Oor Wullie and The Broons celebrate 90 years of mischief and family fun

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.

Oor Wullie was originally seen as an ordinary boy the readers would identify with and is believed to have been inspired by Low's own blond-haired son.

He was never far from his best pals Fat Bob, Wee Eck and Soapy Soutar, and girlfriend Primrose Paterson.

And the escapades of the mischief-maker often brought him up against his nemesis PC Murdoch in the fictional town of Auchenshoogle.

But whether in trouble, or not, the classic image of Oor Wullie is him sitting on top of his upturned bucked.

Oor Wullie may have changed over the years as different illustrators put their own spin on the iconic character, but he is still instantly recognised by both children and adults across Scotland.

And there was never a dull moment in the Broon household.

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.

Most of the humour came from the so-called "generation gap", and the family of 10 would stretching their money as far as possible, living on top of one another other in their very small tenement flat.

But for many readers, these comics were more than just entertainment. They have become a window into everyday Scottish life, reflecting changing fashions, technologies and shifts in society across the decades.

During World War Two, comic strips were used to boost morale and support the national effort, sometimes branching out to include tongue-in-cheek propaganda.

And Oor Wullie played his part.

In one of the most well-known strips, the schoolboy takes on Adolf Hitler in a dream, defeating him not with weapons but with his mischievous grin and quick wit.

Even the Broon family had a wartime role when the eldest sons Joe and Hen went to fight in North Africa in 1943.

Daughters Maggie - who was later a model and weather girl - and Daphne - a skilled dressmaker with a penchant for flamboyant hats - became land girls.

Illustrator Watkins was believed to be so valuable to British morale that he could not be conscripted.

Instead, he volunteered as an air raid warden during the war. He never missed a week of The Broons or Oor Wullie until his death in 1969.

He is said to have made a significant contribution to Scottish popular culture through his work for publisher DC Thomson.

He also drew Lord Snooty for The Beano and Desperate Dan for The Dandy among others.

Over the past nine decades, the popular Sunday Post cartoon characters have featured in annuals, been recreated as statues and brought to life as a musical and stage show.

The first Broons Christmas annual was released in 1939, with the Oor Wullie annual published a year later.

Annuals for the two comic strips alternated every second year.

To mark the 90th anniversay, a year-long programme of events, publications and activities has been organised by DC Thomson to honour some of Scotland's favourite comic book characters.

The commemorative supplement that will be published on Sunday will include the history of the comic strips, a competition encouraging fans to create their own strip inspired by The Broons for a future edition of The Sunday Post and step-by-step guide on how to draw Oor Wullie.

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."