2011 Annual Covers

[STARBOY]

I thought the use of the "slipper" had been banned for many years in the Beano etc

[BeanoMark]

I know that the comments on the annual covers are mostly due to the artwork, but I want to mention that the reason you're seeing a lot of 'space' around the Beano cover is because of the templates used. You have bleed space, then safe space as part of the printing process. It is likely that the Amazon thumbnail is showing the entire bleed area too, which is hidden when the book is printed.

[Digifiend]

I thought the use of the "slipper" had been banned for many years in the Beano etc

Yes, but that Bunty book is aimed at the nostalgia market, I wouldn't expect a whacking to be censored out there. But when a Winker Watson script was reused in a Dandy Annual a few years back, it was completely redrawn, because the original had the cane in it. Normally they'd just redo the speech captions. Likewise, Peanut, the Beano's original mascot, is now considered racist, and was edited out of the issue 1 cover on the poster given away with The Beano a few weeks ago. The History of the Beano mentioned the racism issue and said he was kept in as a reflection of the times. The Beano-Dandy Golden Years books also keep him in. It's all about who the target audience is.

The slipper and cane are banned from new material yes, but no need to censor them in the nostalgia annuals IMHO.

[Lew Stringer]

The slipper and cane are banned from new material yes, but no need to censor them in the nostalgia annuals IMHO.

Unfortunately British society isn't that clearly divided and most people still see comics as material solely for children.

Personally I'd have preferred the book was only a nostalgia item, with artists credited, issue dates etc but that's not what it is. To increase the potential sales the book is aimed at all ages, not just the nostalgia market. There's a blurring of the readership so that parents can also buy the book for their children.

I can understand why the panel was censored. The alternative would be to risk a backlash from retailers who could possibly withdraw it from circulation. In today's society, an image of a little girl being spanked could quite easily be luridly blown out of proportion because that's what the scandal rags and the media do. (Look how the News of the World jumped on The Beano a few weeks back because of the Si Co strip.)

The story makes it clear what happened without seeing it. If you like, the censored panel is a comment on how society is more uptight today than 40 years ago. No doubt "political correctness" will get the blame but the real culprit is an easily-led society that's always looking for scapegoats.

[ramirez]

A few months ago a Congolese man sued the company that publishes the Tin Tin albums in Belgium, claiming that the "Tin Tin in Congo" comic is racist and demeaning towards Africans (which was probably true).


However, if I 'm not mistaken the court rulled againgst his petition, aknowledging that the book was a product of its era and should be looked upon in the context of the time it was written. Plus it would create a bad precedent for banning other books that might be considered inflamatory or ambiguous (that 's why even Hitler 's Mein Kampf is allowed in most countries)...

[Kashgar]

Can't say I'm too keen on the new 'storybook' format that the Thomson annuals have adopted. More Ben Hur than Beano for my taste (When I was kid I was given a illustrated storybook version of Lew Wallace's biblical novel and it still exemplifies the genre to me). That notwithstanding I have bought them and at something like a price that may make Thomson's a profit and encourage them to produce more in the future, wherever they may end up being printed.

[stevezodiac]

A little bit late but here are the 1968 annual covers courtesy of the back cover of My Weekly issue 2818 dated 16/12/67

[felneymike]

A few months ago a Congolese man sued the company that publishes the Tin Tin albums in Belgium, claiming that the "Tin Tin in Congo" comic is racist and demeaning towards Africans (which was probably true).

In Britain the "Campaign for Racial Equality", when they weren't supporting aparthied in schools (no, really) said that the book should be "put in a museum with an arrow pointing to it saying 'hey look at this old fashioned racist trash!'", when instead it was put on bookshelves with an editorial inside saying 'hey look at this old fashioned racist trash!'.

Incedentally thier campaign and ensuing media coverage caused sales of the book to leap by something like 2,400%. How many would have sold if they had said nothing?

[Raven]

If you buy your Beano Annual in Sainsbury's (£5), you get an exclusive-to-them free issue one of The Beano with it. Not an original, though. It looks like it's printed on card-type paper.

[dishes]

If you buy your Beano Annual in Sainsbury's (£5), you get an exclusive-to-them free issue one of The Beano with it. Not an original, though. It looks like it's printed on card-type paper.

Less enticing if you already have The History Of The Beano which reprints the entire first issue, of course.

[Digifiend]

If you buy your Beano Annual in Sainsbury's (£5), you get an exclusive-to-them free issue one of The Beano with it. Not an original, though. It looks like it's printed on card-type paper.

I don't suppose The Dandy has the same deal (buy the annual, get facsimile issue 1)?

I have a copy of "History of...", so I effectively already have a copy of Beano #1.

[Raven]

I don't suppose The Dandy has the same deal (buy the annual, get facsimile issue 1)?

They only had the Beano one in, but it's possible.

EDIT (4/9/10): They had the Dandy one in today, but no free facsimile with it.

[Digifiend]

Interestingly, the Dandy annual advertises the Dandy comic, not Dandy Xtreme.

The Dennis book is back to 96 pages from last year's low of 80. I think every single page apart from the covers is drawn by Tom Paterson, and it is 100% original content.

In hindsight, we know why it didn't mention Xtreme now.

As for Dennis, the This Book Belongs To page seems to be Nigel's, but yes, the rest is all Tom.

[NP]

As for Dennis, the This Book Belongs To page seems to be Nigel's, but yes, the rest is all Tom.

Really? I don't remember doing one! Could you post it?

[AndyB]

Took another look at it - it looks nothing like Nigel's work