IN CHILDHOOD days of yore, long summer holidays were brightened by the arrival of bumper editions of The Dandy and The Beano. Eager eyes devoured extra helpings of Desperate Dan, Dennis The Menace, cartoons, capers, colouring-in pages and competitions. The Outlandish Companion is a much more lavish, sophisticated cornucopia (and priced accordingly) but it isn’t too much of a stretch to suggest that it might serve a similar purpose for the millions of devoted readers of Diana Gabaldon’s novels.
