Topper

Publication Dates: 7th February 1953 – 15th September 1990
Number of Issues Published: 1874 (#1 – #1874)
Color: Colour
Dimensions: Large size (#1-#1439); Magazine-size (#1440-on)
Paper Stock: Newsprint
Binding: Saddle-stitched
Publishing Format: Was ongoing

Topper Book

Publication Dates: 1954 – 1993
Number of Issues Published: 39 (#1955 – #1993)
Color: Colour
Dimensions: 7.5 ” x 11 ”
Binding: Hardcover
Publishing Format: Annual

The Topper was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with The Beezer.

A strip named “Mickey the Monkey” originally graced the front cover. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by “Send for Kelly”. That strip was replaced with “Danny’s Tranny” in 1975, and then “Tricky Dicky” in 1979. “Beryl the Peril” took over on 24 May 1986, and remained there until the merger with The Beezer.

Unlike most other comics at the time, which were half tabloid size, the Topper was for many years full tabloid. It changed to A4 in 1980, one year before The Beezer.

Two comics were merged into The Topper during its run: these were Buzz in 1975 and Sparky in 1977.

The Topper also produced an annual collection (see The Topper Book).

In the late 1980s and 1990s, with the expansion of children’s television and video games taking a greater share of children’s time, sales of comics began to fall, and so D. C. Thomson decided to modernise the Topper, relaunching it as Topper ’89 from February 1989.

In September 1990, it was decided to merge the Topper with another of D. C. Thomson’s long-running comics, The Beezer and the two comics combined as Beezer and Topper. This continued in publication until 1993; it subsequently closed, with a small amount of content from the combined comic subsequently relocating into other D. C. Thomson publications The Beano and The Dandy.

Despite the closure of the Topper as a standalone title, The Topper Book continued as an annual, separate from The Beezer Book, until the 1994 annual (published 1993, the year new issues of Beezer and Topper ceased).

Vintage stories from the Topper appeared alongside stories from other D. C. Thomson publications in Classics from the Comics, a compilation magazine series which ran from 1996 to 2010.

On March 19 The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain’s rich comic book history. The collection featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

Well known creators who worked for The Topper include:

– Gordon Bell
– Paddy Brennan
– David Law
– Tom Paterson
– Dudley D. Watkins
– John Dallas
– Malcolm Judge
– Robert Nixon
– David Parkins

Strips included:

– Al Change – Master of Disguise
– Ali’s Baba (from Sparky)
– The Amazing Peet from Planet K (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1973-75)
– Andy Ladd – a short strip about a young resourceful inventor
– Beryl the Peril – a mischievous girl similar to Minnie the Minx, created by Davy Law. Appeared on cover from 1986 to the merge with The Beezer in 1990. Recently appeared in The Dandy.
– “Big Fat Flo” – drawn by Phil Millar. Originally ran in Buzz.
– Big Uggy – a caveman with an anthropomorphic dinosaur friend Dopey
– Bogeyman
– Captain Blood (adaptation of the novel by Rafael Sabatini, drawn by Paddy Brennan)
– Danny’s Tranny (1973-86) – a boy and his magical transistor radio – was cover star in mid 1970s.
– Desert Island Dick – a short strip about a castaway, his pet octopus and his incompetent attempts to summon rescue.
– Dopey Joe – a short strip about an incompetent Indian
– Figaro! – an overweight Mexican bandit and his gang.
– Flip McCoy – the Flying Boy (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1953-)
– Foxy – A fox forever trying to steal chickens and forever getting blasted by The Farmer. Later appeared in The Dandy.
– Fred the Flop (1973-86) (Originaly from Buzz)
– Ghastly Manor – A group of ghosts and monsters who live in a run down manor, despite which they still get visitors.
– Hungry Horace (from Sparky) – the kid with the bottomless appetite who is always after food.
– The Iron Eaters An extra terrestrial invasion of Earth by a pink spongey substance, which could corrode iron and other metals
– Jimmy Jinx and what he thinks (1973-89) – Originally from Buzz (later appeared in Fun Size Dandy
– Jimmy’s Mighty Midgets (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1956)
– The Jolly Rogers (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1954)
– Julius Cheeser – a short strip about a cat’s failures to catch a mouse.
– Keyhole Kate – from Sparky, originally in The Dandy
– King Gussie “Everybody laughs to see the antics of His Majesty” – a short strip about a king
– Mickey the Monkey (1953-85,1990) The original cover star, created by Dudley D. Watkins.
– Peter Piper – (1939-40, 1967?-88) with magical pan pipes that could animate objects. Originally appeared in the short lived The Magic Comic and revived in Sparky.
– Pup Parade (1989-92) – Originally from The Beano between 1967 and 1988. Later reappeared in the same comic in 2003.
– Scaredy Cat (1989-93) – A petrified cat who had lost 8 out his 9 lives. Survived Beezer merger and stayed until comic’s end.
– Send for Kelly (1960s-91)- A secret agent called Nick Kelly, helped by assistant Cedric for most of the strip’s run. Cedric was later replaced by Harry, nephew of Kelly. Survived Beezer merger in 1990.
– Sir Laughalot – a fantasy knight and his misadventures
– Smart Art
– Souper Boy (1977-86) – a weedy boy who became extremely strong when drinking a special soup
– Spike
– Splodge “the last of the goblins” – around four inches high and invisible to humans, who stole food (Later in The Beano)
– Stavros
– Tiny – The World’s Biggest Dog
– Tom and Terry (1979-88) (from Sparky)
– Tricky Dicky (1976-93) – cover star from 1979 until 1986. Moved to the inside for the duration of the comic’s life, survived Beezer merge, later in The Beano in 2000
– The White Witch (adaptation of the novel She by H. Rider Haggard, drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1956)
– The Whizzers from Ozz (drawn by Paddy Brennan)
– Wulf of the Arrows (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1957)

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UPDATE 11-09-2018

396,397,600

British Comics

Topper

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