Comics UK - Beano

Covers

Characters And Stories

First Issue

Memory Lane

Annuals

					First Issue:	30th July 1938
					Last Issue:
					Copyright:	D.C.Thomson
					Genre:	Humour (prev. Adventure and Humour)
					Incorporated Titles:
					Incorporated By:

Arguably, the best known British comic of all time. The Beano started life a year before the commencment of WW2. Issue #1 was dated July 30th 1938. It was called, "The Beano Comic", and had Big Eggo the ostrich on the front cover. It was the companion paper to The Dandy Comic which had started 8 months earlier, and proved extremely successful. These two publications were to be joined by a further companion paper entitled, The Magic Comic, in July 1939. Bearing in mind what was to happen two months later, this was unfortunate timing.

The reason for the success of the Dandy and Beano was due to its radical new approach to comics. It's physical size was small and practical when compared to Illustrated Chips, Funny Wonder and Jester. These traditional comics were steeped in history, but their format was becoming rather staid. The stories had a picture above some text narrative. The idea of this was to give children some literacy experience. Remember, back in late Victorian times and early 20th century, illiteracy was rife. However, as the years passed, and education standards improved, D.C.Thomson realised that children were quite capable of looking at a picture and working out what was going on. There was no need for lines and lines of text when a couple of speech balloons would suffice. It was a gamble which paid off handsomely for David Couper Thomson.

Although the Beano of today is pure comic strip, back in 1938 it was very different indeed. The original 28 page issue had seven full text stories. These took up 10 of those 28 pages. There were also six stories in the traditional, narrative under picture format, with the remaining pages experiencing the radical speech balloons only format. In fact, even some of these stories had narrative under the picture.

Eggo, Biffo, Pansy Potter, Grandpa, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty, Dennis

Big Eggo, drawn by Reg Carter, was on the very first Beano cover. He stayed there for 10 years, until 24th January 1948, when he was ousted by newcomer Biffo The Bear. Big Eggo then appeared inside the comic in black and white format, until his final appearance on 2nd April 1949. However, although he never had his own strip after this, he still appeared on the front cover, standing next to the Beano title.

Lord Marmaduke of Bunkerton also made his first appearance in issue #1. Better known as Lord Snooty, he was the Earl of Bunkerton who would much rather play with his real pals from Ash Can Alley, than with his stuck up friends who visited him at Bunkerton Castle. Snooty, created by the great Dudley Dexter Watkins, had two sets of pals throughout his Beano career, in the beginning, his Ash Can Alley chums were Rosie, Hairpin Huggins, Sninny Lizzie, Scrapper Smith, Happy Hutton and Gertie The Goat. This lot had many adventures, including sorting out Adolf Hitler and the German army during WW2 and coming up against their bitter rivals, The Gasworks Gang. In July 1949 it was all change for most of the original pals, and the Snooty strip was rested until 23rd December 1950. This was when Hairpin Huggins, Happy Hutton, Skinny Lizzie and Gertie the Goat made a final appearance to say farewell to Snooty, Scrapper and Rosie. These remaining three were joined by Snitch & Snatch, Pongo The Dog, Polly and Mary The Mule. They were also joined by other Beano characters of the time. Big Fat Joe, Swanky Lanky Liz and Doubting Thomas. This new set of pals started their adventures the following week on 30th December 1950.

During WW2 the Beano did its bit to boost morale amongst its readers. Lord Snooty and Pansy Potter were often seen giving the enemy a kick up the backside. While there were also special war time stories created by artist Sam Fair, Winken & Blinken and Musso The Wop, which made sure that the enemy were made to look foolish. It also ensured that boys and girls helped the war effort by putting all their old comics into the salvage bin. Hence, the rather high prices now being paid for war time comics.

Dennis The Menace, USA & UK style. But who was first?

On 17th March 1951 (#452), Dennis The Menace, billed as "The Worlds Wildest Boy", made his debut in his half page strip. Issue #459, dated 5th May 1951, has Dennis wearing his familiar stripey jumper for the very first time. A subtle, yet incredibly impacting transition occurred in that issue, or is that me being melodramatic?
It's worth noting that the Americans claim that Hank Ketcham, a cartoonist from Seattle, invented Dennis five weeks before David Law. Ketcham's creation, which first appeared in a newspaper strip on 12th March 1951, became very popular. But, although this date is 5 days before the Beano cover date, it's worth remembering that the Beano, like every other comic, always came out five or six days before the date on the cover. The two characters were totally different in appearance but did possess the same behavioural patterns. The major difference was that Dennis UK had half a page to his story whereas Dennis US was just a one-frame, sometimes two-frame, affair. I think it's safe to say, that no matter who came first, they are both as equally popular on either side of the pond.

