Desperate Dan

When issue 1 of a new title called The Dandy Comic launched in December 1937, children across the nation were introduced to the Cactusville desperado, Desperate Dan. Originally a two line strip, within a year, he had expanded to a full page. Early tales portrayed him as a genuine desperado, a heavyweight cowboy without respect for the law - and with superhuman strength, shown in the debut strip by a horse being unable to carry him. The character soon evolved though, gradually gaining allies and family - Aunt Aggie, who cooks Dan's favourite food, cow pie; nephew Danny, and niece Katie, as well as a mayor and sheriff. By the time war broke out in 1939, he had already become the lovable cowboy we know today. During the war, he would sometimes be seen fighting Nazis, sinking u-boats, and bringing down planes. One episode shows him joining the US Navy, pinning magnets to himself to attract mines, which blow up, leaving Dan unharmed! During the 1950s. his stories were often serialised, with storylines such as being on the run from the law because of mistaken identity, and having to wear disguises, or an alien invading Danny and Katie's school (which turned out to be a trick by the kids). Dudley Watkins drew the strip from 1937 until his death in 1969. After this, Charles Grigg drew him in annuals and Summer Specials, while reprints were used in the weekly Dandy. In 1983, Ken Harrison took over, as Dan expanded to two pages. Whereas Watkins' version had always been in black and white, Harrison's would appear in the colour centerspread. Then in 1984, Dan finally replaced Korky the cat on the Dandy's front cover, where he would remain until the end of the century. During this era, more new characters would debut. Perhaps inspired by the success of Bananaman, Dangerous Dan McGraw and Cactusman would be recurring villains. As the new millennium dawned, Dan gained a Native American girlfriend, Little Bear. For a brief period in 2001, Dan was moved inside the comic with Cuddles and Dimples taking over the cover, but reader demand soon saw Dan reinstated. However, his story now shrank in size. Having been three pages long since the comic became full colour in 1993, he was now back down to a single page. Changes were coming. Until now, Ken's style had been essentially an updated version of Dudley's, but when the Dandy got a modern glossy makeover in 2004, Dan got a makeover as well, now appearing in a less realistic, more cartoony style. The strip was also now back to two pages, now back inside as the new look comic no longer had a cover strip. Besides the cosmetic changes, there were storyline changes too. Dangerous Dan and Cactusman had already disappeared, and now Danny, Katie, and Little Bear vanished too, without explanation. In their place, Dan got a new friend, an old timer named Zeke. In 2007, the Dandy relaunched again, becoming Dandy Xtreme. This saw Harrison's run on Dan come to an end. For a while, the now fortnightly comic featured vintage Dudley Watkins Dan strips from the 1940s, but before long, they were replaced by a radically different art style for Dan, courtesy of Jamie Smart. He remains the current artist.