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  Comic Strips and Characters

 
     Oor Wullie

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   Oor Wullie

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             artists:  Dudley Watkins / Ken Harrison
  appearances:  8th March 1936 - present
                          weekly in The Sunday Post
                         1940 - present
                         biannual editions, published
                         by DC Thomson

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    "Guid night, sleep tight,
   
  An' dinna let the bugs bite!
     An' dinna miss oor wee mite
     In yer Sunday Post... a'right?"
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    Indecipherable to many southerners, but an icon to those north of the border, that
    young Scottish loon Wullie has been scuffing around the backstreets of Dundee
    since 1936. Wullie and his associates The Broons were born in the studios of
    DC Thomson, and they first appeared in the pages of 'The Sunday Post' before
    branching out into biannual publications. Both the weekly strips and the annuals
    are still published today, 60+ years on. And you can also get your hands on
    tie-in calendars and more.

    Wullie is a snotty-faced kid, always bored, always skint, and always looking for
    something to do, some way to cause mischief or get out of a family gathering, or
    some way to get rich quick. Every Wullie strip opens with the lad perched on his
    upturned bucket, or on occasion, just the bucket on its own because Wullie's
    'awa' playin' or 'awa' tae school...' or something similar. 
   
    Wullie and his family reside in Dundee, or possibly Glasgow. The precise setting
    isn't identified, but the location is clear and instantly familiar to anyone who has
    grown up in a Scottish town. Wullie spends far too much of his time dodging
    the local bobby, PC Murdoch. His best friends are his pets, Harry the terrier and
    'Jeemy' his mouse. The appeal is in the simplicity. It's only when you travel to
    Scotland that you realise just how iconic Wullie is. It seems that everyone
    knows him, and better still, everyone knows someone just like him. Why, he's
    as Scottish as a fish supper and a can of Irn Bru!

    Like 'The Broons', Wullie was originally drawn by the masterful Dudley Watkins.
    After his death in 1969 the publishers made do with reprinted strips until 1979
    when other artists were drafted in, principally Ken H Harrison. The strips are
    faultless. Panels feature full-figures, in the classic style. But the current strips
    aren't locked in some olde worlde timewarp; Wullie now embraces modern fads
    and fancies, as required, like computer games and their ilk...

     Oor Wullie's first annual

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In the news

   The Hound: April 2004
    Oor Wullie tops Scottish icon list...


   The Hound: November 2003
    First Wullie annual up for auction...


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    On the web

       


       That's Braw 
       http://www.thatsbraw.co.uk
       Gavin's Oor Wullie pages are a treat and include a strip
 history and
       cover scans presented amidst a pleasant purple surround with tartanised
       buttons. Gavin's done the same thing for the Broon family, too, and he
       includes a fab biography of the late, great artist Dudley Watkins...
        

       
Oor Wullie homepage
       
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~painless/...
       This one's not been updated for yonks, but it was the first online back
       in '98. A 'clunky' page now, with some large Wullie scans all off-set against
       a dizzying tartan background. Be patient - those strips take time to load...


       Oor Wullie
       http://www.oorwullie.tk/
       And here's Richie's shrine now. This one features an animated splash
       page, a profile page and a collection of panel scans to make us titter...




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