Parsley

Origin

I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley,I am always very glad to see you wave. But please don't shout or speak to me too harshly, because I'm not particularly brave.

Parsley the Lion was a lion whose mane and tail were made of the herb that gave him his name. He lived on Sir Basil and Lady Rosemary's estate with his best friends, the dog Dill, owl Sage, Tarragon the dragon, and the gardener, Bayleaf.

Creation

Created by Michael Bond, Parsley was a stop-motion character who starred in the BBC children's television series The Herbs. Though devised for television, the Herbs actually made their debut in Playland #1 on the week ending 13th January 1968, around a month before the TV series began airing on 12th February 1968. The Herbs comic strip ended in Playland #38 on 28th September 1968, and transferred to Playland's sister comic Pippin as of 5th October 1968's issue #107. The television series of The Herbs ended after thirteen episodes, but the strip continued, and Parsley, who had proved a popular lead character, was awarded a spin-off series, The Adventures of Parsley. Once again, though the television series was conceived first, the comic version debuted first, with The Adventures of Parsley in Playland #86 on 30th August 1969. Back in Pippin, The Herbs strip took over the cover slot with #185 on 4th April 1970, only a couple of days before the Adventures of Parsley began its television run of thirty-two episodes on 6th April 1970.