''The Topper'' was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with ''

The Beezer ''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' ...

''. A strip named " Mickey the Monkey" originally appeared on the front cover. In 1973, it was replaced by "

Send for Kelly Send for Kelly was a long running comic strip that first appeared in '' The Topper'', originally drawn by George Martin. Synopsis The strip was mainly a parody of spy fiction, with Nick Kelly often solving cases through sheer luck and with lots ...

", by " Danny's Tranny" in 1975, briefly by "The Whizzers from Oz" in 1979, and again in 1979 by " Tricky Dicky". "

Beryl the Peril Beryl the Peril (or simply Beryl) is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of '' The Topper'' comic (dated 7 February 1953) published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black ...

" took over on 24 May 1986, and remained there until the merger with ''The Beezer''. Unlike most other comics at the time, which were half tabloid size, the Topper was for many years full tabloid. It changed to A4 in 1980, one year before ''The Beezer''. Two comics were merged into ''The Topper'' during its run: these were '' Buzz'' in 1975 and '' Sparky'' in issue 1276 (16 July 1977). In issue 1260 on 26 March 1977, "Big News" was announced on the front cover redirecting the reader to page 7 of the comic. The announcement was that starting from issue number 1261 the comic would include a "Special Pull-out section" that brought back classic Topper Characters such as

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 w ...

and Big Uggy. These lasted until issue 1276, when the pull out section was used for the Sparky comic, creating the "Special Sparky Pull-Out". The Sparky Pull out section was continued until the change to the A4 format. ''The Topper'' also produced an annual collection, '' The Topper Book''.

Rebrand, closure and reprints

In the late 1980s and 1990s, with the expansion of

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s taking a greater share of children's time, sales of comics began to fall. So D. C. Thomson decided to modernise the ''Topper'', relaunching it as ''Topper '89'' from February 1989. In September 1990, it was decided to merge the ''Topper'' with another of D. C. Thomson's long-running comics, ''

'' and the two comics combined as ''Beezer and Topper''. This continued in publication until 1993; it subsequently closed, with a small amount of content from the combined comic subsequently relocating into other D. C. Thomson publications ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. Despite the closure of the ''Topper'' as a standalone title, '' The Topper Book'' continued as an annual, separate from The Beezer Book, until the 1994 annual (published 1993, the year new issues of ''Beezer and Topper'' ceased). Vintage stories from the ''Topper'' appeared alongside stories from other D. C. Thomson publications in Classics from the Comics, a compilation magazine series which ran from 1996 to 2010. In March 2012, the Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history. The collection featured ''

'', ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

'', ''The Topper'', ''

Roy of the Rovers ''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the ''Tiger'' in 1954, before giving its name to a ...

'', ''

Bunty ''Bunty'' was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001.Gibson (2003)p. 91/ref> It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier ...

'', '' Buster'', '' Valiant'', ''

Twinkle Twinkle may refer to: * Twinkling, the variation of brightness of distant objects People * Twinkle (singer) (1948–2015), born Lynn Annette Ripley, English singer-songwriter * Twinkle Khanna, Indian movie actress * Twinkle Bajpai, female con ...

'' and '' 2000 AD''.

Strips

Famous creators

Well known creators who worked for The Topper include: *

Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (born August 19, 1934) is an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engi ...

Paddy Brennan Paddy Brennan (born c. 1930) is an Irish comics artist who worked mainly in the UK, drawing adventure strips for D. C. Thomson & Co. titles. He was a freelancer, working six months of the year in Dublin and six months in London.Peter Hansen, , ...

* David Law *

Tom Paterson Tom Paterson is a Scottish comic artist who drew characters for Fleetway in 1973–1990, and D.C Thomson from 1986 to 2012. As of 2013, he currently draws strips for Viz. He lives in Leith, with three children, and is a Hearts supporter. Ta ...

* Dudley D. Watkins * John Dallas *

Malcolm Judge Malcolm Judge (1918 – 17 January 1989) was a British cartoonist, best known for his contributions to DC Thomson's range of comics. He was married, had one daughter, and lived in Bishopbriggs near Glasgow. His early career was spent as a writer ...

* Robert Nixon *

David Parkins David Alan Parkins (born 2 November 1955) is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for D.C. Thomson, publisher of ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Now based in Canada, he illustrates children's picture books. Parkins was born in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topper, the DC Thomson Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct British comics British humour comics 1953 comics debuts 1990 comics endings Magazines established in 1953 Magazines disestablished in 1990 Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom

Rebrand, closure and reprints

Strips

Famous creators

See also

References