''Big Eggo'' was a British comic strip series about an eponymous
ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...
, published in the British comic magazine ''
The Beano
''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...
''. He first appeared in issue 1, dated 30 July 1938, and was the first ever cover star.
His first words in the strip were "Somebody's taken my egg again!". It was drawn throughout by
Reg Carter
Reginald Arthur Lay Carter (6 December 1886, Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast a ...
.
[
]
Background
When creating a new comic in his "big five" series, R. D. Low wrote a newspaper advert in ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' for new artists. He was certain that his new character would be a black-and-white animal which would stand out in a colourful world; an idea he similarly used for Korky the Cat in ''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 O ...
''. Reg Carter (who had originally published Mickey Mouse comics throughout the 1930s) responded in January 1938 with a few ideas and sketches. Carter and Low's eventual idea would be an ostrich that misplaced his eggs. In an exchange of letters, they planned to name him Oswald the Ostrich, but eventual editor George Moonie suggested the name should be changed to ''Big Eggo''.[George Moonie's suggestion was revealed at The Official 70th Birthday Exhibition in 2007, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of ''The Beano''.] The ostrich became the first front cover star of the comic until he was replaced in 1948 by Biffo the Bear
Biffo the Bear is a fictional character from the British comic magazine ''The Beano'' who stars in the comic strip of the same name, created in 1948 by Dudley D. Watkins. He was the mascot of The Beano for several decades.
Background
Biffo's c ...
.
Common plots
The majority of Eggo's tales were about him looking for an egg he had misplaced, which would lead to a situation in which he would either discover that the egg was not an ostrich egg; in one story, he stole an egg from a zoo and a penguin hatched out and another was about a monkey stealing his egg and replacing it with a crocodile egg.[ Although a male bird, it has never been explained why Eggo is obsessed with eggs or whether he could lay eggs like a hen; however, this could have been intentional to make the stories absurdly amusing.
Other stories would have him in a wacky situation, such as eating an alarm clock which alerts a fire station he walks past, or another where Eggo is caught in a ]hot air balloon
A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...
after trying to stop a goat from eating the anchor rope. In some stories, he was also a zookeeper
A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...
, and there were the stories in which he would be acting anthropromorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
, such as dog sledding
Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most common ...
, shopping, or walking pigs on a lead as if they were his pets.[
]
Declining appearances
When Biffo the Bear took over as the cover star, Big Eggo would appear on the front cover's masthead, but would appear inside ''The Beano'' with the other comics, such as ''Lord Snooty
Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip ''Lord Snooty and his Pals'' from the British comic anthology ''The Beano''. The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed ...
'' and '' Pansy Potter''.[ In ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
forced comics to stop being published too frequently; ''The Beano'' would publish fortnightly until the end of the 1940s. ''Big Eggo'', like many Beano strips, dedicated stories to encouraging young readers to help with the war effort, such as recycling paper; one story was about Big Eggo, bothered by flies, creating fly paper out of sheets covered in glue after he accidentally knocks the recycling into some glue baths. He would continue to have stories until 1949, and his front-cover masthead appearances would drop in 1954, being replaced by Dennis the Menace.[ The sudden disappearance of the stories was due to the death of Carter in April 1949, which was not revealed until 2008, although rumours surfaced weeks before that readers had fallen out of love with the character because he was a bird, not a mammal, and therefore did not relate to the audience, unlike Biffo, a bear. George Drysdale took over as artist for the strips after Carter's death until the series' conclusion.
]
Cameos
''Big Eggo'' would begin to reappear sporadically after the character left the masthead. The next time Eggo made a cameo in the comic was for the 2000th issue celebration at the top of the cover of the first ''Beano'' reprinted on the back page, saying "Ah! The good old days!".
A one-off strip called ''Lord Snooty's Day Out'' drawn by Ken H. Harrison[ reveals that he is living in the Beano Retirement Home, along with ]Jonah
Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...
, Lord Snooty
Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip ''Lord Snooty and his Pals'' from the British comic anthology ''The Beano''. The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed ...
and Jack Flash
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
.[ Two years later, Eggo would meet ]Gnasher and Gnipper
Gnasher () is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher ...
for the 65th anniversary.
In 2006, Big Eggo was used as a villain for a feature-length ''Bash Street Kids'' story illustrated and written by Kev F. Sutherland. The story featured him and other discontinued ''Beano'' characters wanting to revert the magazine back to when they were popular, but the Class 2B accidentally thwart the plan with the help of ''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 O ...
'' Keyhole Kate
''Keyhole Kate'' was a 1930s British comic strip series in ''The Dandy''. The strip featured a nosy young girl who liked to look through people's keyholes. She appeared in ''The Dandy''s first issue, drawn by Allan Morley back in 1937. She contin ...
accidentally building a robot with the brain of Jonah
Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...
.
He also made a surprise return to the Beano in issue 3925 in a three-panel strip for the start of a new miniseries, written and drawn by Lew Stringer
Lew Stringer (born 22 March 1959 in England) is a freelance comic artist and scriptwriter.
Biography
Stringer began his career from the late 1970s with a series of fanzines, many featuring his popular '' Brickman'' character; these were read by ...
, to tie in with the comic's 80th anniversary, which continued for 24 more issues until September. In one, he was joined by Blotty and 'Enry. He was also the only character from the first generation to appear on the front cover of the 2019 Beano Annual; his first story's gag was re-enacted on the back cover with Gnasher
Gnasher () is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher ...
handing Walter a crocodile egg that hatches with the baby biting Walter's bottom. He appeared in the inner cover artwork with 254 other characters from The Beano's history and was in the time-travelling comic feature "Doctor Whoops!"
References
Notes
Citations
Books
*
*
External links
*
{{Beano
1938 comics debuts
Mascots introduced in 1938
1949 comics endings
Beano strips
British comic strips
British comics characters
Comics about animals
Comics about birds
Comics characters introduced in 1938
Fictional flightless birds
Gag-a-day comics
Magazine mascots
Bird mascots
Male characters in comics
Male characters in advertising
Children's comics