{"id":32258,"date":"2025-02-18T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=32258"},"modified":"2025-02-17T18:44:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T18:44:03","slug":"the-beano-and-the-dandy-comics-in-the-classroom-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/02\/18\/the-beano-and-the-dandy-comics-in-the-classroom-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beano and The Dandy: Comics in the Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy many & various including Dudley D. Watkins<\/strong>, Leo Baxendale<\/strong>, Eric Roberts<\/strong>, Alan Morley<\/strong>, Chick Gordon<\/strong>, Ron Spencer<\/strong>, A.G. Martin<\/strong>, John K. Geering<\/strong> and more (DC Thomson & Co)
\nISBN: 978-1-84535-347-6 (HB)<\/p>\n

My current editor informs me that it\u2019s half term (AGAIN!?) so here\u2019s a timeless day out revisiting a classic era of halcyon educational highlights heavy on tuck shop excesses, lethally harmful pranks and state-sponsored beatings for comedic effect – nostalgia at its most pungent and effective. And, as is so often the case in case of what old people cherish,<\/em> This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Released as part of the 70th<\/sup> Anniversary celebrations of the comics company that has more than any other shaped the psyche of generations of children, this impressive magnificent and still readily available hardback compilation rightly glories in the incredible wealth of quality that has paraded through the flimsy pages of The Beano<\/strong> and The Dandy<\/strong>. This splendidly oversized (299 x 205mm) 144 page hardback compilation takes as its broad theme the antics of characters who have waged an incessant war against boredom and repression amidst the chalk-clouded, grubby corridors of school, risking corporal punishment, exhausted writing hands and ritual humiliation to keep us all amused and rebellious at heart.<\/p>\n

Tragically, neither it nor its companion volumes are available digitally yet, but hope springs ever eternal\u2026<\/p>\n

Admittedly this book goes through some rather elaborate editing, design and paste-up permutations to editorially explain to modern readers the vast changes to the once-commonplace that\u2019s happened in intervening years. Naturally the process has quietly dodged the more egregious terms and scenarios that wouldn\u2019t sit well with 21st<\/sup> century sensibilities, although to my enlightened sensibilities the concentration on whacking children on the bottom does occur with disturbing frequency – the Bash Street Kids<\/em> even had their fearfully expectant upraised bums as the strip\u2019s logo for a few years!<\/p>\n

However, viewed as a cultural and historical memoire, this is a superb comic commemoration of one of our greatest communal formative forces, with a vast number of strips and stories carefully curated from a hugely transformative period in national history. They\u2019re also superbly timeless examples of cartoon storytelling at its best\u2026<\/p>\n

Until it folded, was briefly reborn as a digital publication in 2012, and died again, The Dandy<\/strong> was the third-longest running comic in the world (behind Italy\u2019s Il Giornalino<\/em><\/strong> which launched in 1924 and America\u2019s Detective Comics<\/strong> in March 1937). The Dandy<\/strong> premiered on December 4th<\/sup> 1937: breaking the mould of traditional UK predecessors and competitors by using word balloons and captions on some strips, rather than just the narrative blocks of text under the sequential picture frames that had been the industry standard.<\/p>\n

A huge success, it was followed on July 30th<\/sup> 1938 by The Beano<\/strong> – and in concert they revolutionised the way children\u2019s publications looked and, most importantly, how they were read. Over many decades the \u201cterrible twins\u201d spawned so many unforgettable and beloved household names who delighted countless avid and devoted readers, and their unmissable end of year celebrations were graced with bumper bonanzas of the comics\u2019 weekly stars in extended stories in magnificent hardback annuals.<\/p>\n

During WWII, rationing of paper and ink forced the \u201cchildren\u2019s papers\u201d into an alternating fortnightly schedule: on September 6th<\/sup> 1941, only The Dandy<\/strong> was published. A week later just The Beano<\/strong> appeared. The rascally rapscallions only returned to normal weekly editions on 30th<\/sup> July 1949, but the restrictions had not hurt sales. In fact, in December 1945, The Beano<\/strong> #272 became the first British comic to sell a million copies, and the post-war period saw more landmarks as the children\u2019s division of DC Thomson blossomed over the ten years, with innovative characters and a profusion of talented cartoonists who would carry it to publishing prominence, even as the story papers died back in advance of more strip anthologies like The Topper<\/strong> (1953) and The Beezer<\/strong> (1956)\u2026<\/p>\n

