COMIC CAPERS
Ready to take a comic look at the world? Marion McMullen looks back at 80 years of the Beano
1 THE first edition of the Beano cost just two old pennies – less than 1p – when it was published 60 years ago this week in 1938. Only a few copies are known to still survive and it came with a free “whoopee mask” giveaway and a four-page colour advertiser flyer for the second edition of the Beano. A copy sold at auction for more than £17,000 in 2015.
2 THE Beano provided a home to characters such as Dennis the Menace, right, the Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx and was created by Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson as a companion comic to The Dandy, which had gone on sale eight months earlier. The Beano sold almost two million copies a week in the 1950s and the first edition featured a character called Big Eggo The Ostrich.
3 THE word Beano is a shortened version of bean feast, which means a rowdy jollification. The comic was reduced to 12 pages every two weeks during the Second World War because of paper shortages. The editor’s name was discovered on a Nazi assassination list after the war for “gross disrespect”.
4 DENNIS the Menace is the longest-running character to appear in the comic. He first burst on to the pages in 1951 and sparked fears that his atrocious behaviour might have a bad influence on children. He went on to boast a fan club of more than a million members, including sports stars like Linford Christie and radio presenter Chris Evans.
5 DENNIS did not wear his famous red and black hooped jumper in his first year in the Beano – his mum was still knitting it. He was billed as the “World’s Wildest Boy” and his canine companion, Abyssinian Wire-Haired Tripe Hound Gnasher, below, was drawn using Dennis’ hair and adding legs.
6 DENNIS and Gnasher Unleashed launched on children’s TV in 1996 and continues to air on CBBC. Beano has now teamed up with Lime Pictures to reimagine Minnie the Minx, right, for a new audience in live action form.
7 NAUGHTY schoolkids the Bash Street Kids, below, and their beleaguered teacher were created by Leo Baxendale. His comic strip featuring Fatty, Smiffy, Plug and Co was first published in the Beano in 1954 and they are still causing mayhem in class 2B at Bash Street School.
8 IT takes about 25 people to make a Beano comic including artists, writers, colourists and graphic designers. Dundee’s McManus museum has been renamed McMenace for an exhibition celebrating the 80th anniversary.
9 COMEDIAN and children’s writer David Walliams has guest edited the 80th commemorative issue of the Beano and wrote: “What I always loved about the Beano was that it felt naughty. It was a comic that you should read under the duvet with a torchlight. I don’t think I’d have got into writing my books without Beano.”
10 EMMA Scott, at Beano Studios, said: “Beano has entertained legions of fans since the first comic was published in 1938. Beano has always encouraged kids (and many grown-ups!) to let their imagination and mischievousness run riot.” The Dennis & Gnasher Fan Club has also been relaunched as part of the anniversary celebrations.