The Beano is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and well-known comic strips and characters include Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty and His Pals, Ivy the Terrible, General Jumbo, Jonah, and Biffo the Bear.
The Bash Street Kids is a comic strip in the British comic magazine The Beano. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as When the Bell Rings!, first appeared in issue 604. It became The Bash Street Kids in 1956 and has become a regular feature, appearing in every issue. From 1962, until his death in 2023, David Sutherland drew over 3000 strips in his time as illustrator.
Nutty was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with The Dandy. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, Nutty was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic comic compared to many on sale at the time.
Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character originally appeared in Nutty as the back page strip in Issue 1, dated 16 February 1980 drawn by John Geering.
The Dandy was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after Il Giornalino and Detective Comics. From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.
The Numskulls is a comic strip in The Beano, and previously in The Beezer and The Dandy – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, running and maintaining their bodies and minds. It first appeared in The Beezer from 1962 until 1979, drawn by Malcolm Judge. The Numskulls are still going and featured weekly in the popular British comic The Beano.
Ivy the Terrible is a fictional character featured in The Beano. She is a four-year-old girl who annoys her parents with her misbehaviour. She first appeared in The Beano in 1985 in the comic strip of the same name, but has starred in other comic strips throughout Beano history.
Biffo the Bear is a fictional character from the British comic magazine The Beano who stars in the comic strip of the same name, created in 1948 by Dudley D. Watkins. He was the mascot of The Beano for several decades.
Beryl the Peril is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of The Topper comic published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black and red apparel, and devilishly tormented her parents and other members of her community. Despite not having quite as many appearances as other DC Thomson characters such as Dennis the Menace or Desperate Dan, Beryl is still considered one of the classic characters which define the popularity of British comics.
Hoot was a British comic magazine that ran from 26 October 1985 to 25 October 1986, when it merged with The Dandy. Its cover price was 20p, represented by a stylized graphic depiction of a 20p coin. Throughout its run, it billed itself as "Britain's bubbling new comic!", a reference to the title masthead being made up of steam-billowing pipes. The comic was the last new humour anthology comic from DC Thomson which mostly featured original characters.
Hairy Dan was a British comic strip character by Basil Blackaller originally published in the magazine The Beano Comic in the comic strip of the same name. It first appeared in issue 1 on 30 July 1938 and ran until issue 297.
Helpful Henry was the name of two comic strips—one from the United States, the other from the United Kingdom.
Korky the Cat is a character in a comic strip in the British comics magazine The Dandy. It first appeared in issue 1, dated 4 December 1937, except for one issue, No. 294 when Keyhole Kate was on the cover. For several decades he was the mascot of The Dandy. In 1984, after 47 virtually continuous years, Korky was replaced on the front cover by Desperate Dan.
Strange Hill, alternatively known as Strange Hill School or Strange Hill School for Ghouls in The Dandy, is the title of two British comic strips, one of which ran in Whizzer and Chips, the other in The Dandy. The title is a reference to the long running BBC TV show Grange Hill about a school of that name. Both strips were set in horrifying schools.
Colonel Blink was a British comic strip, drawn by Tom Bannister in November 1958 for the majority of its run, with a few later strips being drawn by Bill Ritchie and Gordon Bell in the same style as Bannister. The strip was published in the comics magazine The Beezer. Denis Gifford in his Encyclopedia of Comic Characters (1987) attributes his creation to "Carmichael." His latest appearances were in the reprint Classics from the Comics series and the associated Beano and Dandy reprint annuals.
Puss 'n' Boots was a British comic strip which ran in the UK comic magazine Sparky from 1969 to 1977 and later appeared in Topper and The Dandy. Most of the strips were drawn by John Geering. Some scripts were written by Morris Heggie, later to become editor of the Dandy.
David Sutherland was a Scottish illustrator and comics artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids (1962–2023), Dennis the Menace (1970–1998), Fred's Bed (2008–2012) for The Beano, and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s.
The Magic Comic was a British comics magazine. It was the ill-fated third comics magazine from DC Thomson. It was aimed at a younger audience, with more emphasis on picture stories. The first issue was published on 22 July 1939. The comic ran for only 80 issues until 25 January 1941. Paper rationing resulting from the outbreak of the Second World War caused its demise. Its Editor Bill Powrie promised that 'the Magic' would return; however, he was killed in action in 1942.
The Fun Size Beano and Fun Size Dandy were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times monthly by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries, originally printed in red, white and black and published from 1982 to 1997. The Beano Comic Libraries lasted for 368 issues and their Dandy counterparts lasted for 344 issues. There were also comic library specials, The Beano Comic Library Specials being puzzle books and lasting for 87 issues (1988–1994) and the Dandy Comic Library Specials being cartoon books, featuring a number of single page comic strips and these lasted for 88 issues (1987–1994).
Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy.