A very early Roger The Dodger (2nd week), Jonah the errr....sailor and the young at heart Grandpa.

On the 18th April 1953 (#561), artist Ken Reid, who was the brother-in-law of fellow D.C.Thomson artist Bill Holdroyd, brought us Roger The Dodger. The lad who had a book of wonderful job dodges. On 30th July 1955 (#680), Ken brought us that old whipper-snapper, Grandpa, and on 15th March 1958 (#817) he created his personal favourite, Jonah (the nautical nightmare). All these characters enjoyed many years within the Beano and, of course, Roger is still going.


Another great artist who was to make a serious mark in comic world was Leo Baxendale. Leo brought us Little Plum on the 10th October 1953 (#586), and Minnie The Minx on 19th Dec 1953 (#596). These two were soon followed by his most famous strip of all, When The Bell Rings (13th February 1954, #604). This story was to be later renamed, to its more recognised title of The Bash Street Kids (1st Dec 1956, #750). Leo was also responsible for The Three Bears on 6th June 1959 (#881). Leo, who stopped drawing for the Beano in 1962 (#1045), is thankfully still with us, and you can see what he is currently up to on his own web site. Here are some notable dates in the long and distinguished history of the Beano: 30th July 1938 Lord Snooty started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 17th December 1938 Pansy Potter started. Drawn by Hugh McNeill. 18th January 1941 Tom Thumb started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 27th February 1943 Shipwrecked Circus started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 1st January 1944 Jimmy And His Magic Patch started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 9th September 1944 Strang The Terrible started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 24th January 1948 Biffo The Bear started. Drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. 17th June 1950 Title changed from 'The Beano Comic' to 'The Beano' 17th March 1951 Dennis The Menace started. Drawn by David Law. 18th April 1953 Roger The Dodger started. Drawn by Ken Reid. 19th September 1953 General Jumbo started. Drawn by Paddy Brennan. 10th October 1953 Little Plum started. Drawn by Leo Baxendale. 19th December 1953 Minnie The Minx started. Drawn by Leo Baxendale. 13th February 1954 When The Bell Rings (later renamed to The Bash Street Kids) drawn by Leo Baxendale. 30th July 1955 Grandpa started. Drawn by Ken Reid. 15th March 1958 Jonah started. Drawn by Ken Reid. 15th October 1960 The Three Bears started. Drawn by Leo Baxendale. 16th May 1964 Billy Whizz started. Drawn by Malcolm Judge. 1st April 1967 Billy The Cat started. Drawn by David Sutherland 16th December 1967 Pup Parade started. Drawn by Gordon Bell. 31st August 1968 Gnashers makes his debut on Dennis' page 1969 David Sutherland takes over Biffo strip following the death of Dudley D. Watkins (20/8/1969). 1st August 1970 David Sutherland takes over Dennis The Menace strip following the ill-health of David Law . April 1971 David Law passes away (aged 63) 22nd April 1972 Baby Face Finlayson started. Drawn by Ronald Spencer. 14th September 1974 1st Dennis The Menace front cover 5th June 1976 Dennis' Fan Club founded 5th May 1979 Rasher makes his first appearance on Dennis' page 22nd September 1984 Rasher started. Drawn by David Sutherland 4th May 1985 Ivy The Terrible started. Drawn by Robert Nixon 1st November 1986 Calamity James started. Drawn by Tom Paterson 4th April 1987 Number 13 started. Drawn by John Geering 16th January 1988 The Germs started. Drawn by David Sutherland. 16th October 1993 1st all colour issue 17th May 1997 Tim Traveller started. Drawn by Vic Neill. 1st August 1998 60th Birthday issue. 19th September 1998 Baby Bea born on the same day that the Beano Fan Club was founded There are other websites dedicated to the Beano and Beano characters. Here are a few very worhwhile links.


Paul Morris' Beano Site. Includes some excellent artist details.	Martin Graylings tribute to the Beano (I don't think it's been updated for a while though).	The official Beanotown website