Beano and BeanoMax go Prank Mad...

(via Lew Stringer): British comics have often featured activity pages amongst the strips, from the humble reader's jokes page, 'How to' features on magic tricks, and puzzle pages such as Teaser Time. The latest thing appears to be the pranks page, with readers actively encouraged to play harmless pranks on their parents and pals, with step-by-step instructions on each mischievous moment.

Artist and writer Lew Stringer reports that this week's issues of The Beano and BeanoMax are no exception. In The Beano he's illustrated Pop Goes the Weasel, - "and no, weasels are not involved," he says. "It's a prank involving keys and balloons."

It's a busy week for Lew watchers: over in BeanoMax, his cartoons run across five pages for the It's Prank O'Clock feature, telling kids how they can get up to 15 pranks during the course of a day.

"This week's Beano is rather special because not only does it feature the return of the cover strip (as opposed to one big picture) it also contains the debut of four new strips," Lew enthuses. His Rasher strip continues apace!

• The new Beano is on sale now in all good newsagents and supermarkets, as is a free-gift packed BeanoMax No. 77, on sale now for £3.99. More info and pictures on Lew's blog

Keith Watson Dan Dare art up for auction, first Joe 90 and more

Dan Dare art by Keith Watson

Art from Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence, Dan Dare by Keith Watson and Nellyphant by Leo Baxendale are just some of the lots in the current ComPal Auction, which closes soon.

Also up for grabs are first issues of titles as diverse as Comic Cuts, published in 1890, Mystic, published by L. Miller in 1960 and a first issue of Joe 90 comic - with free gift.

Comic Cuts is widely regarded as the first comic and the Number One on offer is one of very few known to have survived. "It’s a bit grubby and dog-eared," note ComPal, "but one might be after 122 years." Not so The Hotspur with some ultra high grade complete years of 1935 and 1938 on offer.

 

The first Rupert annual was published in 1936 and there’s a copy available with rare dust jacket followed by annual 2 with its original despatch box.

 

A Beano Book 1 is also in the auction.


There are more Eagle rarities in the current auction with, Keith Watson’s original artwork of a darkly threatening Mekon and another Dan Dare Walkie-Talkie Set (released early 1950s) produced by J & L Randall – a lot that includes one Jeff Arnold and two Dan Dare badges, Eagle Passport with all four inserts, Eagle Club Membership Card, Eagle Pocket Chess And Draughts Set in card (no pieces), three Eagle Annual and book flyers with Junior Shipmate of The Cutty Sark Eagle Certificate and six Dan Dare plastic figures.

One other fun item has to be a set of Dan Dare knitting patterns published by Sirdar in 1991, offered with some Dan Dare model figures set hand-painted metal and boxed, produced by Good Soldiers in the 1990s.

One of ComPal's long standing customers mainly collected Christmas and Fireworks issues of Beano and Dandy and he has consigned his entire collection of war years issues right through to the 1970s.

One non-comic offering is a 1939 run of Picture Post with brilliantly evocative covers and photo-stories of Britain preparing for war.

A rare TV Century 21 special is also on offer, along with Fleetway’s Super Library, all 26 issues, and a fine Trigan Empire artwork by Don Lawrence.

The US section highlights 1950s pre-code Horror comics with long runs of Dark Mysteries, Web Of Mystery and Marvel Tales. There are most issues of Superboy #3-75, Superman #102-300, J L A #1-164 and a Hulk #1 cents copy.


• Bidding closes on Tuesday 27th November at 8.00pm GMT. Full catalogue at www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm. If you have a question about any of the items in the catalogue, please send an email to Compalcomics director Malcolm Phillips at comicbook@compalcomics.com

Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence

 

Latest Beano aims to rock you!

The latest Beano (No.3654) is on sale now, with the usual mix of strips and features and offering the chance to win an iPad.

• Dennis and Gnasher are trumpeting in a very different way than usual!
• Ed and his Numskulls have a bit HAIRY situation to take care of!
• The Numskulls bring you some FOUL body facts!
• Minnie the Minx is no ALIEN to pulling pranks that are OUT OF THIS WORLD!
• Are you brainier than a Bash Street Kid? Er... let's hope so. 'Specially if it's Smiffy!
• Roger helps you become a MODERN DODGER!
• Keeping Billy Whizz busy is a full-time job!

• Check out the free preview at http://www.beano.com/beano-comic/issue-3654

In Review: David Sutherland - Comics Genius Exhibition and Talk

The University Of Dundee has presented some unique comics events and exhibitions over the last five or six years under the auspices of Dr Chris Murray of the School of Humanities and Mathew Jarron of the University's Museum Services. At the request of the local community festival, West Fest 2012, this year they took on an exhibition of the work of, and a talk and Q&A session with, an artist who, despite working for decades on some of the best known British humour comic characters, is not that well known himself.

David Sutherland took on art duties for The Bash Street Kids in 1962 when their artistic creator, Leo Baxendale, left DC Thomson's Beano to work on Odham's Wham!, and fifty years later he is still drawing the same characters week in, week out for The Beano. In addition to Danny and his gang from Class IIb, he has also illustrated Beano cover stars Dennis The Menace and Biffo The Bear.

Located in Dundee University's Tower Building, the Baxter Suite has recently become a dedicated exhibition space for the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies (SCCS) based at the University. The exhibition consisted of around 20 pieces of original artwork, both colour and black and white, sourced from the DC Thomson archive mainly covering The Bash Street Kids and Dennis The Menace. The university has previously used the Lamb Gallery for these sort of exhibitions which is a much smaller space and, while the number of pages on display was similar to the number on display for, say, the Beano 70th Birthday exhibition in 2008, the large Baxter Suite did feel a little empty in comparison. However as people started to gather for the talk on the evening of 13 June 2012, the room began to fill-up.

Chris Murray introduced David Sutherland to the stage along with Beano editors Euan Kerr, Alan Digby and Iain McLoughlin and, as David took his pencils to the flip chart, Euan (above left) began to describe David's life and career with David initially adding a few comments as he drew various "Bashers" and then longer recollections as he relaxed into the format of the evening.

David Sutherland was born in Invergordon, Ross-shire in 1933, and attended Glasgow School of Art. After National Service in Egypt, and working for an advertising agency in Glasgow, he began working for DC Thomson in 1959 illustrating adventure strips for The Beano including The Great Flood of London, Danny on a Dolphin and Billy the Cat. Since 1962 he has illustrated over 2000 Bash Street Kids strips in the weekly comic as well as in annuals and summer specials.

In 1969, after the death of Dudley D Watkins, he was asked by then Beano editor, Harry Cramond, to finish the page of Biffo The Bear page that Watkins had started. Initially reticent to complete the work begun by the man that he considered to be the best all round comic artist ever, David would go on to illustrate the Biffo strip for the next 25 years while, in 1970, he also took over the art chores on Dennis The Menace from Dennis' artistic creator David Law when he took ill. Biffo was displaced from The Beano's cover by Dennis in 1974 and David was the artist on the strip as Dennis became the comic's most popular character with his run on the strip lasting 28 years until 1998.

With various DC Thomson editors, writers and artists in the audience, as well as the Beano editors on stage, there was no shortage of comments and other reminiscences from them as David paused to recall something from decades before beforehand or to finish off a particular character sketch. The university even had a video message from Aardman animator Nick Park expressing his love of and appreciation for David's work. Indeed with his colleagues as well as his wife and one of his daughters in the audience, the friendly atmosphere seemed to help the reminiscences flow and we heard not just about his work for DC Thomson but also how his daughters had developed an eye for good artwork in The Beano, how his wife had to wash shirts with Indian ink on the sleeves, and how he had almost killed Beano editor Harry Cramond by throwing a flaming chip pan at him - not deliberately of course, as he was at pains to point out.

