Lesser Known British Comic Strips
Encyclopedia
A number of comic strips in British newspaper ran for many years, but little information is still available on them. This page will list some that were published and hope their history could possibly be expanded.
- BelindaBelinda (comic strip)Belinda, aka Belinda Blue-Eyes, was a newspaper comic strip created in 1936 by the cartoonist Steve Dowling and scripted by Bill Connor...
was modelled after the American Strip Little Orphan AnnieLittle Orphan AnnieLittle Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
was published in the Daily Mirror. It was drawn by Steve Dowling and Tony Royle during the 1930s & 1940s. - Billy and Bunny was a long-running comic strip featured in a Scottish Newspaper. They were drawn by James Crighton better known for drawing Korky the CatKorky the CatKorky 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...
for 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...
comic. Billy was a young boy and Bunny was an anthropomorphised rabbit. Their stories were set in a fantasy fairytale world where they often got up to mischief. There were several annuals from 1922 to 1941 and in 1948 & 1949. Even on the last 1949 Annual, they were still wearing their early 1920s trademark spats and gaitersGaitersGaiters are garments worn over the shoe and lower pant leg, and used primarily as personal protective equipment; similar garments used primarily for display are spats....
, a popular male fashion item from decades before. These annuals were all published by John Leng & Co, London. - Come on Steve Published initially in the Sunday Express in 1936 and transferred to the Sunday DispatchSunday DispatchThe Sunday Dispatch was a British newspaper, published between 27 September 1801 and 1961. Until 1928, it was called the Weekly Dispatch.-History:...
in 1941. It was drawn by Roland Davies. The character "Steve" was a cart horse name after the British jockey Steve DonoghueSteve DonoghueSteve Donoghue was a leading English flat-race jockey in the 1910s and 1920s. He was Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated horse racing sportsmen after Fred Archer, arguably only Sir Gordon Richards eclipsing him.-Background:Born in Warrington, Cheshire,...
. The expression "Come on Steve" was a cheer used by racing fans to encourage Donoghue. - Dot and Carrie was introduced as a three month trial in the London Evening Star at the end of 1922. It transferred to the London Evening NewsEvening News (London)Evening News, formerly known as The Evening News, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in London...
on 18 October 1960, finally ceasing on 23 May 1964. its author was J F Horrabin. - Eb and Flo were drawn by Wilfred Haughton who also drew the Mickey Mouse Annuals from 1931 to 1939 and the Weekly Comic covers as well as the Bobby BearBobby BearBobby Bear was a Cartoon Character in the Daily Herald newspaper starting in 1919. He was a young male bear character based on the Steiff Teddy Bear that was popular at the time. His friends were Ruby Rabbit and Maisie Mouse. Later Percy Porker the pig became a regular character as well as Freddy...
annuals in the 1930s. Haughton first drew this cartoon strip for The Daily Herald before his 1930s Disney work. It was about two Negro orphans, Ebenezer and Florence, who acted as parents to the unnamed Twins. Also featured were Timothy - a school pal, Uncles Joe and Desmond, Auntie Kate, Gran'pa and their pup, Sausage. There was a later annual published in 1939 (as dated by a 1939 inscription as found in a copy) by Deans called Eb' and Flo' annual which featured stories and reprinted cartoon strips all in a similar style to the Mickey Mouse annuals. From their initial appearance in the late 1920s, an enamelled badge shows Eb and Flo were the characters related to the 'Cheery Coons Club' for the Sunday People newspaper in the early 1930s. - Jimpy was drawn by Hugh McClelland. It started in the Daily Mirror on 5 January 1946 and lasted for six years.
- The Larks drawn by Jack Dunkley in the Daily Mirror, it was first seen on 5 August 1957.
- Lord God Almighty by Steve BellSteve Bell (cartoonist)Steve Bell is an English political cartoonist, whose work appears in The Guardian and other publications. He is known for his left-wing views and distinctive caricatures.-Early life:...
appeared in The LevellerLeveller magazineThe Leveller was a British political magazine, c.1976 to 1982, collectively produced by a shifting coalition of radicals, socialists, marxists, feminists, and others of the British left and progressive movements. It was published during the years of the Labour government of James Callaghan and the...
in the 1970s. - The Nipper started during 1933 in the Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and was drawn by Brian WhiteBrian White (cartoonist)Brian White was a British cartoonist, creating 'The Nipper' for the Daily Mail between 1933 and 1947.Both 'Keyhole Kate' and 'Double Trouble' ran in London's Evening Standard....
. An annual was produced for many years. - Paul Temple a strip based on the radio detectivePaul TemplePaul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
started in the London Evening News 19 November 1951 and lasted over twenty years, The graphics were by Alfred Sindall. - Penny by Paul Davies appeared in the Sunday Pictorial during the 1940s and 1950s.
- Ruggles began in the Daily Mirror on 11 March 1935, only ending on 3 August 1957. It was drawn by "Blik", pen-pame for Steve Dowling.
- Sporting Sam was thirty years from 1944 in the Sunday Express. It was produced by Reg Woolton.
- Spotlight on Sally by Arthur FerrierArthur FerrierArthur Ferrier was a Scottish artist, illustrator and cartoonist.Ferrier was born and started work in Glasgow, Scotland as an analytical chemist. He freelanced as a cartoonist for the Daily Record there...
appeared in the News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
at the end of World War II. It was contemporary and competed with the strip JaneJane (comic strip)Jane was a comic strip created and drawn by Norman Pett exclusively for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror from 5 December 1932 to 10 October 1959.-Characters and story:...
. - Tim, Toots & Teeny were a cartoon strip in the Daily ChronicleDaily ChronicleThe Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...
newspaper from at least 1929, and there were several annuals issued starting in 1930 to at least 1937, as the undated 1931 to 1938 Annuals inclusive. These annuals were published by George Newnes of London, and feature Tim (a cat), Toots (a pig) and Tiny (a duck). The first 1931 Annual states 'A Whole Year Of Adventure with the Famous Pets'. No artist or linked newspaper name is mentioned in these annuals, leaving them remaining unknown until two Christmas and Birthday postcards revealed their origins. A copy of the 1934 annual was found in the printer's archives, Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich, stamped 'Jarrolds Factory Book Dept.' To identify the set of eight Tim Toots & Teeny Annual books, 1931 Orange Car, 1932 Leapfrog, 1933 Train, 1934 Bicycle, 1935 Toy Plane, 1936 River Boat, 1937 Treehouse & 1938 Fairground are the front covers. - VaroomshkaVaroomshkaVaroomshka was a satirical comic strip by John Kent that appeared in The Guardian in 1969 and ran throughout the 1970s. The young woman Varoomshka was an Everywoman used by Kent to poke fun at the prominent British politicians of the day such as Harold Wilson and Edward Heath...
by John KentJohn Kent (cartoonist)John Kent was a New Zealand cartoonist who is best known as the author of the Varoomshka comic strip in the English newspaper The Guardian during the 1970s....
appeared in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in the 1970s.