Classics from the Comics

''Classics from the Comics'' was a British comics magazine, published from March 1996 until October 2010. Published monthly, it was D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd's third all-reprint comic. It replaced '' The Best of Topper'' and '' The Best of Beezer'', which had reprinted old strips for some years.

''Classics from the Comics'' collected archive comic strips from eight comic titles – the still going ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'', and the defunct '' Beezer'', '' Topper'', ''Nutty'', '' Sparky'', '' Cracker'', and '' Buzz''. During its later issues, adventure comics from the likes of '' The Victor'', ''The Wizard'', '' The Rover'', ''The Hotspur'' and ''The Hornet'' were used. It also started using ''Hoot!'' shortly before it ended.

The comic had 64 pages, which were prefaced with a contents page ("Classic Contents") and until 2007 were followed by an advert for the next month's issue, with the back cover showing original strips starring Roger the Dodger, Little Plum, Plug, Beryl the Peril amongst others, drawn by Gordon Bell or Keith Reynolds.

In 2006, the cover was redesigned to show "Classics from the Comics" with a roundel containing Korky the Cat's head and the words Classics Collection, and a large illustration by Ken H. Harrison. The new editor started penning a letter to the readers on the contents page, and the advert and original strip on the inside and back covers were replaced by further reprinted strips, which are always Korky the Cat and Biffo the Bear.

A small notice was published on all the pages, identifying which comic the strip comes from (Classic ''Beano'', Classic ''Dandy'', etc.). Near the end of each issue, a "Readers Requests" postal address was displayed, so readers could write to DC Thomson and request other archive strips to go in a future issue.

Free gifts in the form of '' The Fun Size Beanos'' or ''The Fun Size Dandys'' were featured in early issues, plus free gifts originally given away with ''The Beano'' or ''The Dandy''. In July 2004 ''Classics from the Comics'' celebrated its 100th issue, revamping the front cover at the same time, changing the logo from a plain serif font to a sans-serif one with a 3-D effect.

The August 2008 issue was a ''Beano'' special, featuring only characters from that 70-year-old comic. It featured the oldest ( Ping the Elastic Man and Deep Down Daddy Neptune, 1938), and most recent stories (specifically the picture of Dennis, Gnasher, Wallace & Gromit from the ''Beano'' printed only the previous day; the most recent actual story was " Crazy for Daisy" from 2003) ever used. For this issue, the usual Korky roundel was replaced with the logo from the ''70 Years of Fun'' collector's edition.

'D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd's ''Golden Years''/''60 Years''/''70 Years'' books, which are brought out each Christmas, are effectively ''Classic From the Comics annual, although they started in 1988, eight years before Classics launched.

Despite a further 'retro' relaunch in the spring of 2010, ''Classics from the Comics'' ended that October, the final issue being number 175.

{{Beano

DC Thomson Comics titles
Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom
British humour comics
1996 comics debuts
2010 comics endings
Magazines established in 1996
Magazines disestablished in 2010
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom