Dandy, Beano, and Bunty are the best‐known British comics by virtue of their longevity, being first published in 1937, 1938, and 1950 respectively. The first two are juvenile comics and the last is intended for young adolescent girls.
Fairy tales in the Dandy have tended to be robust and dominated by male characters. An early example, ‘Jack the Dragon Killer’, was initially a text story published in 1939, and later became a picture story with the slightly changed title of ‘Jak the Dragon Killer’. Other picture stories have included ‘Dick Whittington’ (1943) and ‘Hansel and Gretel’ (1944). A parody with the title ‘Joe White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was published in 1943.
Consistently recognized as Britain's most popular comic, the Beano has made rather more use of fairy stories than the Dandy. Male robustness has again been the main characteristic. The earliest fairy tale to be included was ‘Little Tom Thumb’, which was first introduced as a text story in 1938, later becoming a picture story in 1940. There have been two examples of monster‐slayers in picture‐story form, these being ‘Morgyn the Mighty’ in 1938 and ‘Strang the Terrible’ in 1943. ‘Cinderella’ (1940) and ‘Sinbad’ (1950) have also been used as picture stories. A popular long‐running story, ‘Jimmy and his Magic Patch’, was introduced in 1943. Jimmy was a small boy who had a magic patch stitched to the seat of his trousers. At his request it transported him to a past which included adventures with Sindbad and Aladdin.
Fairy stories have been absent from the pages of the Dandy and the Beano for many years, a process which started when both comics began to adopt a predominantly comic‐strip format.
The Bunty has published very few fairy stories, probably because they do not appeal to young adolescent girls. On the rare occasions when they have appeared, they have been placed in a modern context, for example ‘Myrtle the Mermaid’ (1958) and ‘Lydia and the Little People’ (1970). In a more recent example, ‘The Mermaid's Spell’, a well‐known theme is also given a modern background when a mermaid attempts to persuade a schoolgirl to change places with her. This story, contained in a single issue, was unusual because of its cartoon‐strip format. The few fairy stories included in the Bunty have all been concerned with female characters.
— Geoffrey Fenwick
