We left Big Daddy emerging from a swimming pool at the end of our first diversion into his 1983 children's annual. But what was the beefy old pensioner doing in a swimming pool? The answer is revealed in the next colour plate - he's there to keep fit. It should be obvious.

After a refreshing swim, Big Daddy hits the weights room. Or rather he puts on a tatty old leotard and then hits the weight room. Seriously, you're a big star and you're having a photoshoot. Wear something that isn't fraying round the edges and which isn't obviously several sizes too small. Big Daddy's weight training consists of some small hand-held dumbbells and... sitting down for a rest.

Onto the second stage of the workout - not actually lifting anything (while giving the ladies and gay gentlemen quite the erotic display) and then letting two younger men hold the ends of the weight off camera so you can look like Mister Universe.

He's plainly a gym rat and moves from the big weights to some toning exercises. Here he is squeezing those hand strengthening things, being attacked by a fellow wrestler and then swaying about in some kind of aerobic fit.

When he's not fighting evil or keeping himself in shape he often pops down to the local hospital to pick up a nurse or two. Things don't quite work out as he planned when two brave nurses turn the tables on the rotund superhero.

But enough real life highjinks about how fat Big Daddy is, lets have some cartoons which make out he's even fatter. Here we see him being pulled by a frigate, in a nappy (~!) and messing about with concorde.

This is the kind of news story you just don't get these days. A woman from Royston Vasey channels the spirit of Big Daddy to fight crime in her community and gets rewarded by a "Look how fat she is" photograph. The question we want to know is whether the teenage thug ran at her repeatedly and bounced off her stomach until falling theatrically to the ground and letting her do a belly flop onto him.

And finally, the annual signs off with a personal message from the obese Beowulf himself, Biy Doddy. Sportsman.

Finding this annual (in mother's loft) has been a weird experience. As America was embracing muscular demi-gods like Hulk Hogan and Kerry Von Erich and Japan was worshipping "genuine" martial arts masters like Antonio Inoki, Britain was hooked on the adventures of a very fat, very old man who was nice to children and whose brother ran all the shows. But to give Big Daddy and his brother their due, they were marketing him to children years before Vince McMahon realised he could do the same with Hulk Hogan. The WWF may have made more money from it but the Crabtrees did it first. That's the real legacy of this annual - absurd as it may look today, it was very much ahead of its time.