Lord Snooty
Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip "Lord Snooty and his Pals" from the British comic anthology "The Beano". The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed and wrote Snooty's stories until 1968, but the stories would continue featuring in "Beano" issues until 1991, with occasional revivals and character cameos. Synopsis. "Lord Snooty" starred a wealthy Eton schoolboy named Marmaduke, the bored Earl of Bunkerton who often snuck out of his home to bond with the working-class children on the other side  of town. His friends knew he was a wealthy child and affectionately nicknamed him "Snooty", but he donned a disguise to hide from his family and the Bunkerton Castle staff. Other stories followed misadventures in Snooty's life, such as him outsmarting or helping the residents of the castle, causing or running into mayhem with his friends, visiting Professor Screwtop to help with his new invention, or rivalling the Gasworks Gang. Character history. Original run (1938–1949). The comic strip first appeared in issue 1 of "The Beano", debuting with the comic strips Wee Peem, Morgyn the Mighty, Wild Boy of  the Woods, Ping the Elastic Man and cover star Big Eggo. It was one of the notable few in the first issue inspired by the "funny pages" from American newspapers, whereas the rest of the magazine contained adventure stories written in prose. Lord Snooty's main creator was Dudley D. Watkins, known for creating stories for Oor Wullie and "The Dandy"s Desperate Dan, who would later write Biffo the Bear. Second run (1950–1991). The original run of Lord Snooty ended in July 1949. It reappeared in December 1950 and upon return, many of Snooty's friends were replaced with characters , from discontinued "Beano" strips. Some of the strips in the second run featured reprints of stories from the first run but with some panels redrawn to replace Lord Snooty's old pals with new ones. Dudley Watkins wasn't the only artist during this period some strips were drawn by Leo Baxendale and Albert Holroyd. The strip went on another hiatus in March 1958 and would not return until issue 904 in November 1959. When the strip returned it consisted primarily of reprints until 1964. Watkins' continued to draw some strips in the 1960s but his last Lord Snooty strip  was in 1968. In the same year, Robert Nixon became the new artist, followed by Jimmy Glen from 1973 and Ken H. Harrison in 1988. Harrison's last story would appear in 1991 in issue 2565, making Lord Snooty the last series from the first issue to feature in "The Beano". Subsequent appearances (2000s). On 9 September 1998, a book entitled "The Legend of Lord Snooty and his Pals" was released. This contained history and reprints from the first 30 years of the strip's life. In 2000, Lord Snooty made a special appearance in the "Bash Street Kids Book  2001", along with Snitch and Snatch. Snooty also appeared in issue 3093 where a one off strip called 'Lord Snooty's Day Out' appeared (drawn by Ken H. Harrison), and in issue 3185 where as part of the 65th anniversary issue he made a guest appearance alongside The Bash Street Kids. Big Fat Joe also guest appeared in that issue, alongside Billy Whizz. In 2005 Snooty was revived, briefly, in the Beano serial "Are We There Yet?" by writer-artist Kev F. Sutherland, in which he goes hip-hop as Snoot Doggy-Dogg. The character was often acknowledged but did n't come to prominence again until in 2011, when a spinoff strip entitled "Lord Snooty The Third" made its debut, focusing on Snooty's grandson (who is also called Snooty, and is a younger, more contemporary version of his grandfather). In this version, the original Snooty appears as a portrait. Re-emergence. In January 2013, Lord Snooty was brought back alongside a number of old Beano characters as a three-panel strip in a new section of the Beano called Funsize Funnies, as well making appearances in subsequent Beano Annuals. Lord Snooty ended in the penultimate issue before the 75th  Anniversary Special. He returned in a few comic strips designed by Lew Stringer. Cameos. Snooty was busy during 2018 (the 80th anniversary of "The Beano"). He appeared in issue 3945 in a flashback with other characters from 1938 as a part of the 80th anniversary issue. He also appeared in the inner cover artwork of the 2019 Beano Annual with 254 other characters from The Beano's history and was in the time-travelling comic feature "Doctor Whoops!" Pop art company Art & Hue feature Snooty as a member of their "Beano" 80th anniversary portraits. Characters. Ash Can Alley kids. First  described as "the Beezer kids of Ash-Can Alley", Snooty's friends lived in Bunkerton Castle's nearby working-class neighbourhood