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{{about|the British comic||Beezer}}
{{Short description|British comic magazine}}
{{About|the British comic||Beezer (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Magazine
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox magazine
|title = The Beezer
|title = The Beezer
|editor = [[Leo Baxendale]], [[Gordon Bell (artist)|Gordon Bell]], [[Paddy Brennan]], [[David Law (cartoonist)|David Law]], [[Tom Paterson]], [[Bill Ritchie]], [[Dudley D. Watkins]], [[Malcolm Judge]], [[John Geering]]
|editor = unknown
|editor_title = Cartoonists
|image_file =
|image_file =
|image_size =
|image_size =
|image_caption =
|image_caption =
|editor_title =
|staff_writer =
|staff_writer =
|circulation =
|circulation =
|frequency = [[Week|Weekly]]
|frequency = [[Week]]ly
|category = [[British comics]]
|category = [[British comics]]
|company = [[D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd]]
|company =
|publisher = [[D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.]]
|publisher =
|firstdate = 21 January 1956
|firstdate = 21 January 1956
|finaldate = 21 August 1993
|finaldate = 21 August 1993
|finalnumber = 1809
|finalnumber = 1809
|country = [[United Kingdom]]
|country = United Kingdom
|language = [[English language|English]]
|language = English
|website =
|website =
|issn =
|issn =
}}
}}


'''''The Beezer''''' (called '''''The Beezer and Topper''''' for the last 3 years of publication) was a British [[comic book|comic]] that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, when it unofficially "merged" with ''[[The Beano]]''.
'''''The Beezer''''' (called '''''The Beezer and Topper''''' for the last three years of publication) was a British [[comic book|comic]] that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by [[D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.]] Comic strips in ''The Beezer'' were a mix of irreverence, slapstick, and adventure; notable creators included [[Leo Baxendale]], [[Gordon Bell (artist)|Gordon Bell]], [[Paddy Brennan]], [[David Law (cartoonist)|David Law]], [[Tom Paterson]], [[Bill Ritchie]], [[Dudley D. Watkins]], [[Malcolm Judge]], and [[John Geering]].


== Publication history ==
Like its sister comic, ''[[Topper (comic book)|The Topper]]'', ''The Beezer'' was an A3 ([[tabloid]]) publication, making it twice as big as other comics. It shrank to [[A4 paper size]], like the others, in 1981.
Like its sister comic, ''[[Topper (comic book)|The Topper]]'', ''The Beezer'' was an A3 ([[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]]) publication, twice as big as most other comics. It shrank to [[A4 paper size]] in 1981.


Comics that merged with ''The Beezer'' during its 37 year run were ''[[Cracker (comic)|Cracker]]'' in 1976, ''[[Plug (comic)|Plug]]'' in 1979, and ''The [[Topper (comic)|Topper]]'' in 1990 and the comic was renamed ''Beezer and Topper''. Although the comic ended in 1993, three other publications continued for a few years afterwards. They were ''The Best of Beezer'' (1988-1996), ''The Beezer Summer Special'' (1973-2002, known as the 'Holiday Special' from 1998 onwards) and '''[[The Beezer Book]]''' (1957-2003).
Comics that merged into ''The Beezer'' during its 37-year run were ''[[Cracker (comic)|Cracker]]'' in 1976, and ''[[Plug (comic)|Plug]]'' in 1979.


The Beezer launched an annual, ''The Beezer Book'', in 1957; this continued in publication following the closure of the weekly comic, and ran until the 2003 book (published 2002).
==Strips==
Strips in ''The Beezer'' included:


