This week's issue Take 2

[LauraH]

Nope, not me!

Glad you liked the Mutt Movies BTW Peter:)

[WizzKid97]

I seem to be able to identify artists quite well so will try and figure out who draws what this week!

[Digifiend]

Oh boy, they're reusing a 75 year old joke I see! Penguin Club will have a crocodile hatch from an egg and bite a bird - just like the ending of the first ever Big Eggo!

[Tin Can Tommy]

Is that Mike Pearse drawing Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares?

[Digifiend]

Yep!

[WizzKid97]

Here's what I've got so far:

• Smiffy's Top Tips by Paul Palmer
• One Direction, the Bits They Left Out by Karl Dixon
• The Incredible Skunk by Gary Boller
• Calamity James by Les Stannage
• Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares by Mike Pearse
• Man VS. Wood by Nick Brennan
• Jessie's J by Paul Palmer
• Mega Mega Mootants by Steve Beckett

As for 'Penguin Club', I'm not entirely certain yet but initial thought is Dan Gaynor, we shall have to see. 'Not-so-Horrible Histories' looks like it's by Andy Janes or Tom Plant or someone like that - once again, we'll just have to see; the artists may be brand-new.

EDIT: I was right! The Beano told me Andy Janes is indeed the artist of 'Not-so-Horrible Histories'! Great to see him finally get a series in The Beano!

• Not-so-Horrible Histories by Andy Janes
• Penguin Club by Marc Ellerby

[Kid Robson]

I had a look at The Beano this week in WHS and, apart from a few strips, I thought it looked awful. Way back in 1983, I collected a full year's worth of Beanos - think I'll dig them out and relive the comic when, even mostly in black & white and spot colour, it was a far better periodical than it is today (in my humble opinion).

[big bad bri]

I had a look at The Beano this week in WHS and, apart from a few strips, I thought it looked awful. Way back in 1983, I collected a full year's worth of Beanos - think I'll dig them out and relive the comic when, even mostly in black & white and spot colour, it was a far better periodical than it is today (in my humble opinion).

I have to agree with kid robson as although i haven't bought it in a few weeks my newsagent still has them for me i do flick through it while shopping every week & i don't know if i want to buy them for reading anyway the art looks dumbed down & horrible & all the new stories are awful but i probably will just to keep my collection of nearly all issues since about 1980 going.

[philcom55]

Personally I think current issues of Beano look pretty slick and smart - like lots of things that modern kids seem to prefer. Admittedly it's not my cup of tea - but I guess there's no reason why it should be. (The same thing applies to the very latest American comics, where I was astonished to discover that 'old fashioned' artists like Jerry Ordway simply can't get work anymore!).

As somebody once said: "How did it get so late so soon...?"

- Phil Rushton

[Kid Robson]

Personally I think current issues of Beano look pretty slick and smart - like lots of things that modern kids seem to prefer. Admittedly it's not my cup of tea - but I guess there's no reason why it should be. (The same thing applies to the very latest American comics, where I was astonished to discover that 'old fashioned' artists like Jerry Ordway simply can't get work anymore!).

As somebody once said: "How did it get so late so soon...?"

- Phil Rushton

I think kids have the capacity to like whatever they're given, Phil. It shouldn't be too hard to do a Beano that would appeal to people of our age (big kids) and kids of today. Until the fairly recent 'new' direction a few months back, I actually thought the Beano was quite good - making it look more like the failed Dandy has done it no favours.

[Lew Stringer]

I had a look at The Beano this week in WHS and, apart from a few strips, I thought it looked awful. Way back in 1983, I collected a full year's worth of Beanos - think I'll dig them out and relive the comic when, even mostly in black & white and spot colour, it was a far better periodical than it is today (in my humble opinion).

I have to agree with kid robson as although i haven't bought it in a few weeks my newsagent still has them for me i do flick through it while shopping every week & i don't know if i want to buy them for reading anyway the art looks dumbed down & horrible & all the new stories are awful but i probably will just to keep my collection of nearly all issues since about 1980 going.

It's only natural that childrens comics will eventually cease to appeal to adults, Bri. I stopped buying UK humour comics in 1975 when I left school as I realized I had become too old for them. I only started buying them again around 1980/81 when I began pursuing a career in comics, to check out what they were like. By that time I was looking at them in a different light, to study the craftsmanship and story structure.

But yeah, if you've been reading The Beano since 1980 it's no wonder you're finding them less appealing now if you're expecting the same type of buzz you had when you were younger. You wouldn't expect to like modern childrens TV on the same level as the programmes you watched as a child either.

The main thing is, do today's children still like The Beano? I'd say yes (if they can get hold of it). Reason being that I remember thinking in my twenties that 1980s comics were inferior to the ones I read as a child, yet today I hear from people who grew up on those eighties comics who think they were the best ever. I suspect everyone's childhood comics are the "best ever", because that's the age of discovery, and the target age the comics are aimed at.

Childrens comics have to change, because tastes change. If they'd never changed we'd still be seeing them in the style of W.F. Thomas or Tom Browne or Roy Wilson. All three truly great artists, but eventually their styles went out of favour. No fault of theirs, it's just the way styles change to suit the times. The same applies today. I personally would love to see a modern Dandy exactly as it was in 1964, but it's not going to happen so I don't dwell on it. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate the modern styles too. I find it interesting to see how The Beano has evolved over the years. I'm not saying I like all the changes, but I'm 54 so I don't expect to. Comics can't afford to stand still these days and the fact they're shaking things up by adding more satire and different art styles is in itself of interest to collectors I think.

