Now Beano changes Spotty to Scotty
THE BEANO is renaming another one of the Bash Street Kids amid fears it is upsetting modern readers.
Pimpled youngster Spotty, pictured left, made his first appearance in 1954, but he has been renamed Scotty for the comic’s December issue. In May, publishers DC Thomson changed the name of heavy-set character Fatty to Freddy over similar fears.
Beano Studios head Michael Stirling said: ‘James Scott Cameron, aka Spotty from The Bash Street Kids, is now simply Scotty.’
He added that the change was to ensure the comic reflected its modern readers. ‘As Scotty said to his classmates, there’s much more to him than his physical characteristics, and that’s true for any child,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
For the December issue of The Beano, ‘Spotty’ has been crossed out on a panel showing pictures of the Bash Street Kids with their names underneath.
In the strip itself, he is shown playing football and sending a shot into the window of his own house, prompting his angry mother lean out of the window and rebuke him with ‘James Scott Cameron!’
One of his friends says: ‘Wait, your middle name is Scott? I think I’ve got it. We should call you Scotty.’
He quickly agrees, saying ‘Yeah, I like that’, and another character adds: ‘It suits you.’
Mr Stirling added: ‘Much like in 1954, when the Bash Street Kids were created based upon the zany antics spotted in the school playground outside of the Beano office, kids are still the inspiration for our characters and storylines.
‘It’s important to us that our readers see themselves and their lives reflected in Beanotown.’ When the comic changed Fatty’s name to Freddy after 67 years, Mr Stirling said: ‘Kids come in all shapes and sizes, and we absolutely celebrate that.
‘We don’t want to risk someone using it in a mean way.’
The ‘woke’ move prompted criticism, including from the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, but eating disorder charity Wednesday’s Child praised the publishers for considering ‘how they are potentially impacting the self-esteem and mental wellbeing of their audience’.