Other Books - Bibliography

Other Books - A Bibliography

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The Broons & Oor Wullie

Dudley D. Watkins Related

	The Sunday Post Souvenir Special : Oor Wullie Goes To War Plus The Broons On The Home Front D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1989 This is really more of a high quality magazine than a book. The covers are floppy card and the covers and all internal pages are of good quality and are satin glossed. Seems to be a forerunner to the annual compendiums listed below and includes several early strips, news story extracts from the war years Sunday Posts and other related articles. Centre spread features the illustration used for the 1943 Broons jigsaw puzzle. All fascinating stuff particularily if you are not familiar with the style or content of the Sunday Post. Recommended. Fairly rare but a few show up on E-Bay. Expect to pay around £12 for a copy.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, 1936-1996 (60 Years In The Sunday Post) D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1996. ISBN 0 85116 633 4. This superb compendium used to be difficult to find but is easier now thanks to ebay. D.C. Thomson underestimated the popularity of the strip characters and did not print enough copies. These books sold out quickly and although reprinted there were not enough to meet demand at the time. Contains many early strips including the first printed Broons and Oor Wullie strips from the first Sunday Post Fun Section (8 March 1936) and the illustration used for the 1943 Broons jigsaw puzzle and another, similar styled, illustration of a Broons family outing to the seaside which was also used for a jigsaw puzzle. Also inside the book was a 1940's style coloured illustration of Oor Wullie in a piler/cartie that I had not seen before. Best of all for collectors was the inclusion of small full colour pictures of the front covers of all Broons and Oor Wullie annuals issued from 1939 to 1996. Up until this point there was uncertainty and confusion over the publication dates of some annuals as all early annuals were undated. Expect to pay around £5-£10 for a decent copy with dust-wrapper.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, At War, 1939-1945 (The Lighter Side Of The World War II) D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1997. ISBN 0 85116 651-2. Another superb compendium and contains many of my favourite strips. The scripting of Thomson's editorial team and Watkins' artwork of this era, on the Broons in particular, was wonderful, funny and touching and takes the comic strip beyond mere cartooning. Most strips are like condensed short films. Fairly easy to find second-hand. Expect to pay around £3-£6 for a decent copy with dust-wrapper.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Fabulous Fifties. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1998. ISBN 0 85116 678 4. A fine compendium of 1950's strips. The fifties saw the strip storylines becoming more far fetched and ridiculous (in a good way) and there was a noticeable shift in Watkins' style. The characters became a little less lifelike and more caricatured (in my opinion). Fairly easy to find second-hand. Expect to pay around £3-£6 for a decent copy with dust-wrapper.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Swinging Sixties. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1999. ISBN 0-85116-712-8. A fine compendium of 1960's strips including some of Watkins' final strips (includes those published in The Sunday Post on 24 August 1969, 4 days after Watkins died suddenly at his desk of a heart-attack). Scripts and artwork style continued to evolve as they had in the fifties. By 1968 Hen Broon stood over 7 foot tall (and appeared to weigh in at about 7 stone). Easy to find second-hand (and new in some book remainder shops). Expect to pay around £3-£6 for a decent copy with dust-wrapper.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Nations Favourites. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2000. ISBN 0 85116 633 4. Contains a variety of strips combined with small comments by various scottish personalities. Collected into sub-sections such as; sport, holidays, special days, entertainment etc. Easy to find for about £4.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, A Rare Treat (Seldom Seen Comic Classics 1936 - 1969) D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2001. ISBN 0 85116 785 3 Contains strips that have only ever been printed in The Sunday Post Fun Section on the day of issue. i.e. these strips have never been reprinted or compiled in any annuals or other compendiums. The vast majority of strips are from the 1930's and 1940's (DC Thomson probably had a surplus of strips during the war years when no annuals were printed). Easy to find for about £4.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Roaring Forties D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2002. ISBN 0 85116 804 3 Brilliant. This my favourite era well presented in this book.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, More Classics From The Fifties D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2003. ISBN 0 85116 836 1 Another nicely presented compilation of strips from the 1950's Sunday Post.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The 1960s Revisited D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2004. ISBN 0 85116 858 2 Another nicely presented compilation of strips from the 1960's Sunday Post.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, 70 Years Young D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2005. ISBN 0 84535 052 9 This is the 10th compilation in this series and celebrates 70 years since the characters were first introduced. Another great collection includes strips from 1936 - 2006 and for the first time in this series presents the artwork of the key artists who drew the strips after Dudley Watkins. As well as the strips there pages reprinted from 70 years of Sunday Posts .
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Early Years D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2006. ISBN 1-84535-162-2 This is the 11th compilation in this series and covers the first decade 1936 to 1946 featuring rarely seen strips. Another excellent collection. Get it now from DC Thomson : click here.
	The Broons and Oor Wullie, The Golden Years D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84535-327-8 This is the 12th compilation in this series and contains strips first published from 1946 to 1956. Another nice collection but weak packaging. DC Thomson are clearly running out of packaging ideas and/or losing interest. Get it now from DC Thomson : click here. If there are to be further additions to this book series, how about including some material of historical interest such as draft artwork and scripts. Something we haven't seen before? How about a list giving dates and descriptions of all strips, when they were reprinted and if they were reprinted in original or modified form. I would do it myself but sadly I have to work for a living.
	Maw Broon's Cookbook Waverley Books (an imprint of Geddes & Gossett), New Lanark, Scotland, 2007. ISBN 13-978-1-902407-45-6 Brilliantly conceived and presented mock up of Maw Broon's Cookbook and a well deserved best seller. This is a real cookbook full of recipes familiar to most scottish homes and looks just like the kind of recipe book you might find in your mothers/grandmothers kitchen drawer. Comes complete with 'authentic' food stains and kids doodlings. This is fantastic and creative use of the Broon's characters so 'well done' to Waverley Books. Get it now from DC Thomson : click here.
	The Broons' Burns Night Waverley Books (an imprint of Geddes & Gossett), New Lanark, Scotland, 2007. This 36 page (including covers) booklet was generously given away as free gift with The Sunday Post dated 13 January 2008. Similar to Maw Broon's Cookbook, this is a brilliantly presented mock up of one of Horace Broons jotters transformed into a Rabbie Burns scrapbook full of recipes, poems, songs Burns Certificates etc. Braw.
	The Sunday Post Summer Specials : Oor Wullie and The Broons D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London There have been 15 Summer Fun Specials starting in 1980 and ending in 1994. Oddly, the last 'Special' has No.14 on the cover. Perhaps the Broons Special in 1982 didn't count? Click here : SUMMER SPECIALS : to see the covers.

