Editing Children's literature (section)

====Magazines and comics====
{{see also|Children's comics}}
[[File:Minnie the minx.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue of [[Minnie the Minx]], a character from ''[[The Beano]]''. Launched in 1938, the comic is known for its anarchic humour, with ''[[Dennis the Menace and Gnasher|Dennis the Menace]]'' appearing on the cover.]]
An important aspect of British children's literature has been [[comic books]] and [[List of early-20th-century British children's magazines and annuals|magazines]]. Amongst the most popular and longest running comics have been ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''[[The Dandy]]'', both first published in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-19284222 |title=BBC News, 16 August 2012 |work=BBC News |date=16 August 2012 |access-date=20 July 2018 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909223416/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-19284222 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/pixar/11766202/Was-Pixars-Inside-Out-inspired-by-The-Beano.html |title=''The Telegraph'', 27 July 2015 |date=27 July 2015 |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=12 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412090211/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/pixar/11766202/Was-Pixars-Inside-Out-inspired-by-The-Beano.html |url-status=live }}</ref> British comics in the 20th century evolved from illustrated [[penny dreadful]]s of the Victorian era (featuring [[Sweeney Todd]], [[Dick Turpin]] and ''[[Varney the Vampire]]'').<ref>{{cite journal | url= https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000228860 | title= Horror Comics: The Nasties of the 1950s | author= John Sringhall | journal= [[History Today]] | issue= 7 | volume= 44 | date= July 1994 | access-date= 2010-10-23 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120504231008/http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000228860 | archive-date= 4 May 2012 | url-status= live | df= dmy-all }}</ref> First published in the 1830s, according to ''The Guardian'', penny dreadfuls were "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young."<ref>{{cite news |title=Penny dreadfuls: the Victorian equivalent of video games |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/30/penny-dreadfuls-victorian-equivalent-video-games-kate-summerscale-wicked-boy |access-date=3 September 2019 |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122215447/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/30/penny-dreadfuls-victorian-equivalent-video-games-kate-summerscale-wicked-boy |archive-date=22 November 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Robin Hood]] featured in a series of penny dreadfuls in 1838 which sparked the beginning of the mass circulation of Robin stories.<ref>{{cite book |title=Swordsmen of the Screen: From Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |page=191}}</ref>

[[Dennis the Menace and Gnasher|Dennis the Menace]] debuted in ''The Beano'' in 1951, while the popular stop-motion characters, [[Wallace and Gromit]], guest-starred in the comic every four weeks from 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://beano.com/beano-max/issue-79|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628023756/http://beano.com/beano-max/issue-79|url-status=dead|title=Issue 79 – The Beano|date=28 June 2013|archive-date=28 June 2013}}</ref> Important early magazines or [[story papers]] for older children were the ''[[Boy's Own Paper]]'', published from 1879 to 1967<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.philsp.com/data/data071.html#BOYSOWNMAGAZINEUK |title=Galactic Central |access-date=2017-08-06 |archive-date=2017-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614221614/http://www.philsp.com/data/data071.html#BOYSOWNMAGAZINEUK |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''[[The Girl's Own Paper]]'' published from 1880 until 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.philsp.com/data/data207.html |title=Galactic Central |access-date=2017-08-06 |archive-date=2017-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806223302/http://www.philsp.com/data/data207.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1890s, [[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|half-penny]] publications succeeded the penny dreadfuls in popularity among British children. These included ''[[Halfpenny Marvel|The Half-penny Marvel]]'' and ''[[Union Jack (magazine)|Union Jack]]''. From 1896, the cover of the half-penny comic ''[[Illustrated Chips]]'' featured the long-running comic strip of the [[tramp]]s Weary Willie and Tired Tim, with its readers including a young [[Charlie Chaplin]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Chris |title=The British Superhero |date=2017 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |page=22}}</ref>

Other story papers for older boys were ''[[The Hotspur]]'' (1933 to 1959) and ''[[The Rover (story paper)|The Rover]]'', which started in 1922 and was absorbed into ''Adventure'' in 1961 and ''[[The Wizard (DC Comics)|The Wizard]]'' in 1963, and eventually folded in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britishcomics.20m.com/home.htm |title=British Comics |access-date=2017-08-06 |archive-date=2017-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806221231/http://www.britishcomics.20m.com/home.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Many prominent authors contributed to the ''Boy's Own Paper'': [[cricket]]er [[W.G. Grace]] wrote for several issues, along with authors Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] and [[R. M. Ballantyne]], as well as [[Robert Baden-Powell]], founder of the [[Scout Movement]]. Contributors to ''The Girl's Own Paper'' included [[Noel Streatfeild]], [[Rosa Nouchette Carey]], [[Sarah Doudney]] (1841–1926), [[Angela Brazil]], [[Richmal Crompton]], [[Fanny Fern]], and [[Baroness Orczy]].

The ''[[Eagle (British comics)|Eagle]]'' was a popular British comic for boys, launched in 1950 by [[Marcus Morris (publisher)|Marcus Morris]], an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Revolutionary in its presentation and content, it was enormously successful; the first issue sold about 900,000 copies.<ref>Roger Sabin, ''Adult comics: an introduction'' (illustrated ed.), London: Taylor & Francis, 1993, p. 25.</ref><ref name="Science museum">{{Citation |title=Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain |url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/dan_dare.aspx |publisher=sciencemuseum.org.uk |access-date=19 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721103622/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/dan_dare.aspx | archive-date=21 July 2010 }}</ref> Featured in colour on the front cover was its most recognisable story, "[[Dan Dare]], Pilot of the Future", created with meticulous attention to detail.<ref name="ODNB Hampson">{{Cite ODNB |last=Varah |first=Chad |author-link=Chad Varah |title=Hampson, Frank (1918–1985) |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31192 |access-date=16 June 2010 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31192}}</ref><ref name="Tribute">{{Citation |title=A Tribute to Frank Hampson 1918–1985 |url=http://www.tameside.gov.uk/blueplaque/frankhampson |publisher=tameside.gov.uk |date=12 September 2007 |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-date=16 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616221541/http://www.tameside.gov.uk/blueplaque/frankhampson |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Times Hampson">{{Citation |last=Crompton |first=Alastair |title=Where Eagle dared |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/598/936/79880174w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS201560409&dyn=5!xrn_10_0_CS201560409&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |work=[[The Times]]|date=25 October 1985 |page=12 |issue=62278}}</ref> It was first published from 1950 to 1969, and relaunched from 1982 to 1994.<ref>Mike Conroy, ''500 great comicbook action heroes'' (illustrated ed.), London: Collins & Brown, 2002, pp. 362–363.</ref> Its sister comic was ''[[Girl (UK comics)|Girl]]'', whose early issues from 1951 featured the strip "Kitty Hawke and her All-Girl Air Crew". ''[[Roy of the Rovers]]'', an immensely popular comic strip featuring Roy Race, a [[Striker (association football)|striker]] for the fictional football team Melchester Rovers, first appeared in the ''[[Tiger (Fleetway)|Tiger]]'' in 1954.<ref>{{citation |title=The 10 best comic book footballers |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/toptens/story/0,,1098267,00.html |newspaper=The Observer |date=30 November 2003 |access-date=25 March 2022 |archive-date=24 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224192833/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/toptens/story/0,,1098267,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> First published by [[Martin Handford]] in 1987, more than 73 million ''[[Where's Wally?]]'' picture puzzle books had been sold around the world by 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Where's Wally founder tracks down a fortune |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jan/22/6 |access-date=6 August 2021 |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-date=21 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721172104/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jan/22/6 |url-status=live }}</ref>