Beezer

While the fifties were the age of conformity, the sixties brought in change. Change in fashion (the hippie generation) and thinking (radicals or free thinkers). The British comic – The Beezer – for girls and boys, was able to capture the spirit of the times well. Published in A3 (tabloid) size, the comic ran from January 1956 to August 1993 when it was unofficially “merged” with The Beano. During its run for over three decades, The Beezer saw many mergers – Cracker in 1976, Plug in 1979 and The Topper in 1990 when it was renamed Beezer and Topper. From A3 it also shrank to the normal A4 size in 1981.

When the first issue of The Beezer appeared in broadsheet size in January, 1956, it introduced Ginger (Dudley Watkins) to the comic world, who was a young mischievous boy, dressed in school jumper, shorts and a tie with a shock of red hair. He was almost on every cover until it merged with Topper in 1990. While the comic came to and end in 1993, three other publications continued for a few years afterwards. These included The Best of Beezer (1988-1996), The Beezer Summer Special (1973-2002) and The Beezer Annual (1957-2003).