Summer’s coming, and this year’s BEANO and Dandy Summer Specials will be out next month in shops across the UK – and both are now available to pre-order from the DC Thomson webshop.
The BEANO Summer Special offers 68 pages of the funniest comics, jokes, pranks, puzzles and more, perfect for Beano fans of all ages, offering a cover by Nigel Parkinson. Inside, expect to find new stories featuring all your favourite characters in what appears to be a bonkers time travel tale… or, at least, a tour of history.
The Dandy Summer Special, which will as usual be a mix of some new and reprint strips, features a smashing cover by Steve Bright, reflecting its football theme this year, with a nod to the 1957 Beano Book wraparound cover by James Crighton, the focus of a retrospective here on George Shiers ace Wacky Comics blog.
“As in recent years, contents will be mainly reprint but there is some new content,” contributing creator Lew Stringer told fans on Facebook. “I’m just not sure how much.
“What I do know is that I did a new full page ‘Keyhole Kate’ strip and a half page illustration for the special.”
As older downthetubes readers know, Summer Specials, one-shot editions of comic fans favourite titles were once a staple of British comics, and are today quite collectable, regularly offered on eBay auctions and elsewhere, sometimes at premium cost, despite their huge print runs in years gone by.
Changes in distribution meant the cost of “selling in” these individual titles, now considered separate publications to the regular comic, meant they sadly became unviable for many publishers.
While DC Thomson has continued its BEANO and Dandy Specials, Rebellion has scaled back its retro titles this year, in favour of the launch of Monster Fun as an ongoing title, presumably filling the slots it had already established with the new humour comic, the first regular issue now available in newsagents and online.
You can pre-order the BEANO and Dandy Summer Specials separately or as a bundle from the DC Thomson webshop now.
• To pre-order the 2022 BEANO Summer Special for £5.99, head to the DC Thomson web shop here
• To pre-order the 2022 Dandy Summer Special for £6.99, head to the DC Thomson web shop here
Prices noted do not include postage
Web Links
• The Guardian – What became of comics’ summer specials?
A 2009 article by David Barnett, who bemoaned the fact that bumper editions were a great treat on his summer holidays, but he was struggling to find similar gold for his kids
• Lew Stringer’s Blimey! Blog – Heyday of the Summer Special
Updated in 2021, Lew Stringer gave us a smashing potted history of Summer Specials, noting their recent, if limited, return, thanks to DC Thomson and Rebellion
• Wacky Comics – What Killed Summer Specials?
George Shiers considered several possible reasons for the demise of the traditional summer read, back in 2013
With thanks to Lew Stringer
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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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I always get these, they are great, doubt you’ll get much better entertainment for that price.
These are better than the weekly Beanos because they usually have a long story throughout that even goes into individual character strips. Allows for a bit more depth to the story which is also good for us older people still reading the Beano. The summer feeling gives you that holiday nostalgia feeling too.
They are also better than the Xmas specials because the story is not limited to the usual Xmas tropes which can be a bit repetitive. I also find these better than the annuals on the whole.
You also normally get some nice activity pages and some cool stickers.
Can’t wait to get these.
Wish they did an Easter and Autumn ( bonfire / halloween) special too.