Who Is Desperate Dan? Origin, Powers and Key Facts

Desperate Dan is a D.C. Thomson & Co. comic book character, with over 1,628 comic issue appearances. The world's strongest man and star of The Dandy.

Who is Desperate Dan?

Origin Hailing from Cactusville, Texas, Desperate Dan is the strongest man in the world. Creation Desperate Dan is one of the longest running comic strips in the world having appeared in issue 1 of The Dandy in 1937 and continues to appear in The Dandy today. Desperate Dan was created by artist Dudley D. Watkins and Dandy editor Albert Barnes , the latter of whom also provided the inspiration for Dan's massive chin and who wrote the strip for the first several years. Watkins drew the strip until 1969 and his sudden demise from a heart attack while at his drawing board; as a mark of respect, Barnes, then still editing the Dandy, refused to let another artist take over the strip, and for the next fourteen years Dan's adventures consisted of reprints of earlier, Watkins-drawn, stories. Barnes retired in 1982, and a year later the new editor finally commissioned new Desperate Dan strips. In 1984 Desperate Dan replaced Korky the Cat as the cover star. Character Development Dan's statue in Dundee, Scotland Dan hails from the wild west town of Cactusville .

Key facts

Desperate Dan is of human origin. The character is published by D.C. Thomson & Co.. With 1,628 recorded issue appearances, Desperate Dan ranks among the most featured characters in comics.