New look Beano Cover

[AndyB]

And it's a lot more satisfying than the Dandy's experiment with Hello-type styling. To be honest, I think I prefer the full-page images, but this is deliciously retro, and it passes the test of not being far too busy. Well done, guys.

[Jonny Whizz]

I couldn't agree more, Andy. Personally I found that one of the major problems with the Beano's covers between 2007 and 2011 was that they were so messy and cluttered, and the backgrounds of the comic meant issues became increasingly difficult to distinguish -with the pre-2007 big cover images I always found it easy to identify particular issues simply by recognising the cover. I therefore find that the current design is a big improvement on the largely indistinctive covers of recent years. And, as you say, it's very reminiscient of the old style Beano covers (right up until the late 1990s), which even though they were a bit before my time, definitely give the comic a nice classic feel.

[Rasher]

the major problems with the Beano's covers between 2007 and 2011 was that they were so messy and cluttered, and the backgrounds of the comic meant issues became increasingly difficult to distinguish.

Still won an award.

http://www.licensing.biz/news/5520/Bean ... ggies-gong

[felneymike]

I think the award was more of a bad reflection on the competition than a good reflection on The Beano

[AndyB]

No, I'd completely disagree, Mike.

At its centre, and dominating the whole cover, was the first original "new Dennis" cover - an absolute masterpiece by Barrie Appleby. Barrie can draw the new Dennis like nobody else - his version is far more convincing than Tom's or even Jimmy's (or even Nigel's - sorry NP!) It deserved its award for that image alone.

That's not to say that it wouldn't have been better without all the clutter!

[Jonny Whizz]

The cover that won the award - while being an excellent cover - was not truly representative of the majority of covers immediately after the Dennis revamp, which were often composed of stock art accompanied by TV series catchphrases. In 2010 many of the covers were simply images from the main strip blown up (though this was an improvement on the stock art as it was original artwork), so 2011 was the first time since the revamp that the Beano regularly had newly drawn covers relating to the story inside.

I agree about Barrie Appleby's style being perfect for the new Dennis though, he's given the strip a nicely madcap and chaotic feel. I hope his version returns to the comic next week - I found Jimmy Hansen's Dennis this week a bit awkward. Conversely, I actually prefer Jimmy's version of Gnasher's Bite, as I think his style suits the strip more.

[WizzKid97]

I agree about Barrie Appleby's style being perfect for the new Dennis though, he's given the strip a nicely madcap and chaotic feel. I hope his version returns to the comic next week - I found Jimmy Hansen's Dennis this week a bit awkward. Conversely, I actually prefer Jimmy's version of Gnasher's Bite, as I think his style suits the strip more.

I agree completely. Whereas I love Jimmy Hansen's art style, I think his style works perfectly with Gnasher's Bite. Dennis and Gnasher is definitely a Barrie Appleby comic strip - his style works perfectly for it!

To be honest, I'd love to see Tom Paterson's Dennis again - I really liked it.

[Tin Can Tommy]

I'd love to see anything by Tom Paterson again his work has recently been missing from the comic.

On the subject of Barrie Appleby's Dennis correct me if i'm wrong but didnt he draw the Beano Superstars or at least the later ones (which i spent a while on here trying to find out which issue was last and eventually found out it was 121). I think his work on that made the Beano Superstars vastly superior to the Fun Sizes which always appeared to be done by ghost artists who lacked the skills of Barrie Appleby.

[Digifiend]

He drew all the ones I've seen yes, although I've only seen maybe half a dozen issues.

[AndyB]

As shown in the reprints in recent Beano Maxes, nearly (possibly actually) all the Dennis Beano superstars were drawn by Barrie, including all the adaptations of the original Dennis TV series. Evi de Bono seemed to draw most of the rest of the Superstars comics.