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1[[quoteright:231:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thedandy_9842.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:231:Desperate Dan himself.]]
3
4''The Dandy'' was a long-running {{British|Comics}} children's comics anthology, first published in 1937 by Creator/DCThomson, and was the world's third longest running comic, after ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' and ''Il Giornalino''.
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6The first issue, under the name ''The Dandy Comic'', was published on 4 December 1937. It was published weekly until September 6th 1941, when wartime paper shortages forced it to switch to fortnightly, alternating with The Beano. It returned to its weekly schedule on 30 July 1949. From 17 July 1950, the magazine changed its name to just ''The Dandy''.
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8After issue 3,282 (October 16th 2004), ''The Dandy'' underwent a radical format change, reflecting a more television-oriented style, and now printed on glossy magazine paper instead of newsprint. In August 2007 (issue 3426), The Dandy had another update, becoming the fortnightly comic ''[[XtremeKoolLetterz Dandy Xtreme]]''. It cost £2.75 (with some issues costing up to £2.99 depending on how many gifts there were). It then reverted back to its original comics form, albeit retaining the more glossy paper, in November 2010 and cost £1.99 a week.
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10The print version of the comic ceased publication on its 75th anniversary in December 2012; an online version lasted just 13 issues before the comic ended for good in July 2013. However, the ''The Dandy Annual'' will continue to be published for the foreseeable future.
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12The most popular characters to appear in ''The Dandy'' are [[WorldsStrongestMan Desperate Dan]], [[FunnyAnimal Korky the Cat]], [[HeroicDog Black Bob]], [[BoardingSchool Winker Watson]], ComicStrip/{{Bananaman}}, [[EnfantTerrible Cuddles and Dimples]], [[Series/HarryHillsTVBurp Harry Hill]], [[BratsWithSlingshots The Smasher]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} The Jocks]] and [[UsefulNotes/NorthEastEngland The Geordies]], [[TheBully Bully Beef]] and Chips, [[{{Tomboy}} Beryl the Peril]], [[RobotKid Brassneck]] and [[ThePeepingTom Keyhole Kate]].
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14See ''ComicBook/TheBeano'', ''The Dandy''[='=]s partner-in-mischief.
15
16Not to be confused with TheDandy, or ''Anime/SpaceDandy''.
17----
18!!Tropes:
19* AgeInsecurity: Desperate Dan refused to divulge his age, which lead the editor of the local paper to spend a great deal of effort trying to get hold of it.
20* AnimatedAdaptation:
21** ComicStrip/{{Bananaman}} had a cartoon series performed by the members of The Goodies.
22** Conversely, there were {{Comic Book Adaptation}}s of ''[[Film/TheLittleRascals Our Gang]]'' (1937-47) and ''WesternAnimation/PotsworthAndCompany'' (1993-94)
23* ArtEvolution: The comic has incorporated more variation in the art styles of various strips in recent years, most noticeably using simple, super-cartoony art by people like Jamie Smart, which leads to some characters looking like SuperDeformed versions of their earlier selves. [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101215115303/classicsfromthecomics/images/a/a9/DesperateDan.jpg Desperate]] [[http://www.fumboo.com/dandydan.jpg Dan]], for example.
24** Hell, since the comic is such a LongRunner with so many characters (Korky, Dan, Keyhole Kate) dating right back to the beginning, it's inevitable that this is evident ''everywhere''.
25* ArtifactTitle: Desperate Dan was originally a desperado. His name has lost some meaning since then.
26* BigEater: Hungry Horace, Tom Tum, Plum MacDuff, Greedy Pigg... that's at least ''four characters'' who have this as their entire gimmick. There's also Desperate Dan, who shows this in his love for massive [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Cow Pies]][[note]]A Cow Pie is, apparently, an ''entire cow'' inside a pie, with the horns and tail sticking out[[/note]].
