The 1927 annual is entitled ‘The Oojah’s TreasureTrunk’. This time, all the full colour plates are given over to stories not related to Oojah at all, which I think is a shame, although there are some great illustrations. There are, however, plenty of two-colour pen and ink drawings, a completely insane main story and some interesting separate features.

It really is crammed with pictures, stories and games. Jerrywangle’s Jingles, Snooker’s Stories and a zoo where teachers, doctors and a tramp are exhibited in secure cages with the sign, ‘Keep Away. These People Are Dangerous’.

There’s even a make-your-own Punch and Judy theatre.

The main Uncle Oojah story, ‘The Three Kings’ is a tour de force of Oojah mayhem. The great elephant decides to intervene when his friend Dingo, King of the Dwarfs, is found lying prostate in the desert beyond the Oojah palace. It seems he has been ousted by the Crying Crocodile. Rather than keeping things simple and seizing the Kingdom of the Dwarfs back on behalf of his royal friend, The Great Oojah hatches a strategically flawed plot to impose an even worse king upon the fickle little people to teach them a lesson. He chooses his own prime minister, Pa Piggins! At times, the saga reminds me of a siege from the crusades with about as much logic. Of course everything works out well (wlthough not for the lugubrious crocodile) but was it really worth all the bother?