HE has sold more than 100 million albums, has a knighthood, and is the most successful songwriter in UK chart history.

But Sir Paul McCartney will finally fulfil a lifelong ambition this week – by appearing in the final edition of The Dandy.

The musician will feature alongside Desperate Dan in the last-ever print edition of the comic after writing to publisher DC Thomson when it announced the end of the title in August.

He wrote: "In 1963, in the NME, when asked what my personal ambition was, I replied – to have my picture in The Dandy! I hope it's not too late!"

"The Dandy was a favourite comic of mine when growing up in Liverpool and each week I would look forward to the exploits of Desperate Dan and his comic book colleagues."

The final edition will show Sir Paul grimacing as Desperate Dan crushes his fingers, unaware of his own strength.

Thankfully, it is the former Beatle's right hand that is crushed – leaving the bass-player free to play his left-handed guitar and lead 50 of the comic's most famous characters in a sing-along version of Hey Jude.

Copies of the last edition are expected to be in high demand and one Scottish newsagent said he has been stunned by the number of people who have contacted him about it. Des Bar, who runs Sinclair Barr Newsagents in Paisley, said: "I have never known a demand for a comic like it ever before, and by the time Tuesday comes around I reckon I will have about 1000 orders.

"People are buying the comic to send to relatives and friends all over the world and many people are saying they will use the historic last issue as a stocking filler at Christmas.

"I think there is a huge nostalgia thing going on here. Since it was first published in 1937, millions of people will have grown up reading The Dandy. It will have been part of their childhood."

Published in Dundee, The Dandy is one of the world's longest-running comics.

But 75 years after children began exchanging their pocket money to read the latest adventures of Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat, they will now only be able to access the comic online. The move follows a drop in circulation as sales have slumped to 8000 a week from a peak of two million in the 1950s.

However, DC Thomson insists the title's famous characters – who over the years have included Cuddles and Dimples, Beryl the Peril and Bananaman – will live on.

Ellis Watson, chief executive of the company's newspaper and magazine publishing operations, said: "Dan has certainly not eaten his last cow pie."