| Product: |
Beano, the |
| Date: |
31/03/05 (4202 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great Reading
Disadvantages: Bit Pricey!
The Beano is a comic book for kids, which has been available every week for the past 65 years. I was first bought the Beano by my uncle when I was 9 years old, he bought it for me because he used to always read it when he was younger, as soon as I read that first comic I was hooked and for about 10 years I don’t think I missed an issue! Then as I got older I did miss a few, but I have always bought a copy when I have seen it on the shelf. Recently though I think I have become a big kid again as I have been making an extra effort to go out and buy a copy! I’m not old enough to remember when the Beano first came out so I have done a bit of research into the history of the Beano.
*** A Bit Of Beano History ***
The first the Beano was published in July 1938, it was then called The Beano Comic, but further along the line changed it’s name to The Beano and was a mix of cartoon funny stories and boys adventure stories, with a character called Big Eggo the Ostrich on the front cover. It not long after The Beano was first published that war broke out, however The Beano continued through the war even though there was a shortage of paper. It was during this time that characters such as Jimmy and his Magic Patch were first introduced, and a few years later Biffo The Bear was also introduced. Biffo The Bear became so popular that he soon replaced Big Eggo the Ostrich on the front page.
*** The Big Change ***
In the1950s there were big changes to the Beano, which involved all the old characters being dropped, this even included Lord Snooty, however he was lucky enough to return to The Beano 18 months later. In 1951 Beano History was made when there was the first ever appearance of Dennis the Menace and in 1968 Dennis was joined by his canine chum Gnasher who has since had his own puppies and we also know have Gnipper and occasional guest appearances by some of his other pups. Also in the 50’s was the introduction of Roger the Dodger. Minnie the Minx… the female version of Dennis, the Bash Street Kids also made their first appearance although back then they were first known as When The Bell Rings.
Towards the end of the 50’s the Beano started to phase out the adventure stories and they were replaced with more cartoons.
Over the years there have been many characters who have come and gone in the Beano history. Some of the older ones such as Dennis, Minnie, Rodger the Dodger and The Bash Street Kids are still there though and to me they are still the best parts of the comic!
*** What Beano’s Are Available? ***
The Beano is commonly known as a weekly comic book, however it also available in a few other forms such as a yearly annual, summer specials, videos and in previous years there have been fortnightly publications available.
The annuals are available yearly, they come out usually in the last couple of months before Christmas and are priced at what I would class as quite expensive! The 2005 issue was retailed at £6.99! However I waited until after Christmas and picked up a copy for just £1.99 in my local bookshop The Works! I remember when I used to hear my mum moaning about paying £3.99 for these, I bet she’ll be glad she doesn’t buy them now! The annual contains a wide selection of stories for many characters past and present.
The Summer Specials are available in the summer (well duh!). Last time I purchased one they were priced around £3. They contain a wide variety of stories mainly about the Beano characters going on their summer holidays; they also have little puzzles and quizzes to do as well. They are perfect for taking on holiday as they will keep you amused and you get activities to do, ok they are a bit easy as they are aimed at kids, but they are still fun!
The videos are released every so often. I think there are about 5 that have been released so far. They each contain a selection of stories from different characters. I personally wouldn’t really recommend these as they are a bit of a let down compared to the comic. The voices in them I think are the thing that let's them down because they really sound nothing like what you would expect these characters to sound like.
Fortnightly publications are small books, which used to be available every two weeks, I used to always buy them when I was on our annual family holiday in Wales and they were fab! Instead of having a selection of all the characters these books have just one 32 page story in them about one character and his/her adventure. There was also a puzzle version available occasionally in this format. The bad news is though I haven’t seen these books around for a good few years so I would hazard a guess at they are no longer around. Which to me is a shame as they were great.
*** So What Is In The Beano? ***
The Beano is a selection of comic strips featuring various different characters, each with their own hilariously funny personalities. The Beano also features advertisements for other Beano products and occasional toys and sweets that would catch the attention of kids. They also have various special features and run competitions on a quite regular basis. Another part of The Beano is the famous Dennis The Menace Fan Club.
