The 90th anniversary of a notable Scottish comic strip

The BBC looks at the history of Orr Wullie and the Broons, a notable comic strip from Scotland that debuted way back in 1936:

Jings! Scotland's favourite "spiky-haired loon" and best-loved family are celebrating their 90th anniversary - and looking good for it.

Oor Wullie and The Broons began creating chaos across the pages of DC Thomson's Sunday Post in March 1936.

Since then, Oor Wullie has spent nine decades perched on his famous bucket, while The Broons have portrayed the joys, chaos and heart of family life in 10 Glebe Street.

Now The Sunday Post is set to publish a commemorative supplement, featuring a national comics competition and guide on how to draw the spiky-haired boy in dungarees and hobnail boots.

Oor Wullie and The Broons were the creations of former DC Thomson managing editor Robert Low and sprung from the pen of illustrator Dudley Watkins.

The comic strips share tales of working-class life and community through mischief, family humour and their distinctive Scots language. [...]

The comic strip was loved by many for its portrayal of traditional home values - from Maw's wisdom and Paw's blustering to the antics of the bairns and romances and mishaps of Hen and Daphne. [...]

Thomas Hawkins, editor of The Sunday Post, said: "Very few fictional characters have lived as vividly in Scotland's imagination as Oor Wullie and The Broons.

"For 90 years they've mirrored Scotland back to itself - its humour, its grit and its sense of community and this anniversary is a chance to celebrate where they've come from, and the new stories still to be told.

"From boosting morale during the Second World War to putting a smile on readers' faces during the Covid pandemic, Oor Wullie and The Broons have been a reassuring constant in a world in flux."

What's impressive about a comic strip like this is that it's an important example of being proud of a country's national culture, and could doubtless make a great asset in an era where national cultures were massively damaged by political correctness. This is the sort of concept you may not have always seen in the USA, even in decades past, and it's surely something to learn from.