View source for Wee Peem

{{Short description|British comic strip character}}
{{italic title}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Beano main character
|name=Wee Peem
|stars={{ubl|''Wee Peem (He's a Proper Scream)'' (1939–1940)|''Wee Peem's Magic Pills'' (1951–1952)|''Wee Peem'' (1956–1957)}}
|image=Wee_Peem_smoking.jpg |img_size=190px
|first_issue=1|first_date=30 July 1938
|last_issue=3945 |last_date=25 July 2018
|artist={{ubl|James Malcom|Charles Grigg|Hugh Morren}}
|first=1 |last=89, 714 – 765, 486 – 507, 3945<ref name="Walliams"/>
}}
'''''Wee Peem''''' was a British comic strip character in ''[[The Beano]]'', first written and designed by James Jewell.{{sfnp|''History of the Beano''|2008|p=305}} He starred in two comic strips between 1938 and 1957, and would get up to various forms of mischief in a similar way to later ''Beano'' strips such as ''[[Dennis the Menace (UK)|Dennis the Menace]]'' and ''[[Minnie the Minx]]''.

== Synopsis ==
Peem is a little boy with a large, round head with long limbs, usually dressed in a stripy jumper, shorts, and a strip cap too small for his head. His stories would be about his misbehaviours irritating and angering adults. His name is "Little James" in the [[Scots language]].

==Character history==
Peem debuted in ''Wee Peem (He's a Proper Scream)'' in ''The Beano''{{'s}} first issue{{refn|group=Note|Named ''The Beano Comic'' at this time.{{sfnp|''History of the Beano''|2008|p=315}}}}<ref name=issue1>{{Cite magazine|title=Wee Peem|date=1938-07-30|magazine=The Beano Comic|last=Jewel|first=James|issue=1|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> with ''[[Lord Snooty]] and His Pals'', ''[[Helpful Henry]]'', ''[[Morgyn the Mighty]]'', ''The Adventures of Tom Thumb'', and ''[[Big Eggo]]''.{{sfnp|''80 Years''|2018|p=11}} ''The Beano'' magazine contained two types of children's fiction: comic strips and adventure [[prose]] stories; ''Wee Peem'' was the former, inspired by the funny pages of American newspapers.{{sfnp|''80 Years''|2018|p=11}} When it ended in issue 89,<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Wee Peem|date=6 April 1940|magazine=The Beano Comic|last=Jewell|first=James|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George|issue=89}} </ref> [[DC Thomson]] reprinted some of the ''Wee Peem'' strips in ''[[The People's Journal]]'', along with some new stories by James Malcolm.{{sfnp|''History of the Beano''|2008|p=305}}

A similar character in both appearance and mannerisms appeared in the first ''[[Dandy Monster Comic]]'' under the name Dipper the Dodger.<ref name=DMC1>{{cite book | title=Dandy Monster Comic No. 1|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. in conjunction with Aurum Press Ltd.|location=Dundee, Scotland |year=2006 |pages= 54,86,127|isbn=1-84513-217-3}}</ref>

Peem returned to ''The Beano'' a decade later in issue 486's ''Wee Peem's Magic Pills'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Wee Peem's Magic Pills|date=1951-11-10|magazine=The Beano|last=Grigg|first=Charles|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=486|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> a 21-issue series by Charles Grigg about Peem and his mischief after finding a bottle of [[Tablet (pharmacy)|tablet]]s (named B-Pills)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gifford |first1=Denis |title=Encyclopedia of Comic Characters: Over 1200 Characters! |date=1987 |publisher=Longman |location=Harlow |isbn=0582892945 |page=237 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofco0000giff/page/236}}</ref> that fell from Dr Quack's medicine truck.{{sfnp|''History of the Beano''|2008|p=317}} Peem made his first ''Beano Annual'' appearance in 1940.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archive: Beano Annual 1940 - The Very First Beano Book {{!}} Archive Annuals {{!}} Archive on Beano.com |url=https://www.beano.com/posts/archive-beano-annual-1940 |website=Beano |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123073041/https://www.beano.com/posts/archive-beano-annual-1940 |archive-date=2021-01-23 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

In 1956, the ''Wee Peem'' strip got rebooted by Hugh Morren{{sfnp|''History of the Beano''|2008|p=322}} for 51 stories between issues 714 and 765.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Wee Peem|date=1956-03-24|magazine=The Beano|last=Morren|first=Hugh|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=714|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|issue=765|title=Wee Peem|date=1957-03-16|magazine=The Beano|last=Morren|first=Hugh|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> As of 2021, it was the last time Peem had a ''Beano'' series, although he would make appearances for the 80th anniversary in both the 2019 ''Beano'' Annual<ref>{{cite book|title=Annual 2019 Beano|year=2018|publisher=[[D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.]]|editor-first=John|editor-last=Anderson}}</ref> and the 80th-anniversary issue.<ref name=Walliams>{{Cite magazine|title=The Big Birthday Horror!: A Beanotown Adventure|date=2018-07-25|magazine=The Beano|last=Auchterlounie|first=Nigel|last2=Parkinson|first2=Nigel|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=3945|editor-last=Walliams|editor-first=David|editor-link=David Walliams}}</ref>

==References==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite book | title=The History of the Beano|publisher=[[D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.]]|location=[[Dundee]], Scotland |year=2008 |ref={{sfnRef|''History of the Beano''|2008}}|isbn=978-1-902407-73-9}}
*{{Cite book|title=''Beano'': 80 Years of Fun|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|year=2018|isbn=9781845357023|editor-last=Anderson|editor-first=John|ref={{sfnRef|''80 Years''|2018}}}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}
{{Beano}}

[[Category:Beano strips]]
[[Category:1938 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1957 comics endings]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1938]]
[[Category:Comics characters who use magic]]
[[Category:British comics characters]]
[[Category:Child characters in comics]]
[[Category:Comics about children]]
[[Category:Fictional tricksters]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Fictional Scottish people]]


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