*** So Who Are The Characters? ***
Over the years since The Beano first appeared there have been lots of characters who have been and gone, many of these I haven’t heard of, due to the fact I wasn’t born, so I will do a list of the ones past who I don’t know and I will attempt to give you a bit of insight into the characters which I know.
*** Characters From The Past ***
These characters are listed in no particular order
I’ll start with the characters who have been and now gone into Beano history who I can’t really tell you much about them, as I don’t know anything! They are as follows: Tom Thumb, Hairy Dan, Billy the Cat, Shipwrecked Circus, Jimmy And His Magic Patch, Big Eggo the Ostrich and Strang The Terrible.
There are some characters also in the Beano history who I do know or vaguely remember, these are as follows:
Lord Snooty: Lord Snooty was first known as Lord Marmaduke of Bunkerton. His stories were about his adventures with his friends of the Ash Can Alley Gang. Personally I didn’t really enjoy this character as I found him a little boring compared to others available in the comic.
Baby Face Finlayson: Another character from the past who I read but can’t say I really enjoyed was Baby Face Finlayson. These comic strips were about a thieving little baby who robbed people and places from his motorised pram and was always getting caught and arrested by the police.
Biffo the Bear: Biffo The Bear was the second Beano character to appear on the cover of the comic, he replaced Big Eggo The Ostrich and remained on the cover until the introduction of Dennis The Menace. Biffo was different from the other characters because he was silent. Biffo never had any speech bubbles or text telling you what was happening in the strip, instead there were just the pictures and you read the story through these. I enjoyed Biffo, as I enjoyed coming up with things that he could be saying in the different pictures.
General Jumbo: I vaguely remember this character, I also remember skipping reading this one most of the time as I found it very boring as it was about a young boy who had adventures with his military toys and toy soldiers.
Pansy Potter: Pansy is another character who I remember reading but don’t really remember much about. She was the strong girl of the comic with massive muscles. I enjoyed reading these stories, as they were really funny.
Ball Boy: Ball boy was as his name sounds… a footballer! Ball Boy stories were to do with a lad called Ball Boy and his useless football team who always lost their matches, but in very entertaining ways. I will admit though as much as I enjoyed reading this one it did get kind of repetitive.
Three Bears: The three bears were 3 hungry bears… like the kids story, except unlike the kids story there was no goldilocks. Instead these stories followed the adventures of the bears: Ma, Pa and Ted in their search for food and the desperate ways they will attempt to get food.
*** Characters Present ***
As before these are in no particular order.
Dennis the Menace: Dennis is probably the most famous of all the Beano characters. He is a menace to the whole of Beanotown in particular the local bunch of softies including Walter the Softie. Dennis is always accompanied by his ever-faithful canine pal Gnasher.
Gnasher and Gnipper: Gnasher and Gnipper are Dennis’s two dogs who assist him in all his menacing. It is mainly Gnasher who appears in the Dennis the Menace strip but Gnipper does appear at times too. Gnasher and Gnipper also have their own page in the comic with their own adventures too.
Walter the Softy: Walter is the softest softie in the whole of Beanotown. He and his “chums” are always prancing around Beanotown loaded with flowers and pink fluffiness. Walter also has a softie dog who is a little white poodle called Foo-foo. Dennis always menaces Walter and Gnasher menaces Foo-foo.
Bea: Bea is a very recent addition to Dennis’s family. She is his baby sister. Bea was brought into the comic a couple of years ago when Dennis’s mum discovered she was pregnant while on holiday on a cruise. Bea is a mini version of Dennis in terms of menacing. I can see her growing up as a cross between Dennis and Minnie the Minx!
Minnie the Minx: Minnie is basically the female version of Dennis. Like him she terrorises Beanotown and on a few occasions they have made guest appearances in each other’s stories.
Roger the Dodger: Roger is another of my favourites; he is always coming up with new dodges to get himself out of ANY sticky situation. When I was young I always wanted to be mates with Roger so I could use all his dodges to get out of doing homework!
