Biffo the Bear
Encyclopedia
Biffo the Bear was a fictional character
who had his own comic strip
in the British
comic The Beano
. Biffo was an anthropomorphic
bear resembling Mickey Mouse
who gained the front cover of the comic starting from issue 327, dated January 24, 1948, replacing Big Eggo
. This page is reprinted in "The Dandy and The Beano: More From the First Fifty Years", the second of the Golden Years (later 60 Years) series. His human friend Buster appeared with him later in the 1950s. A story reprinted in Classics from the Comics in August 2008 was titled Biffo and Buster. This was a full page, from 1957. As Biffo was the cover star at the time, and Buster's name was never in the title, this must be from The Beano Book
1957, not an issue of the comic.
Dudley D. Watkins
drew Biffo from the character's debut in 1948 to his sudden death on August 20, 1969, after which David Sutherland
replaced him. He remained on the front cover until issue 1677, dated September 7, 1974. Dennis the Menace
took over as from the following week, and Biffo was relegated to the inside pages. In the late 1970s, Sutherland stopped drawing Biffo, and the strip was taken over by Jimmy Glen.
Between 1976 and 1979 a spin off of Biffo the Bear appeared in the newly revived Magic Comic. This spinoff starred Biffo's two nephews Cuddly and Dudley and often had guest appearances by Biffo himself. Biffo's nephew also often featured in Biffo's Beano comic stips as well.
His strip was retired in the 1980s (with his final appearance coming in issue no 2310, dated 25 October 1986, by which time it had been reduced to a single line of four pictures. However, the strip came back in 1989 with the title shortened to just 'Biffo'. The format had been revamped to three or four frames over a page with no speech, often depicting Biffo in fantastical, surreal situations. These strips were mostly drawn by Sid Burgon
, though Trevor Metcalfe
contributed a few stories as well, including in the Beano Book 1994. In the Beano Book 1999 Milly O'Naire(from Milly O'Naire and Penny Less, from the IPC Jackpot comic) made a guest appearance as well as her dad. This was probably because Sid Burgon had previously drawn that strip as well.
More recently Biffo was seen in a four-part special leading a group of retired characters, Pansy Potter
, Keyhole Kate
and Desert Island Dick, to return The Beano
to an earlier form (specifically, the 1960s, the logo from that era was used in the story).
Since 2007, Biffo has been seen in few short strips in the Fun Size Beanos
, but these are mainly reprints.
Biffo returned in The Beano 2007 Christmas special; he featured in 'The Riot Squad'. His next guest appearance was in the 70 Years Anniversary Beano, drawn by David Sutherland. As the issue was edited by Nick Park
(creator of Wallace and Gromit
), animals in the zoo could be seen that bore a close resemblance to that of his 1989 short film, Creature Comforts
. Biffo also made an appearance in the 2010 Beano Annual, again drawn by Sutherland.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
who had his own comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comic The Beano
The Beano
The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink...
. Biffo was an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
bear resembling Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
who gained the front cover of the comic starting from issue 327, dated January 24, 1948, replacing Big Eggo
Big Eggo
Big Eggo was an ostrich and fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano. He first appeared in issue 1, dated 30 July 1938, and was the first ever cover star. His first words in the strip were 'Somebody's taken my egg again!' It was drawn throughout by Reg Carter.Eggo remained on...
. This page is reprinted in "The Dandy and The Beano: More From the First Fifty Years", the second of the Golden Years (later 60 Years) series. His human friend Buster appeared with him later in the 1950s. A story reprinted in Classics from the Comics in August 2008 was titled Biffo and Buster. This was a full page, from 1957. As Biffo was the cover star at the time, and Buster's name was never in the title, this must be from The Beano Book
The Beano Annual
The Beano Annual is the current name of the book that has been published every year since 1939, to tie in with the children's comic The Beano. there have been 73 editions They are traditionally published in August, in time for Christmas, and since 1965 they have had the date of the following year...
1957, not an issue of the comic.
