Billy the Cat and Katie
Encyclopedia
Billy the Cat was a comic strip
in The Beano
. The strip featured William Grange, later joined by his cousin Kathleen, alias Billy the Cat and Katie. Both were acrobatic crime fighters who helped the police to solve crime and catch "crooks" in the town of Burnham, and they wore "cat-suits" in order to conceal their true identities.
The original version of the strip was drawn by David Sutherland
, and ran in distinct series from issue 1289 (dated 1 April 1967) to 1677 (7 September 1974). When the strip made the final appearance of its original run in 1974, it was one of the last remaining adventure strips in the Beano. An older version of Billy, without Katie, and now set in Marham, appeared in Buddy comic in the 1980s.
Minus Katie, the strip returned to The Beano for six weeks from issue 3195, dated 11 October 2003, drawn by Wayne Thompson and Richard Elson
. In 2005, it made a second brief return, scripted by Mike Chinn
and this time drawn by Nigel Dobbyn, who has also subsequently drawn several Billy and Katie stories for Beano Annuals, from the 2007 annual onwards. The story in that annual was written by Bash Street Adventures artist/writer Kev F Sutherland. The 2009 annual did not have a Billy the Cat story, though he reappeared in the 2010 annual, starring "William the cat" in a Victorian setting which turns out to be the hallucination of an unconscious William Grange, on a school trip to a museum.
He made a guest appearance in the 70th anniversary Beano in 2008, this time drawn in a Manga-like style by Laura Howell
. Billy returned to the comic shortly after in issue 3554 (dated 18 October 2008), as a single-page strip illustrated by Barrie Appleby
. This was the strip's eighth series in the comic. However, it was removed from the comic the following year because it was not popular enough. This was said to be because readers felt the story needed more pages, or that the stories weren't exciting or adventurous enough. On the Beano website a humorous video was put up showing what 'happened' to Billy the Cat, illustrating Billy jumping onto a building, then out of nowhere, he's crushed by 10 tonnes.
Despite ths, Nigel Dobbyn's version of the strip appeared in the Beano Annual 2011 http://www.nigeldobbyn.co.uk/oldsite/billy00.html. However, Dobbyn was unhappy with how his artwork had been stretched in that year's annual, and as a result Billy did not appear in the 2012 annual.
in the 2008 Beano Annual written by Kev F Sutherland and drawn by Nigel Dobbyn. It involved Jumbo's radio control having been modified by a sentient model infantryman, taking control of Jumbo's actions. Billy had to save the day, firstly by removing Jumbo's wrist-controller and secondly by causing it to feed back on its creator - who, however, in homage to a classic B-movie motif, shows faint signs of life in the final panel while the heroes make their exit. (There is further homage in the naming
of some of the model infantrymen, although using "Sergeant-Major" as "Wilson"'s rank is a departure from the strictly parallel.) This story was concluded in the 2009 annual, but this time only featured Jumbo and was drawn by another artist.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in The Beano
The 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...
. The strip featured William Grange, later joined by his cousin Kathleen, alias Billy the Cat and Katie. Both were acrobatic crime fighters who helped the police to solve crime and catch "crooks" in the town of Burnham, and they wore "cat-suits" in order to conceal their true identities.
The original version of the strip was drawn by David Sutherland
David Sutherland
David Sutherland is an artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids , Dennis the Menace for The Beano, Fred's Bed and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s...
, and ran in distinct series from issue 1289 (dated 1 April 1967) to 1677 (7 September 1974). When the strip made the final appearance of its original run in 1974, it was one of the last remaining adventure strips in the Beano. An older version of Billy, without Katie, and now set in Marham, appeared in Buddy comic in the 1980s.
Minus Katie, the strip returned to The Beano for six weeks from issue 3195, dated 11 October 2003, drawn by Wayne Thompson and Richard Elson
Richard Elson
Richard Elson is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Sonic the Comic, 2000 AD and Thor.-Biography:Richard Elson is a fine art graduate with over sixteen years experience as a cartoonist and illustrator....
. In 2005, it made a second brief return, scripted by Mike Chinn
Mike Chinn
Mike Chinn is a horror, fantasy and comics writer from Birmingham, England.Chinn has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection and Best Short Story....
and this time drawn by Nigel Dobbyn, who has also subsequently drawn several Billy and Katie stories for Beano Annuals, from the 2007 annual onwards. The story in that annual was written by Bash Street Adventures artist/writer Kev F Sutherland. The 2009 annual did not have a Billy the Cat story, though he reappeared in the 2010 annual, starring "William the cat" in a Victorian setting which turns out to be the hallucination of an unconscious William Grange, on a school trip to a museum.
He made a guest appearance in the 70th anniversary Beano in 2008, this time drawn in a Manga-like style by Laura Howell
Laura Howell
Laura Howell is a British-born comic strip artist. She is the first female artist in the history of The Beano comic, and responsible for "Johnny Bean from Happy Bunny Green", "Les Pretend" and Beano Manga. She also drew Billy the Cat in the Special 70 Years Beano, and two Minnie the Minx strips...
. Billy returned to the comic shortly after in issue 3554 (dated 18 October 2008), as a single-page strip illustrated by Barrie Appleby
Barrie Appleby
Barrie Appleby is a British comics artist who works mainly for Scottish publisher D. C. Thomson & Co., drawing strips such as Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger for The Beano since the 1970s. He has also drawn Cuddles and Dimples for The Dandy, as well as strips for Nutty, Hoot, Monster Fun and...
. This was the strip's eighth series in the comic. However, it was removed from the comic the following year because it was not popular enough. This was said to be because readers felt the story needed more pages, or that the stories weren't exciting or adventurous enough. On the Beano website a humorous video was put up showing what 'happened' to Billy the Cat, illustrating Billy jumping onto a building, then out of nowhere, he's crushed by 10 tonnes.
Despite ths, Nigel Dobbyn's version of the strip appeared in the Beano Annual 2011 http://www.nigeldobbyn.co.uk/oldsite/billy00.html. However, Dobbyn was unhappy with how his artwork had been stretched in that year's annual, and as a result Billy did not appear in the 2012 annual.
Billy the Cat and General Jumbo
This was a crossover between Billy the Cat and General JumboGeneral Jumbo
General Jumbo was a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano, originally drawn by Paddy Brennan....
in the 2008 Beano Annual written by Kev F Sutherland and drawn by Nigel Dobbyn. It involved Jumbo's radio control having been modified by a sentient model infantryman, taking control of Jumbo's actions. Billy had to save the day, firstly by removing Jumbo's wrist-controller and secondly by causing it to feed back on its creator - who, however, in homage to a classic B-movie motif, shows faint signs of life in the final panel while the heroes make their exit. (There is further homage in the naming
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
of some of the model infantrymen, although using "Sergeant-Major" as "Wilson"'s rank is a departure from the strictly parallel.) This story was concluded in the 2009 annual, but this time only featured Jumbo and was drawn by another artist.
External links
- Billy the Cat and Katie - internationalhero.co.uk information page
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW0GekdaiG4 - Animated trailer for Billy The Cat v General Jumbo