''Jimmy and His Magic Patch'' was a British adventure story published in the British comics 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-runn ...

'' in 1944. It was drawn by

Dudley D. Watkins Dudley Dexter Watkins (27 February 1907 – 20 August 1969) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters ''Oor Wullie'' and ''The Broons''; comic strips featuring them have appeared in Scottish newspaper The Su ...

and later continued by

Paddy Brennan Paddy Brennan (born c. 1930) is an Irish people, 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.Pet ...

until 1959. It starred schoolboy Jimmy Watson who time-travelled accidentally with a cloth patch on his school clothing.

Synopsis

Jimmy Watson was walking to school when he rescued a cat from a

bull terrier The Bull Terrier is a breed of dog in the terrier family. There is also a miniature version of this breed which is officially known as the Miniature Bull Terrier. Appearance The Bull Terrier's most recognizable feature is its head, descri ...

. He returns the cat to its owner, a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

pensioner, who repays him by repairing his trousers with a patch from a

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

. Ever since, Jimmy accidentally time travels whenever he thinks about a historical event or time period. He has met

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

, and

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...

, as well as

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

Sinbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad ...

and

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

.William Tell two-parter: Future adventure strip character Strang the Terrible appeared in a two-part story in issue 233 before his series' debut in 240,Strang the Terrible: and Strongarm the Axeman (from 1939) also appeared in issue 445. Due to the patch, stories about Watson are set during schooltime or whenever he is travelling to or from campus. His

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

is a cap and a striped tie with a suit, often coloured as a black jacket with blue trousers. The patch on the seat of his trousers is red.

Publication history

''Jimmy and his Magic Patch'' debuted in issue 222 with artwork by

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 Wull ...

staff artist

. The comics were drawn photorealistically and were published in a

text comics Text comics or a text comic is a form of comics where the stories are told in Cartoon caption, captions below the images and without the use of speech balloons. It is the oldest form of comics and was especially dominant in European comics from t ...

format, a convention of ''The Beano'' adventure story genre. Its appearance in the issues flited between linear and episodic, since Watson would eventually return to the present day and travel somewhere else. There were 14 two-parters and three three-parters, all with artwork by Watkins. Watson's adventures had eight series that ended in issue 903, but it was secretly shorter than it seemed. An already hardworking artist, Watkins drew art for over 60 issues between 1944 and 1947, but these would be reprinted three times in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Frequent adventure comic artist

drew for new adventures between issues 416 and 452, and issues 891 and 903. Andy Hutton redrew a Watkins-illustrated story for issue 784.

Subsequent cameos and appearances

''The Beano''

As with most of the official run, Watson's series would be reprinted yet again: a two-parter from issues 327 and 328 for ''The Beano'' 50th anniversary in ''The Dandy and The Beano: 50 Golden Years'', in which Watson and

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

are captured in a villain's cave. His "portrait" appeared in issue 2000's Hall of Fame. Watson has also appeared in ''

The Beano Annual ''The Beano Annual'' is the current name of the book that has been published every year since 1939, to tie in with the children's comic book, comic ''The Beano''. there have been 84 editions. The annuals are traditionally published in July or A ...

''-''

The Magic Comic ''The Magic Comic'' was a British comics magazine. It was the ill-fated third comics magazine from DC Thomson (after ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''). It was aimed at a younger audience, with more emphasis on picture stories. The first issue wa ...

'' hybrid in 1947 and 1950's edition, and the ''Beano Book''s of 1951, 1952 1953 and 1961, with ''Beano'' magazine reprints from 1958 to 1960, and 1963. Watson appeared on a double-page spread with 254 other ''Beano'' characters in 2019's edition.

DC Thomson

''Jimmy and his Magic Patch'' was also reprinted frequently in ''

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 ...

''.

Reception and legacy

Cloth patches sewn onto damaged clothing were nicknamed having a "Jimmy and his magic patch" by some schoolchildren during the Second World War. "No underpants then, you had to sit in school until a repair could be done on them," a man explained. "When we went to school uring_the_Blitz.html" ;"title="the_Blitz.html" ;"title="uring the Blitz">uring the Blitz">the_Blitz.html" ;"title="uring the Blitz">uring the Blitzyou were not allowed to wear long trousers until you reached the age of 14, short trousers were the normal thing to wear, and when your backside became thread bare you would have the hole covered up with what we called 'our jimmy and his magic patch'."

References

External links

* from ''The Beano Annual 1963'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Jimmy And His Magic Patch Beano strips 1944 comics debuts 1959 comics endings Adventure comics Fantasy comics Historical comics Text comics Comics characters introduced in 1944 British comics characters Comics about magic Comics about time travel Comics characters who can teleport Defunct British comics Comics characters who use magic Child characters in comics