If it's Wednesday it must be BEANO day!

Cover by Nigel Parkinson.

Here's the cover of this week's Beano, taken from the lively beano.com website. Another 36 pages packed with all-new fun stuff! Pressing deadlines mean that I haven't had chance to go into town to buy a copy yet but if my strips are being published in the order I did them, this should be an accurate preview of today's stories...

Ivy the Terrible has a nightmare. What could possibly have caused that? Are there clues in this panel? 

Tubby finds a piece of rope! It's tug of war time in Pup Parade!

Beano No.3877, - out now! Only £2.50.

Love is in the air

This week's Beano has a Valentines Day theme. I'm sure things won't get too soppy though. Here's a panel from my Ivy the Terrible strip, with Ivy giving a Valentines Day present to the boy next door. 

You can see previews of some of the other strips at the Beano website:
https://www.beano.com/posts/inside-beano-3871-the-one-where-dad-goes-missing

...and if you're interested in all the other strips I have in print in various titles this week you'll find previews on my other blog here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/eight-strips-in-print-this-week.html

This week's BEANO (No.3870)

Cover by Nigel Parkinson.

Here's the cover to this week's edition of Britain's longest-running comic. Yes, it's Beano No.3870, where Minnie the Minx takes centre stage as Batmin in a four page story. Art by Nigel Parkinson.

This packed issue also includes all the regulars such as Roger the Dodger, Dennis and Gnasher, Billy Whizz, and many more. There's another Make Me A Menace and Beano Boss by Hunt Emerson (which I've heard is a very popular feature despite older critics dismissing it as "filler"), a Pup Parade puzzle page drawn by Steve Beckett, a board game page, and much more.

Plus, another dose of Pup Parade and Ivy the Terrible strips by me!

All in Beano No.3870, out now for £2.50.
https://www.beano.com

This week's BEANO (No.3869)

I haven't had chance to go into town to buy this week's Beano yet but here's a preview of the stuff I have in there. I really enjoyed drawing a full page illustration for the puzzle feature Find Teacher's Lunch, and I'm pleased that it's also been used on the Beano website this week as well as in print.

My two regular strips continue, with Pup Parade feeling the cold weather...

...and Ivy the Terrible's mum caught in a storm...

For more previews, see the Beano website:
https://www.beano.com/posts/inside-beano-no-3869-the-one-where-beanotowns-postboxes-take-over

Beano No.3869, out now for just £2.50.

The BEANO is back!

Cover by Nigel Parkinson.

Returning after its three-week Christmas break, there's a new issue of The Beano in the shops today! As you can see from Nigel Parkinson's great cover above, it's the New Year edition, celebrating the onset of 2017.

All your favourite strips are included, and I'm very pleased to say that I'm back in the comic this week with the start of new runs for Pup Parade and Ivy the Terrible! It's great to be back on these two classic strips which are fun characters to draw. Pup Parade was a favourite of mine to read back when it started in the late 1960s so it's an honour to be writing/drawing their adventures today.

Don't miss Beano No.3865, on sale now for just £2.50.

Free Ivy!

Would you like to read this week's Ivy the Terrible strip that I drew? You can see it online free courtesy of The Beano. Just follow this link:

http://issuu.com/dcthomson/docs/ivypreview/1

Of course, if you pay just £2 you can see it in print, along with a stack of other all-new strips in the latest issue, out now! Here's the cover to look for, drawn by Nigel Parkinson. If you haven't read it for a while, why not try it? Support Britain's longest-running comic and remember the old motto: Never Be Without A Beano! 

Beano Editor Alan Digby retires

Alan Digby, who has been doing a fine job as editor of The Beano and Beano Max these past few years, has taken early retirement from D.C. Thomson after 40 years with the company.

Alan joined D.C. Thomson in 1970, becoming chief sub-editor on The Beano where he masterminded the famous 'Gnasher Goes Missing' story arc as well as the creation of Ivy the Terrible with artist Robert Nixon. (Ivy was based on one of Alan's daughters.)


In the late 1980s Alan became editor of The Beezer before moving on to head the Comics Projects department launching the popular hardback The Broons and Oor Wullie compilations and the Funsize titles.

Alan became editor of The Beano in 2006, replacing Euan Kerr, and also took over BeanoMAX the following year. The new editor is Michael Stirling, deputy head of childrens entertainment at D.C. Thomson.

On a personal note, it was a pleasure to work with Alan on the development of his Ultras concept, which became the Super School strip debuting in The Beano in October 2008. The strip became part of the new look given to the weekly at that time which proved to be successful with the readers.

These are hard times for publications, but in the last five years Alan has managed to steer The Beano on course, tweaking the long-running weekly to bring it more up to date whilst retaining its unique identity. My very best wishes to him for a long and happy retirement.