[Kid Robson]

As I've already pointed out, I actually liked The Beano as it was a few short months ago, so the fact that I don't like it now is not because it's no longer the same as it was when I was a kid, but because it now looks too much like the relatively recently demised Dandy - which, as most people know, was a great big steaming pile of poo (which is what led to it being cancelled). Slanting a comic at what editors think contemporary kids will like just narrows the potential audience. As for the reason why comics change - it's not always because they need to change, it's because younger editors come on board and want to put their own stamp on them. They inflict their own tastes onto a comic because it looks dated to them - but kids, in my experience, just don't think that way.

[Lew Stringer]

Personally I think current issues of Beano look pretty slick and smart - like lots of things that modern kids seem to prefer.

Agreed, Phil. Just looking through the latest issue it hasn't really deviated that much from the way it was a few years ago. Nigel Parkinson, David Sutherland and Laura Howell are still on board, and artists such as Steve Beckett, Mike Pearse, Paul Palmer, Les Stannage, Diego Jourdan (and myself) are drawing in what could be termed 'traditional' styles.

As for the other strips, Wilbur Dawburn's Billy Whizz is a nice homage to the original Mal Judge style, and Nigel Auchterlounie's Numskulls also upholds that original look in a way, with a modern twist. (Both funny strips too, although admittedly humour is in the eye of the beholder.)

The main controversy seems to be regarding Jamie Smart's Roger the Dodger, Alexander Matthews' Ball Boy, and Wayne Thomson's Bananaman. Yes, they're very different from the versions we grew up with, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Jamie's Roger is the most radical redesign, but taken in its own context (and not dismissing it simply because It's Not How It Used To Be) Roger's still a dodger and the stories work. Same applies to Bananaman and Ball Boy.

In any anthology comic there are always going to be some strips the reader doesn't like. No one will agree on everything. Back in the days of Valiant I used to skip Captain Hurricane every week. Likewise Steel Commando in Thunder, and Barry and Boing in Knockout. Couldn't stand those strips. (Although I know a lot of people loved 'em.) If I'd stopped buying the comics just for one or two strips that didn't appeal to me I'd be cutting off my nose to spite my face.

All in all The Beano is still very much 'The Beano' and long may it hopefully continue.

[WizzKid97]

Lew makes a good point here.

There's no doubt about it that Roger, Ball Boy and Bananaman have been the most criticised redesigns in this new Beano we now have. I think what older readers forget is that characters are always being redesigned because new artists are taking over from old ones, or they just want to change their style (Alexander Matthews, Dave Eastbury etc.). Ball Boy has been revamped five times now and all five designs have been quite different, but he has still kept his basic design - he still has the striped football shirt and the blonde hair, and he's still an idiot. John Dallas' Ball Boy looks very different to Malcolm Judge's original version, but no-one complained then (admittedly back then, there was no internet (so to speak)). What these older readers forget is that new artists and writers redesign characters and improve them (although this is all down to opinion I suppose), Ball Boy was previously very inconsistent in how it treated Ball Boy's football skills - Alexander has self-corrected that and has added a lot of great humour to a previously somewhat dull story. Whilst I miss Dave's artwork, I'm a huge fan of Alexander's new direction of the strip and I must say Ball Boy is currently at his very best (in my opinion) and Alexander's work suits it's wacky storylines very well.

Bananaman is drawn like a Cartoon Network character, yet also with a brilliant European art vibe. It looks very lively, very action-packed and the colours look lovely. John Geering's Bananaman, whilst being the classic, was weak in its humour (with very repetitive storylines) and I never really thought very much of Geering's artwork anyway (plus it was very dated). Just because he looks different, it doesn't mean it's bad - Wayne's level of cartooning is impressive and it's so nice to see Bananaman finally out of reprints with Wayne drawing. Nigel Auchterlounie also supplies the scripts and they are absolute genius.

Roger the Dodger was obviously going to be controversial - but what is it with nostalgists hating Jamie's artwork? Sure, it may be very different to the usual traditional style in British humour comics, but it's his style! I can understand why people may feel a little unsure of Jamie's Roger and its redesigns, but it doesn't ruin the comic strip at all. The stories are far more wacky than before and this suits the strip far better, whilst I loved Barrie Appleby's Roger - the stories were tame and dull. Jamie's lively artwork along with the silly storylines makes the comic strip far more entertaining! I get fed up seeing so many complaints about Jamie, his stories are great and have finally given Roger the chance to have a wider personality. Sure, his artwork may not be the same as Barrie Appleby's, but does it have to be? It's a different style but it isn't worse (nor better) than Barrie's artwork as whilst Barrie is traditional, Jamie is modern - and in a time like now, surely kids would rather see something modern and cool rather than something traditional and somewhat dated?

[Gilly]

Some good points here, the Beano has been constantly evolving. This weekend just gone I have bought the Beano book 1956 and although Dennis, Roger, Minnie and Bash Street (under the title When the Bell Rings) was all there by then, it was still really different back then to even when I was a kid in 1990's, mainly with all the text stories. I bet kids from my era wouldn't enjoy this over how the Beano was then, where as adults that were kids in the 1950's would prefer it.