The evening ended with a selection of questions from the audience followed by a choice of wine and soft drinks as the attendees got the chance to examine the selection of artwork on display, chat to the participants and, for a lucky few, get quick sketches from David himself.

For someone who has probably never spoken about his career in front of an audience before, David Sutherland was a delight to listen to, sometimes thoughtful, often funny, always animated and it was a real treat to get the opportunity to watch him draw his familiar and beloved characters.

This was the second comic art exhibition in the University's Baxter Suite, the first being the launch exhibition for UniVerse's Anthology One publication, and it was the first comics event there open to the public. While there were a few minor technical hitches to amuse the audience, the evening worked well and its success can hopefully be used as a blueprint to entice other DC Thomson creators to talk about their careers in front of an audience there in the future.

The exhibition of David Sutherland's artwork remains open in the Baxter Suite, room 1.36 of the Tower Building, until 15 August 2012 and is free. The corridor outside the Suite also has a selection of original comic artwork by other artists on display including pages from Dudley D Watkins, Roland Davies, Ken Reid, Elizabeth Stott, Gary Erskine, Henry Flint and Colin MacNeil.

There are more details of the David Sutherland: Comics Genius exhibition on the University of Dundee Museum Services website which includes the exhibitions reduced summer opening hours.

There are more details of the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies and comics studies in general at the University Of Dundee at the university's website.

There are more details of West Fest on the West Fest 2012 website.

Beano Artist David Sutherland Exhibition and Talk

DC Thomson artist David Sutherland, who often signs his work simply as "DS", has been drawing The Bash Street Kids in The Beano since 1962, a remarkable 50 years. In addition to Bash Street, he was also the regular artist for Biffo the Bear for 17 years, from 1969 to 1986, and Dennis the Menace for 28 years from 1970 to 1998.

To celebrate his golden jubilee of working on The Bash Street Kids, the University of Dundee, in association with D C Thomson and the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies, are putting on an exhibition of his work at the University's Tower Building, home of the Dundee Comics Day, from 11 June to 15 August 2012. The exhibition will feature a selection of his original artwork from the DC Thomson archive.

In addition to the exhibition, on Wednesday 13 June 2012 at 7pm the University will host David Sutherland in conversation with former Beano editor Euan Kerr followed by a question and answer session for the audience. Admission to this talk is free with no need to book, simply turn up on the night.

The exhibition is taking place in the Baxter Suite, Room 1.36 of the University of Dundee's Tower Building and the opening times vary: 11 - 22 June, Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm (except Wednesday 20 June, 10am - Noon) while during the summer recess, 27 June to 15 August, the exhibition will only be open on Wednesdays from 1pm to 3 pm.

There are more details of the exhibition and talk at the University Of Dundee's Museum Services website.

Images (c) DC Thomson and Co Ltd

Limited edition British Comics First Day cover announced

Following up on our previous report about the Post Office release of stamps featuring British comics such as The Beano, the Comic Book Alliance has announced it is working with  Sheridan Covers, releasing an extremely limited edition First Day Cover commemorating the Royal Mail’s launch of their comic book stamps on 20th March. 

The stamps are celebrating 75 years of British Comics (yes, we all know British comics have been going for longer than that) and the First Day Cover features the Comic Book Alliance logo and stamp, plus all 10 of the Royal Mail’s First Class comic book stamps which include Desperate Dan and The Dandy, Dennis The Menace and The Beano and Dan Dare and Eagle.

“I have produced similar First Day Covers for 11 years now" said Ms Sheridan of Sheridan Covers, "and I have had the pleasure to produce covers featuring organisations such as the William Morris Society, The Mary Rose Trust, The Historical Maritime Society and Friends of the Earth.”

“This is a really special day for British Comics getting the recognition they deserve from the Royal Mail," said Tim Pilcher, Chair of the Comic Book Alliance.

"The Comic Book Alliance are extremely pleased and excited to be involved in what is an important of part of both philately and comic book history.

"Sadly, only three of the publications featured are still being published (2000 AD, The Beano and The Dandy), but there are new titles on the newsstand to replace them including the recently launched The Phoenix and Strip Magazine, proving that the British comics industry is alive and thriving.”

Produced on best archival paper the first Day Covers come with an insert card and protective pocket and cost just £15 (plus postage and packaging) and part of the proceeds go towards supporting the CBA.

• You can pre-order this exclusive First Day Cover, featuring all 10 of the comic stamps now, until 12th March 2012, from P. Sheridan, P.O. Box 99, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 0NN caitsher@aol.com Tel: +44 (0) 7939 832 184

Beano Sales Are Up and Dandy Sales Are Steady

The Audit Bureau Of Circulations, the industry body for media measurement, have released the July to December 2011 sales figures for UK consumer magazines which include British comics. After rather a lot of doom and gloom six months ago when the sales figures for The Dandy in particular appeared to have collapsed, things have steadied for The Dandy while The Beano sales have increased.

Before blinding you with the numbers we should say that the ABC headline sales figures are the average sales for a title over the six month period and include both newsstand and subscription sales for the UK, Eire and other countries.

The Beano headline figures in the last half of 2011 are up by 3% on the previous period to 38333 average sales per issue with the subscriptions included in those numbers up by 10%.

After the shocking drop between the last half of 2010 and the first half of 2011, the headline figure for The Dandy in the last half of 2011 was 7489 average sales per issue, which is still a frighteningly low number but is actually a rise of 0.5% on the previous six month period. While this means that more people subscribe to The Beano by post than buy The Dandy from all the shops in the UK and Eire combined, it is interesting that subscriptions for The Dandy are actually up by 50% on the previous period.

The monthly BeanoMAX headline figures are down 9.6% to 22094 with its subscriptions down by4.6%. The interesting statistic that can be teased out of the BeanoMAX figures is that in other countries, ie outside of the UK and Eire, shop sales of BeanoMAX are almost the same as the shop sales for The Beano and The Dandy combined.

Egmont's TOXIC comic magazine has seen an uplift in sales from 40,503 to 41,521 for the reporting period, while Titan's Simpsons Comics is only marginally lower, from 64,882 to  64,078.

The move from BBC Worldwide to Immediate Media in November 2011 does not seem to have hurt young reader titles such as Toybox and CBeebies Weekly  - in fact many are up on the last reporting period.

Immediate enjoyed an excellent performance across its pre-school portfolio, up 24.1 per cent year on year (y-o-y). This includes excellent growth across the CBeebies portfolio including CBeebies Art, at 63,679, (up 23.4% y-o-y), and from CBeebies Weekly, at 55,516, up 2.2% y-o-y, as well as a strong debut from Octonauts magazine at 61,750. CBeebies Weekly remains the UK’s top children’s title in terms of circulation.

While not a comic, there's good news, too, for satirical cartoon-packed magazine Private Eye, with its sales at 230,000 fortnightly sales. The Guardian notes this is its highest circulation for more than 25 years as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Editor Ian Hislop, who credits the recent successes to the magazine's journalists and satirists said: "10% growth in a year, I feel like the chancellor – in his dreams.

"I would like to say it was down to my brilliance but the razzmatazz over the 50th birthday helped and there have been some great issues," he added. "The anniversary issue was a great cover. It was a very special year and a lot of our stories came good, whether it was hacking, or PFI or the Hartnett [tax sweetheart deals] story."

One final batch of figures from ABC that may be of interest are the sales figures for the Sunday Post newspaper (Commando by the way is not ABC rated). This Scottish Sunday paper is the home of The Broons and Oor Wullie and during January 2012 the average sales figures per issue were 302,388 which was made up of 215,861 issues in Scotland, 85,326 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, 823 issues in Eire and 378 issues in other countries. Since it is generally accepted that Sunday papers are read by more than one person, that is a lot of potential readers of Wullie, Maw and the rest of the family.

• The Audit Bureau of Circulations website is here


• British Comic Sales Table on downthetubes

• The Beano and BeanoMAX website is here and subscription details are here for The Beano and here for BeanoMAX.

