New Beano merchandise eases the pain of Back to School blues

By John Freeman on August 7, 2013

It might only be the beginning of August, but no-one can have failed to notcie that supermarkets and other stores are already loading their shelves with Back to School gear (curses, eh?). But, if you’re a Beano fan, there’s plenty to kit yourself up with despite the impending return to your equivalent of Bash Street.

Homework will be done in double time using The Beano stationery which features ultra-cool comic artwork. The range includes The Beano A5 Journal, £9.95, or The Dandy A6 Journal, £7.95 both from www.bloomsburystore.com

For an extra special Back to School gift, DC Thomson have licensed new ‘personalised’ Beano notebooks which can include any name or message. Bright, vivid and fun – school work suddenly becomes more interesting! They’re available in two sizes – A4 (100 pages) and A5 (75 pages) and there’s a choice of lined or unlined paper.

The personalised notebook, which cost £7.50, comes spiral-bound with a frost effect cover sheet and is available from online retailer: www.gonedigging.co.uk

Also out now are two Beano metal flasks, both available from www.bloomsburystore.com. Or why not try a plastic Dennis the Menace Water Bottle, with 750ml capacity, a wide-mouth for easy filling and a screw cap, from www.foska.com.

Towards the end of the summer holidays, parents tend to have the arduous task of labelling up new school gear. However, now there’s a fun way to label with new Dennis the Menace labels from www.nameitlabels.co.uk. These handy labels can be used on; lunch boxes, drink bottles, sports equipment, shoes, books, folders, toiletries, electronic equipment, laptops and anything with a smooth hard surface.

• DC Thomson’s Beano e-shop is the real place for getting all Beano merchandise. There is a lot in it you may not see elsewhere http://shop.beano.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.