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''The Topper'' was a UK comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd that ran from 7 February 1953 to 15 September 1990, when it merged with ''The Beezer''. A strip named "Mickey the Monkey" originally graced the front cover. In the early 1970s, it was replaced by "Send for Kelly". That strip was replaced with "Danny's Tranny" in 1975, and then "Tricky Dicky" in 1979. "Beryl the Peril" took over on 24 May 1986, and remained there until the merger with ''The Beezer''. Unlike most other comics at the time, which were half tabloid size, the Topper was for many years full tabloid. It changed to A4 in 1980, one year before ''The Beezer''. Two comics were merged into ''The Topper'' during its run: these were ''Buzz'' in 1975 and ''Sparky'' in issue 1276 (16th July 1977). In issue 1260 on March 26th 1977, "Big News" was announced on the front cover redirecting the reader to page 7 of the comic. The Big news was that starting from issue number 1261 the comic would include a "Special Pull-out section" that brought back classic Topper Characters such as Splodge and Big Uggy. These reprints didn't last long as in issue 1276 the pull out section was used for the Sparky comic, creating the "Special Sparky Pull-Out". The Sparky Pull out section was continued until the change to the A4 format. ''The Topper'' also produced an annual collection (see The Topper Book). ==Rebrand, closure and reprints== In the late 1980s and 1990s, with the expansion of children's television and video games taking a greater share of children's time, sales of comics began to fall, and so D. C. Thomson decided to modernise the ''Topper'', relaunching it as ''Topper '89'' from February 1989. In September 1990, it was decided to merge the ''Topper'' with another of D. C. Thomson's long-running comics, ''The Beezer'' and the two comics combined as ''Beezer and Topper''. This continued in publication until 1993; it subsequently closed, with a small amount of content from the combined comic subsequently relocating into other D. C. Thomson publications ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Despite the closure of the ''Topper'' as a standalone title, The Topper Book continued as an annual, separate from The Beezer Book, until the 1994 annual (published 1993, the year new issues of ''Beezer and Topper'' ceased). Vintage stories from the ''Topper'' appeared alongside stories from other D. C. Thomson publications in Classics from the Comics, a compilation magazine series which ran from 1996 to 2010. On March 19 The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history. The collection featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Topper (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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