• The Dandy website is here and subscription details for The Dandy are here.

The Trial of Dennis the Menace: More Details

We mentioned this before as part of a longer post but it is worth mentioning again by itself. The new children's musical The Trial of Dennis the Menace will be taking place in London's Southbank Centre's Purcell Room over the weekend of 17-19th February as part of the Imagine Children's Festival.

The play is written by Caroline Bird with original music by Matt Rogers and was commissioned by Southbank Centre, with The Sage Gateshead and Juice Festival, and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

It is recommended for ages seven and over and is described as "An hour of music, words and action for Beano-lovers big and small. Beanotown is in crisis. Who stole the mayor's gold chain? Someone is trying to put the blame on Dennis and the grownups of Beanotown are declaring war on fun. We say the kids aren't guilty! Who's on their side? Children unite!"

Date and times are as follows -

Friday 17 February 2012 - 2.30pm
Saturday 18 February 2012, - 2.45pm & 5.00pm
Sunday 19 February 2012 - 1.30pm & 4.00pm

Ticket costs are as follows -

Prices: £12 (adults) £6 (children)
Booking Fee: £1.75 (Members £0.00)
Concessions: 50% off (limited availability)

There are more details of the musical and how to book tickets on the South Bank Centre's website.


There is a short interview with the star of the musical on the Beano's website.

 The Beano © DC Thomson & Co Ltd

Tartan Bucket Prize Winning Strip In The New Beano

About this time last year the Dundee University Humanities Department, in conjunction with DC Thomson, launched the Tartan Bucket Prize competition to create, write and illustrate a new Beano and Dandy style children's humour comic strip.

At the conclusion of the Dundee Comics Day at Dundee University in October last year, Steve English was announced as the winner of the Tartan Bucket Prize. In addition to a cheque for £1000 and, quite literally, a tartan covered bucket full of DC Thomson goodies, its was also announced there that his strip, Belle's Magic Mobile, was to be published in The Beano.

Three months on and Belle's Magic Mobile is in the current issue of The Beano, number 3621, which has a cover price of £1.50.

There are more details about Steve English's work at his Football Earth website.

There are more details about The Beano at its website.

Austerity Reviews of the Year

It is that time of the year when bloggers think of their favourite books, comics and magazines of the year. However since there can be a lot of overlap in what various people consider to be worth mentioning, and you don't really want to have to read several long reviews of the same title, we have decided to do something a little different.

In the spirit of austerity Britain, with everyone having to tighten their belts, we have decided to tighten the word count of these reviews until their pips squeak. These reviews are cheap, cheerful and quick to read as their word count is the grand total of 1.

Now that might sound easy but one word to sum up a favourite British book, comic or magazine of the last year or so is more of a challenge that you might think, especially as we have decided that no one can use the same word twice.

So in the spirit of the time of year the team here at downthetubes, John Freeman, Jeremy Briggs, Richard Sheaf and Ian Wheeler, wish you all a Merry Christmas and in the spirit of the recession we present you with, in alphabetical order, our Austerity Reviews Of The Year.

ALAN MOORE: STORYTELLER

Written by Gary Spencer Milliage
Published by Ilex Books
Website: www.ilex-press.com/books/alan-moore-storyteller/

Richard: Moore-ish

THE ASTONISHING SPIDERMAN

Bi-weekly comic
Published by Panini UK
Website: www.paninicomics.co.uk

Ian: Efficacious


BAGGAGE
By writer Robin Etherington and artist Lorenzo Etherington
Published by David Fickling Books
Website: www.davidficklingbooks.co.uk

Jeremy: Manic


THE BEANO
Weekly comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.beano.com

Ian: Legendary


THE BROONS AND OOR WULLIE 75 ANNIVERSARY GIFT BOOK

Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Group-View_All_Broons_and_Oor_Wullie_Gifts.aspx

