On Sunday 8 March 1936 the headline on DC Thomson’s newspaper The Sunday Post was “Europe Alarmed – France’s Retort to Hitler’s Move – All Army Leave Cancelled”. Inside however there was something a little more light hearted with the first episodes of the twin humour strips The Broons and Oor Wullie. That was the 1593rd issue of the paper.

3907 issues later, with a photo of the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami, the headline is “Death Toll Mounts” but The Broons and Oor Wullie are still there with two new stories and, especially for the 75th anniversary, a 16 page souvenir pullout. This covers the history of the two strips with details of their background and the people who worked on them including original artist Dudley D Watkins.

Published for the first time is an early strip in which Daphne Broon attempts to elope with her lover, considered too strong for the paper at the time, and a panel that shows Wullie’s younger sibling, simply referred to as “The Bairn”, who was quietly ignored in later strips. The pull-out continues the fallacy that Watkins was on a Nazi death list but includes an “A-Z Guide To Broon’s Blethers” for those who find the Scottish dialect in the two strips a challenge.

The Sunday Post is on sale today, Sunday 13 March 2011, and costs £1.10.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: British Comics - Current British Publishers

Tags: DC Thomson, Oor Wullie, Sunday Post, The Broons