This compilation primarily concentrates via random extracts and selected strips on the development of established 1940s stars – like Biffo the Bear<\/em> (1948), Lord Snooty<\/em> (1938), The Smasher<\/em> (1938, but completely reinvented in 1957), Korky the Cat<\/em> and Desperate Dan<\/em> (both 1937), who all survived the winds of change to grow into beloved and long-lived favourites in the new era. They\u2019re highlighted beside the most successful new characters of the fifties -mostly school-aged if not actually school-based – including Dennis the Menace<\/em> (1951), Minnie the Minx<\/em>, Roger the Dodger<\/em> and Little Plum<\/em> (all 1953) and The Bash Street Kids<\/em> (1956 or 1954 if you count prototype When the Bell Rings!<\/em> as the same).<\/p>\n

Nevertheless there\u2019s also a wonderful selection of less well known features on view\u2026<\/p>\n

This superb celebration of Celtic creativity is packed literally cover-to-cover with brilliant, breakthrough strips with the mirth starting on the inside front with an outrageous 2-colour Frontispiece tableau by Leo Baxendale of When the Bell Rings!<\/em> It\u2019s mirrored at the back of the book by a similarly hilarious spread starring Biffo<\/em> by indisputable cartoonist Dudley D. Watkins\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Within these suitably dog-eared pages you will find cracking examples of Alan Morley\u2019s Old Ma Murphy<\/em>, Korky the Cat<\/em>, Hooky\u2019s Magic Bowler Hat<\/em> (by wonderful Chick Gordon), The Pocket Grandpas<\/em> (both the 1940\u2019s prose feature and the 1970\u2019s strip drawn by Ron Spencer), Big Eggo<\/em>, Miss Primm<\/em> (Morley again), Tough Nellie Duff<\/em> (\u201cthe Strong Arm School Marm\u201d), and Billy Butter the Brainy Goat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

More substantial offerings honour Biffo the Bear<\/em> (by both Dudley D. Watkins and Leo Baxendale) and Dennis the Menace<\/em>, Our Teacher\u2019s a Walrus<\/em> and Lord Snooty<\/em> (both by incredibly prolific Watkins), as well as Winker Watson<\/em> and the unforgettable, irrepressible Dirty Dick<\/em> (both illustrated by the unique Eric Roberts).<\/p>\n

Greedy Pigg<\/em>, Mr Mutt<\/em> and Jammy the Sammy<\/em> were all by the indefatigable A.G. Martin whilst Baxendale\u2019s immortal Bash Street Kids<\/em>, Desperate Dan<\/em> (by Watkins), Whacko!<\/em> And Robin Hood\u2019s Schooldays<\/em> (by Spencer again) are well represented too; but it\u2019s the tantalising glimpses of such minor celebrities as Dopey Dinah<\/em>, Bamboo Town<\/em>, and Keyhole Kate<\/em> that I\u2019d like to see more of sometime.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a raft of bonus features such as an article on long-lost prose stories like Jimmy the Double Dunce<\/em>, and Through Fire and Flood with Bobby Trent<\/em>, a complete 8 page full-colour Bananaman <\/em>strip from 1985 that was given away in schools and dentists, by John K. Geering, and the unpublished final episode (#837 if you\u2019re counting) of the Jocks and the Geordies<\/em> from the Dandy.<\/p>\n

This strip was never completed and is presented as unlettered black line art, with the artist\u2019s script printed below: a fascinating insight for anybody seeking a career in the industry. In fact this book is a treasure trove for the aspiring pro as many strips are reproduced from original camera-ready artwork – with printers\u2019 instructions, editor\u2019s notes and even un-erased pencil lines on show – highly educational for those looking for secrets and details of \u201cthe process\u201d.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding all that, the true magic of this collection is the brilliant art and stories by a host of talents that have literally made Britons who they are today, and bravo to DC Thomson for letting them out for a half-day to run amok once again.
\n\u00a9 2008 DC Thomson & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By many & various including Dudley D. Watkins, Leo Baxendale, Eric Roberts, Alan Morley, Chick Gordon, Ron Spencer, A.G. Martin, John K. Geering and more (DC Thomson & Co) ISBN: 978-1-84535-347-6 (HB) My current editor informs me that it\u2019s half term (AGAIN!?) so here\u2019s a timeless day out revisiting a classic era of halcyon educational … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Beano and The Dandy: Comics in the Classroom”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,113,125,97,296],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-british","category-comedy","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages","category-school-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8oi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32260,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32258\/revisions\/32260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}