History ComicStrip / ThePerishers

* CloudCuckoolander: Marlon and occasionally Boot - the latter frequently believed himself to be an 18th century Lord [[BalefulPolymorph transformed into a dog]] by a vengeful gypsy.

See also [[http://www.theauthenticperishers.co.uk/ this website]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perishers The Other Wiki's Article]].

''The Perishers'' was a long-running British newspaper comic strip, appearing in the ''Daily Mirror'' from about 1959 until its final cancellation in 2006. The strip was mostly written by Maurice Dodd, who also worked as an advertising copywriter. In actual fact, Dodd was neither the strip's creator, nor its original writer -- the strip was jointly created by its original artist Dennis Collins, and the ''Daily Mirror's'' entertainments editor, while its first writer, Ben Witham got fired within weeks after the first few strips were regarded as dismally unfunny -- but his name has always been the one most closely associated with the strip. Until 1983 it was drawn by Dennis Collins, in a highly detailed style which subsequent artists could never quite match. As of 2010 the ''Mirror'' is reprinting 1960s strips with Collins art and new colouring, somewhat squashed to fit a modern comic page and containing some updates to topical material - e.g., Maisie's references to "That nice [[UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson Mr. Wilson]]" are now directed to "That nice [[UsefulNotes/DavidCameron Mr. Cameron]]".

* ABoyAndHisX: Wellington and Boot are a boy and his Old English Sheepdog.

* BaitAndSwitch: In one 1960s strip Maisie found Wellington leaning against a wall, and being GenreSavvy assumed that as soon as she took his place the wall would fall on her. She did it anyway, "just to go along with the gag", and [[spoiler:a lampppost fell on her instead]].

* GardenHoseSquirtSurprise: One mid-60s had Wellington asking Maisie to inspect the end of a hose while he went to adjust the "hydro control valve".
** Soon afterward Maisie found him leaning against a wall, and being GenreSavvy assumed that as soon as she took his place the wall would fall on her. She did it anyway, "just to go along with the gag", and [[spoiler:[[TwistEnding a lampppost fell on her instead]]]].

* ParodyReligion: The crabs have one, worshipping Boot on his regular visits, although most of their leaders are just in it for the money.
** Said religion also comes complete with a [[FlatEarthAtheist skeptic movement trying to disprove the existince of the Eyeballs in the Sky.]]

'''The Perishers''' was a long-running British newspaper comic strip, appearing in the ''Daily Mirror'' from about 1959 until its final cancellation in 2006. The strip was mostly written by Maurice Dodd, who also worked as an advertising copywriter. In actual fact, Dodd was neither the strip's creator, nor its original writer -- the strip was jointly created by its original artist Dennis Collins, and the ''Daily Mirror's'' entertainments editor, while its first writer, Ben Witham got fired within weeks after the first few strips were regarded as dismally unfunny -- but his name has always been the one most closely associated with the strip. Until 1983 it was drawn by Dennis Collins, in a highly detailed style which subsequent artists could never quite match. As of 2010 the ''Mirror'' is reprinting 1960s strips with Collins art and new colouring, somewhat squashed to fit a modern comic page and containing some updates to topical material - e.g., Maisie's references to "That nice [[UsefulNotes/HaroldWilson Mr. Wilson]]" are now directed to "That nice [[UsefulNotes/DavidCameron Mr. Cameron]]".

* ABoyAndHisX: Wellington and Boot are a boy and his Old English Sheepdog.

* SpeechBubble: Baby Grumpling speaks in lower-case; Fred Kilroy the Teutonic Tortoise speaks in Fraktur (German copperplate).

The strip features a group of urban schoolchildren and a dog. As such it is sometimes described as a British equivalent of ''{{Peanuts}}'', although it has a very different art style and relies on quirkily British humour in the tradition of music hall and Creator/SpikeMilligan (Charlie Brown and Snoopy were featured since the late 50s in the ''Daily Sketch'' and the ''Daily Mail'' since the 1970s).

The strip features a group of urban schoolchildren and a dog. As such it is sometimes described as a British equivalent of ''{{Peanuts}}'', although it has a very different art style and relies on quirkily British humour in the tradition of music hall and Creator/SpikeMilligan.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Pretty rare, but Wellington and Boot moving into an abandoned railway station bulding is made possible by the fact that [[SarcasmMode that nice Dr. Beeching]] had closed down the line it was on.