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Charles Grigg
Charles Grigg more commonly known as Charlie Grigg (23 November 1916 – 4 December 2013) was a British comic artist for DC Thomson. He was the artist of ''The Dandy'' cover strip ''Korky the Cat''. He also drew Desperate Dan after the original artist, Dudley Watkins, died. In ''The Topper'' comic he drew ''Splodge'', ''Willy Nilly'', ''Foxy'' and ''Shorty Shambles''. Completely self-taught as an artist, Grigg grew up in Langley, Oldbury, West Midlands, in the Black Country. Steven Grigg said his father was largely unappreciated while he was alive and would have been "very proud" of the honour. A self-taught artist, he never lost his love of drawing even in his later years. Grigg swiftly became the definitive ''Korky the Cat'' artist, when he took over the artistic duties from James Crighton on the cover of ''The Dandy'' in the early 1960s. Immediately making Korky a friendlier looking figure, his covers for the weekly, and the Dandy Summer Specials and annuals, were some of t ...
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West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level for Statistics, statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands (England), Midlands. The region consists of the ceremonial counties of england, counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire. The region has seven cities; Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Worcester, England, Worcester. The West Midlands region is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the West Midlands conurbation to the rural counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire which border Wales. The region is landlocked. However, the longest river in the UK, the River Severn, traverses the region southeastwards, flowing through the county towns of Shrewsbury and Worc ...
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Korky The Cat
''Korky the Cat'' is a character in a comic strip in the British comics magazine The Dandy. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 4 December 1937, except for one issue, No. 294 (9 June 1945) when Keyhole Kate was on the cover. For several decades he was the mascot of The Dandy. In 1984, after 47 virtually continuous years, Korky was replaced on the front cover by Desperate Dan. History The strip's simple premise follows the adventures of a black male cat called Korky, a cat who behaves like a human and is accepted in a world of humans as only a comic character can be. Originally a mute character, he started speaking in No. 149, 5 October 1940 (see image for his first words as he tries to help some hungry dogs). The 1950s saw the introduction of his 'Kits', Nip, Lip, and Rip. Artists were: * James Crighton from issues 1 to 1051 (4 December 1937 to 13 January 1962. * Charlie Grigg from issues 1052 to 2116 (20 January 1962 to 12 June 1982. * David Gudgeon from issue 2117 (19 June ...
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Desperate Dan
Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the now-defunct Scottish comic magazine ''The Dandy'', and became its mascot. He made his appearance in the first issue which was dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. The pillow of his (reinforced) bed is filled with building rubble and his beard is so tough he shaves with a blowtorch. The character was created by Dudley D. Watkins, originally as an outlaw or ‘desperado’ (hence his name), but evolved into a more sympathetic type, using his strength to help the underdog. After Watkins’ death in 1969, the cartoons were drawn by many other artists, principally Ken H. Harrison, though the Watkins canon was often recycled. When the Dandy became digital-only in 2012, the Desperate Dan strips were drawn by David Parkins. There is a statue of Dan in Dundee, Scotland, where his publishers, D. C. Thomson & Co. are based. History The strip was drawn by Dudley D. Watkins ...
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DC Thomson
DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wullie'', ''The Broons'', ''The Beano'', ''The Dandy'' and ''Commando''. It also owns the Aberdeen Journals, Aberdeen Journals Group which publishes the ''Press and Journal (Scotland), Press and Journal''. The company owns several websites, including Findmypast, and owned the now defunct social media site Friends Reunited. History The company began as a branch of the Thomson family business when William Thomson became the sole proprietor of Charles Alexander & Company, publishers of ''Dundee Courier and Daily Argus''. In 1884, David Couper Thomson took over the publishing business, and established it as D.C. Thomson in 1905. The firm flourished, and took its place as the third J in the "Three Js", the traditional summary of Dundee industry ( ...
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The Dandy
''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 October 1924) and ''Detective Comics'' (cover dated March 1937). From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as ''Dandy Xtreme''. One of the best selling comics in the UK, along with ''The Beano'', ''The Dandy'' reached sales of two million a week in the 1950s. The final printed edition was issued on 4 December 2012, the comic's 75th anniversary, after sales slumped to 8,000 a week. On the same day, ''The Dandy'' relaunched as an online comic, The Digital Dandy, appearing on the Dandy website and in the Dandy App. The digital relaunch was not successful and the comic ended just six months later. The Dandy title continues as a yearly Summer Special and the unbroken run of Dandy Annuals, up to and including the 2023 annual. History T ...