Jeremy: Nice


COMMANDO - 50 YEARS A HOME FOR HEROES

Written by George Low
Published by Carlton
Website: www.carltonbooks.co.uk

Jeremy: Wow
Richard: Essential


COMMANDO

Four issues every two weeks comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.commandocomics.com

Ian: Celebratory
Jeremy: Historic
John: Relentless


THE DANDY

Weekly comic
Published by DC Thomson
Website: www.dandy.com

Ian: Resilient
Jeremy: Cliff-hanging


DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE

Four weekly magazine
Published by Panini UK
Website: www.paninicomics.co.uk

Ian: Expensive
John: Brilliant


DRACULA

Adapted by Jason Cobley with art by Staz Johnson
Published by Classical Comics
Website: www.classicalcomics.com/books/dracula.html

John: Astonishing


EAGLE TIMES

Quarterly magazine
Published by The Eagle Society
Website: www.eagle-times.blogspot.com

Richard: Enduring


HURRICANE AND CHAMPION INDEX

Written by Steve Holland
Published by Bear Alley Books
Website: www.bearalleybooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/hurricane-and-champion-index.html

John: Fascinating
Richard: Necessary


JEFF HAWKE'S COSMOS

Four monthly magazine
Published by the Jeff Hawke Club
Website: www.jeffhawkeclub.com

Richard: Bargain


JOHNNY RED - FALCON'S FIRST FLIGHT

Written by Tom Tully and illustrated by Joe Colquhoun
Published by Titan Books
Website: www.titanbooks.com/johnny-red-falcons-first-flight-3951

Jeremy: Finally
John: Pleased


LONG JOHN SILVER

Written by Xavier Dorison and illustrated by Mathieu Lauffray
Published by Cinebook
Website: www.cinebook.co.uk

Jeremy: Lovely
Richard: (Cinebook in general) Prodigious


MIRABILIS

Written by Dave Morris and illustrated by Leo Hartas
Currently published by Print Media Productions
Website: www.mirabilis-yearofwonders.com

John: Marvellous


MULTIVERSE

Comics news magazine
Published by Hell Freezes Over
Website: www.multiverse-magazine.com/about.html

Richard: Occasional


THE PHOENIX

Weekly comic beginning on 7 January 2012
Published by David Fickling Comics Ltd
Website: www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk

Jeremy: Anticipation
Richard: Newsstand!


SPACESHIP AWAY

Four-monthly magazine
Website: www.spaceshipaway.org.uk/

Richard: Futuristic
Jeremy: Glossy
John: Wonderful


STRIP MAGAZINE

Monthly comic magazine
Website: www.printmediaproductions.com

(As John and Jeremy both work on Strip we will now point out that "other A4 comic magazines are available" and that Ian and Richard were not threatened with being fed to Hook Jaw if they didn't choose their words carefully!)

John: Exhausting :)
Jeremy: Hurrah!
Ian: Promising
Richard: Retro


2000AD

Weekly comic
Published by Rebellion
Website: www.2000adonline.com

John: Ace


TOMORROW REVISITED - THE COMPLETE FRANK HAMPSON STORY

Written by Alastair Crompton
Published by PS Publishing
Website: www.frankhampson-tomorrowrevisited.co.uk

Jeremy: Gorgeous


WULF THE BRITON

Illustrated by Ron Embleton
Published by Book Palace Books
Website: www.bookpalacebooks.com/index.html

Jeremy: Weighty

Are falling sales bad news for The Dandy?

(With thanks to Ian Wheeler and Jeremy Briggs): The ABC sales figures are out for the first half of 2011 and DC Thomson's Dandy - revamped in October 2010 and promoted with a massive initial print run - is not looking at all healthy. It is not even making a 7,500 issue average compared to over 15,000 in the previous period (view the report here).

The detailed figures it indicate Britain's oldest humour comic doesn't even sell an average of 6,900 copies in shops in the UK and Eire combined, suggesting the revamp has failed to capture new readers.

Here are the overall figures for various British comics, and we have updated our longer list here on the main DTT site.

