Britain’s longest-running kids comic, The Dandy, from publisher DC Thomson has transitioned into a digital-only format marking the publication’s 75th anniversary.

Offering a new multi-platform experience to keep up with today’s kids, UK-based studio Dubit was enlisted to develop the The Dandy’s new digital, online environment, www.Dandy.com, that features popular newly redrawn Dandy characters Desperate Dan, Bananaman, The Numskulls, Keyhole Kate, Blinky and Brassneck, as well as new characters and super-hero team Retroactive.

Issue zero is currently available digitally for PC and Mac and will hit tablets and smartphones as an app at a later date. The online site’s weekly digital editions will provide motion comic strips featuring interactive games embedded within the stories. Issue one features a Bananaman game and Dandy Dollop, a digital pet for kids.

Additional features include a joke shop, and a Dandy TV show with game reviews, celebrity interviews and a Dandy news round-up presented by television presenter and comedian Chris Cohen.

In recent years, numerous celebrities have appeared in The Dandy including Queen Elizabeth II, Stephen Fry, Gordon Ramsay, Simon Cowell and Sir Paul McCartney, who appeared in the final 100-page print issue.