Comic character `spin -offs`

[felneymike]

Don't forget the Bash St Birds!

There was also "singled out" more recently.

[tony ingram]

And Pongo Snodgrass, who was a supporting character in the Krazy Gang before getting his own strip.

[Digifiend]

Danny and Katey from Desperate Dan had their own strip about 10 years ago I think. Gnatasha, one of Gnipper's sisters, had her own strip in The Beezer and Topper, which was drawn by Bill Ritchie.

The Three Bears would be hard to spot in Little Plum, as they were part of a much larger unnamed group and didn't get their clothes until their second solo story. Their personalities were only defined when they were spun off into their own story. After the Three Bears strip debuted, the bears appeared much less often in Little Plum, although this might be due to the fact Leo Baxendale stopped drawing it about a year later.

[Tin Can Tommy]

Don't forget the Bash St Birds!

Or the Beano Birds, which were just bird versions of Beano characters, from the 90s.

[Niblet]

A few characters from the Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly span off into their own features;

Baby Burpo span off into The Burpo Special strip, where he would interview other Cheeky's Week characters

Snail got his own feature, Snail of the Century

Teacher was host to a short-lived puzzle feature, Teacher's Teasers

Flash Harry gave his name to the Flash Harry's Silly Snaps feature, but apart from his ugly fizzog in the title panel he didn't appear in the feature, so this probably doesn't qualify as a full-blown spin-off.

[tony ingram]

A few characters from the Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly span off into their own features;

Baby Burpo span off into The Burpo Special strip, where he would interview other Cheeky's Week characters

Snail got his own feature, Snail of the Century

Teacher was host to a short-lived puzzle feature, Teacher's Teasers

Flash Harry gave his name to the Flash Harry's Silly Snaps feature, but apart from his ugly fizzog in the title panel he didn't appear in the feature, so this probably doesn't qualify as a full-blown spin-off.

And yet, the one character I really wanted to get her own strip never did: the luscious Lily Pop!

[Peter Gray]

In my new blog post on Christmas Topper 1987.I've found Pearl the dog from Beryl the Peril which Robert nixon introduced..

Simply Smiffy

Foo Foo had a page for a while when Gnasher went missing

Buster also had spin off
Sqworm by Steve Bright

Mark Bennington
Dopey Derek..Brainsly..Jelly..etc..

[Digifiend]

That's right yeah, Foo-Foo's Fairy Story. Even Walter had his own strip, which was a one-off to mark Roger the Dodger's birthday in 1993.

[swirlythingy]

I can't believe I forgot Bea, and I should have remembered Granny as well, but I was thinking about animals.

Here I'm going to define 'spin-off' as something which was a regular feature at at least one point in time, although it may not have lasted for very long. One-offs with Chester, Walter, etc. (or the 2002 Beano Book) don't count.

So, from Dennis the Menace alone, we have:

Gnasher's Tale - became
Foo-Foo's Fairy Story* - became
Gnasher and Gnipper**
(* For six weeks during the puppies story arc.)
(** Ultimate consequence of same.)

Beaginnings - became
Bea's Nursery Crimes* - became
Bea**
(* This was an unconventional strip-esque page which parodied nursery rhymes, notable chiefly for the rather wonderfully detailed borders Nigel Parkinson drew for it. I'm not sure if it actually replaced Beaginnings or if it just happened to run more or less at the same time as the title changed - does anyone know?)
(** Sort-of-became Bea and Ivy, but that's a combined spin-off and crossover, so I've no idea where to file it.)

Rasher (old and new continuities)

Dasher

Go, Granny, Go!

Dennis's 2007 secondary strip* - became
60 Second Dennis - became
Gnasher's Bit(e) (still running)
(* This never had a set title, but frequently showcased minor characters, including - in one notable serial - Gnasher's daughters.)

From the Bash Street Kids:

Pup Parade (currently being reprinted)

The Bash Street Bugs
(These had at least one Fun-Size devoted to them, and I think I saw them in an annual too, but were they ever in the weekly?)

Singled Out
(Basically a Mike Pearse vehicle, although did enjoy an afterlife of sorts under Tom Paterson.)

Plug
(Plus eponymous comic)

Simply Smiffy

Can anyone identify any stories I've missed?

I remember it because it was drawn by Steve Horrocks, who had started drawing Minnie a few weeks earlier.

I thought that was Alexander Bar? Mind you, I got that information from Minnie's Wikipedia page, so I reserve the right to be completely wrong.

[Tin Can Tommy]

Also there was that recent and very short lived Bash Street Kids spin off, called at home with the BSK! which as the title suggests featured the kids at home instead of at school. So their parents often made appearances.

[Digifiend]

That only appeared twice, on what is usually the Pup Parade page. Counts about as much as Walter (not really notable at all). Besides, the Bash Street summer specials had full page versions of the same thing, long before Singled Out.

[SID]

And yet, the one character I really wanted to get her own strip never did: the luscious Lily Pop!

*Chuckle* I remember her when I had Cheeky Weekly. She belongs with the likes of Cuddles & Dimples' mum.

[NP]

Bea's Nursery Crimes... I'm not sure if it actually replaced Beaginnings or if it just happened to run more or less at the same time as the title changed - does anyone know?.

It was a nine week run instead of the regular Bea strip. 'Beaginnings' was the original name, which was changed to 'Dennis's Little Sister, BEA, the Mini-Menace', then sometimes just 'Bea' if I couldn't be bothered writing all that.

[SID]

Cuddly and Dudley from Magic (the revived one). I believe that they were related to The Beano's Biffo the Bear.

As comics go, Judge Dredd Megazine is a spin-off 2000AD. Likewise Roy of the Rovers comic originally came from Tiger. Cheeky Weekly being a spin-off off of Krazy Comic.

Back to characters:

Venus Bluegenes came from Rogue Trooper (2000AD).

Satannus the tyrannosaurus was almost another spin-off (from 2000AD's Flesh. Although he had starring roles in other strips (Judge Dredd and Nemesis the Warlock) rather than having his own.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, Cuddly and Dudley were Biffo's nephews. I assume Dudley is named after Biffo's first artist, DD Watkins?