The Bash Street Kids: The Bash Street Kids stories are about a class of 12 very unruly children, their teacher, school dinner lady – Olive and the school swot – Cuthbert. These were my ultimate favourite when I was younger. I always used to wish I were at Bash Street School; it always looked like so much fun with all their antics and naughtiness!
Billy Wizz: Billy is a young lad who has the gift of speed. He can wizz around the entire world within a matter of seconds and even dodge in and out of raindrops as they fall! Which I think is really a great thing to be able to do! However he actually finds time to get bored! These stories tell of his wizz speed adventures and how sometimes his speed gets him into trouble.
Calamity James: I’m going to be completely honest here… I hated this one! It is about a boy who is very very unlucky. Everywhere he goes he always has bad luck, absolutely NOTHING ever works out ok for him. I found these stories boring though and never really paid much attention to them.
Ivy the Terrible: Ivy is really cool; she is a three-year-old little girl who I think is really just the female version of my little brother! She is always getting herself into mischief and causing complete chaos… it’s very entertaining!
Joe King: Joe King tells a lot of jokes, these are mainly really cheesily bad ones, but I actually like them as that’s my type of joke! The readers of the beano send in the jokes that are mainly used in the Joe King comic strips and in return for their joke being printed they will win a small prize.
Les Pretend: Les is a little boy with a BIG imagination. He loves to pretend to be things or famous people and he is always dressing up and acting in the same way as his chosen item or person. These stories tell of the great fun he has doing this and how it drives his parents nuts!
Tim Traveller: Tim is a boy who travels through time on his magic bike. His stories follow his adventures in to past and future dates. I haven’t really read too many of his stories as I wasn’t too impressed the first time and didn’t really give it a second look.
The Numskulls: Another fantastic story! The Numskulls are little men who live inside and operate a young boy named Ed’s body. There is a numskull for each area of the body and the stories are very entertaining reading the things that they make him get up to!
Ok, that’s all the main Beano characters and everything I know about them and their individual stories. There are other characters who appear in the comic but they don’t come in very often so it wouldn’t be worth going into detail over them all!
All of the characters past and present do pop up now and again, even if it is only by another character mentioning their name. The main place they will re-appear is in the annuals. For example this years annual has a General Jumbo story in it and he hasn’t appeared in the comic for ages! So if a favourite of yours has gone missing from the comic then check out some of the annuals. Chances are you’ll find them in there!
*** The Dennis The Menace Fan Club ***
The Dennis the Menace fan club was launched in 1967 and I am led to believe now has over 1 million members. I personally am a member and I still have my membership details from when I first joined when I was 9. The fan club used to be on one page of the comic and featured things such as competition details, letters, jokes, poems and photos sent in by readers and details of how to join the club. If you join the fan club you will get a little passbook containing official club information and the Dennis and Gnasher fan club badges. Once you are a member then it is for life.
*** I Want To Buy The Beano ***
So I’ve convinced you that the characters who make up this fantastic comic are worth spending your money on then? So how much will Beano products cost you?
The Beano: The weekly comic will cost you 75p (at the moment) this does go up every now and again. To give you a rough idea on this, it only cost 22p when I started reading way back in 1991!
The Specials: The Beano Specials such as the summer special cost around £3 however as above the price may vary.
The Videos: I have seen the videos for sale for as little as £4.99. They are available in most music/video stores and when they are first released they are sold pretty much anywhere that sells videos!
The Fortnightly Publications: As I said above, I don’t think these are sold any more. They were 50p when I last found one. If anyone knows if you can still buy them please let me know!
*** Copyright and Publisher Details ***
Just in case you need these, here are the copyright and publisher details:
Copyright/Publisher: D.C.Thomson Ltd
You can contact the Beano via the official Beano website which is www.beanotown.com
Ok I’m pretty sure I’ve covered everything I can. Any questions just leave me a message! Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy reading the Beano!
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MagdaDH - 02/04/05 I think you covered more than everything! My husband grew up in(near) Dundee so I was told all about Beano even though I am not British!
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