Desperately dull: The politically-correct Desperate Dan for the 21st century

But these days Desperate Dan is a mere shadow of his former dynamic self.

In fact he is nothing more than a politically-correct big softie, according to the daughter of the man who created the Dandy's best-loved character 70 years ago.

Scroll down for more

Dr Jennifer Barnes, whose father Albert Barnes edited the comic from 1937 to 1982, said her father would be horrified if he could see the modern Dan.

"It's completely ridiculous," said 69-yearold Dr Barnes in an interview following the rebranding of the comic last month when it was relaunched as Dandy Xtreme. "It does make me sad to see the changes."

Over the years the once-portly Dan has been slimmed down and his six-shooter replaced with a water pistol.

Scroll down for more

His favoured cow pie, with animal parts protruding through the crust, bit the dust during the BSE crisis.

Dr Barnes protested: "It's supposed to be fantasy. It's obviously not reality. Father wanted a character who was the toughest man in the world and had an enormous appetite.

"He could smoke a ship load of tobacco through a funnel, but of course now he's not allowed to do that and I think that is fine. But he looks very different these days and it is rather sad.

"He seems to be drawn as a big daft man these days and daft never came into the equation with my father."

Dan disappeared from the comic in 1997 but was reinstated three years later following a fierce backlash. Morris Heggie, who was editor until last year, admitted the character had undergone many changes.

He added: "Desperate Dan is not now quite the same old desperado he was. He is now quite laid-back in comparison."

But the current editor, Craig Graham, insisted that while the 21st century Dan had changed "a little", he had never heard the term politically correct.