Beryl the Peril
Encyclopedia
| Dandy The Dandy The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino... strip |
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| Beryl the Peril | |
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| Creator | David Law David Law David "Davey" Law was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd .... |
| Notable Artists | Karl Dixon Karl Dixon Karl Dixon, born in the USA but raised in the UK, is a comics artist and illustrator whose work has been published in newspapers, magazines, children's books and government campaigns in the UK, Europe and the USA since the 1990s... Robert Nixon |
| First appearance | The Topper The Topper The Nottingham & Long Eaton Topper is a free newspaper located in West Bridgford, Nottingham.It is Britain's largest circulating independent weekly newspaper with a distribution in excess of 211,000 copies a week... issue 1 (7 February 1953) |
| Last appearance | The Dandy Annual The Dandy Annual The Dandy Annual is the current name of the book that has been published every year since 1938, to tie in with the children's comic The Dandy. there have been 74 editions, with another presumably to follow in 2012. The annuals are traditionally published in August, in time for Christmas, and... 2012 |
| Strip of Origin | Beryl the Peril Beryl the Peril Beryl the Peril is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for Issue 1 of The Topper comic published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black and red apparel, and devilishly tormented her parents and other members of her community... |
Beryl the Peril (or simply Beryl) is a fictional character created by David Law
David Law
David "Davey" Law was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd ....
, the creator of Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (UK)
Dennis the Menace, later called Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and now Dennis and Gnasher, is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by D. C...
, for Issue 1 of The Topper
Topper (comic book)
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....
comic
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
(dated 7 February 1953) published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black and red apparel, and devilishly tormented her parents and other members of her community. Despite not having quite as many appearances as other DC Thompson characters such as Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (UK)
Dennis the Menace, later called Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and now Dennis and Gnasher, is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by D. C...
or Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy. He first appeared in its first issue, dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch.-History:The strip was...
, Beryl is still considered one of the classic characters which define the popularity of the British Comics.
Creation and Concept
Beryl the Peril first appeared in the first issue of The Topper in 1953. She was created to be a female equivalent to The BeanoThe Beano
The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink...
's Dennis the Menace. Davey Law, her artist and creator, drew inspiration from his daughter whom would often pull faces during her tantrums. The strips were similar in concept to the Dennis the Menace ones in that she would cause chaos through menacing her neighbours, parents and school teachers. In 1958, Beryl was chosen as one of the few of DC Thompson's characters to earn an annual all to herself, consisting solely from reprints in past years.
Retirement of Law and rise in popularity
When Law retired in 1970 her strip was taken over by John Dallas. Her costume changed at some point in the mid 1980s from her red top underneath a black dress to a blue and white striped jumper underneath a red dress. In 1986 she became the Topper's front page star, replacing Tricky DickyTricky Dicky (comics)
Tricky Dicky was a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Topper. Drawn by John Dallas, Dicky used to play practical jokes on people, but they usually managed to get the last laugh...
. Her dog Pearl was also introduced shortly before that time, although before that she had a pet turkey called Gobbler. In 1987 Robert Nixon
Robert Nixon (artist)
Robert Nixon was an artist who worked on several British comics.Bob was born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, in North Yorkshire on July 7, 1939. He was the fifth of six children born to Arthur Nixon and Phylis Thompson. Robert's mother Phylis worked as a housewife while his father worked locally...
took over, a cartoonist who followed in the steps of noted cartoonist Ken Reid, and her overall look became smoother and fuller. She also appeared far less like Dennis the Menace and seemed far more individual as a character. She remained with the comic when the Topper merged with The Beezer in 1990.
Move to The Dandy
However, when this comic finished in 1993, she joined The DandyThe Dandy
The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...
comic. To mark celebration with her joining the comic, Beryl shares the spotlight with Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy. He first appeared in its first issue, dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch.-History:The strip was...
on the 1994 Dandy Annual.
In the 1999 Dandy Annual, Beryl's strip depicted her breaking the fourth wall in talking to her artist. In the strip, she requests to become invisible to which the artist somewhat resentfully obliges. She then gets up to 'Perils' but soon finds that being invisible is far more painful than she initially thought.
Karl Dixon's Revamp
In 1999, the strip was taken over by Ollie FliptrikOllie Fliptrik
Ollie Fliptrik is a fictional character who has his own comic strip in the UK comic The Dandy. He first appeared in issue # 3138, dated 12 January 2002. The strip catalogues the crazy adventures of Ollie, a spikey-haired skateboarder, and his friends dopey Doug, Smudger and Anna, also enthusiastic...
artist Karl Dixon
Karl Dixon
Karl Dixon, born in the USA but raised in the UK, is a comics artist and illustrator whose work has been published in newspapers, magazines, children's books and government campaigns in the UK, Europe and the USA since the 1990s...
as Nixon had to go into semi-retirement due to health problems. A year or two later, Beryl was revamped. She reverted back to her black and red clothes and her hairstyle became much more like that of Dennis the Menace - but her pig tails remained. She regained many of her Dennis influenced traits as well such as the famous 'behind the nose' grin and constant scowl. Beryl also attended Dennis the Menace's 50th Birthday party, although she was a late comer so she didn't actually participate in any of the party games or fights prior.
Beryl disappeared for a while after the October 2004 Dandy relaunch. Bar one appearance in December that year, she returned from issue 3302, dated 12 March 2005.
