Not only is this week’s BEANO Christmas edition a treat for readers, it’s a celebration behind the scenes, too, as it sees regular “Dennis” artist Nigel Parkinson deliver his one thousandth comic cover!
On sale now in all good newsagents and supermarkets, BEANO 4116, this issue priced £4.99, comes in a cardboard outer along with regular comic, a bonus Christmas-themed comic that sees Santa in prison and on trial, with only Dennis and company to save him.
Plus, you get a double-sided poster, and two gifts – a “Build Your Own Gnasher” (with a kennel to try to keep him in), and a “Beano Pairs” memory card game.
That;’s not a bad package for just under a fiver, and that’s even before you get to read the comic, which is a right festive treat! The BEANO stars combine to bring you one of the daftest school pantos ever, a strip written by Nigel Auchterlounie and drawn by Nigel Parkinson, who has now also been drawing covers for BEANO since 1982; Dennis and Gnasher go to a party – at Walters! – what could possibly go wrong; while in “Minnie the Minx” writer Andy Fanton and artist Laura Howell poke fun at Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, in the gentlest but funniest way.
There’s much more, too, but surely there are plenty of you out there who will be turning to Roger the Dodger’s “Sproutrageous Dodges” page – to find out way to avoid eating them! Oh, and Bananaman battles a giant gingerbread man, thanks to Ned Hartley and Wayne Thompson. What more do you want?
Oh, a Christmas Carol pastiche? Check. The Bash Street Kids supporting local corner shops and giving “Widl” a hard time? Check! This is definitely an issue to get out and grab, it cheered me up no end!
John Freeman
• BEANO 4116 is on sale now in all good newsagents and supermarkets, but good luck finding any information on the Beano.com web site, because evil elves seem to have stolen it | Subscribe and save here
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews
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For what it’s worth, the subscriber copy comes minus the Gnasher model and the playing cards, but instead includes a sheet of “scratch and sniff” Brussels Sprouts stickers. No, I’ve not been tempted to try them out!