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Black Bob Annuals.
Black Bob was the name of a fictional Border Collie from Selkirk in south Scotland. Black Bob originally appeared as a text story in The Dandy in issue 280, dated 25th November 1944. Following this he appeared as a picture strip in The Weekly News in 1946, which continued until 1967.
Drawn by Jack Prout, the popular sheepdog appeared regularly in The Dandy from his 1944 debut until issue 2122, dated 24th July 1982. Eight Black Bob books were published at infrequent intervals from 1950 to 1965. (Specifically: 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1965)
Jack Prout was born on 14th December 1900 and joined the Scottish publishing firm of D C Thomson as a staff artist on 21st June 1937. He retired on 30 June 1968 although his strips were reprinted in The Dandy until 1982. Shortly before his retirement, Prout acquired a black and white border collie. Staff at D C Thomson's presented the artist with a spoof "dog licence", allowing the animal to keep the artist as a pet. The document was "signed" with Black Bob's pawprint. Jack Prout died on 27th September 1978.
All images © DC Thomson.