As revealed in The Dandy
The Dandy
The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...
dated 3 March 2006, Steve Bright had taken over Beryl as artist and she had now reverted back to how she was drawn by David Law
David Law
David "Davey" Law was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd ....
, and had gone through another costume change - a baggy green and red t-shirt with baggy black jeans and trainers. However, she disappeared when the Dandy relaunched in August 2007. She later re-appeared for four issues, but as reprints from the Nixon era.
Pass the Peril
In 2010, the Dandy was relaunched dropping the 'Xtreme' from its title and focussing far more on comics. As of yet, Beryl is yet to appear in a strip. However, she has made several cameo appearances. In a segment entitled 'What's in Cheryl's hair', a menacing looking girl with pigtails is seen peeking out. This was labelled Beryl Cole and so is therefore not deemed as an official appearance. However, she did make a return digitally via the social networking site FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. She was involved in an artist event called 'Pass the Peril' in which four different artists were to draw four different strips based on the character and the website. The first was drawn by Steve Beckett and saw Beryl informing her father that her adventures would now continue via Facebook in which she, very much in character, smashed her father's face with a book. The second was drawn by Andy Fanton
Andy Fanton
Andy Fanton is a British comic artist and writer, who had his George Vs. Dragon comic strip published in Britain's long running children's comic The Dandy from October 2010 onwards....
who showed Beryl mocking how it was fine to 'Write on a Wall' on Facebook but was considered deviant in real life revealing that she had been tagging all over Dandy town. The third was illustrated by Nik Holmes and consisted of Beryl contacting old friends through Facebook and featured cameos of past Dandy and Topper characters such as Tricky Dicky
Tricky Dicky (comics)
Tricky Dicky was a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Topper. Drawn by John Dallas, Dicky used to play practical jokes on people, but they usually managed to get the last laugh...
, Mickey the Monkey
Mickey the Monkey
Mickey the Monkey was a comic strip which featured the eponymous fictional monkey, Mickey. The character was the cover star of British comic The Topper from its launch in 1953 until the 1970s. The strip appeared throughout the comic's run, until its merger with The Beezer. The final story was in...
and Smasher
Smasher
Smasher is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:Smasher first appeared in X-Men #107 , and was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum....
. The final strip was drawn by Nigel Auchterlounie and finished with Beryl deciding to unlike her father on Facebook. This causes a chain effect in which other famous characters from The Dandy - including Korky the Cat
Korky the Cat
Korky the Cat is a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Dandy. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 4 December 1937, and was The Dandy's original cover star. He was on the front cover of Dandy for several decades only missing out one issue, No. 294 when Keyhole Kate was on the...
, Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy. He first appeared in its first issue, dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch.-History:The strip was...
and Bananaman
Bananaman
Bananaman is a British comic book fictional character. He originally appeared in Nutty as the backpage strip in Issue 1, dated 16 February 1980 drawn by John Geering.-Original strip:...
- also unfriend her father much to his dismay.
Beryl made her first appearance in the revamped Dandy comic in a Justin Beaver strip. She, alongside Minnie the Minx and Toots, appeared in the comics title card chasing after Justin. She made yet another appearance in a Harry and his Hippo strip, drawn by Andy Fanton. In this strip, she is enjoying the Dandy swimming pool alongside other famous past Dandy characters.
Pass the Peril returned to Facebook mid-2011, this time focussing on Beryl attempting to maker her own film. Also, the character returned in the 2012 Dandy Annual, once again drawn by Karl Dixon.
Reception and Legacy
Beryl could be seen by some as an important female role model; she was certainly not "sugar and spice and all things nice". When the staff of one RapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
Crisis Centre decided that they should all use the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Beryl Thomson" when dealing with officialdom, one of them wondered later if they had been subconsciously thinking about Beryl the Peril. Initially, the character was to be honoured on the Woman's History Trail in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
but was rejected last minute due to their decision in not including fictional characters. She has also caused criticism and controversy as British Politicians have deemed her a bad role model for young girls. A familiar criticism was garnered for male counterpart Dennis the Menace. One MP claimed that Beryl should 'be given an ASBO rather than a plaque'.
Personality Traits
Although Beryl is often perceived as a troublemaker similar to Dennis the Menace and Minnie the MinxMinnie the Minx
Minnie the Minx is a fictional character in the British comic The Beano. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953 making her the third longest running Beano character, behind only Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger...
, her personality changed several times. In the David Law strips, she is quite mischievous but also fun-loving and rather clumsy, whereas she became a more malicious character after John Dallas took over. However, after Robert Nixon took over, she became a much less menacing character, while the stories in the Karl Dixon era largely focussed on the relationship between Beryl and her Dad. In the Karl Dixon stories, she shows little respect to her father, often referring to him as 'Beak-Boy' due to his abnormally large nose.
See also
- Dennis the Menace (UK)Dennis the Menace (UK)Dennis the Menace, later called Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and now Dennis and Gnasher, is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by D. C...
- The TopperThe TopperThe Nottingham & Long Eaton Topper is a free newspaper located in West Bridgford, Nottingham.It is Britain's largest circulating independent weekly newspaper with a distribution in excess of 211,000 copies a week...
- The DandyThe DandyThe Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The first issue was printed in 1937 and it is the world's third longest running comic, after Detective Comics and Il Giornalino...
- Minnie the MinxMinnie the MinxMinnie the Minx is a fictional character in the British comic The Beano. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953 making her the third longest running Beano character, behind only Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger...