This week's issue - Take 4

Discuss or comment on anything relating to D.C.Thomson's second longest running comic. The home of Dennis the Menace. Has been running since 1938.

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

A contents page has been an on-off feature in The Beano since about 2007 Kid. As for if it's needed however is up for debate.

Ginger
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Ginger »

I don't know if there's much to debate about, it's obviously a filler page, but what I would say is that there are 22 pages of comics in the issue:- compare that to any other comic on the shelves and it looks pretty good. Was it in this thread I was talking about the TV tie-in 'kids mags'? Can't remember now, and too lazy to check, but some of them are nothing but filler pages.

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

I didn't mean we should actually have a debate Ginger, it's just a figure of speech. :lol:

AndyB
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by AndyB »

And the other mags are dearer for fewer pages with less content.

I don't think that is reasonable to judge a comic on one two-page spread - that's like saying you don't like the Bash Street Kids some week, so the whole thing's rubbish, but you've just written off a beautiful Minnie the Minx strip without reading it.

I would even suggest that filler joke pages drawn by artists are probably cheaper than actual strips (no scripts required), and at least it's original art rather than recycled nonsense. Let's have a look at the 12 pages of filler this week...

Page 1 - cover. Fair enough.
Page 2 - jokes page. Original art.
Page 3 - contents. If you don't like it, turn to page 4, although in all fairness, the contents are meaningless if the rest of the pages aren't numbered. I think it has a specific purpose in advertising to parents that there is something they will remember, but again most kids' magazines have them.
Page 7 - giveaways. Makes money for DCT.
Page 8 - Bash Street Burp - original content. We had this sort of thing in IPC comics back in the 70s.
Page 12 - in-house advertising (yes, this is needed)
Page 16 - Separated at birth. Yes, it'll have been cheap to do in-house. Yes, it's a bad joke.
Page 20 - Fun Kids. This will be a sponsorship thing, Fun Kids and the Beano supporting each other.
Page 25 - W&G book advertisement, probably tied in with the licensing (and yes, W&G link is good for the Beano)
Page 28 - Fan page
Page 30 - In-house advertising - subscriptions are great for DCT, because it's guaranteed sales, and great for readers because it's much cheaper than the cover price
Page 35 - next week/Fun Kids ad

So 1/3 of the comic is some sort of filler, and of that, three pages are original art, making a total of 27 pages of original art.

Advertising, even in-house advertising, keeps the cover price down. All children's magazines are now in full colour, and Buster was notorious back in the 90s for being coloured on the cheap for half of its pages, and I think this really went against it.

I think that it would be incredibly dangerous to reduce page numbers, as it would increase the perceptions of being just a cheap throwaway thing - realistically, a 20 page comic in full colour is still going to come in at about £1.50 due to the difference between the fixed costs of creating the comic against the marginal cost of a few extra pages. Printing 12 pages in black and white wouldn't bring it down that much further as it would still be going through the colour printer on its way to being inserted into the cover.

Kid Robson
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Kid Robson »

As I've already pointed out, Andy (in case you were referring to me), I wasn't judging the comic on a two-page spread, I was merely pointing out that, upon opening the comic and seeing two filler pages, it disinclined me to continue because there wasn't an immediate 'grabber'. Remember when you opened a Marvel comic and were hit by a splash page? Nowadays, you get a page of text explaining what has gone before because each monthly comic is designed as merely another instalment in what will eventually become a 'graphic novel'.

The Beano has now gone the same way in that, upon opening the comic, there's no immediate 'incitement' to continue. I'd much rather see a comic strip on page 3, and I'm sure others would too.

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

I agree there, I miss the days when the Dennis strip was on the front cover and the first 2 inside pages. For me the content is still strong in The Beano but I admit I dislike the fact it doesn't have any comic strips until page 4.

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diegotheterrible
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by diegotheterrible »

Digifiend: Yes, i just didn't know it'd be out so soon :)

