The Broons Annual

Broons experts will recall an embarrassing incident for Paw back around 1977, on the appearance of a local Chinese takeaway. Ever keen to show his sophistication, Paw had memorised the number for the choicest meal from visiting another Chinese restaurant. When he was presented instead with a 'boiled eggee', he was black affrontit!

Now Broons stories never change that much – it's one of the comforts of reading them: Maw is always puggled and needing a wee treat, Daphne is still speed dating a series of unusual little men. And Paw Broon is once again having trouble with his chop suey! Not that The Broons aren't up to date though. Trying to reel off Horace's mobile number while waiting for a bag of chips, Paw accidentally orders half the menu and lands the family with a late night banquet. And there's Horace on the internet, or being mistaken for Harry Potter, and four Broons dressing up as Abba for a murderous karaoke session.

One change is the appearance of a local pub, The Creel, where Paw and Granpaw are to be found propping up the bar and dealing with a wisecracking manager. The strictly religious original Broons artist Dudley D Watkins (who, incidentally, was an Englishman) might not have approved.

Those who have missed a few Broons books will find the stories a little shorter than in Watty's day, and it's still impossible to pin down exactly where Glebe Street might be (my money is still on a less fashionable quarter of Dundee), but the yarns are still as comforting as a plate of syrup pudding. And the Bairn still has all the best lines.