Euan Kerr bids farewell to D.C. Thomson

After 40 years in the comics business, including an impressive 22 year stint as editor of The Beano, Euan Kerr has left D.C. Thomson.

The news came to light on the Comics UK forum, where it was erroneously reported that Euan had been sacked! Only when Euan himself posted a comment to put the record straight was the title of the thread corrected.

Euan took over as Editor of The Beano in 1984, at a time when the so-called "traditional" British comic was on its decline. Regardless of comics falling by the wayside, and a change in style for comics in general, Euan managed to keep The Beano forging on as a popular top-selling title. He also became the public face of the comic, appearing on tv programmes such as Blue Peter to promote the title.


In 2006 Euan handed The Beano over to his Chief sub-editor Alan Digby and moved on to become Deputy Manager of Children's Publishing, creating a new title, - BeanoMAX, - a monthly comic/magazine hybrid which included contemporary features and slightly longer stories of Beano favourites. (Alan Digby will be editing BeanoMAX from now on.)


Commenting on his departure on Comics UK Euan said "After 40 years in the business and with my health and sanity almost in tact, the lure of the golf course was too much! I've loved my time in comics and hope to do some part-time writing."

Best wishes to Euan on his retirement and here's looking forward to his future projects. The Beano Memoirs perhaps? ;-)

Read a 2006 interview with Euan Kerr on the FP website here:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2006/07/british-comics-month-%E2%80%93-the-beano-and-the-dandy/