The Art and History of the Dandy

Discuss or comment on anything relating to Britain's longest running comic. The home of Korky the Cat and Desperate Dan. Has been running since 1937.

Moderator: AndyB

User avatar
ISPYSHHHGUY
Posts: 4275
Joined: 14 Oct 2007, 13:05
Location: BLITZVILLE, USA

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

yes, I always felt that the DANDY was more 'rough-and-tumble' compared to it's closest rival.

Although these two comics shared a few of the same artists and were produced in the same 'corridor of power', there was always a definable difference between the two; perhaps Eric Robert's style on Dirty Dick and Winker Watson made the world of DANDY look more 'lived-in'; also the rough-hewn antics of Jimmy Hughes' Bully Beef and Chips added a [welcome] less-than-streamlined approach.

Even the more 'serious' strips reflected a 'nosh-up' of pie chips and beans at the end of a lot of stories.

So did the BEANO, of course, but it seemed especially prevalent in this comic.

If I think of 60s DANDY, I associate it with the smell of Scottish fry-up meals, for some reason......I seemed to be always reading it at mealtimes.

Oddly with BEANO or SPARKY or the IPC comics, I used to go off and look for peace to savour it in solitude------but my memories of reading DANDY are as undisciplined as a lot of the stories inside the actual comic.

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by philcom55 »

Though I never had a regular order for Dandy or Beano the fact that they were so cheap meant that I tended to buy them off the counter more often than most other British comics. The funny thing is that, looking back, I always felt that Beano was the 'cooler' title by virtue of strips like Dennis the Menace and Bash Street Kids - and yet in spite of this Dandy was the comic I usually ended up buying! The only explanation for this I can think of is that I was regularly hooked by adventure serials such as The Crimson Ball - the one area in which, to my mind, Dandy was nearly always pre-eminent.

- Phil Rushton

dandy mad
Posts: 769
Joined: 19 Jun 2008, 00:28
Location: Leigh lancashire
Contact:

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by dandy mad »

When I was a regular reader of both comics in the 1980s it was all humour strips by then and the Dandy trumped the Beano by a country mile the only genuinely funny strip in the Beano was Calamity James plus I remember as a kid the shock from my parents that the likes of Dennis The Menace Minnie The Minx Roger The Dodger Lord Snooty The Bash Street Kids where still in the Beano 2 decades after they stopped reading them my dad said the Beano was trapped in a time warp!

User avatar
Digifiend
Posts: 7315
Joined: 15 Aug 2007, 11:43
Location: Hull, UK

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Digifiend »

And the Dandy wasn't? The Smasher is almost as old, and Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat are over 13 years older than Dennis. Black Bob (another character who predates Dennis) was also still in the Dandy until the mid-80s, complete with text captions. Sorry, but that logic fails. Now if you were talking about the modern comics, then fair enough, but not the 80s versions.

dandy mad
Posts: 769
Joined: 19 Jun 2008, 00:28
Location: Leigh lancashire
Contact:

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by dandy mad »

Digifiend wrote:And the Dandy wasn't? The Smasher is almost as old, and Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat are over 13 years older than Dennis. Black Bob (another character who predates Dennis) was also still in the Dandy until the mid-80s, complete with text captions. Sorry, but that logic fails. Now if you were talking about the modern comics, then fair enough, but not the 80s versions.
My parents wasn't Dandy readers my mum read The Beano and The Bunty and my dad was an occasional Beano reader but preferred TV21 and The Victor...

User avatar
Gilly
Posts: 404
Joined: 06 Oct 2011, 12:16

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Gilly »

dandy mad wrote:my dad said the Beano was trapped in a time warp!
To be fair The Beano is still kinda stuck in a time warp today in some ways but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One strip that is a good example of this is The Bash Street Kids, do you see Teachers wearing Mortar Boards today. :lol:
Last edited by Gilly on 04 Aug 2012, 13:22, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Digifiend
Posts: 7315
Joined: 15 Aug 2007, 11:43
Location: Hull, UK

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Digifiend »

Mortar boards, and no, the only people I see wearing them nowadays are university students on graduation day!

AndyB
Throgmorton
Posts: 2322
Joined: 01 Mar 2006, 20:00
Contact:

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by AndyB »

I didn't wear one when I graduated - but then again, they aren't part of academic dress at QUB!

wilsia
Posts: 286
Joined: 03 Mar 2006, 08:02

History of the Dandy book

Post by wilsia »

I have just received the "History of the Dandy" book from Amazon and I have to say
its far exceeded my expectatations. Beautifully put together the quality shines through
and I would recommend to any british comic fan.


User avatar
Peter Gray
Posts: 4222
Joined: 28 Feb 2006, 00:07
Location: Surrey Guildford
Contact:

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Peter Gray »

Just bought mine on ebay £15..
now to wait..

User avatar
colcool007
Mr Valeera
Posts: 3872
Joined: 03 Mar 2006, 18:06
Location: Lost in time, lost in space
Contact:

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by colcool007 »

Topics merged. Who says I can't learn and moderate? :lol:
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

User avatar
philcom55
Posts: 5170
Joined: 14 Jun 2006, 11:56

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by philcom55 »

Peter Gray wrote:Just bought mine on ebay £15..
now to wait..
I bought mine last week from Amazon UK for just £14 - and in spite of opting for free delivery it arrived the next day!

- Phil Rushton

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Phoenix »

Mine arrived before I got home from my long weekend in London, but it is going to have to go straight back to Amazon as it is damaged. Both front top corners are bumped to such an extent that the tops of all the pages are creased. The packaging is in perfect condition so the damage was not caused in the post.

Phoenix
Guru
Posts: 5360
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 21:15

Re: The Art and History of the Dandy

Post by Phoenix »

It isn't worth starting a new thread just for this query so I'll ask it here. Could someone please tell me why Korky always had white eyes on the cover of The Dandy for donkeys' years, at least into the fifties, but green eyes on the covers of the early annuals at least. Any information about later changes will also be helpful.

Post Reply