Free Beanos for Scottish school kids

Bet English school kids will be gnashing their teeth... over on the Wacky Comics blog, George Shiers reports DC Thomson is working with Scottish Business in the Community and will be giving away 370,000 free Beano comics to every single primary school pupil in Scotland.

The Daily Record reports it's intended as a new way to engage with youngsters, with popular characters Dennis the Menace and Gnasher teaching pupils the benefits of time management and motivation to help improve their school work. Minnie the Minx will give advice on money and savings, while the Bash Street Kids will promote healthy eating and better lifestyle choices.

While it's perhaps not something you'd not normally associate with the Bash Street gang, children will be encouraged to eat five portions of fruit every day by Danny, Smiffy, Spotty, Plug and Fatty.

“Making learning fun as well as engaging and relevant, and setting it in a format that makes our young people want to learn, is not an easy thing to do," noted Scottish Learning Minister Alasdair Allan, who welcomed the initiative.

"Experience shows that enterprising approaches help young people develop essential skills."

The free comic will be given away at the end of August,and hopefully it will also increase sales of The Beano.

Dennis to Menace the Edinburgh Tattoo

© DC Thomson

The 220,000 people who are expected to attend this year’s Edinburgh Tattoo (3rd-25th August) on the Castle Esplanade will witness one of the most unusual performance pieces in the event’s 60 year history. Sporting his famous red and white hooped jumper, it will be provided by cartoon character and arch mischief-maker, Dennis the Menace in company with comic favourite Minnie the Minx and her unique brand of mayhem.

Dennis and Minnie will perform stunts on BMX bikes during each performance this August as part of a shake-up of the long-running event and artists behind The Beano, Oor Wullie and The Broons have also created a special commemorative poster of the Tattoo, which will be distributed with all programmes for the event.

© DC Thomson

The poster, which features Wullie and several members of The Broons paying a visit to the highly-popular tourist attraction is apparently one of the spreads from Whaur's Oor Wullie?, book, on sale now in bookshops.

Said Tattoo Chief Executive and producer, Brigadier David Allfrey: “These celebrated characters are a universal element in our national mix. We have grown up with comics and some of us even enjoy them into adulthood! Everyone relishes the prospect of a little menace!

"While the Tattoo seeks to entertain and inspire it is always good to not take ourselves too seriously. This year has seen so many extraordinary celebrations: Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics both to set the scale. These are all about joy and we all love a celebration.”

But, even with the prospect of a little ‘menace’, this year’s Tattoo opens with a scene from faraway times with a Pictish warrior seizing upon a shiny pebble and taking the audience to the start of a magical journey across the ages. The sound of an ancient horn – a Bronze Age carnyx – signals the appearance of the Massed Pipes and Drums and the heart stopping sight and sounds of the very essence of the event.

Bringing together the very best pipe bands from across the globe – 12 pipe bands in all – featuring the award-winning Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, The Royal Corps of Signals, The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and Queen Victoria School, Dunblane. While from overseas, Melbourne’s Rats of Tobruk, the Australian Federal Police, the Manly Warringah and Scots College from Sydney, South Africa’s Cape Town Highlanders along with the Canadian Army complete the ranks of this prodigious massed pipe band.

With the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen’s accession to the throne as its principal theme, this year’s Tattoo also celebrates the ‘Year of Creative Scotland’ by spotlighting some of this country’s most enduring achievements.

Through dance, the audience will then be introduced to Scotland’s iconic textile – the spinning and weaving of Tweed as pipers, drummers and dancers from Queen Victoria School present an inspired dance piece with Sydney’s Scots College Pipes and Drums.A six-minute medley of music inspired by the Disney/Pixar film Brave, performed by the Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Scotland, The Queen’s Division, The King’s Division and The Royal Air Force, then carries the audience from medieval Scotland, through its agricultural age and towards the industrial era.

