From 1956-1981 the Beezer was a large format (tabloid newspaper/A3 sized) weekly British comic published by D.C Thomson in Dundee. Along with its sister comic the Topper it dominated the comic stands from the late 50's to early 80's until it was cut down to A4 size. For many years the comic retained a charming consistency. Fantastic artists like Dudley.D.Watkins, Bill Ritchie,Leo Baxendale and Mal Judge contributed to the comic. The characters rarely changed and when you opened up the comic every week you knew exactly on what page they were going to be. Sadly, when it was shrunk in size, alot of the original artists left and the characters and formats changed. The Beezer continued until 1990 when, after merging with the Topper, it eventually was incorporated into the Beano. This blog is solely devoted to the glory years of the Beezer when quality, style, consistency and above all size mattered.
6 comments:
Hi. I just found this site today, so this is my first post. I am especially interested in finding out about the early 1960s series "Spacewhacker" - in colour on the back page of the Beezer, round about 1962-64. Can anyone tell me where I can purchase copies, or see some of the original artwork? I would be most grateful. Many thanks. Bob
'The Spacewhacker'ran from issue 322 (17.3.62) – 374 (16.03.63). The artist was Terry Patrick.
The best way to collect ‘Beezers’ is from eBay. This requires patience as more often than not you won’t find what you’re looking for. It just requires persistence. Some days you might even find a run of 20-30 issues. Collecting them is not cheap. For the years you are looking for (1962-64?) expect to pay £5.00 per issue plus between £1.50-2.00 for package and postage.
Original artwork is sold through auction houses (also online auction sites) and occasionally through eBay. Happy hunting!
I'm late to the party, but wanted to thank you for your excellent blog. The usual sources (Wikipedia, top links on Duck Duck Go etc.) have very poor coverage of the Beezer, so this is a welcome an oasis in the desert.
I remember The Eagle in the 50s.
Definitely the Beezer.. Yes they were amazing those centerfolds, focusing on some aspect of education be it history, nature. Always vibrant with eye-popping incredible colour.. Made a huge visual impact in the monochrome 1950-60s
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