Topper (comic book)
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The Topper was a UK comic that ran from (issues dates) 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with The Beezer. A strip named "Mickey the Monkey" originally graced the front cover. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by "Send for Kelly". That strip was replaced with "Danny's Tranny" in 1975, and then "Tricky Dicky" in 1979. "Beryl the Peril" took over in 1986, and remained there until the merger with The Beezer.
Unlike most other comics at the time, which were A4 paper size, this was double the size at A3. It changed to A4 in 1980, one year before The Beezer. The comics that merged with The Topper during its 37 year run were Buzz in 1975 and Sparky in 1977.
Over the years it featured:
- "Al Change" - Master of Disguise
- "Ali's Baba" (from Sparky)
- "Andy Ladd" - a short strip about a young resourceful inventor
- "Beryl the Peril" - a mischievous girl similar to Minnie the Minx, though Beryl predates Minnie by a year
- "Big Uggy" - a caveman and an anthropomorphic dinpsaur friend Dopey
- "Danny's Tranny" - a boy and his magical transistor radio
- "Desert Island Dick" - a short strip about a castaway and his incompetent attempts to summon rescue
- "Dopey Joe" - a short strip about an incompetent Indian
- "Figaro" - an overweight Mexican bandit
- "Foxy"
- "Fred the Flop" (from Sparky)
- "Ghastly Manor"
- "Hungry Horace" (from Sparky)
- "Jimmy Jinx" - and what he thinks (from Buzz)
- "Julius Cheeser" - a short strip about a cat's failures to catch a mouse
- "King Gussie" "Everybody laughs to see the antics of His Majesty" - a short strip about a king ; like strips such as Desperate Dan, this surreally combined historical and modern day elements
- "Mickey the Monkey" - a similar concept to Biffo the Bear, but with a monkey. Mickey was sometimes portrayed as stupid, forgetful and unlucky. The Clash drummer Topper Headon was reputedly named after the character (Topper is a nickname for the rocker).
- "Peter Piper" - with magical pan pipes that could animate objects
- "Send for Kelly"
- "Sir Laughalot" - a fantasy knight and his misadventures
- "Smart Art"
- "Souper Boy" - a weedy boy who became extremely strong when drinking a special soup, similarly to Popeye
- "Splodge" "the last of the goblins" - around four inches high and invisible to humans, who stole food
- "Tiny" - The World's Biggest Dog
- "Tom and Terry" (from Sparky)
- "Tricky Dicky".