Thereafter, the Tattoo Highland Dancers and the Canadiana Celtic Association tell the story of Scotland’s most successful export, Scotch Whisky, from the sowing and reaping of barley, into the mash tun, on to the distilling, casking and drinking of “Uisge Beatha – The Water of Life.”

From Australia, the Band of the Australian Defence Force present a selection of traditional and contemporary music tracing the transition from colonial times to present day.
There follows a tribute to Scotland’s engineering pedigree with a piece of dance inspired by the work in a foundry from the OzScot Australia dance troupe and music by Tap Dogs’ Andrew Wilkie.

Comic-strip superheroes are then celebrated by the United States Naval Forces Europe Band highlighting the external battle between good and evil and including some iconic local talent.

The story of rapid growth in communications and computing technology, helped by development of microprocessors and the Internet, is told through the precision drumming of sure-fire international crowd-pleasers Top Secret Drum Corps from the Swiss city of Basel.

Brigadier Allfrey said: “I am thrilled with our international guests. As ever the Tattoo is proud to present some of the very best!”

Highlights of the 2012 event will also include an amazing display of precision drill by The Guard of His Majesty the King of Norway, whose skill with bayonet tipped rifles has thrilled spectators on eight previous occasions.

The climax of the evening is an orchestral re-enactment of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation of 1953, concluded by an electrifying arrangement of Diamonds Are Forever and the audience joining hands for a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne – a brilliant spectacle of colour and sound that will leave spectators spellbound.

The Tattoo’s Chief Executive remarked: “Diamonds are forever and I would encourage everyone to dust off their tiaras, their bracelets and their earrings and… bring out a bit of bling! Edinburgh at festival time is a springboard into a splendid Scottish summer for our visitors. Let us all show them a good time.

“Of course, all of this would not be possible without the support of everyone who buys our tickets, the talented cast, our core team in Market Street, some expert contractors and our wonderful sponsors. And of course, Defence and our Armed Forces – in effect our principal sponsor,” he concluded.

• Some tickets for the 2012 Tattoo (3-25 August), priced £23 to £59, can still be obtained at www.edintattoo.co.uk/tickets or acquired by telephone on +44 (0)131 225 1188 or in person from the Tattoo Ticket Sales Office at 34 Market Street in Edinburgh.

British Comic Stamps: The Beano

Here's the second of our ten posts to mark the release of the Royal Mail's Comic Collection, celebrating 75 years of British comics. The Royal Mail have kindly sent us large versions of each stamp, so we thought we'd show them off in all their glory, in the order of first comic publication.

The Beano first appeared on 30th July 1938. The Dennis the Menace strip (now known as Dennis and Gnasher) first appeared in 1951 and is the longest running strip in the comic. Other iconic strips include the Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger and Minnie the Minx.

Still Britain's best-selling weekly comic, the title is also available for iPad and the app had over 72,000 downloads within days of launch earlier this year. There's more about The Beano online at www.beano.com

• Stamps and stamp products are available at all Post Office branches, online at www.royalmail.com/personal/comic-stamps-and-collectibles, the Royal Mail eBay shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Royal-Mail-Stamp-Collections and from Royal Mail Tallents House (tel. 08457 641 641), 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB.

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

New Dennis the Menace shows - and a musical - on the way

Ahead of tomorrow’s London Toy Fair, DC Thomson has announced a renewal of its partnership with leading content producer Red Kite Animations to co-produce the new series of Dennis and Gnasher.

As The Beano begins the countdown to its 75th anniversary in June next year, there's also news on the The Trial of Dennis the Menace musical, which launches in London next month - and information on the success of The Beano's iPad App.

News of more Dennis and Gnasher animation continues DC Thomson’s investment across multi-media platforms, following on from December’s launch of a range of digital subscription apps, including The Beano, which has already had 72,000 downloads.

The co-production between Red Kite Animations, a subsidiary of global media enterprise August Media Holdings and Australia’s Sticky Pictures, has been commissioned by CBBC, Network Nine and ABC Australia and will be produced by Sueann Smith for Red Kite Animations and Donna Andrews for Sticky Pictures.

The 52 x 11 minute episodes commence production immediately and are scheduled for delivery in summer 2013.  

Dennis and Gnasher has been the best performing for CBBC in the competitive 1500-1600 hrs timeslot, reaching nine million people across its most recent (repeat) run in the UK.

“After 60 years at the top, the world’s greatest menace still appeals to children of all ages," enthuses Mike Stirling, Editor-in-chief for The Beano and BeanoMax. "We’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with Red Kite Animations and the next series of the successful animation will introduce hilarious new Beanotown characters plus more menacing, laughs and jokes than ever before.

"With our weekly and monthly comics, best-selling Annual, Beano.com website and social media platforms, more children than ever can experience Beanotown and its great characters across all sorts of media. Awesome!”

“We are proud to be bringing these classic comic strip characters back to the screen," added Ken Anderson, Executive Director & Chief Creative Officer of August Media Holdings. "Producing the new series is a testament to the popularity of the characters and we are confident that the series will create what we hope is a whole new generation of Dennis and Gnasher fans.”

Underlining this increased multi-media investment, Dennis and Gnasher will also be appearing on the London stage next month (17th - 19th February) in the brand new musical commission, The Trial of Dennis the Menace, by Southbank Centre, in conjunction with DC Thomson. This show = part of the Imagine Children's Festival - will bring the world of Beanotown vividly to the stage in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, as part of Southbank Centre’s Imagine Festival.

Written by award-winning poet Caroline Bird with music by Matt Rogers and directed
by Rebecca Gatward, children from 7 to 97 will enjoy the antics of Dennis and co as Dennis is
put on trial, accused of stealing the Mayor of Beanotown’s gold chain! With the grown-ups of
Beanotown declaring war on fun, the show says the kids aren’t guilty!

Who is on their side? Find out from 17th February!

• Buy tickets for The Trial of Dennis the Menace or find out more about the show on beanotown.com

• Visit the official Beano web site at www.beano.com

Enjoy 'Gnashional Trust' fun as The Beano invades stately homes

Britain's National Trust has opened its doors to the nation's best-loved cartoon characters this summer - letting The Beano's mischief-makers run riot across the country.

This week's issue of The Beano is the first ever time the National Trust has given fictional characters keys to all of its 300 homes and access to the 617,500 acres of land it cares for. The comic's creative team have had full creative control as characters from Dennis the Menace to Billy Whizz conquer castles and race ponies across grand estates.

The hope is that by letting Beano characters invade their properties, it will help the National Trust bring its places to life and prove that its doors (and copious amounts of fresh air) are open to all - breaking down preconceptions of the organisation.

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher kick off the chaos as they conquer Powis Castle in Wales, fooling National Trust staff with dozens of "hedge menaces" disguising the real rascal and his companion and becoming King for the day.

The Numskulls, who live inside Edd's nostrils (of course), are sneezed out at Edwardian Surrey estate Polesden Lacey into a game of croquet - and a planned bug hunt - to enjoy the buzz of bumblebee racing. Meanwhile, Minnie The Minx takes her dad on a manic trip to Northern Ireland to discover the iconic Giant's Causeway - and find the giant Finn McCool himself.



The Bash Street Kids take over Devon family manor Arlington Court as they enjoy the great outdoors - bat watching and pony racing with a less than happy teacher to calm them down. Fellow mischief-maker Billy Whizz - the fastest boy in The Beano - explores the country in less than a day. Fooled by Attingham Park's false doors, to completing Cragside's 8 foot high rhododendron maze in seconds and experiencing life as an Anglo Saxon at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, Billy has a fast-paced day topped off by a good night's sleep in Lyme Park's Edwardian Nursery.

"We're delighted to open our doors to The Beano and all of its mischievous characters," says Tony Berry, Visitor Experience Director of the National Trust. "The Trust and The Beano are both British institutions and we are hoping the news that we have opened our doors to them all will encourage families to take a leaf out of Dennis' book and organise a trip to one of our places.

"As our black and red stripy friend says; 'a menace always has a plan' and this summer should be no exception.

"Wherever we can we have tried to take away ropes and show the fun side of our places with everything from mazes to talking portraits. We are certain that real-life Dennises will find that it is not all 'please don't touch' anymore - in some places you can even have a go on the snooker table."

"We couldn't think of a better way to prove what fun kids can have at 'Gnashional Trust' properties by letting the world's most famous menace and his friends from Beanotown loose on them," added John-Paul Murphy, Head of Brand Marketing of The Beano publishers, D.C. Thomson. "Dennis hasn't let his own 60th anniversary affect his ability to cause his own brand of havoc and it is a fitting birthday treat for him to become 'King of the Castle' at Powis.

"We're sure Beano readers will have just as much fun as the characters have when they visit the venues featured in our comic this summer."

- The Gnashional Trust issue of The Beano goes on sale Wednesday 27th July. For a behind-the-scenes look at the takeover visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/thebeano.

- National Trust sites taken over by The Beano:

Powis Castle, Powys (Dennis the Menace & Gnasher)
Polesden Lacey, Surrey (The Numskulls)
Giant's Causeway, County Antrim (Minnie The Minx)
Arlington Court, Devon (The Bash Street Kids)
Attingham Park, Shropshire (Billy Whizz)
Cragside, Northumberland (Billy Whizz)
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk (Billy Whizz)
Lyme Park, Cheshire (Billy Whizz)

The National Trust is including a Kids Go Free offer over the whole of August. This nationwide offer excludes the Bank Holiday Weekend only (27th-29th). To download your voucher or find out more, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/augkidsfree

General Jumbo in latest Classics from the Comics

The latest issue of DC Thomson's Classics from the Comics went on sale a few days back, but we're still playing holiday catch up so this is the first opportunity we've had to give it a plug. The 68-page retro monthly comes crammed with comic classics from days gone by, including a special feature on 1957.

Featured this issue are plenty of humour strips from The Beano, Beezer, Topper and Dandy such as Dennis the Menace and, as usual, an adventure strip - this time, it's an example of General Jumbo, a character that used robot toys to fight bad guys.

Other strips in the issue include Bully Beef and Chips, Pup Parade, The Numskulls, Baby-face Finlayson, Bananaman, The Banana Bunch, The Three Bears, Hungry Horace, The Bash Street Kids, Biffo the Bear, The Truth About Wilson (another adventure strip), Greedy Pigg, Little Plum and the original Brassneck.

The issue also includes a competition to win classic audio books. If you want a trip down memory lane, get this month’s Classics.

• Click the images above to view sample strips from the issue, courtesy of DC Thomson.


• Click here for subscription information

Beano Revamp announced, New Look for Dennis

DC Thomson has announced plans to revamp its remaining weekly comic, The Beano. Contrary to our earlier report they've also given Dennis the Menace a makeover in the comic as well as the re-design planned for his new CBBC animated series, Dennis and Gnasher.

The Beano will be given an overhaul from 29th August, relaunching as a 32-page weekly. A "mini-mag" containing a preview of the redesigned Dennis and Gnasher comes bundled with this week's issue, on sale today.

The beanotown.com official web site may be getting a makeover, along with the full launch of dennisandgnasher.com, which is linked with the new animated Dennis and Gnasher show.

"Our ultimate aim is to engage a whole new generation of Beano fans with a fresh approach to our core characters," say DC Thomson. "We also hope to excite existing and lapsed fans, particularly parents who may have enjoyed The Beano themselves."

Dennis Revamped

Although he has kept hold of his trademark stripey jumper and black shorts, Dennis, who will be sporting a new look, could have undergone a far more radical change, like the look seen here.

Designs put forward for the tearaway kid included a spray can-wielding hoodie and a spaced out scruff to make him more in-keeping with elements of today’s youth.