=== 1990 merger with ''The Topper'' ===
*''[[Adrian the Barbarian]]'' - reprinted as of 19 July 2008 issue (3441) of The Beano as Olaff the Madlander. Drawn by [[Robert Nixon]] and [[Sid Burgon]]
In September 1990, DC Thomson decided to rationalise their comics portfolio, and merged the ''Beezer'' with ''The [[Topper (comic)|Topper]]''. Whereas most previous comic mergers saw the name of one of the 'absorbed' comics disappear, the ''Topper'' was considered significant enough for its name to be retained despite the merger, and as such the comic was renamed ''Beezer and Topper'' following the relaunch. (''[[Whizzer and Chips]]'' was conceived as a double comic, and was not the result of a merger.)
*''[[Baby Crockett]]'' - supposedly a baby version of [[Davy Crockett]], but in practice a modern-day 'cute toddler' strip. Drawn by [[Bill Ritchie]]
*''[[The Badd Lads]]'' - a group of three criminals (Boss, Fingers and Knucklehead) always on the run or bungling an attempted crime. Drawn by [[Malcolm Judge]]. Later by [[Barrie Appleby]].
*''[[Barney's Barmy Army]]''
*''[[Beefy Dan The Fast-Food Man]]''
*''[[Black Bun]]'' - a rabbit stealing cabbages from a farmer. Drawn by [[George Martin (artist)|George Martin]]
*''[[Blinky]]'' - About Colonel Blink's short-sighted nephew. Drawn by [[George Martin (artist)|George Martin]] and [[Gordon Bell]]. (Now in [[The Dandy]])
*''[[The Banana Bunch]]'' - about a group of kids, Brainy, Dopey, Lanky, Titch, Fatty, Cookie (1977-1979), Thatch (1977-1986), Sis (1994-). Drawn by [[George Martin]]. [[Gordon Bell]] and [[Tom Paterson]].
*''[[The Black Sapper]]'' - 1959 story about a thief who stole the Crown Jewels with his tunnelling machine called the Earthworm.
*''[[Cap'n Hand and his merry mutineers]]'' - a pirate captain and his endlessly rebellious crew
*''[[Colonel Blink]] The Short-Sighted Gink''- About a man who is as blind as a bat. Originally drawn by [[Tom Bannister]], later drawn by [[Gordon Bell]]
*''[[First Ada]]'' - About a tomboy girl, who looks after hurt animals. Drawn by [[Gordon Bell]]. A [[Plug (comic)|Plug]] merger.
*''[[Fred's Bed]]'' - recently reprinted in [[The Beano]], but now new strips. Drawn by [[David Parkins]] and occasionally [[Tom Paterson]].
*''[[Geezer]]'' - about a young boy, who always was after money. Similar to [[Roger the Dodger]]. Drawn by [[Robert Nixon]], [[Trevor Metcalfe]] and [[Jimmy Hansen]].
*''[[Gnatasha]]'' - The daughter of Gnasher and sister of Gnipper from the Beano in her own strip in the late 80s and early 90s of the Beezer/Beezer & Topper. Drawn by [[Bill Ritchie]]
*''[[Ginger (comics)|Ginger]]'' - cover star in earliest issues, and from mid-1960s to 1990. [http://www.britishcomics.com/Beezer/beezernumber1.htm]
*''[[The Gobbles]]'' - a group of [[vultures]] always on the lookout for food. Similar to [[The Three Bears (comic)|The Three Bears]]
*''[[Hugh's Zoo]]'' - About a boy who has his own zoo. Drawn by [[Gordon Bell]]. A [[Plug (comic)|Plug]] merger.
*''[[Hungry Hoss]]'' - a horse owned by Joe the cowboy robber who couldn't stop eating. Drawn by [[Bill Ritchie]]
*''[[The Iron Eaters]]'' - sponges from space that ate iron, causing all kinds of problems
*''[[The Jellymen]]'' Five legged invaders from the deep
*''[[Joe Soap]]'' - About a boy and his grandpa and a strange lot of bubbles. Drawn by [[John Dallas (comics)|John Dallas]]. A [[Cracker (comic)|Cracker]] merger.
*''[[Little Mo]]'' - a generic resourceful/mischievous tomboy.
*''[[My Pal, Ropey]]''
*''[[Our Sherrif's An Ape]]''- About a town with to sherrifs. One who's human called Danny Blain, and another who's an ape named Charlie.
*''[[Paw, Maw and Porky]]''- Later on just called 'Porky'. Drawn by [[John Geering]]
*''[[Plug (comic)|Plug]]'' (from ''Plug'')
*''[[Pop, Dick and Harry]]'' - early cover story about twins trying to outsmart their father. In every issue.
*''[[Saucy Sue]]''
*''[[Scrapper]]'' - About a young lad who always gets into fights. Drawn by [[Gordon Bell]] and [[George Martin]]
*''[[Smiffy]]''- About a boy who liked getting dirty. Drawn by [[Bill Ritchie]]
*''[[Space Patrol]]''
*''[[Spacewacker]]'' - name of the family spaceship. The feature was a development of the earlier 'Bushwacker' strip, in which an Australian father and his two children (who never grew older despite various versions of Bushwacker and many years of publication) - journeyed in a 'land yacht' capable of travelling on land or water under sail or jet engine power. Bushwacker later developed into a flying, sailing, submersible wheeled helicopter. The storyline moved on with the 'Spacewacker' in which the same party roamed around a strange alien world. The vehicle was a large bubble-fronted vehicle that travelled on rollers and bristled with gadgets on demand.
*''[[Sting (comic strip)|Sting]]''- about a group of bees, (Originally called '[[The Beezers]]'). Drawn by [[Bob Dewar]]
*''[[The Hillys and the Billys]]'' - two feuding [[hillbilly]] families. This strip was surprisingly violent, with the families eager to shoot each other with shotguns - even to the point of co-operating in order to steal guns from the sheriff. Drawn by [[George Martin]] and later on by [[Barry Glennard]]
*''[[The Munchers]]'' - About a bunch of thieving rabbits. Similar to [[The Nibblers]] from [[The Beano]]. Drawn by [[Gordon Bell]]
*''[[The Numskulls]]'' - small "people" living in your head, each working in their own department: brain, eyes, nose, ears, and mouth (now in [[The Beano]].) Drawn by [[Malcolm Judge]] and later on by [[Tom Lavery]] and [[Steve Bright]].
*''[[Tommy's Toybox]]'' - Tommy finds a toolbox from space and builds all kinds of interesting things
*''[[True Brit]]'' - a patrotic boy who talks about British culture
*''[[Tuff and Tiny]]'' - About a young caveboy and his cowardly pet dragon. Drawn by [[Gordon Bell]]
*''[[Twitt Hall]]''- Drawn by [[John Geering]]
*''[[The Wallies of Winkle Street]]''
*''[[Young Sid The Copper's Kid]]''- About a young lad called Sid and his dad PC 99. Drawn by [[George Martin]]


