Comics UK

the celebrated final DUDLEY WATKINS BIFFO page, which is quite possibly embellished with DAVEY SUTHERLAND inking: BUSTER in the final frame, for example, looks off-model in this instance:



-----the following issue appears to derive from a WATKINS- pencilled page, [the character construction and figure poses bear his hallmarks]: however, I'm summizing that DAVE SUTHERLAND inked over the master's original sketches, as this page clearly looks like an uneasy combination of the two artists.......the cooking-pot in frame 2 and the sofa in the final frame definately show SUTHERLAND characteristics........however, 'AUNT ETHEL' looks more likely to have originated from a WATKINS sketch than would be usual for DAVE SUTHERLAND:




------the following issue has a BIFFO cover that clearly shows the confident approach of DAVEY SUTHERLAND, in this instance it's obvious he has constructed the entire page on his own:





Dave Sutherland is an immensely talented cartoonist, possibly the most versatile artist in UK funnies history. However, as highly-accomplished as these later pages are, the spirit of WATKINS was sorely lacking in the later incarnations, and the old adage 'no man is indispensible' clearly does not apply in the world of comics-----at least, not to the true buffs.........

I agree about DS's caliber, the only modern artist who comes anywhere close is Ken Harrison. Dave is so versatile, that he actually started off doing adventure strips.

Thanks for posting those scans. The first one is the one used in History, so if they got their facts right both that and the next one were indeed pencilled by Dudley and inked by Dave. You can definitely see the difference in third strip, which he did from scratch.

As Phil has already mentioned some of them here is a list of all twelve Dudley Watkins' novel adaptations.
Kidnapped (1948) People's Journal then Topper
Catriona (1948) PJ then Topper
Oliver Twist (1948) PJ then Topper
Treasure Island (1949) PJ then Topper
Robinson Crusoe (1950) PJ then Topper
Gordon the Gypsy (1952) PJ then Topper
The Three Musketeers (1953) PJ then Topper
King Solomon's Mines (1954) Topper
Allan Quartermain (1955) Topper
Geordie (1956) PJ then Diana
Prester John (1957) PJ then Topper
Huntingtower (1960) PJ
Of the above Kidnapped, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe were further reprinted in book form which in each case ran to two editions.
All of the strips that were reprinted in Topper from the People's Journal were in full colour except for The Three Musketeers hwich had to be content with red/black reproduction.
Both Kidnapped and The Three Musketeers were reprinted reduced size in b/w in Rover and Victor respectively.
Strictly speaking the adaptation of David Walker's novel Geordie about a Highlander who goes to the Olympic games as a shot-putter was actually an adaptation of the 1955 film of the novel and features Dudley Watkins' character drawings of actors such as Bill Travers and Alistair Sim.
Of the twelve the John Buchan novel Huntingtower is the only one that is not known to have been reprinted. While it is safe to say this about reprinting in the Thomson juvenile papers it should be pointed out that Thomson's have been known to publish several of these strips in their women's magazines and daily newspapers. For instance as late as the 1990's the Dundee Evening Telegraph was running daily instalments of Oliver Twist in 3 panel segments.

Ultimately, was Dave Sutherland taking over Biffo was the key to Dennis eventually being given the cover (in 1974)? It could have been that having both strips drawn by the same artist showed that Dennis was by far the more popular character. Tellingly, Biffo's popularity decreased after Dennis took over the cover, as he became increasingly unpopular (I think Dave stopped drawing him in at the end of the 1970s but I'm not sure). It's questionable whether Dennis would have reached the cover if Davey Law had continued drawing him - I'm not sure the scratchy artwork of Law's later years would have suited the cover.

I do wonder if the Beano would be so popular now if Biffo had stayed on the cover for another 10 years like Korky did in The Dandy. We all know what eventually happened there. Two mergers to inject new blood, then almost 20 years of gradual decline leading to two major revamps. In the meantime The Beano went from strength to strength, without the aid of any mergers, although Beezer/Topper characters have been added at times since their demise.

Dave continued to draw Biffo until the early 1980s, sharing a page with Gnasher's Tale, initially as two half page stories, before Biffo was squeezed into a single line, and finally disappearing as Gnasher finally got a full page to himself. I think off-hand that he may have lasted long enough for Euan to have wielded the final axe.

The only other regular Biffo artist (barring Leo Baxendale's occasional ghostwork) was Sid Burgon with his brilliant silent comedies in the late 1980s revival.

Biffo's first run ended in issue 2310, dated 25 October 1986, so yes, Euan axed him. 2311 happens to be the issue Gnasher and Gnipper replaced Gnasher's Tale, which means Gnipper replaced Biffo in the comic.

Sid Burgon's silent Biffo strips ran well into the 1990s. The last one I believe was in 1999. Interestingly, a number of 'classic' characters were axed in the first couple of years of Euan Kerr's reign as Beano editor - Little Plum and The Three Bears were both dropped around 1985-1986 as well (though, like Biffo, they both later returned).

The only Beezer/Topper characters to have come into the Beano were The Numskulls, Splodge, Fred's Bed and Olaff the Madlander. Of these, Fred was originally reprints and Olaff only ever appeared in the comic as reprints (you could also count Hoot Squad/Riot Squad - all but one of the strips that appeared in the Beano were reprints). It is fascinating to speculate what would have happened to the Beano if it had followed the same route as the Dandy. The Dandy, however, wasn't able to promote Dan to the cover until Ken Harrison started drawing new strips (he was mostly reprints between DDW's death in 1969 and 1983 when he took over).

You forgot Tricky Dicky. You're right about Biffo's second run ending in 1999 - issue 2954, 27 May 1999 to be exact.

*pieces everything together* OH yes. And Little Plum was reduced to a half page with Biffo as Gnasher's Tale expanded. That's what it was.

Little Plum also ended in issue 2310. Calamity James therefore replaced both Plum and Biffo.

I also think that Rasher's first series only lasted a couple of years, the 1991 strip being an outlier, and Bob Nixon's return to Roger the Dodger and its expansion to 1.5 pages killed him off. Any verification on that?

Rasher's last new strip was in issue 2744, 18/2/1995. History of the Beano forgets to mention that his appearances were erratic after the 1988 relaunch!

Rasher's original run was from 1984 to 1988. His strip was one of the last strips comissioned by Harry Crammond, but he was kept on after Euan Kerr took over as editor. He was also the first strip to start since 1980 - four years with no new characters.

John Geering's Smudge was another one with an erratic appearance record. He was a regular between 1980 and 1986, and appeared sporadically over the next 10 or so years (with 1 strip in 1999, the year of Geering's death). However, this is mentioned in The History of the Beano. The Germs never appeared that consistently either, at least not from the late 90s onwards.