But DC Thomson dismissed suggestions for a Manga style makeover and went for a more traditional Dennis look – just without the trademark catapult.

The new look will be used in the Beano as well as the new animated show.

“Some of the looks put forward were very popular," says Morris Heggie, the Beano historian at DC Thomson. "There were some really strong ideas with hoodies, jeans and even one where he looks like Liam Gallagher – but a few were a bit radical.

“If we were introducing Dennis the Menace for the first time some of these would be great, but we’d be inventing a new character. People already have an idea of Dennis.

“Dennis’s look has evolved since he was introduced in the fifties," he added. "But he wouldn’t be Dennis without his spiky hair, stripey jersey and, most importantly, his knobbly knees.”

Dennis and Gnasher


Plans to “soften up” the legendary menace and his loyal companion came under fire last week in the press when it was revealed that he would no longer carry his trusty catapult or get a beating from his father’s slipper in the new TV series.

The cartoon – which will start on CBBC on 7th Septembe – aims to be “Britain’s answer to The Simpsons” and features a whole host of new characters.

“Since Dennis is already very much an established character, we had to make sure he looked as close to what everyone recognises as Dennis as possible," explains Frank Gresham, creative assistant producer on the show.

“To make sure our animators could animate him without problems, he did undergo certain changes. We made a promise to ourselves we’d only change what we absolutely had to of Dennis’s design.

“We felt we had to keep all of the elements of his clothing and his features.”

New characters include a joke shop owner called Mr Har Har, and a rock star called Ratbucket.

Even the old staples have been revamped, with Dennis’s long term rival Walter swapping his teddy bear for a sneakier personality.

A BBC spokesman said: “Like many cartoon characters, Dennis the Menace has been evolving ever since its creation, so changes are nothing new.

“The Beano comic-book style of the 1950s is very different to children’s expectations for their entertainment heroes today.”

• Dennis And Gnasher will screen every weekday at 3.45pm on CBBC, while Fun Kids will host a radio show based on the pair every Saturday morning throughout September.

Dennis De-Menacing Denounced

(Updated 24/8/09): CCBC's revamp of The Beano's Dennis the Menace, which launches next month on the TV channel, has been given the big thumbs down by his creator's family.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Rosemary Moffat and Alison Gardiner, the daughters of the late David Law who created Dennis back in 1951, said their father would have been horrified by the transformation.

According to the newspaper, the 52-part cartoon series features a more 'caring' Dennis - no, really - without his trademark catapult, peashooter or water pistol, his trademark scowl replaced with a boyish grin, and he won't be allowed to bully Walter the Softie.

And, instead of allowing his dog Gnasher to bite people, Dennis will now be more creative, getting into scrapes when his imaginative inventions go wrong.

(Since we first published this story, top British cartoonist and comics expert Lew Stringer has carefully deconstructed this and other press reports about the new show, poting out many inaccuracies in some newspapers coverage).

Upping the ante on earlier reports claiming the CBBC version was 'political correctness gone mad', the Telegraph reports the decision to “re-imagine” Dennis for the “iPod generation” has disappointed Law's daughters.

”I think my father would feel they are downgrading him to make him quite ordinary,” said 63-year-old Mrs Moffat, while Mrs Gardiner, who was given a preview screening of the cartoon, said it was nothing like the real Dennis the Menace.

The makeover hasn't gone down well with some Dennis fans, either. Talking to The Bristol Evening Post, comics writer and artist Kev F. Sutherland said "I think it's probably a bad idea but you cannot do anything about it. I think perhaps they could have targeted a slightly older audience with the cartoon.

"You can do humour and sophisticated comedy without scaring the horses. If you pander too much to over-sensitive parents you will end with not very funny comedy."

DC Thomson, which collaborated on Dennis's new look with Red Kite, an animation company, said it “wanted to remove any traces of nastiness”, while the BBC argues that like many cartoon characters, Dennis the Menace has been evolving ever since its creation in 1951, so changes are nothing new.

