Beano reaches landmark 4000th issue

By John Freeman on August 26, 2019

The Beano reaches its 4000th issue this Wednesday, on sale in all good newsagents and supermarkets, and is already in the hands of loyal subscribers. (If you’ve never subscribed, we’ve discovered a nifty trick to get a discount at the Beano shop…)

The weekly title may not have racked up as many issues as DC Thomson Media stablemate Commando, but it is the longest running British children’s comic, first published in July 1938, and is among the longest- running comics never re-numbered, a list that of course includes 2000AD.

On the other side of the Atlantic, their are older, longer-running newspaper strips, including Rudolph Dirks’ “The Katzenjammer Kids“, which debuted in 1897, and “Blondie” (1930). But in terms of comics, rival long-running title Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, launched in 1940 and never re-numbered, published since by a variety of publishers, is still a relative baby, and even that is now published under a new name.

(IDW Publishing began publishing the comic in July 2015, continuing the number sequence from #721, their last issue as Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories was #743, published in September 2018. At that point, IDW renamed the title to Disney Comics and Stories, restarting the numbering from #1, but also keeping the legacy numbering – #744 – which appears in the indicia in the contents page).

Action Comics holds the Guinness World Record for longest-running superhero comic book series; although Detective Comics launched a year earlier, Batman didn’t appear in the title until #27. Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo, or Kochikame, holds the Guinness World Record for the most volumes published for a single manga series, two hundred in all, a comedy is written by Akimoto Osamu and – but it didn’t begin until September 1976, in the weekly, Shonen Jump.

This week’s Beano is a 4,000 extravaganza, with the Beanotown kids racing to the year 4000 to save their future selves from life without a Beano comic… fans can stop shuddering at that thought, of course, because with sales on the rise, buoyed by very healthy subscription numbers, that isn’t likely – we hope!

What would you do if there were no more Beanos?

Also in Beano 4000, Bananaman meets himself! This future Bananaman is a grittier, darker version of our Bananaman…. Can Bananaman take himself back to his roots to enjoy crime fighting again, or is he doomed to his fate of being… The Bruised Banana!

The Bash Street Kids get lost running from the Emperor-Bots, but there’s one thing Class 2B will always find: Bash Street School!

But it seems that school’s out… forever! Where is the year 4000’s Class 2B? Or more importantly, where’s the year 4000’s Teacher?

Plus, Minnie goes max! Meet the Minnie from the future, Max! Uber cool, she’s just like Minnie, and pretty soon, Max and Min are a pair made in minxing heaven, with mayhem and mischief in their nature.

Make sure you minx to the max!

Meanwhile, Dennis meets his future self, and he’s a little… disappointing. Menace by name, but not menace by nature.

Walter can cause more trouble than this boy. But, will meeting his past show Future Dennis what a menace really is?! It’s time to bring the past back to the future!

All this and more in Beano No. 4000, on sale in shops from 28th August 2019!

our congratulations to the current Beano team – creators, Editorial and more- for reaching this landmark Issue, and hats raised to all Who Came Before that got the comic here.Thank you!

• Subscribe here to get Beano delivered to your home and receive an awesome free gift – but be aware your subscription won’t start immediately, so you’d better grab this a copy of this landmark Issue from your newsagents or supermarket today.

OUR NIFTY TRICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BEANO AND SAVE

• If you sign up for the Beano shop newsletter for the first time, you’ll currently get a 5% discount offer on your first order – so you can save even more on a subscription

ONLINE SUPERMARKET SHOPPING LINKS

• Add the Beano to your Sainsbury’s online shop

• Add the Beano to your Tesco online shop

• Add the Beano to your Waitrose online shop

(ASDA does list Beano, but as “not available)

• What would you do if there were no more Beano? Let us know, below!

• Inducks guide to Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories

With thanks to Mitchell Brown

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.