This week's issue Take 2

[philcom55]

Having just looked at this week's issue I have to say that I actually quite liked it. As far as I can tell all they're really doing with the new school is formalizing the idea of their characters sharing the same universe: a notion that goes back to the 1950s at least. In some ways this also reflects the popularity of crossovers and team-ups at Marvel and DC - maybe future issues will feature the ultimate playground battle between Dennis and the Smasher à la Hulk vs Thing (my own view is that Smasher would have the edge in brute strength but that Dennis would win out on sheer guile). Or what about 'Crisis in Form 2C', where his intellectual friend Brainy invites Walter to join the Banana Bunch, thereby forcing Dennis to form an alliance with the Bash Street Kids? In some ways this week's radio station sequence with the 'Jazzy Jumper Brigade' seems to be designed along similar lines - hopefully such crossovers will become a regular addition to future issues (Another idea: Desperate Dan becoming a temporary PE teacher as the result of an exchange scheme?).

I certainly don't blame anyone for feeling it's not their Beano anymore - I felt that way myself way back in 1970, but it surely makes sense to have a school that reflects the day-to-day experience of the target audience. The funny thing is that Teacher's problems with his new interactive whiteboard actually made this child of the 1950s feel more at home with the strip than I have for years!

- Phil Rushton

[NP]

Having just looked at this week's issue I have to say that I actually quite liked it.

At last, someone going to the trouble of LOOKING at it. Bravo Phil.

...all they're really doing with the new school is formalizing the idea of their characters sharing the same universe: a notion that goes back to the 1950s at least. ...- hopefully such crossovers will become a regular addition to future issues ...

I know nobody here bothered to look at it, but BeanoMAX had these very crossovers every single month, in long, 10 page stories, for the past 4 years, that's about 50 stories. You never know, some of you may have even enjoyed them if you'd looked.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Having just looked at this week's issue I have to say that I actually quite liked it.

At last, someone going to the trouble of LOOKING at it. Bravo Phil.

I read the whole thing in work, evidenced by list of things I didn't like in it. I know I'm not the target audience, but we're all here talking about it anyway and that's what I thought of it.

I wonder if readers of The Funny Wonder felt the same when a Charlie Chaplin strip was introduced to the cover in 1915?

Not to mention Film Fun in 1920. Or Radio Fun in 1938. Too modern? How's about Dan Leno's Comic Journal in 1898?

Our "celebrity obsessed" culture has been around for generations. Publications exploiting the public's fascination with celebrity are nothing new. I'm not quite getting why some Beano readers are so disturbed by it, especially as it's often poking fun at the celebrities.

I think it's perhaps the nature of the celebrities, and the nature of the comic (over the last 75 years)

Charlie Chaplin was not a 'celebrity' in the modern sense of the word, he was a genuine comic genius film star, and he lent himself well to the cartoon form, as did Laurel and Hardy in TV Comic. That's the difference between these guys and the celebrities now appearing in the Beano. I, or my kids, don't watch the TV shows being referenced, we have no idea who Will.i.am is other than a vague idea that he's on one of those crap talent shows, and we don't want to know, either, thank you very much. The problem is that you don't get the jokes unless you watch the crappy TV. It's not self-contained, and it's slightly insulting. I think you could read and enjoy the old Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy strips whether or not you'd ever seen any of the films.

The other thing is the nature of the comic. I know the Beano has had occasional guest stars, I remember Mike Read appearing years ago, and that was fine, but it was very occasional, and quite different from the wholesale celeb invasion that now appears to be happening. The birthday issue could have been all the old characters coming back to Beanotown for a party, that would've been so much more appropriate, instaed of all these celebs who have nothing to do with the comic.

Excellent points there - The comic may as well have "sponsored by ITV" written across the top of it. The 75th birthday issue had references to Holly Willoughby's revealing dress that the tabloids were all on about - how is THAT appropriate material for the Beano???

[Ginger]

Having just looked at this week's issue I have to say that I actually quite liked it.

At last, someone going to the trouble of LOOKING at it. Bravo Phil.

Like TwoHeadedBoy, I went one better than LOOKING at it, and actually READ the whole thing, (the birthday issue) from cover to cover. Funnily enough, that's how I knew about Ant knocking the keystone out of Bash St.
By the way, there were elements of it I liked, but the whole celebrity thing is a huge turn-off.
And I've never even heard of Holly Willoughby.

