Tricky Dicky (Topper)

The comic strip was a gag-a-day strip starring a young boy named Dicky, who plays practical jokes on people, but they usually managed to get the last laugh. From 1999 to 2000 he re-appeared as a 'Guest Star' in The Beano, again drawn by Dallas, running against The Three Bears, Inspector Horse and Jocky and Gordon Bennett to be voted into the comic by readers, though The Three Bears was the winner. The basic premise of the strip was expanded to include that Dicky's father now owned a joke shop, explaining where he got all these jokes from. In Issue #4 of BeanoMAX, Tricky Dicky makes a surprise guest one-off appearance with a new look trying to trick Ball Boy, but it doesn't work. Tricky Dicky also starred alongside Roger the Dodger in the Beano Summer Special 2003. Tricky Dicky reappeared in a new strip in The Beano in 2013, this time drawn by Laura Howell. This new strip was a reboot with Tricky Dicky's appearance being changed and the character being given the new first name of Gordon. In the new strip, he is a more heroic figure, as he only plays pranks on people who deserve it.

A character of the same name appeared in the children's TV series ZZZap!. Another trickster child character of the same name, but otherwise a different character appeared in the "Cor!!" Comic published by Fleetway. And, finally a character called "Tricky Dicky Doyle" appeared in The Dandy in 1997.

Tricky Dicky was put in the 2020 Annual as his own comic strip, but he did have an appearance on the Beano Annual 2016 cover. He also appeared in the 2017 Annual as a non-speaking character.