Note that titles such as 2000 AD, Judge Dredd Megazine and Commando are not listed (although based on recent interviews it's estimated Commando sells some 8000 copies per issue) and some publishers such as Titan Magazines ABC list very few titles, so this should not be seen as a full snapshot of the British comics industry.

Barbie - 53,013
Dandy - 7,448
Beano - 37,146
BeanoMax - 24,438
Disney Princess - 63,238
Disney Tinkerbell - 29,016
Doctor Who Adventures - 50,013
Doctor Who Magazine - 30,682
Simpsons Comics - 64,882
Spectacular Spider-Man - 28,003
Toy Story - 42,294
TOXIC - 40,503
VIZ - 67,851
World Of Cars - 31,532

Strong figures for some other titles - although other humour titles such as Simpsons Comics and SpongeBob Squarepants have also seen sales falls - make the Dandy's dropping sales even more shocking, but would DC Thomson consider cancelling such a 'heritage' title, particularly given its strong brand name outside of comics?

We have to wonder, though, whether DC Thomson management might again be considering merging the title with its stronger partner in the stables - The Beano.

Beano's Derek The Sheep On Stage

While there have been a good few British comics characters that have made it onto the cinema and television screen, from the infamous Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd to the delightfully unique BBC TV version of Jane, there have been very few that have made it onto the theatre stage. It is good therefore to report that Gary Northfield's Beano character Derek The Sheep will be appearing at Merton's Colour House Theatre over the course of the next week.

As part of the south London Merton Abbey Mills complex's AbbeyFest 2011, Derek will be appearing in The Quest For The Googly Glasses, written by Gary Northfield and performed by the Legend Theatre Company. Already previewed on Sunday 24 July at the New Cross Turn Left small press event, the show will take run from Tuesday 9 to Friday 12 August with a final show on Saturday 13 August. All shows take place at 2pm with adult tickets priced at £7 and concessions at £5.

As for other British comics characters that have appeared on the theatre stage we know of two different versions of 2000AD's Halo Jones from last century plus the somewhat bizarre sounding Dan Dare The Musical in 2003, while 2009 brought us The Sunday Post's matriarch in The Maw Broon Monologues and Kate Brown's The Spider Moon from The DFC. If you know of any others that we may have missed then leave us a comment.

There are more details about the play on Gary Northfield's blog, Stupid Monsters.

There are more details including booking information for Derek The Sheep in The Quest For The Googly Eyes at the AbbeyFest 2011 website.

WH Smiths release Beano Summer Special Exclusive

Despite disappointing sales for past comics exclusives, it seems newsagents WH Smiths haven't given up on the idea. Just released is this Beano Summer Special, produced in partnership with DC Thomson.

Ignoring the misleading claim that this is the first Summer Special - when any fule know Summer Specials were once an integral part of British Comics publishing - this is an impressive-looking A4 size softback book, consisting solely of reprints from, er, past Beano Summer Specials. Over on his great blog, Lew Stringer notes that the strips included feature the work of artists such as Davy Law, Dave Sutherland, Jim Petrie and others.

But sadly it seems WH Smiths - recently getting some of the lowest customer ratings in a high street store poll by Which?, and not for the first time - are up to their usual antics, with fans reporting some stores are not stocking the title and some staff even denying its existence.

This was the same fate that befell the Egmont exclusives in some stores when spcial Misty, Buster, Battle and Roy of the Rovers collections were released, so I do hope this problem isn't endemic across the chain.

Sadly, though, the lack of staff awareness of WH Smiths' own product is an ongoing problem at almost every level of the company. When you complain to a local manager about magazine positioning or availability, they often don't seem to understand your points (or simply can't be bothered); and if you complain to head office they spout platitudes and nothing changes.

It's a terrible shame.

The Beano Sumer Special 'Number One' costs £4.99 and is on sale now.

- Beano Official Site: www.beano.com

Bob Monkhouse: Beano Artist?