27** In fact, in both this comic and ComicBook/TheBeano, almost all of the characters seem to crave large meals (often referred to as a [[AntiquatedLinguistics "slap up feed"]]). Traditionally, such a "slap up feed" (often depicted as a massive pile of mashed potatoes with sausages sticking out of it, but sweets, pies and cakes are also popular) was the usual reward at the end of a strip if the characters won whatever contest or outsmarted whichever opponent appeared in the plot that week, and it still crops up today. There's a fascinating historical context to this: UsefulNotes/WorldWarII happened early in the development of these comics, when rationing and hardship meant that the idea of being able to gorge on large meals or piles of sweets actually ''was'' something for the children reading the comics to dream of.
28* BlatantLies: The 2013 summer special was called The Last Ever Dandy Summer Special, its release coming six months after the weekly comic's demise. However, The Dandy Summer Special 2014 would later appear. Last Ever? We don't think so!
29* BoisterousBruiser: Desperate Dan. In his early days, he was something of a {{Jerkass}}, but he's quietened down over the year.
30* CrushingHandshake The Dandy Book for 1981 featured a picture of US exchange student Kerry Atun crushing the hand of teacher Clarence Creep from the Winker Watson strip.
31* CanonDiscontinuity: In December 2012, they launched a digital Dandy to replace the closed down print comic. It rebooted at the end of March 2013 because the original attempt had been littered with technical bugs, such as stories stretching beyond the frame making them un-navigable, and loading problems. Some stories were shuffled around in the re-released issues, for example, the Desperate Dan story originally in issue 1 is now in issue 2, because issue 1 used a new one.
32* CerebusSyndrome: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]: early on, it featured short stories (usually illustrated) as well as comics, and these tended to be serious and dramatic rather than humorous. They vanished over time to be replaced by GagSeries, but the new digital version promises to bring the drama back with a resurrection of ancient superhero character Mister X and a ''Franchise/NancyDrew''-inspired take on Keyhole Kate.
33* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: New favorite ''Kid Cops'' always ends in one of these.
34* ComicsMerger: Merged with Hoot and Nutty (original home of ComicStrip/{{Bananaman}}).
35** While it didn't merge with The Beano, Bananaman joined the comic even before Dandy breathed its last (his merchandise was on the online Beano Shop), while Corporal Clott also transferred over in 2019. Most characters have been kept out of the Beano because of the continued existence of the Dandy Annual. The Annual is nowadays produced by the Beano editorial team.
36* CreatorsCultureCarryover: Desperate Dan is technically American, but the comic comes from a very British perspective.
37* DeconstructiveParody: Early Hitler satire, Addie and Hermy.
38* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Cuddles and Dimples were originally neighbours (Cuddles had been the star of ''Hoot'' prior to the merger) before they were changed into brothers.
39* {{Expy}}:
40** The Smasher looks ''really'' suspiciously similar to [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]] from supposed rival comic ComicBook/TheBeano, even though his personality is different. One ''Beano Comic Library'' (digest-sized comic with a full-length story), ''Battle of the Menaces'', portrayed the two boys as rivals.
41** Depending on who you ask, Hector Spectre is either an expy or a SpiritualSuccessor to an earlier character called Edd Chumley, who appeared in a strip called ''Meet Edd: He's A Ghost'' in ''ComicBook/TheBeezer'' and ''[[ComicBook/TheTopper Topper]]''. Both strips involved [[HeadlessHorseman headless ghosts]] in Elizabethan get-up with rural dialects and accompanied by a grey cat, both drawn by David Mostyn. The main difference was that Hector haunted a stately home, whereas Edd's home was said to have been long since demolished. It's likely that a different main character was created as Edd looked very much like a [[DistaffCounterpart male version of Molly.]]
42* FriendToAllChildren: Desperate Dan is always solving the neighbourhood kids' problems in ridiculous, over-the-top ways.
43* FunnyAnimal: Korky the Cat is a classic example.
44* FurryConfusion: [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GsVy9ZM1kZU/TibJeSrcpZI/AAAAAAAAAJM/nyuXMQhN9Xk/s1600/CorkyWeb20100917040426.jpg Has happened to Korky on occasion]].