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Splodge
The Topper was a long running anthology comic which ran from 1953 to 1990. Mergers with two other comics, Buzz and Sparky in 1975 and 1977, respectively, added characters from those comics to The Topper's roster. The Topper eventually merged with another comic The Beezer in 1990 becoming the Beezer and Topper, this new comic featured a number of characters from The Topper and ended in 1993 with a few of the characters going on to appear in two other comics The Beano and The Dandy. The comic included a number of comic strip adaptations of classic novels, mainly the works of H. Rider Haggard and Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a .... See also * List of ''Beano'' comic strips * List of ''Beano'' comic strips by annual * List of ''Dandy'' com ...
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Oldbury, West Midlands
Oldbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough and one of its six constituent towns. At the 2011 census, the ward of Oldbury had a population of 13,606, while the 2017 population of the wider built-up area was estimated at 25,488. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, which defines Oldbury Town as consisting of the wards of Bristnall, Langley, Oldbury, and Old Warley, gave the population as 50,641 in 2011. Etymology The place name Oldbury, comes from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', – signifying that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1,000 years ago. ''Eald'' being Old English for 'old', ''Byrig'' is the plural of 'burh' in Old English – a burh being a fortification or fortified town. History Oldbury was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, a detached part of Shropshire surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry ...
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Black Country
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its role as one of the birth places of the Industrial Revolution across the English Midlands with coal mines, coking, iron foundries, glass factories, brickworks and steel mills, producing a high level of air pollution. The name dates from the 1840s, and is believed to come from the soot that the heavy industries covered the area in, although the 30-foot-thick coal seam close to the surface is another possible origin. The road between Wolverhampton and Birmingham was described as "one continuous town" in 1785. Extent The Black Country has no single set of defined boundaries. Some traditionalists define it as "the area where the coal seam comes to the surface – so West Bromwich, Coseley, Oldbury, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, B ...
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Seaside Postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wooden postcards, copper postcards sold in the Copper Country of the U.S. state of Michigan, and coconut "postcards" from tropical islands. In some places, one can send a postcard for a lower fee than a letter. Stamp collectors distinguish between postcards (which require a postage stamp) and postal cards (which have the postage pre-printed on them). While a postcard is usually printed and sold by a private company, individual or organization, a postal card is issued by the relevant postal authority (often with pre-printed postage). Production of postcards blossomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an easy and quick way for individuals to communicate, they became extremely popular. The study and collecting of postcards is termed ...
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Spinner Racks
A spinner rack is a rotating merchandise display, usually placed on a retailer's floor or counter. Often used to display magazines, paperbacks, greeting cards, postcards, hats, or seeds, the spinner rack is closely associated with the comic book industry. A typical spinner rack is composed of a metal central spine with wire pockets, baskets, or pegs. A floor unit may have between four and twelve tiers (usually with four pockets on each tier) that may or may not rotate independently. Additional features may include a signholder that sits on top of the unit. (A typical comics spinner rack would have 44 pockets, with each pocket holding around five comics.) Author George R. R. Martin, in writing about the spinner racks he knew as a child, notes that they offered a hodge-podge of titles (in his case paperbacks) regardless of genre, and thus exposed readers to a wide variety of writing, as opposed to the modern bookstore, where books are generally categorized by topic.Martin, George R. R ...
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Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term memory, remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include primary progressive aphasia, problems with language, Orientation (mental), disorientation (including easily getting lost), mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and challenging behaviour, behavioral issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Although the speed of progression can vary, the typical life expectancy following diagnosis is three to nine years. The cause of Alzheimer's disease is poorly understood. There are many environmental and genetic risk factors associated with its development. The strongest genetic risk factor is from an alle ...
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Rupert Besley
Rupert Besley is a British illustrator working since 1980, best known for nearly 400 postcard illustrations for J. Arthur Dixon and later John Hinde. He also illustrated cartoon panels for Isle of Wight County Press The ''Isle of Wight County Press'' is a local, compact newspaper published every Friday on the Isle of Wight. It had an audited circulation of 23,006 copies, compared to a local population of 140,500. The paper saw a drop in circulation of 13,657 b .... Bibliography *Besley's Britain *Scotland for Beginners *Isle of Skye for Beginners *Ireland for Beginners, Or, Get Lost in Ireland, 1994 *'Haud Yer Wheesht!': Your Scottish Granny's Favourite Sayings 1997 *Whaur's Yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?': Scotland's Millennium Souvenir 1999 *'Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus!': Scots Grandchildren on Their Grannies, 1999 *Dead Jammy!: The Life and Deaths of Glasgow Undertaker Jammy Stewart, 2004 *Scotland for Beginners: 1314 An' A' That 2007 *Terribly English: A Guide for ...
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