Dudley D. Watkins
Dudley D. Watkins
Dudley Dexter Watkins was a British cartoonist and illustrator. He is best known for his characters Oor Wullie and The Broons; comic strips featuring them have appeared in Scottish newspaper The Sunday Post since 1936, along with annual compilations...
drew Biffo from the character's debut in 1948 to his sudden death on August 20, 1969, after which David Sutherland
David Sutherland
David Sutherland is an artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids , Dennis the Menace for The Beano, Fred's Bed and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s...
replaced him. He remained on the front cover until issue 1677, dated September 7, 1974. Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (UK)
Dennis the Menace, later called Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and now Dennis and Gnasher, is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by D. C...
took over as from the following week, and Biffo was relegated to the inside pages. In the late 1970s, Sutherland stopped drawing Biffo, and the strip was taken over by Jimmy Glen.
Between 1976 and 1979 a spin off of Biffo the Bear appeared in the newly revived Magic Comic. This spinoff starred Biffo's two nephews Cuddly and Dudley and often had guest appearances by Biffo himself. Biffo's nephew also often featured in Biffo's Beano comic stips as well.
His strip was retired in the 1980s (with his final appearance coming in issue no 2310, dated 25 October 1986, by which time it had been reduced to a single line of four pictures. However, the strip came back in 1989 with the title shortened to just 'Biffo'. The format had been revamped to three or four frames over a page with no speech, often depicting Biffo in fantastical, surreal situations. These strips were mostly drawn by Sid Burgon
Sid Burgon
Sidney William Burgon better known as Sid Burgon was a British comics artist. After working as a Mechanic and drawing as a hobby he was encouraged by coworkers into furthering his artistic nature. He gave up his job in 1963 and became a freelance cartoonist with some of his early work being...
, though Trevor Metcalfe
Trevor Metcalfe
Trevor Metcalfe born May 1939 in Brotton, Yorkshire is a British illustrator and comic book artist. Known for his comic strips in IPC Magazines comics such as Sweet Tooth and Junior Rotter in Whizzer and Chips....
contributed a few stories as well, including in the Beano Book 1994. In the Beano Book 1999 Milly O'Naire(from Milly O'Naire and Penny Less, from the IPC Jackpot comic) made a guest appearance as well as her dad. This was probably because Sid Burgon had previously drawn that strip as well.
More recently Biffo was seen in a four-part special leading a group of retired characters, Pansy Potter
Pansy Potter
Pansy Potter The Strongman's Daughter was a comic strip in The Beano, featuring Pansy Potter, a really strong girl. First appearing in the issue dated 17 December 1938. Around 1949 Jimmy Clark took up drawing the Strip, and it became known as Pansy Potter in Wonderland...
, Keyhole Kate
Keyhole Kate
Keyhole Kate was a comic strip in The Dandy. The strip featured a nosy young girl who looked looking through people's keyholes. She first appeared in The Dandy's first issue drawn by Allan Morley back in 1937. She continued in The Dandy until 1955 and even appeared as the cover strip of issue 294...
and Desert Island Dick, to return The Beano
The Beano
The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938, and was published weekly. During the Second World War,The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink...
to an earlier form (specifically, the 1960s, the logo from that era was used in the story).
Since 2007, Biffo has been seen in few short strips in the Fun Size Beanos
Fun Size Comics
The Fun Size Beano and Fun Size Dandy were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times monthly by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries, originally printed in red, white and black and published from 1982 to...
, but these are mainly reprints.
Biffo returned in The Beano 2007 Christmas special; he featured in 'The Riot Squad'. His next guest appearance was in the 70 Years Anniversary Beano, drawn by David Sutherland. As the issue was edited by Nick Park
Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
(creator of Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
), animals in the zoo could be seen that bore a close resemblance to that of his 1989 short film, Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts was originally a 1989 British humorous animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, featuring the voices of the British public "spoken" by the animals. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations...
. Biffo also made an appearance in the 2010 Beano Annual, again drawn by Sutherland.
External links
- A Century Of Comic Capers For Kids At Dewsbury Museum - includes a low-resolution scan of a Biffo the Bear comic strip on the front of Beano comic from 1956