45** For a time, he lived next door to [[NosyNeighbour an annoying man named Mr Dagget,]] whose entire shtick was that he thought he was an ordinary cat who did ordinary cat things. [[IRejectYourReality All evidence to the contrary, of course,]] but this meant that events conspired to have Korky tangled in string or holding a pigeon, only for Dagget to walk in.
46* GenerationXerox: Dan's family tend to be rather hale and hearty, as well as having an UncannyFamilyResemblance. This gets exceptionally disturbing when you meet Desperate '''''[[BrainBleach Gran]]'''''.
47* GentleGiant: Desperate Dan, which was the result of CharacterizationMarchesOn - in the early strip, he was a desperado (as his name implies) and willing to use violence. Nowadays, he's a much better-natured guy (although [[BewareTheNiceOnes you do NOT want to make him mad]]).
48* GhostInTheMachine and MobileSuitHuman: The Numskulls, in the digital comic.
49* GhostsAbhorAVacuum: Subverted. In one issue [[InsufferableGenius Brain Dwayne]], feeling smug at people getting scared by a haunted house builds a modified vacuum and goes around it sucking up the ghosts. Its only after he gets home and boasts about it to his mother, that she asks what exactly stops the intangible ghosts from simply leaving the vacuum and [[DidntThinkThisThrough he realises he didn't think of that]]. Cut the reveal all the annoyed spirits are now haunting his house.
50* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] SuperHero: There's actually a 1940s superhero, The Amazing Mr X, who got brought back as part of the superhero team in digital strip Retro Active.
51* HeelFaceTurn: Dan was originally a desperado, but later became a hero.
52* InstantTasteAddiction: In one ''Bertie Buncle and his Chemical Uncle'' strip, Bertie's uncle has invented a new flavouring in the form of pellets. When he tells Bertie about it, he says that he's already eaten far too much of it himself. At the end, the pellets are accidentally scattered over the lawn, and Bertie and his uncle start eating the grass.
53* ItsAWonderfulPlot: One Desperate Dan comic featured him making a major blunder by accidentally dumping the town's Christmas presents in the river, leaving him shunned and disgraced. Upset over this, Dan wishes that he wasn't even born. He's then shown an alternate reality where this is true, but it's absolutely worse. Aunt Aggie is lonely without any company, and the town itself is mostly destroyed and uninhabited due to Dan himself not existing to stop a great number of natural disasters which left Cactusville in ruins. Back in his own reality, Dan saves all the presents and the townsfolk forgive him.
54* {{Nephewism}}: Dan had Katey and Danny, whilst Korky the Cat had The Kits: [[{{ThemeNaming}} Nip, Lip and Rrrip]]. [[PutOnABus None of those nephews appear any more]], even though both Dan and Korky remain in the comic.
55* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: [[Series/HarryHillsTVBurp Harry Hill]] has become The Dandy's newest cover star, even writing his own strip (the art duties are courtesy of a long-time Dandy artist). Compared to the other strips in The Dandy, most of which are very much with the times, Harry's strip seems a little more in keeping with the tradition of The Dandy of yore - and all the better for it.
56** The new Dandy has also seen more than one AffectionateParody of some BritishSeries, such as ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' and ''Series/DragonsDen''.
57* NoFourthWall: As with ComicBook/TheBeano, characters from The Dandy have been known to have a chat now and then with their writers and artists.
58** In one Dandy Book, Dan's greatest enemies [[EvilCounterpart Dangerous Dan McGrew]] and [[PlantPerson Cactusman]] managed to hold the editor of The Dandy hostage, so that they would always win. Naturally, they didn't succeed [[spoiler:and Dan managed [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections to pull a few strings]] with the editor of ComicBook/TheBeano. The last page of Dan's story showed the two baddies [[CrossoverPunchline on the cover of the latest issue of The Beano]], [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment reduced to picking daisies]], where a [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK certain spiky-haired youth]] observed them from a distance... ]]
59* OddballInTheSeries: Among all of DC Thomson's comics, it's the only one for which Dudley D. Watkins never drew the cover strip during his lifetime, with Korky the Cat (initially drawn by James Crichton, then later Charlie Grigg) occupying that spot until a full fifteen years after his death. Ironically, Korky was then succeeded by probably Watkins' most iconic character, Desperate Dan.
