[2] Popular and well-known comic strips and characters include Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty and His Pals, Ivy the Terrible, General Jumbo, Jonah, and Biffo the Bear.

The Beano was planned as a pioneering children's magazine that contained mostly comic strips, in the style of American newspaper gag-a-days, as opposed to the more text-based story papers that were immensely popular before the Second World War.

Beano is a multimedia franchise with spin-off books and Christmas annuals, a website, theme park rides, games, cartoon adaptations, and a production company.

[9][Note 1] These were weekly issued boys' magazines for preteen males, containing anthologies by DC Thomson's creator staff designed in various formats and genres.

They became popular throughout the United Kingdom, notably in English industrial cities,[10] helped through the company's ability to view sales and promotions in the areas much more easily than the rival publishers in London.

[16] After an in-person interview, Low and Carter planned the front cover for The Beano's first issue, eventually creating the character Big Eggo (originally named Oswald the Ostrich).

[22] Tin-Can Tommy and Brave Captain Kipper were reprints, co-produced by the Italian art agency Torelli Bros.[21] Worth 2d with a free prize of a "whoopee mask", issue 1 of The Beano was released on 26 July 1938 for the 30th,[1] selling roughly 443,000 copies.

The two magazines also followed the one-word titles of other comics by rival companies, such as Amalgamated Press' Crackers,[24] Sparkler,[25] Puck[26] and some books from its Union Jack series (The Marvel, The Magnet and The Gem);[27] and Target Publications' Chuckler, Rattler and Dazzler.

[28] Drastic changes occurred behind the scenes of The Beano during the Second World War: George Moonie and editing partner Ron Fraser left to join the Royal Marines and Air Force respectively, both not returning until c.

[30] Paper rationing caused the rest of Low's New Big Five to be cancelled[13] (it stopped at three published, the third member being The Magic Comic (1939), which ended with 80 issues in 1941),[31] and The Beano to fluctuate its page count instead of its usual 28.

In the 21st century, there were seven changes within a five-year span: logo updates, fonts assigned for certain design roles,[Note 8] and the magazine started using glossy paper.

The stories were either dramatic or dramedies, but heavily featured hobbies and interests young boys had (war and the military,[80][81][82][83] hunting, sailing,[84][85][86][87] jungle men).

Some stories were about animals with artwork by former Big Five illustrator[92] Richard "Toby" Baines,[93][94] but the longest-running prose character in the magazine's history was Prince Ivor, who first starred in Follow the Secret Hand.

Misbehaving children showed most popular with Lord Snooty and His Pals becoming the first longest-running strip when it concluded in 1991, but the most well known that continue to appear in issues are Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, and Roger the Dodger.

[121] Stories used to vary in length and layout, but in 2012, The Beano debuted a chapter called Funsize Funnies where shorter comic strips shared some pages.

[145][146] For the 80th anniversary, issue 3945 was guest edited by actor-turned children's author David Walliams and had a large crossover story about Bash Street School opening the Beanotown's 1938 time capsule and discovering a map, which leads to robots and a giant tentacle monster breaking out to attack the residents.

[173][174] Originally, free gifts would be attached inside the cover or strategically on the front so that it could distract the buyer from other comics next to The Beano on the shelves, hopefully excited for the next issue after reading it and eating/playing with the toys.

[186][187] For 2018, readers could buy a box for the 80th anniversary containing posters, reprints of selected older issues, and two books updating the previous documentation of the magazine's history,[188] as well as Minnie the Minx's origins.

44-page special issue 4062, with cover date 21 November 2020, during a lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic had an eight-page adult pullout named BeanOLD, with cartoons poking fun at British politicians such as Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, and with appearances by Greta Thunberg, Captain Tom, and footballer Marcus Rashford.

[204] Michael Stirling, former chief editor, returned as head of the Dundee studio,[202] with Jodie Morris, James Neal, Nigel Pickard, and Emma Scott joining in key roles.

[205][206] The website beano.com offers games, news, videos, and content that appeals to children and nostalgic parents alike, drawing over two million annual visitors.

Building on this success, Beano Studios pursued new projects including a live-action Minnie the Minx show, another Dennis the Menace adaptation, and a Bananaman cartoon in collaboration with Fox Entertainment.

In the 1950s, it (and The Dandy) were unaffected by DC Thomson's magazine cancellations (selling over 100 million per year)[208] that were caused by both paper rationing and public lack of interest.

[209] Alan Digby's attempt to boost sales with the 8-week "Missing Gnasher"[210] plot in Dennis the Menace failed,[144] but the story featured in newspapers and on radio broadcasts, causing people of all ages to contact Beano offices to voice their concerns.

I grew up on Beanos and Dandys in 1970s Canada, and become one of my country's leading kids' cartoonists, writing and drawing for Chickadee magazines and annuals, and creating a weekly comic strip for the Toronto Star.

Beano artists Emily McGorman-Bruce, Zoom Rockman, Jess Bradley, and Barrie Appleby were avid readers of the magazine and/or its annuals before they became creators of its new strips.

In 1988, 100 children helped Euan Kerr and Beano scriptwriter Al Bernard recreate the front cover of issue 2396 on Scarborough Beach with Hann-Made Productions.

[248] Along with Nick Park's guest editor issue, the 70th anniversary coincided with Gnashional Menace Day, a CLIC Sargent-partnered event where readers could be sponsored "behaving like Dennis" for charity.

Dennis and Gnasher's constant targeting of passive, diligent Walter "the Softy" (who was also a knitting and flower-picking hobbyist)[262] was accused of encouraging playground homophobia, so it was toned down.

[216] Fatty from the Bash Street Kids was renamed Freddy (his real name) in 2021, causing backlash from former readers, including then government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg who accused the change of being "publicity-seeking".