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| Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
Jings, crivvens*, help ma boab, it's Oor Wullie celebrating his 90th birthday, yet he doesn't look a day over 10 or 11. (I'll have what he's having.) I haven't followed Wullie's book for years so I'm unsure whether this is the first one without any artwork by Dudley D. Watkins, aside from some spot illos of Wullie's head at the top of each page on either side of the rhyming couplets.
Of course, The Broons made their debut at the same time as Wullie, but it seems they'll have to wait 'til next year for their birthday celebrations, which will obviously be belated. There is, of course, the yearly hardback volume of Wullie and The Broons, which also celebrates 90 years of fun, and you can see the covers of that book after the back cover of Wullie's solo title, below.
The Works currently has both volumes at a reduced price and no doubt that will decrease even more as Christmas nears. I've never seen either of these titles sold at full price, aside from online at the D.C. Thomson Shop, though I believe they sometimes do special offers as well. C'mon, Crivs - celebrate the 90th Anniversary of these two Scottish icons by buying both books now.
(* Crivens can be spelt with one or two 'v's, DCT usually use two when Wullie uses the word.)
16 comments:
I've been buying the oor wullie and broons annuals since the mid sixties. There haven't been any dudley d watkins strips for many years. I've never seen them on sale in the works probably because I live too far down south. As tg jones is closing here in a couple of weeks I shall get them from the dc thomson shop as they are doing a deal including the calendar and is cheaper than amazon
At least DDW's art still appears in the hardback book every year. AL, though usually mixed with other artists. I've been buying it since the first one in 1996, so that's an astounding 30 years of my life spent on collecting that particular series. I imagine quite a few of the same stories have now been reprinted in them several times since the first one.
I used to spend a lot of time at Arthur’s bookshop in De Courcey’s Arcade - just off Byres Road - and he often had very early Broon’s and Oor Wullie volumes for sale. He even had bound facsimiles of the first volumes for a fraction of the price of the genuine ones way before DCT eventually decided to reproduce them. I also found a lot of early Giles annuals, The Perishers, Fred Bassett, etc. there and Arthur himself seemed to be a genuinely decent bloke.
To my mind Dudley D. Watkins is one of the finest illustrators we were lucky enough to have been amused and thrilled by during the ‘Golden Age’ of British comics.
He was prolific and versatile and his body of work deserves much more recognition. #fanboy
I know Arthur (a bit) and my only beef with him is that he cut up Oor Wullie and The Broons pages into panels, which he then framed and sold separately. Sacrilege! Aside from that, he's not a bad lad.
I was surprised to see an Oor Wullie annual in my local Tesco a few years ago.
Nowadays you'd be surprised to see your local Tesco, CJ, as didn't it close down a while back?
No, it was my local WH Smith's that closed, Kid. My local Tesco is doing fine.
I loved Arthur's store and still miss it and the man himself. DDW was a brilliant cartoonist/artist , I was amazed to find out he passed away in 1969 as back then I was still reading what I thought were new DDW strips in the Dandy, Beano , Sunday Post etc.
Recently, I was in the car with Mrs_Shed (the LHG) and we drove through Springburn past the demolished remains of the Lidl that was next to the big Tesco.
I said to her; ‘They've done a good job with that, there’s very Lidl left’.
I got ‘the look’ and rest of the journey proceeded in silence. 😕
DCT reprinted his Broons and Oor Wullie strips in the Sunday Post right up to around the mid-'70s, McS, but it was Charles Grigg and David Sutherland who continued with his other strips. Grigg did Desperate Dan and Sutherland also drew Bash Street and Dennis after Bax and Law. You say you miss Arthur - he isn't dead, is he?
Springburn? I'd have to check, but I think that's where I bought Zara, my German Shepherd dog back in 1986.
Careful, CJ, famous last words.
I don't think Arthur is dead I have just never see him since his shop closed .
Good to hear he hasn't snuffed it, McS. Last I knew, he was selling on eBay, but I forget his username. I think I bought at least one comic from him that way.
I used to get these sent from Glasgow by my grand-parents every year, when I was a child (I was dragged, I like to say, against my will south of The Border at the age of five.). I loved both Oor Wullie and The Broons equally. Both kept me in touch with my Glaswegian heritage ... Jings, Crivens and Help, M'Boab, indeed!
I bought the facsimile editions of the first Broons and Wullie books a few years back, Al - nice to have in my collection. DDW's style was originally more cartoonish, but he developed into more of what I call a 'humorous illustrator' than an outright cartoonist. Ken H. Harrison is right up there with Watkins, but the current artist (Mike Donaldson) is also doing a great job on the strips, without being a slavish imitator.
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