of Ash Can and attended Ash Can Council School. From 1938 to the story's first hiatus, (excluding Snooty) there were six members, including a goat, and then identical toddlers joined the group later. When "Lord Snooty and His Pals" returned in 1950, the only remaining original members were the identical twins, Scrapper and Rosie, whilst the rest of Snooty's friends would leave and be replaced by other characters who had already been established in their own "Beano  comic strips. Reception and legacy. Lord Snooty is often regarded as part of the golden age of comic characters and has become one of few to earn his own collection of strips. It was a popular strip upon its release with Wee Peem and Little Dead-Eye Dick, possibly because the working-class children would relate to Snooty venturing with children from their family background. The media wrote of its shock when the series was cancelled in 1991: Mr Pepys called it [an] occasion for nationwide mourning"; "The Guardian" implied its inference of paranoia and cowardice in Dr John Casey 's article about the event in "The Daily Mail" because of Casey comparing it to "John Major's drive for a classless society, a concept which does not go down very well in the sort of Scrutonian circles to which John Casey belongs." The new editor, Euan Kerr, admitted being apathetic towards the series, mostly because 1990s' children were far removed from a story about characters from the early 20th century. "The sad truth is that he regularly came at the bottom of readers' popularity polls," he explained. "His top hat and Eton collar must baffle today's kids. At  the time he was created in 1938, it was a more divided society and children at that stage would like to have been like him and live in a castle." Lord Snooty was name checked on the 1967 Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band recording, "The Intro and the Outro." Section::::"Lord Snooty" as slang. In popular British culture, "Lord Snooty" is pejorative to describe a high-profile person (usually a politician) from an upper middle class family who is too privileged to relate to the rest of the United Kingdom, despite how hard they try to. In 1995, Craig Brown criticised  Roy Hattersley for claiming Eton College was the wrong school to send teenaged Prince William because Lord Snooty attended it, writing in the "Evening Standard": "I doubt the creators at the Dundee firm of DC Thomson ever intended [Snooty and the children of Ash-Can Alley] to be thought of as Etonians." When Charles Moore was announced as "The Daily Telegraph"s new editor, some critiques believed his "sobriquet of Lord Snooty" would bring a conservative agenda to the newspaper, according to Stephen Clover, who ended his overview with: "Lord Snooty does know what they are thinking in the suburbs and  market towns rather better than most of [Charles Moore's] metropolitan critics." Moore would later write about David Cameron in 2009 theorising Cameron shared similarities to friend-to-the-poor Lord Snooty as well as Snooty's "repulsive" grandson, in his attempt to befriend the poor like both boys. Alex Salmond also called the Cameron-led Conservative government "a bunch of incompetent Lord Snootys" in 2012. Shona McIsaac used the comic strip to describe her doubts that hereditary peers would still have power in The House of Lords: "If "The Beano", which is a far more loved institution than the  House of Lords, can get rid of Lord Snooty, the parliamentary Bash Street Kids can certainly get rid of hereditary peers." A by-election leaflet depicting Edward Timpson photoshopped wearing a top hat in 2008 did not have explicit ties to the comic strip character, but alleged Labour Party campaigns to make voters draw comparisons were nicknamed such. Spin-offs. Section::::"Lord Snooty the Third" (2008–2011). Issue 3439 introduced "Lord Snooty the Third", illustrated by Nigel Parkinson. It stars a mischievous boy who lives in a castle, establishing this by showing him jetskiing on Lake Snooty. Although it was originally entered  as part of the New Bash Street Kid competition, the following issue reveals this new character is Marmaduke's grandson, showing a distinctive and recognisable "Grandad" in the family portrait gallery. Later on, Snooty the Third became a spy, parodying James Bond. Snooty III also has a long-suffering and sarcastic butler named Parkinson. He has also formed his own gang, consisting of an adolescent named Naz, a young girl named Frankie, Emo, and One and Three the triplets (who claim that Two does not "hang out" with them much). The strip did not prove popular among readers and the  comic series officially ended in 2011 after making less frequent appearances.