Longest running Beano reader & the one with the most issues?

[steven]

This week, I will have bought my 2000th Beano after been reading the comic since 1985 (I'm 33 now).

As there are a few members here who read the comics. Is there anyone here who is one of the longest running readers or ones who have had the most collection of comics.

[Jay]

I'll lay claim to the longest time between reading since I stopped in '90 and then started to buy it again last year.

[Tin Can Tommy]

If DC Thomson have all the issues of the Beano in their archive then surely they would have the most issues.

[Digifiend]

They clearly do, as they use them in the reprint books and used to in Classics from the Comics.

My own Beano collection started in 1995, so I have about 16 years worth, roughly 800 issues. I do have a few slightly earlier notable issues - the first colour one, Roger's and Bash Street's 40th birthdays - as my older brother would sometimes get it before I started getting it regularly.

[Jonny Whizz]

I have every single issue of the Beano from 3129 in July 2002 to date, so I'm not that far off having 500 consecutive issues. I also have six issues from earlier in 2002 when I was trying out the comic for the first time, as well as a pile from 1999-2001 I picked up at a fair, plus a relative gave me a few from 1998.

In terms of annuals, I've got every one from 2002-2011 (I tend to wait until Christmas to get the annual every year, so it's still some time until I'll get to read the 2012 annual), in addition to the 1993 and 1994 books. I found them at school and was allowed to take them.

I suspect the person with the most issues barring DC Thomson themselves will be Ray Moore (Kashgar), who if I recall has just a few gaps in the 1940s - the rarest issues as most were recycled for the war effort.

[Tin Can Tommy]

They clearly do, as they use them in the reprint books and used to in Classics from the Comics.

yes but do they have every single issue in the archive cos in the reprint books they occasionally refer to bits being missing. But then how would they have compiled the Beano index at the end of the history of the beano. Also if they do have every issue there may be some from around the war where the only copy of that issue is in the DC Thomson archive.

Myself have around 500 issues on the beano all from after 2001 but with about 20 issues missing (i didnt get the Beano for awhile when i moved house) but i do have all the annuals from 1959 onwards and a few older ones as well!!!

[Phoenix]

But then how would they have compiled the Beano index at the end of the history of the beano.

They did what any sensible person would have done, Tin Can. They asked somebody who knows more than they do. In this case they asked Ray Moore, known as Kashgar on these forums, and somewhere in the volume there will be an appropriate acknowledgement.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, he's credited twice, at the start of the book in the contributors listing, and at the start of the index itself. Pages 4 and 304.

[Tin Can Tommy]

But then how would they have compiled the Beano index at the end of the history of the beano.

They did what any sensible person would have done, Tin Can. They asked somebody who knows more than they do. In this case they asked Ray Moore, known as Kashgar on these forums, and somewhere in the volume there will be an appropriate acknowledgement.

so your saying that for information on the issues DC thomson doesnt have in their archive they go to Kashgar?

[Digifiend]

Not quite. They simply didn't need to index that old material because he'd already done so. Why duplicate it? They updated it to 2008, which is about 18 years of updates to the index from The Beano Diaries.

[Tin Can Tommy]

Not quite. They simply didn't need to index that old material because he'd already done so. Why duplicate it? They updated it to 2008, which is about 18 years of updates to the index from The Beano Diaries.

so are there no lost issues (issues with no known copies) of the Beano then.

i think you've missed the point of what i originally wrote (probably me not making myself clear enough) which was wondering whether DC thomson have issues missing from their archive, the point about the Beano Index is just irrelevant now that i realise the list wasnt as you imply compiled from their archive.

[Phoenix]

So you're saying that for information on the issues DC Thomson doesn't have in their archive they go to Kashgar?

Er...yes I am. If they merely consulted Ray's The Beano Diaries, that is the same thing as consulting him. However, as I understand it, they were in contact with each other throughout the preparation period. He is justifiably very much respected by Thomsons.

[AndyB]

I would doubt they have a single missing issue of any of their comics - they bind proofs of each every year, and these are locked away in Syndication. They featured in the Baby Face Finlayson strip in the 2000th Beano.

That is not to say that they haven't deteriorated with age, pages haven't fallen out or got damaged etc. The compilation books also tend to use original art quite a lot, some of which are quite badly damaged, but hey, it's worth it to see them!

Therefore, the Beano reader with the most issues is former Dandy Editor Morris Heggie. He is custodian of the archives

[Phoenix]

Tin Can Tommy would really like to know when The Beano Superstars ended (issue number and date please). Can one of our resident experts in all things Beano please tell him. Andy B? Digi? Come on somebody, this request has been on every one of Tin Can's posts for a fortnight. If we are not careful, he'll begin to think we don't care, or worse still, that we don't actually know.

[AndyB]

I can't check, I'm afraid. Sorry!