Paul McCartney appears in the last ever issue of “The Dandy”

About

From Wikipedia:

The Dandy was a British children’s comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world’s third-longest running comic, after Il Giornalino (cover dated 1 October 1924) and Detective Comics (cover dated March 1937). From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.

One of the best selling comics in the UK, along with The Beano, The Dandy reached sales of two million a week in the 1950s. The final printed edition was issued on 4 December 2012, the comic’s 75th anniversary, after sales slumped to 8,000 a week. On the same day, The Dandy relaunched as an online comic, The Digital Dandy, appearing on the Dandy website and in the Dandy App. The digital relaunch was not successful and the comic ended just six months later.

From Reuters, December 2, 2012:

Paul McCartney will fulfill a lifelong wish on Tuesday when he appears in the final print edition of Britain’s longest-running children’s comic The Dandy, a favorite of the ex-Beatle when he was growing up in Liverpool.

The comic that brought beloved characters including pie-eating cowboy Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat to millions of homes is going digital-only from Tuesday, 75 years after it was first published. […]

McCartney contacted Dandy after the digital switch was first announced in August.

He said that in an interview with music magazine NME in 1963 he was asked what his personal ambition was, and he replied that he wanted to have his picture in The Dandy.

“I hope it’s not too late!” the 70-year-old wrote in a letter. “The Dandy was a favorite comic of mine when growing up in Liverpool and each week I would look forward to the exploits of Desperate Dan and his other comic book colleagues.”

He will be seen grimacing as Desperate Dan squeezes his fingers in a firm handshake, after which McCartney leads 50 of the comic’s most famous characters in a sing-a-long of the Beatles hit “Hey Jude”.

Dear Dandy,

The Dandy was a favourite comic of mine when growing up in Liverpool and each week I would look forward to the exploits of Desperate Dan and his other comic book colleagues.

I feel a little sadness that I see its final issue is appearing in December.

In 1963, in the NME, when asked what my personal ambition was, I replied – to have my picture in The Dandy!

I hope it’s not too late!

Thank you, Dandy, we loved ya!

Paul McCartney

Last updated on August 1, 2023