(with thanks to John Paterson at TartanBaffles, Jeremy Briggs and Lew Stringer): It's been a matter of debate for British comics fans for many years, but DC Thomson staff think they may have confirmed the late, great comedian Bob Monkhouse wrote and drew for The Beano.

It's well known Monkhouse, who had a massive comics collection and corresponded with many creators, including Commando artist Alan Burrows, worked for many British comics.

He also revealed how he'd sent his single picture cartoons and comic strips to just about every comic publisher he could find the address of in his own autobiography, Crying With Laughter and was first published by Mickey Mouse Weekly, after a dozen tries, who printed one of the cartoon pictures when he was about 12.

His comic writing career began in earnest during World War 2, working for companies such as Martin and Reid Ltd. who managed to get hold of stray loads of paper during wartime.

"Sometimes they found a consignment made from re-pulped bus tickets or newsprint," Monkhouse recalled, "so blackened by printer's ink that my drawings had to be painted in white on black background so as to be visible to the readers' perusal ... "

He drew strips for comics such as Smasher in 1947 (left, via ComicsUK) and Oh Boy, and illustrated one of his own books, Book of Days, published by Arrow Books in 1981. But although many people have suggested he also wrote for The Beano, including fellow comedian Barry Cryer, records from the time he may have contributed are spartan.

Now, Beano archivist Bill McLoughlin thinks he has detected Bob's hand in a Pansy Potter strip for the 1947 Beano Book.

"We have selected the 1947 Pansy, as it is in a style different from the rest," he told the Scottish Sunday Mail this week. "We can't say definitely but Bob always claimed he did draw for us and why would he tell pork pies about something so easily disproved?"

"I'd heard he did draw for the Dandy and Beano – and that excellent BBC Four documentary on Bob last week repeated the rumour – but what he actually did was a mystery," comics expert and creator Lew Stringer told downthetubes. "Until now, it seems."

Monkhouse moved on from comics to become a script writer and as well as his comedy career is best known for hosting many game shows such as Celebrity Squares and The Golden Shot -- and, of course, Quick on the Draw. He died in 2003 aged 75.

"Most of his comic work was for indie comics of the late 1940s and early 1950s," Lew Stringer notes. "He was an excellent cartoonist."

"Comics loss was TV's gain."

• BBC Obituary

• Comic fans discuss Bob Monkhouse's comic career on ComicsUK

• Bob Monkhouse entry on Wikipedia

New Dandy and Beano out today

(With thanks to Lew Stringer): New issues of the revamped The Dandy and the latest Beano are on sale today.

The new Dandy - which is provoking ongoing debate on the downthetubes forum and has just started its first poll about its strips on its Facebook page - some will go as the result of reader votes, others will stay - features Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land by Harry Hill and Nigel Parkinson, Kid Cops and Postman Prat by Lew Stringer, Robot on the Run by Alexander Matthews, Pre-Skool Prime Minister by Jamie Smart and much more. "Even Bruce Forsyth returns to comics," notes contributor Lew. "Shades of Film Fun!" For more on the issue, check out Lew's blog post.


The Beano (Number 2559) comes with a Dennis and Gnasher by Jimmy Hansen who also draws a two page Dennis strip. Also in the issue: Ken Harrison drawing Minnie the Minx, Hunt Emerson on Ratz and David Sutherland on The Bash Street Kids. Other contributors include new artist Diego Jourdan Pereira (drawing Ivy the Terrible) and Laura Howell (on Meebo and Zuky)

While some fans have raised concerns about the Dandy's announced poll about its strips, Lew Stringer reminds us the comic was never one to rely on characters with such longevity. "Each decade has brought in fresh new characters although Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, and Bananaman are still around albeit with modern new designs," he notes.

"The Dandy has always been the one to take more risks and, having had three revamps in six years, let's hope that it's third time lucky for the all-fun, all-new, back to basics Dandy of 2010."

Web Links

• Official Dandy web site: www.dandy.com
• The Dandy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dandy/121479097908918
• Follow The Dandy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DandyComic