''The Beezer'' (called ''The Beezer and Topper'' for the last three years of publication) was a British

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in ''The Beezer'' were a mix of irreverence, slapstick, and adventure; notable creators included

Leo Baxendale Joseph Leo Baxendale (27 October 1930 – 23 April 2017) was an English cartoonist and publisher. Baxendale wrote and drew several titles. Among his best-known creations are the ''The Beano, Beano'' comic strip, strips ''Little Plum'', ''Minnie ...

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 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 ...

, 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. Tak ...

Bill Ritchie Bill Ritchie (1 August 1931 – 25 January 2010) was a Scottish cartoonist. He is known for work on comics published by D. C. Thomson. Biography Born in Glasgow, Ritchie attended the Glasgow School of Art, where he learnt little about cartoons ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

John Geering John Keith Geering (9 March 1941 – 13 August 1999) was a British cartoonist with a distinctive, occasionally flamboyant style, most famous for his work for DC Thomson comics including '' Sparky'', '' The Topper'', '' Cracker'', ''Plug'', ''Nut ...

Publication history

Like its sister comic, '' The Topper'', ''The Beezer'' was an A3 ( tabloid) publication, twice as big as most other comics. It shrank to

A4 paper size ISO 216 is an international standard for paper sizes, used around the world except in North America and parts of Latin America. The standard defines the "A", "B" and "C" series of paper sizes, including A4, the most commonly available paper siz ...

in 1981. Comics that merged into ''The Beezer'' during its 37-year run were ''

Cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

'' in 1976, and ''

Plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug (accounting), an unsupported adjustment to an accounting record * Plug (fishing), a family of fishing lures * Plug (horticulture), a planting technique * Plug (jewellery), a type of jewellery wor ...

'' in 1979. The Beezer launched an annual, ''

The Beezer Book The Beezer Annual was the final name of the book that had been published every year since 1957, to tie in with the children's comic The Beezer. Forty-six were made over the years. Since they were traditionally published in the autumn and in time ...

'', in 1957; this continued in publication following the closure of the weekly comic, and ran until the 2003 book (published 2002).

1990 merger with ''The Topper''

In September 1990, DC Thomson decided to rationalise their comics portfolio, and merged the ''Beezer'' with ''The Topper''. Whereas most previous comic mergers saw the name of one of the 'absorbed' comics disappear, the ''Topper'' was considered significant enough for its name to be retained despite the merger, and as such the comic was renamed ''Beezer and Topper'' following the relaunch. (''

Whizzer and Chips ''Whizzer and Chips'' was a British comics magazine that ran from 18 October 1969 to 27 October 1990, when it merged with the comic '' Buster''. As with most comics of the time, ''Whizzer and Chips'' was dated one week ahead of the day it actua ...

'' was conceived as a double comic, and was not the result of a merger.)

Cancellation/merger with ''The Beano''

''Beezer and Topper'' ceased publication as a weekly comic in 1993; when it closed it was essentially (unofficially) "merged" with ''

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 ...

'', as this is where the bulk of surviving content from the comic (most prominently ''

The Numskulls ''The Numskulls'' is a comic strip in ''The Beano'', and previously in ''The Beezer'' and ''The Dandy'' – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, ...

'') ended up. Some also went to DC Thomson's other surviving weekly 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 Oct ...

''.

Annuals and other ''Beezer'' publications

Although the weekly ''Beezer'' and ''Topper'' had merged, the two comics' annuals (''

'' and ''

The Topper Book ''The Topper Book'' was a comic book published from 1954 to 1994, to tie in with the children's comic '' The Topper''. The first twelve editions were undated, and later books were published with the date of the following year on the cover, sinc ...

'') remained separate publications. The closure of ''Beezer and Topper'' led to the closure of the ''Topper'' annual as of the 1994 book (published 1993), but ''

'' continued in publication annually for some years thereafter, eventually ceasing with the 2003 book (published 2002). Other ''Beezer'' publications that continued after the weekly comic's closure were ''The Best of Beezer'' (launched 1988, closed 1996) and ''The Beezer Summer Special'' (launched 1973, known as the 'Holiday Special' from 1998 onwards, closed 2002). Vintage strips from the ''Beezer'' were published alongside stories from other DC Thomson publications 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 ...

'', which was published from 1996 to 2010. A ''The Best of the Beezer Annual'' was released in 2014, published by

Pedigree Books Pedigree may refer to: Breeding * Pedigree chart, a document to record ancestry, used by genealogists in study of human family lines, and in selective breeding of other animals ** Pedigree, a human genealogy (ancestry chart) ** Pedigree (animal ...

as part of the ''Retro Classics'' series.''Retro Classics: The Best of The Beezer Annual''
(DC Thomson, 2016). It contained reprints of old Beezer comics. Despite the name saying "annual", a second book was never released.

Strips

''The Beezer'' was home to 120 different comic strips over the years.

References

Citations

Sources

* Moore, Ray. ''The Book of the Beezer'' (CJ Publications, 1997).

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beezer, the DC Thomson Comics titles Defunct British comics Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom British humour comics 1956 comics debuts 1993 comics endings Magazines established in 1956 Magazines disestablished in 1993 Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom