The Christmas BEANO (1969)

I remember reading this issue on Christmas Eve 1969 before I went to bed. This is the actual copy I had. One of the few issues of the Beano that I kept from those days.

The cover is by David Sutherland, and was an unusual departure from the standard Biffo comic strip that adorned the cover any other week. 

Inside, Billy Whizz by the strip's original artist, Mal Judge, plus the answers to the cover quiz...

General Jumbo by Sandy Calder...

The Bash Street Kids by the ever-versatile David Sutherland. One of the great things about the Beano is how the characters are aware they're in a comic. Something I use myself in many of my strips.

Dennis the Menace was on the back page in those days, and it'd be a few more years before he'd oust Biffo from the front cover. Good stuff by David Law (or possibly David Sutherland ghosting his style)...

A different year, a different comic tomorrow!

By the way, you might want to visit my other blog too, where I'll be posting a few of my own Christmas strips from the past 35 years...
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com

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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Beano exhibition in Dundee

Matthew Jarron, Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee has posted this info on the Comics UK Forum this morning. Sounds interesting....

"This is to let you know that Happy Birthday Beano, the official 70th anniversary exhibition, has now opened at the University of Dundee's Lamb Gallery. Created in association with D C Thomson & Co Ltd, it includes a feast of original artwork from the very first issue up to today, including work by legends such as Dudley D Watkins, Allan Morley, Leo Baxendale, Ken Reid, David Law, David Sutherland, Jim Petrie, Tom Paterson and many more. Also original publicity material, letters from readers and artists, and much more. The show is on until 20 September and is open Mon-Fri 09.30-20.30, Sat 09.30-12.00. Admission is free. Tying in with the exhibition will be a special anniversary event on 30th July featuring free talks by comics historians and Beano artists, including Gary Northfield and Laura Howell - and we hope that the living legend David Sutherland will be with us!"

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/beano.htm

Cartoon Museum to celebrate Dandy and Beano

The Cartoon Museum (35 Little Russell Street, London) is putting on an exhibition to celebrate the 70th anniversary of The Beano and The Dandy. It opens on the 30th July and runs until 2 November.

It will feature original artwork by all the greats, past and present including the following:

Leo Baxendale, Paddy Brennan, Sandy Calder, James Crighton, Hunt Emerson, Sam Fair, John Geering, Laura Howell, Ken Harrison, Jimmy Hughes, Malcolm Judge, David Law, Ken Prout, Ken Reid, David Parkins, Nigel Parkinson, Tom Paterson, Eric Roberts, David Sutherland, Kev Sutherland, Wayne Thompson, Dudley D. Watkins.

Sounds like a fantastic chance to view original art that is rarely seen outside of the DC Thomson archives! A definite "must" for all fans of British comics.

More details of the event will appear here in due course. The Cartoon Museum's website can be visited by following this link:
http://www.cartoonmuseum.org

Sixty years of menacing

This week's issue of The Beano (out tomorrow, Wednesday 16th March) celebrates the 60th anniversary of Dennis the Menace. The famous mischief maker debuted in the comic in 1951, devised by Beano editor George Moonie, writer Ian Chisholm and artist David Law.


An idea scribbled "on the back of a fag packet" is a cliché now, but that's exactly what happened in the genesis of Dennis the Menace. As D.C. Thomson archivist Morris Heggie explained in the coffee table book The History of The Beano during the initial meeting about the new character Ian Chisholm drew a quick sketch of Dennis on the back of a cigarette packet to illustrate to David Law how he wanted the character to look. A star was born.


David (or Davey as he was known) Law's version of Dennis shook up The Beano like a thunderbolt. This new energetic, anarchic character was just what the weekly needed at that time to liven it up for a new post-war Britain. Subsequently, the strip inspired a young Leo Baxendale to submit work to the comic, leading to the debut of Little Plum, Minnie the Minx, and The Bash Street Kids in the years that followed. Today it'd be hard to imagine a Beano without such iconic characters. It's even doubtful the comic would still be around in the 21st Century without them, and it all started with that sketch on a cigarette packet.


Dennis' famous dog Gnasher didn't arrive on the scene until 1968, but soon became a regular fixture of the strip. After Davey Law's untimely death in 1971 other artists took over the strip, initially David Sutherland, and in more recent years David Parkins, Nigel Parkinson, Barrie Appleby, Jimmy Hansen and others. All of the examples shown here though are by Davey Law, as a tribute to his fantastic talents. It was Davey's style that established the character as a much-loved favourite of millions of children, and the work of his successors continues to delight children to this day.


Both Dennis and Gnasher have always undergone gradual changes in their appearance over the years. (Dennis didn't even wear a striped jumper in the early strips.) However the most recent changes, connected with the launch of the Dennis and Gnasher animated cartoon, are the ones which caused the most disquiet amongst his comic fans. It's fair to say though that comics have always had to change to stay fresh and no doubt Dennis and his faithful tripehound will evolve again in the future.

Beano website:
http://www.beano.com/


UPDATE: Various news sources are reporting Dennis' anniversary today. I was even interviewed by the BBC myself on Tuesday about it, and some of my quotes can be found on the BBC website here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12770341

50 year Flashback: BEANO SUMMER SPECIAL 1967

When I was a kid, I'd wait until I was on holiday to buy the latest summer specials. Picking up this Beano Summer Special from a stall on Blackpool prom in 1967, accompanied by the sea air and the sounds of seagulls and trams, was all part of the holiday experience. It also provided something to read in the guest house during the inevitable rainy days. 

Let's take a look at a few pages from this wonderful special. The cover artwork is by Dudley Watkins, showing a seemingly reckless Biffo the Bear leaping off the pier, but there's a safe resolution on the back cover...

Inside, the 32 tabloid sized pages were packed with all-new strips and features. The layout was often interesting, with strips sharing space, such as this spread with Punch and Jimmy by David Jenner alongside Dennis the Menace by David Law...

Most of the strips had a holiday theme of some sort. This Roger the Dodger page by Robert Nixon shows an old-style railway carriage and a stereotypical boarding house landlady...

This special had a good selection of adventure strips too; General Jumbo, The Q Bikes, and a great full colour centrespread with The Iron Fish, drawn by Sandy Calder...

A really nicely illustrated Lord Snooty and His Pals story by Dudley Watkins...

A very funny Dennis the Menace page by David Law...

...and what I think may be the very first Bash Street Dogs story, simply titled Dogs' Tale. The dogs had appeared in a few Bash Street Kids episodes in the weekly, but this is months before they achieved their own Pup Parade strip. You'll notice that they look a little different to how they appeared in the regular series. Art by David Sutherland...

That was a few pages from the 1967 special. Don't forget that the current Beano Summer Special is in the shops now!

Cover by Nigel Parkinson

All artwork in this post ©D.C. Thomson and Co. Ltd.

65 Years of Menacing!

This coming week is the 65th anniversary since Dennis the Menace was unleashed upon the world. He first appeared in The Beano dated 17th March 1951. As comics were dated to the weekend ahead back then, and The Beano was published on Wednesdays, that would mean kids would have been buying that issue on Wednesday 14th March 1951. 

Dennis' first artist was of course Davey Law, whose funny, contemporary style heralded great changes for comics in the 1950s. Seeing Dennis the Menace in his younger brother's copy of The Beano inspired Leo Baxendale to contribute to the comic, so without the Menace we might not have had Leo's creations The Bash Street Kids, Little Plum, The Three Bears, or Minnie the Minx. I think it's fair to say that Law's Dennis the Menace was a gamechanger and possibly the most influential character in the history of British humour comics. 

Here's a few examples of Dennis from over the years. This is the very first strip from 1951...

Next, one from later that year (Beano No.483, Oct 20th, 1951) with Dennis having evolved into his more traditional look...

At the top of this post is the cover to the third Dennis the Menace annual, published in 1959 for 1960. It reprinted numerous Dennis strips from the 1950s. Here's a selection...

When I first discovered the strip in the 1960s it had proved popular enough to be on the back page in full colour. This one from 1965, again by Davey Law...

Sadly, Davey Law passed away in 1971. His creation continued under the hand of David Sutherland doing a fine imitation of Law's style. Dennis' popularity continued and in 1974 he replaced Biffo the Bear as the cover star of The Beano. Here's an example of Sutherland's version from 1975. As you can see, by now Dennis had been joined by his dog, Gnasher, who first appeared in the strip in 1968...

In 1998, a new addition to Dennis' family, - a little sister! (Soon to be named Bea.) Art by David Parkin...

The current Dennis the Menace artist is Nigel Parkinson, doing a great job every week with a version that combines the best elements of the traditional Dennis but is still his own...

Although Dennis has now become a valuable merchandise brand for D.C. Thomson at the heart of it is still the weekly strip, amusing children of all ages, just as it always has. Happy Birthday Dennis! Long may you reign as the World's Wildest Boy! 

All Beano artwork in this article © D.C. Thomson and Co. Ltd.

The debut of BILLY THE CAT (1967)

The Beano's famous crimefighter Billy the Cat first appeared in a 1/4 page teaser ad (above) in the Easter 1967 issue of The Beano (No.1288). His strip began the following week, in The Beano No.1289, dated April 1st 1967. Although this was the April Fool themed issue, there was no mention of that in Billy's debut strip.

The artwork was by David Sutherland, who had been drawing The Bash Street Kids since 1962 (and indeed still draws those Kids today). An excellent artist who is able to adapt his style from humour to adventure. Curiously, there's no origin story. We're not told how William Grange became such a remarkable acrobat or who made his costume and the funny looking customised biker helmet with the whiskers. However, years later, a fan named David Carman wrote his own origin for the character and published it online with the permission of D.C. Thomson. You can read it here:
http://www.davidcarman.co.uk/billy.htm

Presumably The Beano had decided to feature a superhero in their pages because of the success of the Batman TV show, although Billy's premise was closer to that of Spider-Man (running at that time in rival comic Pow!). Billy the Cat became very popular with the readers and ran on and off until 1974, even joined by his cousin, Katie the Cat, for later adventures. He was later revived and rebooted as a slightly older character in Buddy comic in 1981, and you can read that story here:

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/buddy-no1-1981.html

The Beano has revived Billy the Cat on occasion, drawn by various artists including Wayne Thompson, Nigel Dobbyn, and Laura Howell. With the current popularity of superheroes, and this being The Beano's 80th anniversary year, it'd be nice to see him return again. My choice would be Steve Beckett as artist, as he's another creator who can switch from humour to adventure, and he has that suitable light adventure style that works well in The Beano. 

Will Billy the Cat return? I've no idea, but time will tell.

BEANO fireworks fun in 1964

Years ago, comics would celebrate Bonfire Night by giving many of their strips a fireworks theme. Visually, they livened up the pages, although some stories had a naive recklessness about the use of fireworks. Such strips are a thing of the past now of course, replaced by Halloween (an equally visual theme). 

Here are a few pages from The Beano dated November 7th, 1964 (which went on sale Nov.4th 1964), starting with a Biffo the Bear cover by Dudley Watkins. (Remember to click on the image to see them full size. I know it might be obvious to most of you, but new visitors sometimes complain that images are too small to read.)

Not every strip in this issue carried a fireworks theme, but here's Little Plum, drawn by Ron Spencer. Why would Native Americans be celebrating Bonfire Night? Anything can happen in comics...

The Bash Street Kids compete with other schools to win best Guy Fawkes. Whatever happened to Blob Street and Plonk Street? Art by David Sutherland...

On the back page, Dennis the Menace, in those pre-Gnasher days, drawn by David Law...

Wishing you (and your pets, if you have any) a safe and happy November 5th.

Christmas Comics: DANDY and BEANO (2011)

In the shops right now are the Christmas issues of The Dandy and The Beano. There's the Dandy above, obviously, resting on top of the original artwork for the Postman Prat story in that issue.

Both comics have 44 pages this week, each bagged with a bunch of gifts. Both have the cover price of £3.99 *.


Yes, that's eight quid for two comics, but both comics are taking a break for the holidays and won't be back until January 4th. In essence, you'll save money. I know the bagged "gifts" don't sit well with some collectors but one has to look at it from the publisher's perspective. As declining sales on both comics have shown, children today expect comics to come with several gifts. It also encourages shops to stock more copies. (Even my local newsagent doubled his order this week.)

Forget that Christmas issues of old never needed to be bagged with extras to be popular. We're living in a different time now, and all comics need to find ways to attract attention and to compete with all the other kids' mags/comics that are out there. The idea behind today's Christmas comics is for them to be used as stocking stuffers and, bearing that in mind, these issues would be a pleasant treat for most children. A handful of armchair critics may sneer at today's UK comics industry (it's far easier to tear something down than to create something new, as any local yob will tell you) but the history of British comics is one of adapting to survive, and, format aside, the contents of these two legendary titles prove that the talent pool is as strong as its ever been.

On to the comics themselves. The Dandy has a lively cover by Jamie Smart featuring Desperate Dan. I wouldn't be surprised to see Dan on the cover more often in future as, sadly, this is the last issue to feature a Harry Hill strip.


Since the relaunch of The Dandy in October 2010 Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land has usually been the lead strip in the comic, and has been a joy to read. Nigel Parkinson (who explains more about the background behind the strip on his blog) crafted a comic strip that I'm positive will have lasting merit. What Nigel achieved was to go beyond the traditional comic fare and pack the strip with gags and witty surreal humour. Even under lesser artistic hands the writing would have carried the strip but combined with Nigel's excellent cartooning it was solid gold. It had a few critics who hated the idea of celebrities in the comic, (missing the point that such strips poked fun at celebs) but I'm sure that the strip will be fondly remembered by comic historians in the future. Take a bow, Nigel, and good luck with future Dandy projects.

Other strips in this issue include the brilliantly daft My Freaky Family by Nigel Auchterlounie, George vs Dragon by Andy Fanton, Postman Prat by David Mason (and drawn by me) and much more. Here's the seasonal logo I designed for my page...


Over in The Beano, there's the welcome return of Steve Bright who provides a great wraparound cover. Inside, there are two Meebo & Zuky strips by Laura Howell, a five page Dennis and Gnasher strip by Barrie Appleby, a retro Dennis the Menace page (from the late 1950s or early 1960s) by Davy Law, four pages of The Bash Street Kids by David Sutherland, and much more including a very nice Minnie the Minx two-pager from Ken Harrison...


It's a special issue in several ways, not least because for one issue only there's the return of Jim Petrie who came out of retirement to draw a Fatty Fudge strip based on an idea from a competition winner. Jim certainly hasn't lost his touch.

* Those of you who are subscribers won't have had to fork out the £3.99. For those of you who haven't subscribed yet the mega-bargain 15 issues for £15 subscription offer on The Dandy is still available from the DC Thomson website, (http://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Group-Dandy.aspx) whilst The Beano subs offer one at £17 a quarter on Direct Debit (http://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Group-Beano.aspx )

More Christmas fun soon, with a plunge into the past to unearth another seasonal comic from the Time Vortex! What year will we arrive in? Anything is possible. Anything!