The Broons & Oor Wullie

Dudley D. Watkins Related

	The Desperate Dan Book 1979 D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1978. Full of 1950s artwork by Watkins. Easy to find. Expect to pay around £5.
	The Legend of Desperate Dan - 60 Years Of Classic Cartoon Art D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1997. ISBN 0 85116 657 1. Exactly what it says in the title. Reprints of classic Watkins artwork from The Dandy. Fairly easy to find. Expect to pay £4-£8.
	The Legend of Lord Snooty And His Pals - 60 Years Of Classic Cartoon Art. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1998. ISBN 0-85116-691-1. Exactly what it says in the title. Reprints of classic Watkins artwork from The Beano. Should be easy to find (was seen new in a remainder bookshop for £3 recently). Expect to pay £2-£5.
	D.C. Thomson Firsts (facsimile reprints of First Issues of the following comics; Dandy, Beano, Magic, Wizard, Skipper, Hotspur, Rover, Adventure). Chimera-Posner Limited, London, 1978. ISBN 0 906424 003 As it says in book title, contains accurate reprints of the No.1 issues of several childrens comics and so contains a lot of early Dudley Watkins' artwork. A superb and very interesting book. To purchase the original comics contained in this book would cost in the region of £35,000. Now very hard to find although copies occasionally appear on ebay . Prices vary depending on who is watching but expect to pay £20-£30 for a good copy with dust-jacket.

William the Warrior 1960

William the Warrior puzzle book 1964

Young Warrior

From 1956 Watkins produced a comic strip, "William the Warrior" for The Young Warrior, a children's paper published by the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (WEC). These strips were later collected in a series of two booklets published in 1960 and 1964. He also produced "Tony and Tina" strips which were published in at least three booklets (with Watkins' artwork) in 1966 and 1969 (all reprinted) plus another book featuring another artist, Donald Grey. These strips were very much in the style of The Broons and Oor Wullie but with a strong moral tone to the stories. From a book list on the back page of 'Tony and Tina Again' it appears that other booklets exist. Let me know if you have any further information on this.

