A chronicle of 75 years of the world's longest-running comic, The Art and History of The Dandy is a beautiful gift book and treasury of everything that has made The Dandy so anarchic and special. The Dandy is king of the comics! The Dandy is a record breaker: in 1999 it became the world's longest running comic. The Art and History of the Dandy is a chronicle of 75 years of comic violence and madcap antics from the likes of Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Beryl the Peril, Keyhole Kate and other intrepid fi gures who have long since left the comic. The Dandy fi rst hit the streets on December 3, 1937, six months before its sister comic The Beano. By the 1980s, it was the world's largest-selling comic with a circulation of around 2 million. The late Albert Barnes, who edited the comic from 1937 to 1980, summed up its philosophy: 'There is never any real violence, only the cartoon kind to be found in Tom and Jerry where the victim always springs back unharmed. It gives children a chance to cock a harmless snook at authority, and sublimate their desires to kick against the traces.' Barnes was also behind Desperate Dan, who became The Dandy's biggest star. Talking about his cowboy creation, Barnes said: 'He is to be the roughest, toughest cowboy. He has to be the strongest man in the world: a man who can chew iron and spit rust.' Desperate Dan was never happier than when confronted by his daily diet of cow pie, a species of dish which involved the entire animal, including horns and tail, protruding through the pastry. Dan was eventually stopped from eating his favourite dish because of the emergence of BSE (or mad cow disease). There was a similar crisis in 1997 when Desperate Dan sailed off with the Spice Girls after striking oil and temporarily retired from the pages of The Dandy. There was such an outcry, including a Bring Dan Back campaign, threats of boycott, and protests from as far away as Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United States, that the hero was swiftly restored. Changing values caused Morris Heggie, editor in the 1990s and now scriptwriter for The Broons and Oor Wullie, to say: 'Desperate Dan is not now quite the same old desperado that he was. He is now quite laid-back in comparison with the old days. At one time he used to smoke a dustbin full of rubbish through a drainpipe ...What is important though, is that, unlike in real life, the kids always win in The Dandy. That's our recipe for anarchy.' An eight-foot tall bronze statue of Desperate Dan has stood in the centre of Dundee since 2001. Desperate Dan is one of Britain's favourite characters, and has appeared in nearly every issue of The Dandy since 1937. TITLE: THE ART AND HISTORY OF THE DANDY - 75 YEARS BIFFS, BANGS AND BANANA SKINS ISBN: 978-1-84934-241-4 Publication: August 6 2012 Format: Hardback, 285 A-- 229 mm Colour illustrated throughout Extent: 288 pp Price: GBP20.00 Genre: Comics / Nostalgia / Humour Brand tie-in: The Dandy Similar titles: 288 pp gift book chronicling the world's longest-running comic Fully illustrated, colour throughout A must for every comic fan Extensive endmatter, with detailed archive history of eac