''My Own Genie'' is a comic strip in the British comic ''

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 ...

'', first seen in issue # 3314 on 4 June 2005. It is drawn by artist

Jamie Smart Jamie Smart (born 21 July 1978) is a British comic artist and author best known for his 10-issue comic series '' Bear''. The Phoenix He is known for his children's cartoon series '' Bunny VS. Monkey'', running in The Phoenix, created original ...

, the creator of ''Bear''. It is about a schoolgirl named Lula who gets her own Genie, called Brian, after she accidentally releases him from a tin of marzipan. The first thing Lula wishes for is a huge cake; she then asks for her pet dog Clive to have the power of speech. The Genie - who looks like a small, floating, furry mammal in a purple robe and fez - is so grateful to Lula for setting him free that he grants her unlimited wishes. However, being a selfish girl, her wishes get ever more bizarre. Clive the dog's wishes are far more sensible than Lula's and mainly consists of

dog biscuit A dog biscuit is a hard biscuit-based dietary supplement for dogs or other canines, similar to human snack food. Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry. Dog biscuits may be sold in a flat bone-shape. The dry and hard biscuit texture helps clean t ...

-type wishes. ''My Own Genie'' became an overnight success with readers of ''

'' and by issue # 3342 (17 December 2005) the characters graced the front cover for the first time. Despite the huge success of the strip (it regularly topped readers' polls), Jamie Smart took the decision to rest My Own Genie in order to concentrate on new characters (specifically, a Dandy revival of his older strip Space Raoul). To date the last regular appearance of My Own Genie was in issue # 3378 (26 August 2006), although the characters did re-appear in the 2007 Dandy Summer Special, 2008 Dandy Annual and several random issues of the revamped '' Dandy Xtreme'' in 2007/2008. The strip sometimes breaks

the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they canno ...

, as in the 2008 Dandy Annual, when Lula's pet

gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft and later in other machinery and processes and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widel ...

"Simon" ate the title box, leading to a reprimand by Lula. As of issue # 3544, ''My Own Genie'' returned to ''

'' in reprints, starting from its original episode, first seen in 2005.

Characters

Lula Lula is a schoolgirl of around eight to ten years old, with blonde hair. She is the main protagonist of the series, and rescued Genie from a marzipan tin. She can be selfish, and is typically seen wearing a pink dress and an orange beanie hat. She does not seem to have any feet, except when in a sitting position. Lula is particularly fond of biscuits. Clive Clive is Lula's dog. In the first instalment of the comic strip, he gains the power of speech. He is always hungry and is typically seen wearing a green flying hat with matching goggles. He rarely wishes, but when he does, they're usually more sensible than Lula's,. Brian the Genie Genie is a small, floating animal of an unknown species who is typically seen wearing a red and orange robe with a matching Fez hat. Genie's name is revealed to be "Brian" in the first instalment, however, this fact is rarely mentioned. He rarely loses his temper as is constantly advising Lula against her more bizarre wishes. He's never wished to himself. Dandy strips 2005 comics debuts Gag-a-day comics Child characters in comics Jinn in popular culture Comics characters introduced in 2005 Comics about dogs Fantasy comics British comics characters Comics about magic {{UK-comics-stub