Jimmy and his Magic Patch
Jimmy and His Magic Patch was a British comic strip published in the British comics magazine The Beano in 1944. It was drawn by Dudley D. Watkins and later continued by Paddy Brennan until 1959. The comics were drawn in a realistic style and were published in a text comics format, with the text and dialogues below the images.
| Jimmy and his Magic Patch | |
|---|---|
| Comic strip character(s) from The Beano | |
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Creator(s) | Dudley D. Watkins |
| First appearance | Issue 222 (January 1, 1944[1]) |
| Last appearance | 1959 |
| Also appeared in | The Beano Annual |
| Current status | Discontinued |
| Main Character | |
| Name | Jimmy Watson |
Concept
The comics series focused on a boy named Jimmy, who had a magic patch on the seat of his trousers that transported him to wherever he wished to go. He mostly used it for time travel.[2] Jimmy earned this patch for rescuing an old gypsy lady's cat from a dog. Due to this action the bottom off his trousers was ripped and the lady fixed them with a piece of material cut from a magic carpet. In the first story Jimmy discovers the magical powers of the patch when he wished he had lived during the time of Sir Francis Drake and his battle against the Spanish Armada.[3] During his time travels Jimmy met historical characters such as Odysseus, Alfred the Great, Florence Nightingale, George Stephenson, as well as more legendary and/or fantastical characters such as Robin Hood, Sinbad the Sailor and William Tell.[4]
Reprints
The story was reprinted in Dandy Beano: 50 Golden Years in 1988, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the two comics. It has also appeared in subsequent sequels to the book, and in Classics from the Comics.
In popular culture
In post-war Britain some British school children referred to patches on their pants as "our jimmy and his magic patch".[5]
Sources
- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/magpatch.htm
- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/magpatch.htm
- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/m/magpatch.htm
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/81/a9014681.shtml