Reprints in the Beano

[Digifiend]

Ironically, despite being near the bottom of the polls regularly, that isn't why he was axed. When he was dropped, Tom Paterson was busy doing other stuff for The Beano and Beanomax. I think his work on Singled Out and Dennis & Gnasher (he also stopped doing Minnie not long afterwards) may be the reason James was relegated to Max only. He didn't have to draw it so often then. Or at all if the Max strips were reprinted.

[Jonny Whizz]

I think his final few appearances in spring 2007 were all reprints. Tom Paterson had started drawing Singled Out by then, but he started drawing Dennis in the very same issue that James made his last appearance in the weekly. I'm not sure, but I also think that most or all of his appearances in BeanoMax were reprints too. He didn't appear in the only Max I have.

[Digifiend]

I seem to be seeing double...

I have two Max's (issues 1 and 25), and James isn't in either of those. That's why I didn't know for sure if it was reprints.

[AndyB]

Double post deleted Alan edited Beano Max No.1, and I'm guessing that the James and Baby-Face strip a few months ago in Max was originally intended for the Beano - for a start, the editor as depicted in that strip was Alan, not Euan It was very much a final hurrah strip, and I was surprised that he lasted a couple more issues afterwards.

Euan admits in the History of the Beano that when he took over he dropped Pepper the Pony almost immediately simply because he didn't like the strip. Alan therefore has a strong precedent for doing similarly with James, but, more significantly, James does have a mixed reception amongst readers. I always loved him (and the Henry Davies draft version in the History of the Beano simply wouldn't have been the same - looks too weird beside Tom's version), as did Euan, but from what I have gathered, the love/hate ratio among readers was actually tipped towards hating James.

[Jonny Whizz]

The difference between Pepper the Pony and Calamity James being dropped was that Pepper had only been in the comic for a few months. I'm not sure, but I think Ivy the Terrible replaced Pepper, if not directly. James on the other hand had lasted two decades. On a similar theme, does anyone know what happened with London B412? That strip appeared to come and go remarkably quickly. It might have been that the contemporary style was at odds to the rest of the comic (where teachers still wear mortar boards!).

I'm a Calamity James fan as well (and an Alexander Lemming fan!). Does anyone have a scan of the James/Baby Face Finlayson strip from Max? I'd be interested to see it, especially to see the editor. Calamity James and Baby Face Finlayson were both favourites of Euan Kerr as well, which is interesting.

Thanks Andy for removing the double post.

[Digifiend]

The difference between Pepper the Pony and Calamity James being dropped was that Pepper had only been in the comic for a few months. I'm not sure, but I think Ivy the Terrible replaced Pepper, if not directly. James on the other hand had lasted two decades. On a similar theme, does anyone know what happened with London B412? That strip appeared to come and go remarkably quickly. It might have been that the contemporary style was at odds to the rest of the comic (where teachers still wear mortar boards!).

Pepper the Pony ran from issue 2201 (22/9/84) to issue 2232 (27/4/85), and Ivy debuted in issue 2253 (4/5/85), according to The History of the Beano. One of the issue numbers is wrong , but as you can see from the dates, Ivy did indeed replace Pepper. London B4 12 was very sporadic throughout its short run, and although History says it's ongoing, it had already disappeared when the book came out. Don't know why it stopped though.

By the way, it's only Bash Street where the teachers still have mortar boards, whenever Roger or Dennis are in school, the teacher looks more modern, no mortar board. Minnie has now added a female teacher as a regular character, and then of course there's the Super School teacher, who also looks modern.

[Digifiend]

Looks as though Ball Boy is no longer going to be reprints soon. http://www.beanotown.com/index.php?id=38

We're trying something a bit different with Ball Boy. We just got some new designs done for the character and we think it looks great!

*peers at new Ball Boy pictures on desk*

Do you want a sneak peek?

Let us know if you do

[felneymike]

Wonder if they'll turn Ball Boy into an ongoing storyline, like the footie strips in newspapers, only colorful and funny*, of course.

I always thought it was pretty samey and boring when i was young and thought it should do something similar, but could never be bothered/have the nerve to write a letter suggesting it!

*-Maybe with self-depreciating humour about a team that are always being beaten? XD

[Digifiend]

They were already doing that. When Dave Eastbury stopped drawing him, they had to abort a storyline involving BB at a football based boarding school. Then there was the Summer League before that last year as well.

I think it's just that a new artist has redesigned him. I wonder who?

[Jonny Whizz]

What was strange about Ball Boy earlier this year was the football boarding school story. It only ran for three episodes, two of which were about them going there and getting home, with only one intermediate story! It became reprints the following week, though he's not been in quite a few issues of late. Interestingly, Freddie Fear still seems to be running in the comic.

As for the new artist, could it be Nigel Parkinson or Tom Paterson (who drew a few in autumn 2006)? I imagine they could have an original take on it, or will it be someone completely different? Or perhaps they're just conning us by using even older Mal Judge reprints!

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Billy Whizz is still reprints, even though he was two years ago. In that time, most strips have stopped using reprints - Fred's Bed and Ivy (in tandem with Bea) are now new material, there weren't that many Riot Squad/Hoot Squad strips, Olaff the Madlander only had a short run, Rasher is about to get dropped and Ball Boy sounds as though he will be new strips again. Les Pretend only started more recently and Gnasher and Gnipper appear to be new strips again after a few weeks of reprints.

[Digifiend]

G&G isn't new. They still have the over sharp spikes on their fur, which was later corrected.

As for Freddie Fear, if Dave Eastbury is drawing one strip now instead of two, he'll be getting paid half of what he was - artists get paid per page.

[David Gerstein]

Why was Rasher dropped? Unpopular? Or does the new TV version of Dennis not have a pig?

As a longtime Rasher fan, I'm just curious. Rasher has been and gone from the Beano numerous times, so I can't imagine his absence for now means he'll vanish forever.
As a kid, I just loved the fact that Dennis had this crazy, big hog who talked directly to the reader about turnips and swill as if they were important topics.

[Jonny Whizz]

I think it's because of the revamp of Dennis for the new TV series. As far as I know, Rasher's not set to appear in the series so he's been dropped from the comic.

I wouldn't expect Rasher to be gone forever - especially if the revamp is abandoned later and they go back to the old style.

[Digifiend]

Tune into CBBC to meet the new pig on the block!

Sounds like, just like Gnipper, Rasher's backstory has been changed.

[David Gerstein]

From what are you quoting? Couldn't find the earlier post.

Unfortunately, I'm not in the UK right now— could you tell a desperate resident of Obamaland how exactly Gnipper's backstory has been changed?
By "new pig" I hope they don't mean that Rasher has actually been replaced by a different pig after thirty years of faithful service.