Beano Maximum viewing (yes, it's another terrible pun)

[AndyB]

This month's Beano Max is conspicuous by the absence of... Max. It does however feature Kickass Koalas, and what looks like a reprint of I-Spy from a 1970s Sparky Annual.

The Neds are also very much on the go, and a page of Wayne Thompson Dennis sketches are included (from before they decided definitively to keep Dennis largely as he was but with a bigger forehead so they could play with his eyebrows). It looks rather like Alan's determined to keep the quality up.

[Jonny Whizz]

I think this is probably the first BeanoMax issue edited by Alan Digby, apart from the first one of course. Euan became editor from issue two.

[AndyB]

This month: 20.5 pages of original strip content, 5.5 pages of advertising, and 18 pages of features and NO REPRINT.

[Peter Gray]

I liked Nigel's work on the Bash Street kids....love the different monsters..
when you compare it to Dennis the Menace theres no contest..love the artist having more freedom..


Nigel has made it on the big picture on BBC entertainment website..with his signature in full view...Ant and Dec star...

[Digifiend]

Nigel has made it on the big picture on BBC entertainment website..with his signature in full view...Ant and Dec star...

Where? Link please, I can't find it. I've checked www.bbc.co.uk/entertainment - no mention of it.

[Peter Gray]

sorry I'd thought everyone knew the link..didn't know there was more than one

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/

its gone now..it was the last panel in Beano Max with Ant and Dec..in the Big Picture section..

I check daily this site for entertainment news..

[Jonny Whizz]

Could we have a list of artists in this month's BeanoMax please?

[AndyB]

Dennis - Nigel
Kick-ass Koalas - not known (yet)
Klog - not known (yet)
Kids - Nigel
Neds - Duncan Scott
Wallace & Gromit - Jimmy Hansen
Ghostin' your folks feature - can't remember
Max - Jimmy Dewar

[AndyB]

Did anyone else's December Beano MAX include two pages 31?

[Digifiend]

Probably everyone's - the same thing happened with Classics from the Comics a couple of months ago.

[AndyB]

DCT sent me a pdf of the missing page.

I now have the February edition. It repeats a Little Plum from January (which printed a few of Tom Paterson's legends), but I think Dandy fans should go and pick it up. Derek the Sheep is back as well.

Alan's definitely developing it away from the weekly Beano, making it quite different. They're making up the reprint quotient in interesting ways (apart from the rarities like the Mike Pearse I-Spy one-off a few months ago), and only Dennis and the Kids feature from the weekly comic.

[Phoenix]

First it was Buster, then Classics from the Comics, and now Beano Max. Wow! Does nobody care anymore? In the immortal words of Auric Goldfinger, Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action. Now is the time to fight back. The choice before us is clear and stark, either organise a protest movement (folk singers welcome) or apply for jobs in the relevant printing and collating departments. Enough is enough. Picket lines anyone?

[Neo]

I now have the February edition. It repeats a Little Plum from January

Hi Andy,

I've just double-checked through the last couple of issues... would you be good enough to confirm the page numbers of the pages in question?

Thanks,

Neo

[Digifiend]

DCT sent me a pdf of the missing page.

I now have the February edition. It repeats a Little Plum from January (which printed a few of Tom Paterson's legends), but I think Dandy fans should go and pick it up. Derek the Sheep is back as well.

Alan's definitely developing it away from the weekly Beano, making it quite different. They're making up the reprint quotient in interesting ways (apart from the rarities like the Mike Pearse I-Spy one-off a few months ago), and only Dennis and the Kids feature from the weekly comic.

Dandy fans? Why? Has a character jumped ship? Actually, some Beanotown.com users thought Blinky had done just that a couple of days ago, when the (now corrected) weekly issue preview said Blinky instead of Billy Whizz. Same artist was supposedly the reason for the confusion.

[Jonny Whizz]

That's a good reason why I prefer the older versions of Billy to Nick Brennan's version. Brennan's Billy is okay, but it looks too much like Blinky (without glasses) and also the eyes are on the top of his head, which does look a bit weird. I also think it would be better if his trainers were coloured, although that's down to the colourist rather than the artist.