The Dandy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Dandy
Front page of first issue
Publication information
Publisher	D. C. Thomson & Co.
Schedule	Weekly* (some issues were out longer than a week)
Format	Comics anthology
Genre	Children's, humour
Publication date	4 December 1937 – 4 December 2012 (physical), 4 December 2012 – 6 June 2013 (online)
Creative team
Artist(s)	Nigel Parkinson Lew Stringer Wayne Thompson Stu Munro Paul Palmer Wilbur Dawbarn Nigel Auchterlounie Jamie Smart Karl Dixon Nik Holmes Phil Corbett Alexander Matthews Duncan Scott Stephen Waller Andy Fanton
Editor(s)	Albert Barnes George Morgan Thomson Dave Torrie Morris Heggie Craig Graham Craig Ferguson

The Dandy was a popular British comic magazine. It was made by a company called DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland. The very first issue came out in December 1937. This made The Dandy one of the longest-running comics in the world! Only two others, Il Giornalino and Detective Comics, started before it.

From August 2007 to October 2010, the comic changed its name to Dandy Xtreme. The Dandy was one of the best-selling comics in the UK. It was as popular as its sister comic, The Beano. In the 1950s, over two million copies were sold every week! The last printed comic was released on 4 December 2012. This was the comic's 75th birthday. By then, sales had dropped to only 8,000 copies a week. On the same day, The Dandy became an online comic. It was called The Digital Dandy. You could read it on the Dandy website and in an app. But the online version did not last long. It stopped publishing just six months later.

Editors of The Dandy

The first editor of The Dandy was Albert Barnes. He was in charge until 1982. Some people say he was the inspiration for Desperate Dan's famous chin! After Albert Barnes, Dave Torrie became the editor. Then Morris Heggie took over in 2006. He later became an archivist for DC Thomson. The last editor of the printed comic was Craig Graham. Craig Ferguson was the editor for the digital version launched in 2012.

Famous Comic Strips

Many different comic strips appeared in The Dandy over 75 years. Some of them ran for a very long time.

Long-Running Characters

• Desperate Dan: He is a super-strong cowboy. He loves eating cow pies!
• Korky the Cat: This funny cat was one of the first characters.

Both Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat were in the very first issue.

Characters from Other Comics

The Dandy also took on characters from other comics. This happened when those comics merged with The Dandy.

• Bananaman: This superhero came from the comic Nutty. He gets his powers from eating bananas.
• Cuddles: He came from the comic Hoot. Cuddles teamed up with a Dandy character to form Cuddles and Dimples.
• Beryl the Peril: She is a mischievous girl. She joined from The Beezer.
• Puss 'n' Boots: This character came from Sparky and then The Topper.
• Owen Goal: A football-loving character. He also came from Nutty.

Cover Stars of The Dandy

The front cover of The Dandy often featured a special character. This character was called the "cover star."

• Korky the Cat was the first cover star. He was on the cover from 1937 to 1984.
• Desperate Dan then took over. He was the comic's most popular character.
• In 1999, Cuddles and Dimples became the cover stars. But they didn't stay long.
• By the end of 2000, Desperate Dan was back on the cover. The comic said Cuddles and Dimples were "too naughty." But readers really wanted Dan back!
• In 2004, the comic changed its look. A new character named Jak became the cover star.
• During the Dandy Xtreme years, there was no single cover star. Covers often showed celebrities or popular trends.
• In October 2010, the comic went back to its old style. The popular British comedian Harry Hill became the new cover star. Desperate Dan and Bananaman sometimes appeared with him.

Crossovers and Rivalries

Many Dandy characters lived in a made-up place called Dandytown. Characters from The Beano lived in Beanotown. Artists often drew for both comics. This led to characters from both comics appearing together sometimes. The comics also joked about each other. For example, a character might say something like, "She's older than the jokes in The Beano!"

The comics showed Dandytown and Beanotown as rivals. Once, The Dandy even showed a Dandytown embassy in Beanotown. Many Beanotown citizens tried to take it over! This rivalry inspired a computer game called Beanotown Racing. In the game, you could race characters from both comics around Beanotown.

Dundee: The Comic Capital

Thanks to The Dandy, The Beano, and other comics from D C Thomson, Dundee became famous. It was known as a major center for the comics industry. People even called it the 'comic capital of Britain'. Because of this history, Dundee is now home to the Scottish Centre for Comic Studies.

To celebrate this connection, there are bronze statues in Dundee's High Street.

• One statue is of Desperate Dan. His dog, Dawg, is also with him. This statue is very popular for photos.
• Another statue is of The Beano character Minnie the Minx.

In July 2001, The Dandy cover showed Dan visiting Dundee. He even saw his own statue! In December 2012, the University of Dundee held an exhibition. It was with D C Thomson to celebrate The Dandy's 75th anniversary.