"The Beano comic book style of the 1950's is very different to children's expectations for their entertainment heroes today," said the corporation, while in another statement reported by Pink News over a week ago, they did argue the changes to Dennis wouldn't make dull.

"Although the stories and animation have been updated to appeal to current CBBC viewers, his character has not changed significantly and Dennis remains as boisterous and mischievous as ever."

Pink News readers found the idea that Dennis' traditional enemy Walter was potentially gay, which had resulted in the ban on him getting beaten up for fear of accusations of homophobia, laughable.

"By doing this the BBC are just pandering to the typical stereotype that gay men are pathetic wimps who'll get bullied," said one.

"The children of today are going to turn into a nation of 'Walters'," said another. "I read Dennis the Menace as a kid, and all the others.

"Kids like to be anti-social and rude and anti-establishment and making fart noises behind teachers backs. You haven't grown up until you've had a scrap and a bloody nose.

There is some good news: the Beano editors apparently have no plans to make Dennis a softie in the comic itself.

• Read Lew Stringer's brilliant expose of how the British press has wilfully mis-reported this story here

Moon Landing: T Minus 5 Days - Predicting The Date

40 years ago today, the three astronauts making up the crew of Apollo 11, Command Module Pilot Mike Collins, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and Mission Commander Neil Armstrong were preparing for their launch on a Saturn V rocket from Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral in Florida. They were going where only nine men had been before, lunar orbit. However, they were scheduled to go one step further than all the previous Apollo crews - they were going to land.

During the next week and a half downthetubes will be taking you through the entire Apollo 11 mission as it was presented to children in comics, magazines, storybooks and through toys, from launch on 16th July to splashdown on the 24th July.

Today, as a taster, we present two predictions for the actual landing date. One from the Daily Express' Jeff Hawke strip and an eerily accurate prediction from Dennis The Menace in The Beano.

Jeff Hawke © Express Newspapers plc
The Jeff Hawke panels come from the 1959 story Time Out Of Mind, set on the moon, and both written and illustrated by Sydney Jordan a year and a half before the Soviet Union put Yuri Gagarin into orbit. This story was reprinted in the Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos album Lunar 10, in which Jordan reveals, “my stab at the date for the first real landing was informed by the growing body of data coming out of the American and Russian programmes that would eventually put Man into space.”

Dennis the Menace © DC Thomson
The Dennis The Menace panel would appear to come from an early appearance in The Beano, before Dennis got his familiar red and black striped jumper and is remarkably accurate in its date. However, as if to prove that it is not just American superheroes that can be ret-conned, in 2000 for publicity purposes DC Thomson produced a one page strip that told the story of how Dennis got his now familiar jumper and included this "prediction". The full Dennis story can be read on page 289 of Morris Heggie's excellent book The History Of The Beano.


Tomorrow - Launch

• Coinciding with Jeremy's countdown to the 40th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing, downthetubes is publishing "Moon Landing 40th Anniversary: A Comics Celebration" - a gallery of illustrations and comic art inspired by space exploration.
Contributions are very welcome: if you don't want to join our forum and upload art but would like to join in with the celebrations, simply send your work to johnfreeman6-moonlandinganniversaryart@yahoo.co.uk. Please ensure images are no larger than 2MB in size and include a brief bio and web link so we can give you deserved credit.

Run With Dennis in 2009

So Christmas is over and the New Year celebrations are a vague memory, even if they only were last night. Your 2009 Dennis The Menace calendar is set to January, the Beano and Dennis annuals are both read and you have started the excellent History Of Beano book whilst wearing your Christmas presents of Dennis and Gnasher socks and sipping your warming coffee from your Beano mug and the New Year is stretching out in front of you. Feel like doing something a little more active this year?