=== Cancellation/merger with ''The Beano'' ===
==Famous creators==
''Beezer and Topper'' ceased publication as a weekly comic in 1993; when it closed it was essentially (unofficially) "merged" with ''[[The Beano]]'', as this is where the bulk of surviving content from the comic (most prominently ''[[The Numskulls]]'') ended up. Some also went to DC Thomson's other surviving weekly comic, ''[[The Dandy]]''.
Well known creators who worked for Beezer include:


== Annuals and other ''Beezer'' publications ==
*[[Leo Baxendale]]
Although the weekly ''Beezer'' and ''Topper'' had merged, the two comics' annuals (''The Beezer Book'' and ''[[The Topper Book]]'') remained separate publications. The closure of ''Beezer and Topper'' led to the closure of the ''Topper'' annual as of the 1994 book (published 1993), but ''The Beezer Book'' continued in publication annually for some years thereafter, eventually ceasing with the 2003 book (published 2002). Other ''Beezer'' publications that continued after the weekly comic's closure were ''The Best of Beezer'' (launched 1988, closed 1996) and ''The Beezer Summer Special'' (launched 1973, known as the 'Holiday Special' from 1998 onwards, closed 2002).
*[[Gordon Bell (artist)|Gordon Bell]]

*[[Paddy Brennan]]
Vintage strips from the ''Beezer'' were published alongside stories from other DC Thomson publications in ''[[Classics from the Comics]]'', which was published from 1996 to 2010.
*[[David Law]]

*[[Joe McCaffrey]]
A ''The Best of the Beezer Annual'' was released in 2014, published by [[Pedigree Books]] as part of the ''Retro Classics'' series.<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-Classics-Best-Beezer-Annual-ebook/dp/B0115RTFS4 ''Retro Classics: The Best of The Beezer Annual''] (DC Thomson, 2016).</ref> It contained reprints of old Beezer comics. Despite the name saying "annual", a second book was never released.
*[[Tom Paterson]]

*[[Bill Ritchie]]
==Strips==
*[[Dudley D. Watkins]]
''The Beezer'' was home to 120 different comic strips over the years.
*[[Malcolm Judge]]
{{main|List of Beezer comic strips|List of Beezer and Topper comic strips}}
*[[George Martin]]

*[[Bob Dewar]]
== See also ==
*[[John Geering]]
{{see also|List of DC Thomson publications}}


==References==
==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* Moore, Ray. ''The Book of the Beezer'' (CJ Publications, 1997).

