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Jumping Jets! Beano’s Dennis swops his iconic jumper in a good cause this week

By John Freeman on December 4, 2018

Ahead of the much-anticipated Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 14th December, the Beano‘s Dennis has changed his iconic striped jumper in support of the charitable event.

This week’s issue of the Beano comic encourages fans to don a festive knit for a great cause, as character Dennis swaps his infamous jumper which he has rarely been seen without since his 1951 debut.

The “Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day” strip for The Beano on sale Wednesday 5th December 2018. Script by Nigel Auchterlounie, art by Nigel Parkinson

Dennis’ Christmas jumper, is available to pre-order from the online Beano shop and features Gnasher’s face with a Rudolph red nose and Dennis’ trademark red and black stripes. The kid’s jumper retails at £21.99, whilst the adult version is £31.99, with 10 per cent of proceeds from both to be donated to charity Save the Children.

The ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ themed Minnie the Minx strip also features Dennis and The Bash Street Kids, as they compete against each other to be recognised for wearing the silliest Christmas jumper in Bash Street School’s fashion show.

On the morning of the big day, disaster strikes as Minnie the Minx turns up to class to find that she’s the only pupil to have forgotten Christmas Jumper Day.

In a bid to steal the limelight at the special school fashion show, Minnie creates her own outlandish DIY version.

“Thousands of people up and down the country will be wearing a Christmas Jumper on Friday 14th December,” commented Mike Stirling, Editorial Director at Beano Studios, “so it only seemed fitting that Dennis and the gang got involved to bring a touch of Beano LOLZ.”

“It’s fantastic to see iconic Beano characters Dennis, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids getting involved in this year’s Christmas Jumper Day,” says Helena Wiltshire, Head of PR and Partnerships at Save the Children. “Whether you buy your Christmas Jumper or create one of your own like Minnie the Minx for Friday 14th December, every jumper worn for the day can really help build a better future for children everywhere.

“Together we can make the world better with a sweater.”

This week’s issue also includes an amazing competition where one lucky fan will be in with a chance of winning Dennis’ Christmas Jumper. The Beano’s Christmas Jumper Activity Book which features 32 pages of festive activities, games and puzzles, will also be awarded to 25 runners-up.

To enter, fans are challenged to design their own Christmas Jumper for Dennis and submitting their drawings by email or post by 12th December 2018.

• The Christmas Jumper 2018 comic strip by Nigel Auchterlounie, with art by Nigel Parkinson, can be seen in this week’s Beano and is available to buy from all good newsagents, supermarkets and digitally on Wednesday 5th December 2018 – www.beano.com

• Find out more about Save the Children Jumper Day: christmasjumperday.org

• Buy Adult Gnasher Jumper from the Beano Shop | Buy Kids Gnasher Jumper from the Beano Shop

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All art © DC Thomson/ Beano Studios

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.