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

My Review

Front Cover - Nigel Parkinson
Page 2 - Psst! Wanna Hear a Joke - Jamie Smart
Page 3 - Contents Page
Page 4 - 6 - Dennis the Menace and Gnasher - 6.5/10 - It was very well drawn, and it was funny, but Dennis wasn't really a menace and where was Gnasher?
Page 7 - Dennis and Gnasher's Gnawsome Giveaway's
Page 8 - The Bash Street Burp - 7.5/10 - Really liked this. It was a bit predictable but otherwise great!
Page 9 - Billy Whizz - 3.5/10 - Yawn...This story arc is getting a bit boring. The artwork is good as always, although in some panels it looked a bit...well, cheap. As in rushed. The jokes weren't good, and the story was slow going. This strip has so much potential, it needs to finish this arc and get on with its life.
Page 10 - Ball Boy - 9.5/10 - Fantastic! This is becoming the strongest strip in the comic! Funny, the artwork in the penultimate panel slightly squashed, but brilliant!
Page 11 - Funsize Funnies 1
Ninja Nuns - 8.5/10 - What a big improvment! The artwork still wasn't brilliant but still good, and the plot and script were great! Brilliant job!
The Incredible Skunk - 4.5/10 - This also improved as well. The main thing was no fart jokes. The jokes in this episode were...better, if not still slightly poor. The artwork is still quite ugly, but its going in the right direction.
Angel Face - 6.5/10 - Great artwork, predictable plot, bad joke ending. The artwork was fantastic, though.
I Pity the School - 10/10 - Perfection. Perfect artwork, perfect and funny script, on the bling (pun on the phrase "on the money"!).
Page 12 - Funkids Diary
Page 13 - Minnie the Minx - 10/10 - Also perfection. Minnie'll never be a little daddy's girl! Love it.
Page 14 - Beano Annual 2014 Advert
Page 15 - The Numskulls (Starring Smiffy) - 5/10 - There was a new format for the numskulls this week, and although I generally liked the two previous format's more, it was better than last week's dreadful star wars imitation. The artwork in the faces was too stick-man-ish, but Smiffy's brain was explained well.
Page 16 - 17 - Top 10 P.E Pranks
Page 18 - 19 - The Bash Street Kids - 9/10 - I really liked this. The plot was great. The artwork was a bit weird at times but a great story.
Page 20 - The Castle Rock - 8/10 - Very good, the artwork is growing on me and plot was great.
Page 21 - Funsize Funnies 2
Jessie's J - 10/10 - How can you not love this this. The pun was actually great, and the rest were all outstanding.
The Great Beanotown Face Off - 8/10 - The artwork was great, the part at the end was ok, but the rest was all great!
Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares - 10/10 - The joke was brilliant, the artwork was brilliant, everything was brilliant!
Penguin Club - 5.5/10 - I still don't understand why the human's are all at the penguin club, the joke at the end wasn't my favourite, but the artwork was great.
Page 22 - Mega Mega Mootants - 10/10 - I couldn't find anything at fault with this. Perfect.
Page 23 - Lego Chima Advert
Page 24 - Will.i.am not puzzle page!
Page 25 - Will.i.am the Conqueror - 9.5/10 - I didn't really get why the first auditionee wasn't a celebrity, but the rest of this was just perfect.
Page 26 - 27 - Bananaman - 8/10 - I didn't get the artwork at the end, I couldn't find all the individual arms and legs, but the jokes, script and artwork were good, not perfect, but this was a great story.
Page 28 - Super Menaces!
Page 29 - Calamity James - 10/10 - Another perfect strip. Can't wait to see what's coming with this.
Page 30 - Jokes Set and Subscription Advert
Page 31 - Funsize Funnies 3
Smiffy's Top Tips - 8/10 - The joke was good-ish, but the artwork was perfect.
Rubbiish Robots - 8/10 - Everything is pretty good, but there's something lacking in the artwork for me; its not as good as we usually see from Lew.
Man vs Wood - 10/10 - Now that's more like it! Brilliant!
The Fresh Prince of Buckingham Palace - 10/10 - When Stu said it was going to get better, I didn't think it would be this much better! Fabulous artwork, plot and everything!
Page 32 - 33 - Roger the Dodger - 9/10 - I didn't get the end. That was all. But the rest of it was perfect.
Page 34 - Wrap Up - 8.5/10 - I didn't like the joke at the end but overall great.
Page 35 - Next Week and Funkids Advert
Page 36 - Beano Presents Photo Phunnies!

Here are the rankings.

=1st - I Pity the School - 10/10
=1st - Minnie the Minx - 10/10
=1st - Jessie's J - 10/10
=1st - Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares - 10/10
=1st - Mega Mega Mootants - 10/10
=1st - Calamity James - 10/10
=1st - Man vs Wood - 10/10
=1st - The Fresh Prince of Buckingham Palace - 10/10
=9th - Ball Boy - 9.5/10
=9th - Will.i.am the Conqueror - 9.5/10
=11th - The Bash Street Kids - 9/10
=11th - Roger the Dodger - 9/10
=13th - Ninja Nuns - 8.5/10
=13th - Wrap Up - 8.5/10
=15th - The Castle Rock - 8/10
=15th - The Great Beanotown Face-Off - 8/10
=15th - Bananaman - 8/10
=15th - Smiffy's Top Tips - 8/10
=15th - Rubbish Robots - 8/10
20th - The Bash Street Burp - 7.5/10
=21st - Dennis the Menace and Gnasher - 6.5/10
=21st - Angel Face - 6.5/10
23rd - Penguin Club - 5.5/10
24th - The Incredible Skunk - 4.5/10
25th - Billy Whizz - 3.5/10

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big bad bri
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by big bad bri »

I am loving billy whizz at the moment but the panels with biffo the bear moaning about how he used to be on the cover was brilliant,we need more cameos from the old classic characters across the whole comic as im sure they all still live in beanotown :lol:

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Digifiend
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Digifiend »

The race concludes next week. I suppose the following issue (on sale December 11) will be the Christmas one, with the next issue after that out on, I guess) Tuesday 31 December (almost certainly won't be New Year's Day, so it will be out early).

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Peter Gray
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Peter Gray »

-Nice to see many old character back and as a two strip format...;0)) thumbs up!

spoiler










number 13 and The nibblers..;0) and a whole page of Little plum brand new by Hunt..
Karate Sid..Simply Smiffy...Tricky Dicky by Laura...Gnasher tales whole page by Barry ;0)
So really good news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PaulTwist
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by PaulTwist »

Sounds good, Peter. Might pick this one up!

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Peter Gray
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Peter Gray »

also more spoiler...








Grandpa now called Grandpaw...will be back next issue and a nice cameo of the three bears...its great Hunt is back...
now Lew Stringer drawing a whole page again will be the cherry on top..

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Digifiend
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Digifiend »

I'm hoping Grandpaw was a typo. The Broons Grandfather is called grandpaw and a and w are adjacent on a qwerty keyboard.

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

Brilliant issue this week, The Beano is definitely at it's best when it uses it's classic characters but not in a way where they are out of date.

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