View source for Bully Beef and Chips

{{Short description|Comic strip from The Dandy}}{{More references needed|date=February 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Dandy strip
|strip_name={{PAGENAME}}
|image=[[File:Chips_and_Bully_Beef_from_The_Dandy.jpg|290px]]
|creator=Jimmy Hughes
|writer=[[Gordon Bell (artist)|Gordon Bell]]<br>[[Sid Burgon]]
|artist=
|start_issue=
|start_date=1967
|finish=
|format=
|schedule=
|main_character=
|alias=
|family=
|friends=
|team_members=
|type=
|characters=Bully Beef, Chips
|other_characters=
|crossover=
|spin-off=
|stars=
|other_names=
|other_cameos=''[[The Beano Annual]]''<br>''[[Dandy Xtreme]]''<br>''[[The Beano]]''
}}
'''Bully Beef and Chips''' was a British comic strip, created by Jimmy Hughes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=December 28, 2007 |title=A Dandy sale price |work=[[The Daily Mirror]] |page=29}}</ref> It first appeared in 1967 in the British comics magazine ''[[The Dandy]]''. In 2007, a set of ''Dandy'' comics, scripts and storyboards created by Hughes, including material from Bully Beef and Chips, was sold at auction for {{Currency|180,000|GBP}} ({{US$| {{To USD round|180000|GBR|year=2007}}}}).<ref name=":0" />

==Concept==
The strip told the story of two warring boys – a tall, ugly thug called Bully Beef and a softer, more cunning boy called Chips. The name "Bully Beef and Chips" comes from a quickly-prepared meal &ndash; [[corned beef]] and [[French fries|chips]] &ndash; with "Bully beef" being a phrase used for "corned beef". 

Stories of these two were identically themed – Bully Beef (Beefy) would constantly play violent tricks on Chips, who would then get his climactic revenge in some way right at the end. Originally, Bully Beef's eyes were always covered by his hair, but towards the end of the 1980s they became partly visible, and then entirely visible when original artist Jimmy Hughes retired in 1993 and was replaced by [[Gordon Bell (artist)|Gordon Bell]] and later [[Sid Burgon]]. Burgon changed the characters' personalities a little, and made Chips just as much of a bully as Beefy at times, occasionally resulting in Beefy coming out on top.

==Revivals==

It was revived in 2009 in ''[[Dandy Xtreme]]'', drawn by [[Wayne Thompson (comics)|Wayne Thompson]], but this did not last long. After a redesign, it reappeared, again drawn by Thompson, in May 2012. Beefy had made an appearance in both ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''The Beano Annual'' earlier in 2009 – specifically in a reprint Fred's Bed strip from around 1992, where Fred visited both Beanotown and Dandytown, and Beefy was among several characters he met. The annual appearance was in the Reservoir Dodge story, as one of a gang of villains watching [[Baby Face Finlayson]] attempt to drown [[Roger the Dodger]], [[Walter the Softy]], [[Minnie the Minx]], [[Billy Whizz]] and [[Calamity James]].
The strip also appeared in both the 2011 and 2012 ''Dandy'' annuals, the 2011 one drawn by an unknown artist whose style resembled Jimmy Hughes's, and in 2012 drawn by [[Laura Howell]].

==Parodies==
Bully Beef has been parodied in ''[[Viz (comics)|Viz]]'' as [[Biffa Bacon]], Cedric Soft being the equivalent of Chips. However, the Viz strip mostly concerns Biffa's interactions with his equally violent (and considerably stronger) parents.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dandy}}
{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}

[[Category:British comic strips]]
[[Category:British comics characters]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Child characters in comics]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Comics about children]]
[[Category:1967 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1967]]
[[Category:Comic strip duos]]
[[Category:DC Thomson Comics strips]]
[[Category:Dandy strips]]
[[Category:Fiction about bullying]]
[[Category:Fiction about rivalry]]
[[Category:Comics set in the United Kingdom]]

{{UK-comics-stub}}