Issue 1 featuring Mickey the Monkey, drawn by Dudley D. Watkins, 1953
The Topper was a weekly comic launched by DC Thomson on 7 February 1953. It absorbed Buzz in 1975 and Sparky in 1977, and merged into The Beezer on 15 September 1990.
A strip named "Mickey the Monkey", created by Dudley D. Watkins, originally graced the front cover. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by "Send for Kelly". That strip was replaced with "Danny's Tranny" in 1975, and then "Tricky Dicky" in 1979. "Beryl the Peril" took over on 24 May 1986, and remained there until the merger with The Beezer. There were also annuals every year.
Unlike most other comics at the time, which were half tabloid size, the Topper was double this at full tabloid. It changed to A4 in 1980, one year before The Beezer.
Topper Comic strips[]
- Main article: List of Topper comic strips
Strips included:
- Al Change - Master of Disguise
- Ali's Baba (from Sparky)
- The Amazing Peet from Planet K (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1973-75)
- Andy Ladd - a short strip about a young resourceful inventor
- Beryl the Peril - a mischievous girl similar to Minnie the Minx, created by Davy Law, and later drawn by John Dallas. Appeared on cover from 1986 to the merge with The Beezer in 1990. Recently appeared in The Dandy.
- "Big Fat Flo" - drawn by Phil Millar. Originally ran in Buzz.
- Big Uggy - a caveman with an anthropomorphic dinosaur friend Dopey
- Bogeyman
- Captain Blood (adaptation of the novel by Rafael Sabatini, drawn by Paddy Brennan)
- Danny's Tranny (1973-86) - a boy and his magical transistor radio - was cover star in mid 1970s.
- Desert Island Dick - a short strip about a castaway, his pet octopus and his incompetent attempts to summon rescue.
- Dopey Joe - a short strip about an incompetent Indian
- Figaro! - an overweight Mexican bandit and his gang.
- Flip McCoy - the Flying Boy (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1953-)
- Foxy - A fox forever trying to steal chickens and forever getting blasted by The Farmer. Later appeared in The Dandy.
- Fred the Flop (1973-86) (Originaly from Buzz)
- Ghastly Manor - A group of ghosts and monsters who live in a run down manor, despite which they still get visitors.
- Hungry Horace (from Sparky) - the kid with the bottomless appetite who is always after food.
- The Iron Eaters An extra terrestrial invasion of Earth by a pink spongey substance, which could corrode iron and other metals
- Jimmy Jinx and what he thinks (1973-89) - Originally from Buzz (later appeared in Fun Size Dandy
- Jimmy's Mighty Midgets (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1956)
- The Jolly Rogers (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1954)
- Julius Cheeser - a short strip about a cat's failures to catch a mouse.
- Keyhole Kate - from Sparky, originally in The Dandy
- King Gussie "Everybody laughs to see the antics of His Majesty" - a short strip about a king
- Mickey the Monkey (1953-85, 1990) The original cover star, created by Dudley D. Watkins, later drawn by Vic Neill.
- Peter Piper - (1939-40, 1967?-88) with magical pan pipes that could animate objects. Originally appeared in the short lived The Magic Comic and revived in Sparky.
- Pup Parade (1989-92) - Originally from The Beano between 1967 and 1988. Later reappeared in the same comic in 2003.
- Scaredy Cat (1989-93) - A petrified cat who had lost 8 out his 9 lives. Survived Beezer merger and stayed until comic's end.
- Send for Kelly (1960s-91)- A secret agent called Nick Kelly, helped by assistant Cedric for most of the strip's run. Cedric was later replaced by Harry, nephew of Kelly. Survived Beezer merger in 1990. Originally drawn by George Martin, and later by Sid Burgon.
- Sir Laughalot - a fantasy knight and his misadventures
- Smart Art
- Souper Boy (1977-86) - a weedy boy who became extremely strong when drinking a special soup
- Spike
- Splodge "the last of the goblins" - around four inches high and invisible to humans, who stole food (Later in The Beano)
- Stavros
- Tiny - The World's Biggest Dog
- Tom and Terry (1979-88) (from Sparky)
- Tricky Dicky (1976-93) - cover star from 1979 until 1986. Moved to the inside for the duration of the comic's life, survived Beezer merge, later in The Beano in 2000
- The White Witch (adaptation of the novel She by H. Rider Haggard, drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1956)
- The Whizzers from Ozz (drawn by Paddy Brennan)
- Wulf of the Arrows (drawn by Paddy Brennan, 1957)
Well known creators who worked for The Topper include:
- Leo Baxendale
- Gordon Bell
- Paddy Brennan
- David Law
- Joe McCaffrey
- Tom Paterson
- Dudley D. Watkins
- John Dallas
- Malcolm Judge
- Robert Nixon