60* PolicemanDog: Desperate Dawg is named after Desperate Dan, but has a NonIndicativeName, as he isn't a desperado -- he's a sheriff.
61* PowerUpFood: Aunt Aggie's cow pies do fall under this category somewhat. Played straight with Bananaman, who's normally a weedy schoolboy called Eric Wimp until he eats a banana and transforms.
62* RaceLift: In the digital comic's story Retro Active, Kat has dark skin. She's actually a successor to [[ComicBook/TheBeano Billy the Cat]]'s former sidekick Katie, who is white.
63* RageAgainstTheAuthor:
64** Korky's strip in the final issue involves him going up to "The Dandy editor" (represented in this strip by a ginger cat) and asking why he never appears in the comic anymore, although it's really more of a whine than a rage. Korky is told he can only be a star again if he becomes "cool" with the addition of a robot arm, laser eye, face tattoo and skateboard.
65** One Desperate Dan comic had the main artist of said comic off sick, requiring a replacement to be hired in the meantime. Unfortunately for Dan, Little Bear and the residents of Cactusville, the entire comic was redesigned with a bleak, DarkerAndEdgier style which no-one liked InUniverse. For example, the kindly, elderly mayor was made to look like a criminal. Desperate Dan and Little bear retaliate by stealing the new artist's brush and threatening him with it to coerce him into drawing like the usual artist. He complies.
66* RhymingTitle: DC Thomson really likes this trope. The comics featured Beryl the Peril, Cocky-Sue the Cockatoo, Wily Smiley, Robbie the Bobby, Jammy Mr Sammy, Dave the Brave, Billy Green and his Sister Jean, Fiddle O'Diddle, Vain Wayne, Fu Schnicken Kung-Fu Chicken, and Rocky Roller Pest Controller.
67* TheRival: Since TheEighties, Desperate Dan and Bananaman have had an on-again, off-again (i.e. whenever the writer for either strip can't think of anything and needs to spin a story out for a few weeks) rivalries to see who's the [[{{WorldsStrongestMan}} Dandy's Strongest Man]].
68* RobotMaid: The premise of the Tin Lizzie strip, which appeared in the 1950s.
69* SpoiledBrat: Molly has doormat parents.
70* StubbornHair: Desperate Dan is always depicted with very tough stubble which in extremis he can use to file or grind metal. He has to shave with a blowtorch and a sharpened spade when he needs to tidy up. One comic reveals it has the properties of ''steel wire''. Magnetism and all.
71* TakeThat: ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''ComicBook/TheDandy'' had a friendly rivalry which often involves taking potshots at each other (e.g. characters being threatened with the possibility of getting sent to the other comic). This obviously stopped after Dandy stopped weekly publication in 2012.
72* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Desperate Dan and Cow Pies.
73* UglyGuyHotWife: Cuddles and Dimples' parents, before and after their 2004 redesign.
74* WorldsStrongestMan: Desperate Dan. One memorable strip (reproduced in the Beano and Dandy 50 Golden Years book) shows various exotic strongmen from countries all over the world competing, each of them lifting up huge weights, other people or even an elephant...only to reveal that Dan has tunnelled up from beneath and is holding up the podium, all the strongmen and everything they're lifting as well!
75* XylophonesForWalkingBones: ''Eddie Potter'' had a strip where the titular character holds ''Series/PopIdol'' style talent show auditions at his school, which is populated by macabre creatures including werewolves and living skeletons. One of the acts involves a group of skeletons using their own bones as musical instruments.

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