Beano monitoring

[Lew Stringer]

Quite a lot of "retconning" then... what does everyone think of the renaming of Desert Island "Rick"? Is "Dick" now unusable as a name in childrens' comics? And if so, why now and not 20 years ago? It's political correctness gone mad! (Oo-er, coming over a bit Daily Mail, there.)

Thing is, I doubt any kids named Richard have their names abbreviated to "Dick" now. The word would only be known for its crude connotations amongst most of today's Beano generation who would read it as an insult and not as his name.

In 2009 you can't move for bum jokes but genital hilarity is quite rightly strictly a no-no in kids' comics.

True, "Rick" isn't alliterative, but then the reprint isn't called "Desert Island Rick" anyway, so it doesn't matter that much (and at least it's still derived from Richard).

Blimey, the things we discuss here eh?

Lew

[Digifiend]

To think it wasn't that long ago Kev F included Desert Island Dick (with Biffo, Pansy Potter and Keyhole Kate) in one of his long Beano stories. What's changed in such a short period of time? Ridiculous.

[David Gerstein]

Which story was this? (As a Yank not in the UK right now, it would help me to know so I can try to order it someplace...)

Pansy Potter always struck me as a great adventure character (relatively) wasted on gag situations... almost a smarter kid version of Popeye.

[Digifiend]

It was a storyline where Biffo, with help from Dick, Kate and Pansy, tried to revert The Beano to it's 1960s state, and the Bash Street Kids had to try and stop him, only to end up captured. Ran over several issues of The Beano, can't remember the title off hand.

[PaulTwist]

Thing is, I doubt any kids named Richard have their names abbreviated to "Dick" now. The word would only be known for its crude connotations amongst most of today's Beano generation who would read it as an insult and not as his name.

In 2009 you can't move for bum jokes but genital hilarity is quite rightly strictly a no-no in kids' comics.

True, "Rick" isn't alliterative, but then the reprint isn't called "Desert Island Rick" anyway, so it doesn't matter that much (and at least it's still derived from Richard).

Blimey, the things we discuss here eh?

Lew

All fair points... I wasn't seriously outraged by the name change, just found it an interesting example of the times changing. (See also back cover of The Beano #2000 reprint from this week's Observer, complete with a reprint of the first Beano cover...) When I look at kids' comics and see drawings of, erm, "poo", or see the words "fart" or "turd" I'm still quite taken aback.

When I was a child in the 80s we were certainly aware of (and amused by) the name's other meaning. Suppose Hoot's 'Spotted Dick' won't be a contender for a reprint any time soon...

Actually, does Desert Island Dick ever appear in Classics of the Comics? Suppose the audience for that title isn't necessarily the same as that of The Beano though.

[Lew Stringer]

Actually, does Desert Island Dick ever appear in Classics of the Comics? Suppose the audience for that title isn't necessarily the same as that of The Beano though.

Yes he appears in it quite regularly, although presumably that's pitched at an older reader.

Know what you mean about fart gags etc, - and I'm responsible for a lot of them in comics! Not exactly my personal sense of humour, but my view is if you take it to such fantastic extremes in a comic (eg: Stinkbomb blowing a door off its hinges, or Bog destroying a robot by letting rip) then it somehow makes it less offensive.

Amazing how times change though. 40 years ago Ken Reid was always trying to sneak drawings of dog poo into the background of panels, which the art bods at Odhams and IPC would white out. These days they'd draw it in! He was ahead of his time old Ken.

Lew

[Digifiend]

NP's Bea strip seemed to have a fart gag most weeks until Ivy joined her.

[ajsmith]

Re; Paul Twist: "Fart" I've seen plenty times in recent Beano/what's left of the Dandy editions, but has the word "Turd" actually been used? Sounds prudish I know, but it's seems hard to believe they've used that word.

[PaulTwist]

Re; Paul Twist: "Fart" I've seen plenty times in recent Beano/what's left of the Dandy editions, but has the word "Turd" actually been used? Sounds prudish I know, but it's seems hard to believe they've used that word.

I don't often read the Beano, so I doubt that it's in there, but I'm sure I saw it in Dandy Xtreme.

I remember the first kids' publication I saw "turd" in was an issue of Jetix that I'd bought for my god-daughter. I was quite apologetic to her parents but they didn't mind too much - she's seen and heard worse, and she knows what words not to repeat. I was quite surprised to see it there.

In the US, Marvel's A-rated comics often contain the word "crap", and they are supposedly suitable for readers of 9 years and over.

[Phoenix]

he's a pig after all - though he is less hairy, has a quite different face and doesn't have the same trotters - Rasher's were bigger.

As I understand it, those odd-looking things on the end of Harley's legs are called feet. They are only called trotters when they are no longer attached to the aforementioned legs, and can be seen on the butcher's counter. I wonder if that's where Rasher ended up!

[Brendan McGuire]

Scatalogical humour is nothing new for the Beano. One of Leo Baxendale's Bash Street sets had the kids sitting by a brown, smelly hill in a farmer's yard, in order to hide the smell of the fish and chips they were eating from the teacher.

[Digifiend]

Beanotown.com has explained why Minnie was reprint this week. Ken apparently prepared artwork for her as usual, but the postal strike meant it arrived too late! So they used an early 90s strip instead.

There was a near disaster in the Beano office this week! Thanks to a postal strike, the artwork for Minnie the Minx was delayed and wasn't going to arrive on time. Eeks!

After a lot of tears and tantrums, I decided that rather and leave her out of this week's issue (how could you leave Minnie out, after all?!) I'd let new readers see a classic Minnie story from almost 20 years ago. She was just as wild then as she is now!

http://www.beanotown.com/index.php?id=83

[David Gerstein]

As I understand it, those odd-looking things on the end of Harley's legs are called feet. They are only called trotters when they are no longer attached to the aforementioned legs, and can be seen on the butcher's counter. I wonder if that's where Rasher ended up!

Poor Rasher. Actually *replacing* him—rather than just removing him—seems such a pity.
(Yes, I'm a sentimentalist... but Rasher's own page was my favourite as a kid, and he was also the first character for whom I successfully sold DC Thomson a story idea!)

And Rasher always refers to his feet as trotters, as if it were simply the natural term for that body part on a live pig. Being a Yank, I never knew this was an inaccurate usage! Over here we just say feet or hooves.

Does anyone else remember which mid-1980s Beano or Dennis the Menace Book includes the one- or two-page original feature "Rasher's Recipe"? Rasher gave cooking program-like instructions to the reader on how to make a dish entitled "Turnip Surprise." This involved a hollowed-out turnip being filled with (I believe) swill, all of this presented as if it were very fine dining, and the "surprise" part was the pigs bombing Walter with the leftovers.
I'd love to locate this page again... maybe someone here can help me.

[Digifiend]

That was reprinted for Comic Relief last year, in a free reprint comic given away with BeanoMax issue 25. Don't know which annual it came from though.

[Jonny Whizz]

Kev F's story with Biffo, Pansy Potter (the strongman's daughter - Kev made a joke of this ) Keyhole Kate and Desert Island Dick was a four parter in issues 3353 to 3356 in October/November 2006 titled 'Scary Story' with Bash St. School's Janitor as the gravedigger. I personally thought it was one of Kev's best strips, it was a really funny story.