Final print edition of the Dandy to feature Beatle Paul McCartney

By FRANK URQUHART
Published on 03/12/2012 12:50

THE Dandy, Britain’s longest-running children’s comic, is being celebrated at a special exhibition which has opened at Dundee University - only a day before the final print edition of the comic is due to be published.

• In February 1963 the singer told music magazine NME that his personal ambition was ‘To have my picture in The Dandy!’

• Digital version of Dandy to be available on www.dandy.com on Tuesday with iPad version also available

The first edition of The Dandy was published on 4 December, 1937. And the final print edition, featuring former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney alongside Desperate Dan, will go on sale in newsagents tomorrow before The Dandy switches to a new digital format.

The 75 years of The Dandy are being marked at Dundee University’s Lamb Gallery and the exhibition features original artwork from the collections of Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson, dating back to the earliest years of the comic. They include original artwork which has never been shown in public before.

Matthew Jarron, the gallery’s curator, explained: “All the classic favourites are here, including original Desperate Dan pages by Dudley D Watkins, Korky the Cat artwork by James Crighton and Charlie Grigg, as well as Winker Watson by Eric Roberts, Black Bob by Jack Prout and many more. Whether you were a fan of Brassneck or Bananaman, Corporal Clott or Cuddles and Dimples, you’ll find them all in the Lamb Gallery.”

The exhibition has been created as part of an on-going partnership between DC Thomson, the university’s Museum Services and the newly established Scottish Centre for Comics Studies, based at the university.

Dr Chris Murray, director of the centre, said: “We are proud to be able to help The Dandy celebrate its 75th anniversary, which is a remarkable achievement. Of course, the comic is also in a process of transition, as the final print version goes to press and is replaced by a new digital Dandy. This promises to be an exciting and innovative step forward for The Dandy.”

The Dandy sold two million copies a week at its height but sales have recently fallen to less then 8,000. The last print edition will include a reprint of the first edition of The Dandy.