Lucky Dick
   

    Dick was a ridiculously lucky lad. Seriously. Each strip
    would see him getting into the kind of trouble that
    might normally end in a spanking, or more chores,
    or extra homework. The thing is, whenever he hit
    rock bottom, his luck would turn. Just like that. And
    hey presto, Dick got lucky. He'd win a prize or thwart
    a burglar, he'd floor a bully or save a pet, or - well - you
    get the idea...

    Lucky so-and-so.

    

    "Lucky Dick" was an early Fleetway strip for Ian Knox,
    and Dick's lucky turn was identified by the above panel,
    which was inserted into every tale. From hereon, everything
    would turn out just fine and dandy. It was a great
    gimmick, and the panel really stood out from the page,
    although the cheap newsprint paper often struggled to
    cope with that black print, resulting in much speckling
    and fragmenting of the image (and making it a
    nightmare to scan and present here!)...

    First time lucky

    In Dick's first regular appearance, we encounter him
    sucking on a bulging bag of aniseed balls. Suddenly, he's
    jumped by a big slurping dog. Dick slips on his sweets
    and careens downhill. He knocks over a chap on a ladder,
    who spills inky black paint everywhere...

    Then Dick's luck changes.

    Burglar Bert emerges from an open window. He
    steps into the paint, leaving a big black trail of bootprints
    behind him for the Police to follow. Dick gets a cash
    reward from the happy Copper. And he gets more money
    from the owner of the dog. She's delighted that her pet
    pooch has followed his sweetie trail home!

    How lucky?

    Lucky Dick was, in fact, exceptionally lucky to have
    appeared in "Whizzer & Chips" at all. You see, he was
    originally included in a "Comedy Choice" line-up, which
    was presented to readers in the Spring of 1975. Ten new
    strips were previewed (one each week for ten weeks), and
    readers cast their votes for their preferred new toon.

    The results were published in the comic on the 31st May,
    and the winning strip actually starred Smarty Pants and
    Tatty Ed. Our Dick was only runner-up. However, Fleetway
    HQ decided to let him become a regular star too, so he
    entered the "Chips" section of the comic on
    28th June 1975...