Beano and Dandy Annual 2016

[Lew Stringer]

No, not a lot of strips were affected and my comments of 'how stupid' and 'pathetic' was directed at society as a whole rather than just the publisher.

Society has indeed gone daft but the thing is, corporal punishment faded from comics, and schools, 30 years ago or so. Not only would such scenes look bizarre to today's kids, but also to today's 20 something parents, retailers and store managers. Yes, WE know such comic scenes should only be seen innocently and in a historical context, but there'll always be someone who'll make an issue of it, or misconstrue it, and others who'd listen. As the book is being pitched as a children's annual the publishers have to be careful about content these days. If it had been designed as a historical book for the limited collectors market I'm sure it would have been a different matter.