== External links ==
*[http://www.26pigs.com/beezer/index.html Beezer on 26pigs.com]
*[http://www.26pigs.com/beezer/index.html Beezer on 26pigs.com]
*[http://thebeezersgoldenyears.blogspot.com/2010/01/history-of-beezer.html The Beezer's Golden Years]
*[http://thebeezersgoldenyears.blogspot.com/2010/01/history-of-beezer.html The Beezer's Golden Years]

{{seealso|List of DC Thomson publications}}


{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}
{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Beezer, the}}
[[Category:DC Thomson Comics titles]]
[[Category:DC Thomson Comics titles]]
[[Category:British comics]]
[[Category:Defunct British comics]]
[[Category:Defunct British comics]]
[[Category:Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British humour comics]]
[[Category:1956 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1993 comics endings]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1956]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1993]]
[[Category:Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom]]

Latest revision as of 01:32, 1 May 2024

This article is about the British comic. For other uses, see Beezer (disambiguation).

The Beezer
CartoonistsLeo Baxendale, Gordon Bell, Paddy Brennan, David Law, Tom Paterson, Bill Ritchie, Dudley D. Watkins, Malcolm Judge, John Geering
CategoriesBritish comics
FrequencyWeekly
PublisherD. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
First issue21 January 1956
Final issue
Number		21 August 1993
1809
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Beezer (called The Beezer and Topper for the last three years of publication) was a British comic that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in The Beezer were a mix of irreverence, slapstick, and adventure; notable creators included Leo Baxendale, Gordon Bell, Paddy Brennan, David Law, Tom Paterson, Bill Ritchie, Dudley D. Watkins, Malcolm Judge, and John Geering.

Publication history

[edit]

Like its sister comic, The Topper, The Beezer was an A3 (tabloid) publication, twice as big as most other comics. It shrank to A4 paper size in 1981.

Comics that merged into The Beezer during its 37-year run were Cracker in 1976, and Plug in 1979.

The Beezer launched an annual, The Beezer Book, in 1957; this continued in publication following the closure of the weekly comic, and ran until the 2003 book (published 2002).

1990 merger with The Topper

[edit]

In September 1990, DC Thomson decided to rationalise their comics portfolio, and merged the Beezer with The Topper. Whereas most previous comic mergers saw the name of one of the 'absorbed' comics disappear, the Topper was considered significant enough for its name to be retained despite the merger, and as such the comic was renamed Beezer and Topper following the relaunch. (Whizzer and Chips was conceived as a double comic, and was not the result of a merger.)

Cancellation/merger with The Beano

[edit]

Beezer and Topper ceased publication as a weekly comic in 1993; when it closed it was essentially (unofficially) "merged" with The Beano, as this is where the bulk of surviving content from the comic (most prominently The Numskulls) ended up. Some also went to DC Thomson's other surviving weekly comic, The Dandy.

Annuals and other Beezer publications

[edit]

Although the weekly Beezer and Topper had merged, the two comics' annuals (The Beezer Book and The Topper Book) remained separate publications. The closure of Beezer and Topper led to the closure of the Topper annual as of the 1994 book (published 1993), but The Beezer Book continued in publication annually for some years thereafter, eventually ceasing with the 2003 book (published 2002). Other Beezer publications that continued after the weekly comic's closure were The Best of Beezer (launched 1988, closed 1996) and The Beezer Summer Special (launched 1973, known as the 'Holiday Special' from 1998 onwards, closed 2002).

Vintage strips from the Beezer were published alongside stories from other DC Thomson publications in Classics from the Comics, which was published from 1996 to 2010.

A The Best of the Beezer Annual was released in 2014, published by Pedigree Books as part of the Retro Classics series.[1] It contained reprints of old Beezer comics. Despite the name saying "annual", a second book was never released.

Strips

[edit]

The Beezer was home to 120 different comic strips over the years.

Main articles: List of Beezer comic strips and List of Beezer and Topper comic strips

See also

[edit]
See also: List of DC Thomson publications

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ Retro Classics: The Best of The Beezer Annual (DC Thomson, 2016).

Sources

[edit]
  • Moore, Ray. The Book of the Beezer (CJ Publications, 1997).
[edit]
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