Sadly, the celeb stuff actually makes me less likely to buy the comic for my kids, as for one thing they won't get a lot of it, and for another, it may make them start to think they're missing out on something, and start wanting to watch the crappy shows that the Beano editors (and their predecessors at the Dandy) seem to think we all watch.

[Lew Stringer]

Excellent points there - The comic may as well have "sponsored by ITV" written across the top of it.

Except most of the celebs don't work for ITV and the comic was taking the mickey out of them, not promoting them.

The 75th birthday issue had references to Holly Willoughby's revealing dress that the tabloids were all on about - how is THAT appropriate material for the Beano???

Two innocent references to her dress. No mention or suggestion of it being revealing. Unless the reader already knew about the fuss over nothing regarding her cleavage they'd just take it as someone being preoccupied with talking about her "nice dress".

Sadly, the celeb stuff actually makes me less likely to buy the comic for my kids, as for one thing they won't get a lot of it, and for another, it may make them start to think they're missing out on something, and start wanting to watch the crappy shows that the Beano editors (and their predecessors at the Dandy) seem to think we all watch.

Surely letting your kids be aware of pop culture isn't going to do them any harm in moderation as long as it's balanced with more substantial interests? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to feel left out at school otherwise, when their classmates start talking about chart music or Saturday night TV shows. I'm glad my parents let me watch Batman, Doctor Who, Opportunity Knocks, Juke Box Jury etc. when I was a child, otherwise I'd never have gotten all the pop culture references in Wham, Smash and Pow.

[philcom55]

Yes! You'd be hard pressed to find a more celebrity-obsessed strip than 'Charlie's Choice' in Smash!

- Phil R.

[Ginger]

Surely letting your kids be aware of pop culture isn't going to do them any harm in moderation as long as it's balanced with more substantial interests? I'd have thought they'd be more likely to feel left out at school otherwise, when their classmates start talking about chart music or Saturday night TV shows. I'm glad my parents let me watch Batman, Doctor Who, Opportunity Knocks, Juke Box Jury etc. when I was a child, otherwise I'd never have gotten all the pop culture references in Wham, Smash and Pow.

Yes, a very fair point, Lew. I suppose there's always a tendency to think 'things were much better in our day', including pop culture. Incidentally, my kids can certainly watch Dr Who and other stuff, but so far (mercifully) they've shown no desire to watch X Factor, The Voice, or their ilk.
I suppose I just think in the world of the Beano, the Beano characters should be celebrity enough, and I can't see the need to crowbar in these 'real-life' celebs.
But it's just my opinion. Let's see what the rest of the readers think. We'll know soon enough.

[Lew Stringer]

I suppose I just think in the world of the Beano, the Beano characters should be celebrity enough, and I can't see the need to crowbar in these 'real-life' celebs.
But it's just my opinion. Let's see what the rest of the readers think. We'll know soon enough.

I appreciate the changes are a bit of a shock but obviously all of us (contributors and readers alike) hope it will work. Thing is, when we were younger there were comics like Film Fun and TV Comic around. Today there aren't. So look at it this way; The Beano is reviving a very old tradition from British comics that dates back to the 19th Century. And it's not presenting celebs as mostly interchangeable heroes in the way that Radio Fun and Film Fun did it. It's mainly mocking them, in the way that Ally Sloper and the Victorian periodicals did.

Which is just what we'd expect of The Beano of course. Had it instead chosen to "do a Look-In", featuring pull out glossy photos of Will.I.Am and serializing 'The Story of New Direction' I think we'd all be heading for the hills.

[Raven]

... and serializing 'The Story of New Direction' I think we'd all be heading for the hills.

Ooh, I don't know, The One Direction Story, illustrated by Bill Titcombe in black and white, with those fluid lines. I can visualise his depictions of them, already ...

[stevezodiac]

Just to say that my local Tesco had the Beano in a prominent position above the newspapers (on one of those four sided platforms with the shelves above it) the Beanos were at the top with a backing board in full colour advertising those gifts. People buying papers couldn't miss it.

[WizzKid97]

Here's how I see it:

If you think about it, every Beano reader has a favourite character or story, whether that be Dennis, Minnie, Roger etc. That character is always fictional and always began in a comic (in The Numskulls' case, this was The Beezer - not The Beano).

Adding celebrities into a comic as main characters of their own comic strip ruins that favourite character feel. You can't exactly say your favourite character in The Beano is Simon Cowell or Olly Murs for example as they're not originally from a comic, they're from somewhere else and their comic strip is based off of that person or TV show from somewhere outside comics.

