First Published on 15th October 2008
Comic creators pay tribute to Britain’s best-known weekly humour comic!
Minnie the Minx by Garen Ewing
Garen Ewing, the creator of the highly-acclaimed Rainbow Orchid, is currently drawing for The DFC and compiling an A-Z of popular British comic characters on his blog.Web Link: www.garenewing.co.uk
Did You Know…
• Minnie the Minx was created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, also creator of Little Plum and The Bash Street Kids, whose own tribute to the Beano at 70 can be found here on the Forbidden Planet International blog.
• Minnie first appeared in The Beano issue 596, dated 19 December 1953.
• There’s a statue of Minnie in Dundee (as well as The Dandy’s Desperate Dan)
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Dennis the Menace and The Bash Street Kids by Kev F Sutherland
Kev is currently writing and drawing strips for The Beano.
Comedian, writer, producer and comic artist, Kev’s one man stand-up show Kev F Draws The Crowds includes the unique selling point of a free caricature for every audience member.
Kev is now proud to be assisting The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. His team show The Sitcom Trials continues in London, Bristol, Hollywood and on tour, with its second TV series in development. And his Comic Art Masterclassvisits schools nationwide.
Web Link: comicfestival.co.uk
Did You Know…
• Dennis the Menace was created by DC Thomson staff artist David Law and first appeared in The Beano Issue 452, dated 17th March 1951.
• Dennis’ pet dog Gansher joined his side in Issue 1363, dated 31st August 1968
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Billy Whizz by Paul Eldridge
Paul Eldridge is the creator of Rubbernorc and very active in the British independent comic community. His work has been published in the likes of CAOF Presents and the dearly departedSapphire Matrix.
He aslo had a dabble in writing screenplays for Platinum Studios, and is currently developing work for mobile phone format over at Rok Comics.
Web Link: kerchow.webs.com
Did You Know…
• Billy Whizz was created by Malcolm Judge and first appeared in Issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, repalcing The Country Cuzzins. Judge, who died in 1989, also drew strips such as Ball Boy, The Numskulls and The Badd Ladds.
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The Bash Street Kids by Graeme Neil Reid
From the pages of Carnopolis, Meanwhile…, Negative Burn, Turnand Violent Graeme Neil Reid‘s art will entertain and thrill your senses!
He’s also provided illustrations for The Radio Times and draws some mean Doctor Who art, as you can see here.
“What does the Beano mean to me? My first thoughts are jealousy,” says Graeme. “I have an older brother, only three years older but that age difference meant there was a pecking order to the weekly supply of comics. My brother was supplied the Beano every week from my Mother’s purse and I was rewarded with the Dandy. Of course we read both of the comics but the Beanowas read by my brother first. So what? I had the Dandy to read first plenty to enjoy in those pages, but you always want what you can’t (initially) get. I like Dennis the Menace and (gnash gnash) Gnasher: okay, I enjoyed Desperate Dan but I wanted to read Dennis and he was right there on the cover of the Beano up to no good and all I got was Korky the Cat probably helping someone with a problem.
“Then we had the pleasure of the postal orders sent on our Birthdays to join our favourite clubs. The Desperate Dan club was not what I had hoped for. Putting cut out cardboard cow horns into a cow (scotch) pie did not make me any less jealous of my Brother’s fuzzy edged, rolling eyes (gnash gnash) Gnasher badge. I wanted that badge, I liked Dennis the Menace and (gnash gnash) Gnasher. Again with the jealousy.
“Aside from the jealousy though reading the Beano is a lot like expecting to breathe especially if your born and raised in Scotland. It was always around, everybody read it just like everybody read Oor Wullie and The Broons and you knew the whole gang in Beanotown. Apart from Dennis and his canine sidekick I have to add The Three Bears, Roger the Dodger and the cheeky scamps from Bash Street as my particular favourites.
“I forget how much it cost my Mother to buy us the Beano and the Dandy each week, it was probably about 6p a comic. Today I buy the 99p Beano and read it to my three year old Son. When his Brother is older I’ll buy the Dandy – but make them alternate who reads which one first. That’s modern parenting for you.
“Happy Birthday Beano!”
Web Link: harddisk.fsnet.co.uk
Did You Know…
• The Bash Street Kids were created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, also creator of Little Plum and Minnie the Minx, whose own tribute to the Beano at 70 can be found here on the Forbidden Planet International blog.
• The strip first apeared in Issue 604, dated 13 February 1954 as When the Bell Rings. It became The Bash Street Kids in 1956, since then it has became a regular in the comic and featured in every issue.
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Beano Birthday Wishes from Do-Do Man and friends, drawn by Mychailo Kazybrid
Mychailo has been involved in the cartoon/comic book industry since 1975, mainly producing artwork on various licensed characters, plus promotional cartoons. His strips include Comic Cuts, (for Comics International), The Tick, Wallace & Gromit, Shaun The Sheep, Rattus Holmes (UN comic strip), Aachan Solvitz(a DVD series for World Vision), Do-Do Man (self-published) and Matt the Cat, to name but a few. He has also produced cartoons for broadcast television.
“Happy Birthday Beano!”
Web Link: do-doman.blogspot.com
Did You Know…
• The Beano first appeared in 1938 and was published weekly from the start, except during the Second World War when it and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks due to paper and ink rationing.
• Big Eggo, the Beano’s first cover star, was replaced by Biffo the Bear as the cover star in 1948 as research showed that children identified more with characters that, like them, had two arms and two legs. (Big Eggo now lives in the Beanotown Retirement Home with Lrod Snooty and others!)