Tony and Tina And The Warrior Gang

Tony and Tina Again 1969


	In 1947, Watkins began a series of adaptations of classic adventure novels. Serialised in the weekly People's Journal, they included Stevenson's Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Catriona, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Dumas' The Three Musketeers, and several others. These were successful enough that several were reprinted in book form. The books all had full colour dust-jackets Further details: click here. In good clean condition the current value of each book is approximately £40 -£50 with an original dust-jacket and £20 without.
	Dandy Beano Since 1987, The Fiftieth (golden) anniversary of The Dandy and The Beano, D.C. Thomson have produced compendium annuals containing classic strips from these two great British comics. They all contain Watkins' artworks including Desperate Dan, Biffo The Bear, Lord Snooty, Korky The Cat etc. etc. There are about 18 of these now. All are worth having if you like that kind of thing. I haven't seen them all but I'd recommend a couple in particular for Watkins' work :-
	Dandy Beano The First Fifty Years (50 Golden Years) D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1987. ISBN 0-85116-384-1. Was reprinted in 1991. Should be easy to find. Expect to pay around £5
	Dandy Beano Great Stories From The First Fifty Years D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, London, 1990. ISBN 0-85116-499-4. Contains many illustrated stories, were each picture has a chunk of text printed above or below it (rather than the speech balloon style of strip) Should be fairly easy to find. Expect to pay around £5.

The Broons & Oor Wullie

Dudley D. Watkins Related

	The Sunday Times Magazine July 29, 1973 The Secret World Of The Comic Kings (The Private Life Of Lord Snooty: an investigation by George Rosie) Times Newspaper Ltd. Seven pages plus front cover. An account of the secret world of D.C. Thomson plus text on artists - including first-hand information on Dudley Watkins and a few rare photographs. I understand D.C. Thomson were very upset about this article and suspect George Rosie was struck from the company christmas card list soon after this. Rare. Very hard to find.
	The D.C. Thomson Bumper Fun Book Paul Harris Publishing (1976) Ltd, Edinburgh, 1977. ISBN 0 905882 01 6. A collection of wry and cynical articles on the operations of the generally secretive D.C. Thomson & Co empire. Very interesting stuff. Fairly hard, but not impossible, to find - the spines and laminated covers of these books seem to go a bit brittle and fragile and the spines are easily split. Expect to pay about £10-£15 for a decent copy.
	The Comic Journal, Issue No.20 - 1990 Issue No.23 - Spring 1992 The two copies of The Comic Journal shown here are of particular interest because they contain Parts 1 and 2 of an article 'Collecting The works of Dudley Watkins' by Ray Moore. Covering Watkins' work for DC Thomson through the 1930's and 1940's, including of course The Broons and Oor Wullie, these are very informative articles. C.J. 20 contains Part 1(1930's): 7 illustrated pages. C.J. 23 contains Part 2 (1940's): 10 illustrated pages.
	Book And Magazine Collector, An excellent magazine for book and comic collectors. Published on the third Friday of each month and contains articles, reviews and many pages of book dealers/collectors adverts.
	Back Issue No.152 (Nov. 1996): Features an informative 10 page Broons and Oor Wullie article with price guide by chronicler of DC Thomson comics, Ray Moore. Highly recommended.
	Back Issue No.165 (Dec. 1997):Features an informative 11 page article with price guide on The Dandy by Ray Moore.
	Back Issue No.172 (July 1998):Features an informative 12 page article with price guide on The Beano also by Ray Moore.
	Back Issue No.211 (October 2001):Features an informative 15 page Dudley Watkins article including a price guide by Norman Wright & David Ashford.

	The Best of British Comic Art Alan Clark, Boxtree Ltd, London, 1989. ISBN 1 85283 264 9. Excellent overview of five influential british comic artists including Dudley Watkins.
	Comics - An Illustrated History Alan & Laurel Clark, Green Wood Publishing, 1989. ISBN 1 872532 55 1 A good general history of comic books and strips.
	The Complete Catalogue Of British Comics Denis Gifford, Webb & Bower (Publishers) Ltd, 1985. ISBN 0 86350 079 X Has a brief history of comics and is well illustrated with comic front pages. The price guide is now out of date but the complete listing of all British comics, from 1825 (The Glasgow Looking Glass) up to the mid-1980s, is invaluable. By the late comic expert Denis Gifford. Denis produced many illustrated books on the history of comics and all are worth a look.
	Penny Dreadfuls And Comics Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood Catalogue written by Kevin Carpenter (124 pages) Published by The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983 ISBN 0 905209 47 8 Superb history of comics and very well illustrated. Published as a catalogue to a comic history exhibition
	Boys Will Be Boys E.S. Turner, , 3rd edition. Penguin Books, 1976. ISBN 0 14 004116 8. A good general history of comic books and strips.
	The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain Steve Holland, "British Comics" 1994/1995 edition. Duncan McAlpine, London, 1994. ISBN 0 9516207 4 6.

The Broons & Oor Wullie

Dudley D. Watkins Related

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