The Dandy and Beano hooked me at a very young age and it was a natural progression to also get the other four titles and start my love affair with reading and the written word.

At that time television was in its infancy and if you wanted adventure you had to read.

What a difference today, when the options include TV, videos and computer war games. Books too often come a poor second.

So thank you D C Thomson of Dundee, who published all the above titles, and thank you Rockfist Rogan, The Wolf of Kabul, Matt Braddock, Mighty Morgyn, Biffo the Bear, Baby Face Finlayson, Ivy the Terrible, Lord Snooty and Minnie the Minx for all that fun, laughter and thrills.

To mark the anniversary an exhibition of famous covers, artwork and mementos from The Beano’s history is being staged at the Cartoon Museum in London.

On show will be the first edition cover from July 30, 1938, featuring Big Eggo.

But don’t touch. A copy of this sold for £12,100 in 2004.