Mencap, the British learning disability charity, have used DC Thomson's Dennis The Menace character for some years to promote their activities and continue the theme in 2009 by entering Team Menace in various marathons and shorter runs around the UK and further afield. They will be at the Flora London Marathon, the Bupa Great Manchester Run, the Bupa Great North Run in Tyneside and are even planning to field a team in the ING New York Marathon. Mencap entrants for these events receive a Dennis The Menace team vest as well as training advice and guaranteed entry to the runs.

More details of the runs that Mencap will be participating in in 2009 are available on the Mencap website.

Tube Surfing: 24 November 2008

• Kieron Gillen talks about writing the new Warhammer Crown of Destruction comic series from Boom Studios over on comiccon.com, the series inspired by on Nottingham-based Games Workshop's hugely popular gaming system and figures. "It's a world that lives on the cusp of destruction," he notes. "The good guys... well, they aren't good guys. The Empire are religiously fanatic, and it's only that devotion which stands between them and transmutation into a literal hell on Earth. It's grim. In, fact, it's GRIM. It's a universe which needs a lot of capitals...."

• Talking of Warhammer, you might also like to check out the Online Black Library of Warhammer stories, which includes work by Nathan Long, author of the Gotrek & Felix series, who has recently penned some stories for Warhammer Online.

• Ben Templesmith will be drawing a Doctor Who one-shot (written by Leah Moore & John Reppion) in February for IDW. The company's head honcho Chris Ryall shares a bit of the creative process in putting together a book like this on his blog with some of Ben's initial sketches of the good Doctor and Martha.

• Talking of Doctor Who, former Time Lord Chriustopher Eccleston has been spoofing the character on The Sarah Silverman Show for US channel Comedy Central. One episode featured the obsession of one of the characters with a television show called Doctor Lazar Rage, and here's a behind the scenes video (left).

• Meanwhile, Lance Parkin posts about writing Doctor Who novels and talks about his own processes a little...

• Edinburgh's Evening News recently warned a new animated version of Dennis the Menace will not be "as generations of Beano readers might know him.
"The familiar red and black stripes are there, so is the mischievous look and the general air of having been up to no good. But this is one of our best known comic characters gently revamped and modernised for a new generation of fans. Read more about the new cartoon from Red Kite Animation here on the Evening News web site.

• Talking of The Beano, The Guardian notes how aristocracy still survives in the comic, "in the person of Lord Snooty III, inheritor of the Snooty fortune and embodiment of modern wealth," notes Jonathan Jones in the paper's Arts Pages. "That's right, The Beano is the home of acute social satire. Lord Snooty's world of toffs and hounds has of course long gone. So instead we have Lord Snooty the Third who terrorises his staff by riding his quad bike and driving a train through the house. He is modern, he is style-conscious, and he's still a bastard. In fact he treats underlings much worse than his feudal forebear ever did. Cartoonists looking for ammunition against David Cameron's Tory party might want to consult Lord Snooty the Third."

• Snooty of course is merely upholding a long tradition of British comics, that of anarchy and rebelllion, the kind of things that mean Mickey Mouse, for example, has never been really popular in Britain in the same way as Dennis the Menace -- that, and the fact that he isn't "home grown". Bill McLoughlin, an archivist at DC Thomson and who was a script writer for 40 years at titles such as the Beezer, Topper and Rover recently argued Mickey never really took off in Britain because he wasn't very British. "If you look at the history of our comics, they are all very British and what appeals to us is kids getting one over authority," he told the Sunday Herald for an article about Disney's mouse hero, "whereas Disney's characters had this middle American morality that said: if you do something that isn't nice, you get your comeuppance.
"You can see that reflected in the Beano, which was anti-establishment, but Dennis always got punished for what he did wrong. In the Dandy though, which was anarchic, the violence was total."

• Finally, check out this great Strontium Dog fan strip, A Girl Called Johnny, by Dan Whiston, Kames Kircough and Richard Clemonts, originally created for Dogbreath. A gem...

(Special thanks to Matthew Badham for some of the links in this round up)