The Beano should learn from The Dandy and realise that adding celebrities creates a huge split between the fans and it's a huge risk which ruins both the originality of the comic and the familiar feel. It's not like these parodies are even things kids care about, does any kid really watch Coronation Street or Neighbours?

It's okay if that story is a clear TV parody with a character who is meant to be like that celebrity (such as Justin Beaver from The Dandy), but when that character is meant to be the real celebrity (such as Olly Murs in 'Murs Attacks'), it feels pointless and almost like The Beano have given up on their characters.

There are some great things about this week's issue, I particularly liked Ball Boy, Roger the Dodger, The Bash Street Kids and Bananaman and I thought Watch-Hog, El Poco Loco, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turkeys, Neigh-Bours, Coronation Bleat and The Further Adventures of Beanoman were all good - but the rest were just celebrity comics about stupid things like Simon's bowel problem and some bloke called Jose's revenge on some other bloke called Arsene (I'm aware both are managers but I couldn't care less about this story).

The Beano was destined for great things, it had praise for its new moves and the introduction of new stories and mini-strips. Yet now it looks like it's about to follow the same path as The Dandy...

[NP]

I particularly liked Ball Boy, Roger the Dodger, The Bash Street Kids and Bananaman and I thought Watch-Hog, El Poco Loco, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turkeys, Neigh-Bours, Coronation Bleat and The Further Adventures of Beanoman were all good - but the rest were just celebrity comics about stupid things

Which stupid celebrity is in the Minnie the Minx page?

[Lew Stringer]

Adding celebrities into a comic as main characters of their own comic strip ruins that favourite character feel. You can't exactly say your favourite character in The Beano is Simon Cowell or Olly Murs for example as they're not originally from a comic, they're from somewhere else and their comic strip is based off of that person or TV show from somewhere outside comics.

I don't think most readers would be concerned about the source if they liked a strip. One of my favourite comic strips was Fireball XL5 by Mike Noble. Anyway, The Beano isn't doing strips directly starring celebs (like Film Fun did). They either just turn up in a Beano character's story or they're parodies.

It's not like these parodies are even things kids care about, does any kid really watch Coronation Street or Neighbours?

I watched Coronation Street when I was a kid, but again, it's not as if The Beano is doing adaptations is it? Coronation Bleat and Neigh-Bours work on their own merits whether you watch the soaps or not. IPC often did strips based on a parody of a TV show's title or character. (J.R. Junior Rotter, Young Arfur, James Pond, etc.)

The Beano was destined for great things, it had praise for its new moves and the introduction of new stories and mini-strips. Yet now it looks like it's about to follow the same path as The Dandy...

Destined for great things? I think it's been already great for a few generations. If there's one thing this forum does well it's doom and gloom. People were predicting the end of The Dandy for years before it happened. Now here we go again.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

If there's one thing this forum does well it's doom and gloom. People were predicting the end of The Dandy for years before it happened. Now here we go again.

At least this time we've got reasoning behind our fears - the Beano's turned into the same comic that's just died!

[WizzKid97]

Which stupid celebrity is in the Minnie the Minx page?

I meant of the new strips. All of the regulars were great as usual, but I hated the celebrity ones.

I just think it's a stupid move to make, it splits the fan-base and it wasn't popular before with The Dandy - if anything, The Beano should have just stuck with what it had been doing since November 2012 - not changing it so radically that it doesn't even feel like The Beano any more.

I'm not saying everyone hates it - but I know I for one am very disappointed to see The Beano resort to relying on people who already exist outside of comics just so kids can find the comic interesting. And if that's the case, does that make the original (and frankly far better) original characters uninteresting?

Anyway, The Beano isn't doing strips directly starring celebs (like Film Fun did). They either just turn up in a Beano character's story or they're parodies.

But it isn't. Simon's Bowel is meant to be Simon Cowell, Jose and Arsene are whoever they're meant to be, Ashley's Banjo has Ashley Banjo (from Diversity) in it, Murs Attacks featured One Direction and Olly Murs - they're not parodies at all, they're meant to be the actual celebrities with some gimmick on top (Simon's bowel, Jose and Arsene's hate for one another (or something like that), Ashley's banjo, a parody on the 1996 horror-comedy film 'Mars Attacks' but with Olly Murs instead). It's stupid and it feels like The Beano has just become lazy.

I'm not going to stop buying it as I still enjoy the other stuff in the issue, but seeing these celebrities in their own comic strips still really annoys me and I hope it's something that will only last for the summer holidays because I personally want them out.