The Christmas BEANO (1971)

As you can tell from the name written above the logo, I was having The Beano reserved for me at the local newsagents every week back in 1971. In fact I'd had it saved for me since 1966. These days it's easier (and cheaper) to take out a subscription than ask shops to reserve comics, as they sometimes claim they can only stock what suppliers send them.

The interesting thing about The Beano at that time was that all of the original artists on their top characters had either left or passed away by then. Other artists had been assigned to imitate the original styles as best they could... and they not only did a exceptional job at it but made those styles their own. More importantly, the characters continued to be as popular as ever, and still are to this day. 

The Christmas Beano often delivered some nicely designed covers and this 1971 edition is no exception. The Biffo the Bear strip is by the very versatile David Sutherland. 

Grandpa had been a Ken Reid character from the 1950s but had been revived in 1971 under the artistry of Robert Nixon...

The Bash Street Kids story in this issue is absolutely superb, with great artwork by David Sutherland and a brilliant ending...

The Belles of St.Lemons is a Beano strip that's largely forgotten now. Perhaps the exploits of a St.Trinians style school became too dated, or perhaps it was always going to be in the shadow of Bash Street, but it didn't last too long. Nice artwork by Gordon Bell though...

Back then, Dennis the Menace was still a single page strip on the back page. Contrary to what some might think, the back page position was highly valued as it closed out the comic, leaving readers wanting to come back next week for more laughs. The artwork is by David Sutherland (told you he was versatile... and prolific too) inspired by Davy Law's style and mastering it...

The final comic in my Christmas selection will appear here soon!

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