On March 8th 1936 Oor Wullie and The Broons made their first appearance in the Sunday Post.
Jings , Crivven’s, and Help ma boab!! All words synonymous with oor we dungaree wearing hero.
Wullie and his gang have been keeping boredom at bay for decades in the typical Scottish town of Auchenshoogle.
The rascal has become an icon sitting on an upturned bucket in his famous dungarees as he plans the latest pranks and japes.
Fat Bob, Soapy Soutar, Wee Eck, Primrose (and don’t forget Jeemy the mouse) all join in the fun, with Wullie’s Ma, Pa and poor old PC Murdoch also playing starring roles.
Some famous faces have appeared in the strip over the years including Nicola Sturgeon, Ewan McGregor, Andy Murray and Amy Macdonald.
A 2004 survey voted Wullie ‘Scotland’s Favourite Son’, beating William Wallace, Sean Connery and Rabbie Burns in the top four
Everyone knows the Broons. Hen is still the tallest beanpole in Scotland, Joe’s still flexing his muscles, Maggie’s still as gorgeous as ever, Daphne’s still trying to get a man, Horace is constantly swotting and the never-named Twins are always up to mischief. And that’s not forgetting the brainiest Bairn in Scotland, the ever youthful Granpaw and heads of the whole clan - matriarch Maw and put-upon Paw.
Although they’ve only ever appeared in the pages of the Dundee-based Sunday newspaper, the annuals - which alternate year about between Oor Wullie and The Broons - are still flying off the shelves faster than Granpaw’s false teeth during a toffee apple eating contest.
The annuals are always in the top ten Christmas bestsellers at booksellers Waterstone’s.
While the two strips adhere to the traditional format there have been some changes over the years, not all go down well, like when hen they tried printing the comics strips in colour the 90s, Michty me! There were shoals of complaints from readers and they had to go back to black and white In the most recent annuals, Horace gets a makeover and is mistaken for Harry Potter, while other characters are seen clutching mobile phones, checking e-mails on laptops, singing on karaoke machines and watching satellite TV.