1950 - The Broons

For generations of Scottish families, the adventures of 'Oor Wullie' and 'The Broons' have been essential Sunday-morning reading. First published in The Sunday Post in 1936, these comic strips, drawn by Dudley D. Watkins, were instant hits with the Scottish public and have continued to appear in the paper every week. Today, they are recognised as classics of comic-strip art, both for their quality of illustration and for their warm characterisation of Scottish urban life.

'Oor Wullie' and 'The Broons' made their first appearance on 8 March 1936, when an eight-page 'Fun Section' pullout was distributed with The Sunday Post, a mass-market newspaper produced by Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The success of the strips inspired D. C. Thomson to produce The Dandy (1937) and The Beano (1938), comics which also featured work by Watkins, including his most famous character, Desperate Dan. Watkins's success was such that he became on of the very few British comic artists of the period permitted to sign his work. After his death, his work on 'Oor Wullie and 'The Broons' was reprinted in The Sunday Post every week for seven years until a new illustrator was found to carry on his work in the same style.

The Broons. Glasgow, 1950. WP.med.15

- © D.C. Thomson Ltd The Broons

210mm

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