More Beano Information…
• BeanoTown – The Official Beano web site
• Beano on Wikipedia
• Beano on ComicsUK
• Paul Morris’ History of The Beano
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Billy the Kid by Garen Ewing
Garen, the creator of the highly-acclaimed Rainbow Orchid, is currently drawing for The DFC and compiling an A-Z of popular British comic characters on his blog.
Web Link: www.garenewing.co.uk
Did You Know…
• Billy the Cat (laterBilly the Cat and Katie) was originally drawn by David Sutherland and ran from Issue 1289 (dated 1 April 1967) to 1677 (7 September 1974).
• The character was revived for six weeks from issue 3195, dated 11 October 2003, drawn by Wayne Thompson and made another brief return in 2005, written by Kev F Sutherland and drawn by Nigel Dobbyn, who has also drawn Billy the Cat strips for the Beano annuals.
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Dogs’ Breakfast TV by Stephen Baskerville
From The Beano to Batman and Transformers, Baz has drawn them all… Artist for Panini, Marvel, 2000AD, concept artist and animator, Stephen’s a brilliant creator with a huge list of impressive credits to his name. Check out his as yet unsold superhero strip Just Force on his website.
Web Link: baskerville.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk
Did You Know…
• Dogs’ Breakfast TV was a shortlived strip for The Beano drawn by Stephen
“Despite their notoriously low page rate, I felt very lucky to have co-created and illustrated (and sometimes scripted) a strip for the Beano, if only for a short time,” says Stephen. “I think it’s the only time I’ve had my work on the Sunday TimesBestsellers List (the Beano Annual 2001 fought with Delia Smith for the top slot that Christmas!), and it’s certainly the only time I’ve appeared on BBC News 24 and The Phill Jupitus Radio Show (thank goodness).
“I always found The Beano editorial staff a nice bunch to work for, who were genuinely looking for something new to keep the comic a best-seller}~sadly, my strip, Dogs’ Breakfast TV, wasn’t it!”
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Billy the Cat by Nigel Dobbyn
Nigel Dobbyn has been a comic strip artist since 1988, working on titles such as 2000AD, Sonic the Comic, the Beano(drawing Billy the Cat), Digimon, Spiderman and Friends, Macbethfor Classical Comics more. His work also includes illustration, design, web design, logos, lettering and more.
Web Link: www.nigeldobbyn.com/
Did You Know…
• Billy the Cat (later Billy the Cat and Katie) was originally drawn by David Sutherland and ran from Issue 1289 (dated 1 April 1967) to 1677 (7 September 1974).
• Both Billy and Katie have identical abilities, both incredibly agile, able to leap superhuman distances and somersault and dodge around with parahuman grace.
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Minnie the Minx by Paul Harrison-Davies
Paul Harrison-Davies is a modest but accomplished comics artist popular in British indie circles, whose work has been published in the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga. His upcoming strip for Accent Press’ Robots anthology, “MY Robot!” has been adapted into a ROK Comic series.
Web Link: paulhd.blogspot.com
Did You Know…
• Minnie has a cat called Chester, whose rival is the dog, Bonzo, from Number 12
• Minnie once took Dennis the Menace to a Valentines Day party
• According to an item in The Beano issue 3435, published in 2008, Artist Jim Petrie, who took over drawing Minie the Minx when her creator, Leo Baxendale, left DC Thomson drew exactly 2000 strips and then retired.
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Billy the Cat by Tim Perkins
Tim Perkins has worked as a graphic designer since 1980 and in the comic book and children’s books industries since 1983. In 1999 he began work in the theme park industry and a year later in the animation field.
His career in comics includes working for Marvel UK, 2000AD, Marvel US, DC comics, Defiant, Tekno, Caliber, Fleetway, Newsstand, and Toontastic amongst others.
Tim cites some of his career highlights in comics as Dreamstone, Dark Dominion, Phage – Shadowdeath, Chopper, Dinoswords, and Doctor Who.
His self-published creation Wizards Keep is the culmination of his many years of experience in the art industry.
Web Link: wizards-keep.com
Did You Know…
• In Billy the Cat, William and his cousin Kathleen Grange are two school kids who become a crime fighting duo. Billy’s Parents where killed in a car accident caused by an escaping criminal and since then he hs vowed to use his powers to fight crime.
• Billy also appeared in the short lived comic Buddy comic in 1981
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The Bash Street Kids by Paul Harrison-Davies
Paul Harrison-Davies is a modest but accomplished comics artist popular in British indie circles, whose work has been published in the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga. His upcoming strip for Accent Press’ Robots anthology, “MY Robot!” has been adapted into a ROK Comic series.
Web Link: paulhd.blogspot.com
Did You Know…
• Teacher in the Bash Street Kids has a wife. She is called Mrs. Teacher. In the in the 1978 Beano Summer Special the Kids were thrilled to find out that their teacher’s first name is Algernon.
• The most ever children in the world famous Class 2B has been 17. And Teacher still can’t control them!
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The Beano and its respective characters are © DC Thomson Ltd. No cooyright infringement is intended by this tribute to Britain’s top weekly humour comic.
downthetubes would like to thank all the comic creators who kindly provided artwork and memories of The Beano for this special tribute
• Vist the Official BeanoTown web site • Find out more about London’s Cartoon Museum’s Beano Exhibition (2008)