{"id":34629,"date":"2025-12-25T09:01:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T09:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34629"},"modified":"2025-12-23T18:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T18:06:08","slug":"the-beano-book-1971-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/12\/25\/the-beano-book-1971-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beano Book 1971"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy David Sutherland<\/strong>, Malcolm Judge<\/strong>, Paddy Brennan<\/strong>, Ronald Spencer<\/strong>, Bob McGrath<\/strong>, Robert Nixon<\/strong>, Gordon Bell<\/strong>, Jim Petrie<\/strong>, many & various (DC Thomson & Co., Ltd.)
\nISBN: 978-0-8511-6031-3 (HB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

For many British fans Christmas means The Beano Book<\/strong> (although Scots worldwide have a pretty fair claim that the season belongs to them with collections of The Broons<\/strong> and Oor Wullie <\/strong>making every December 25th<\/sup> magical) and I\u2019m highlighting this particular edition as another epitome of my personal holiday memories. As usual my knowledge of the creators involved is woefully inadequate but I\u2019m going to hazard a few guesses in the hope that someone with better knowledge will correct me when I err.<\/p>\n

In this little cracker are a number of David Sutherland\u2019s Biffo the Bear<\/em> strips as well as his Bash Street Kids<\/em> and even a smashing action-adventure of boy super-hero Billy the Cat<\/em> (I wonder if the editors distributed strips to artists in alphabetical order?). There are whirlwind tales of \u201cfastest boy on Earth\u201d Billy Whizz<\/em> drawn by Malcolm Judge. Paddy Brennan worked as a dramatic artist for decades on General Jumbo<\/em> (the heroic boy who radio-controlled an army of robot toys) and the Q-Bikes<\/em>: a team of young adventurers with technologically advanced push-bikes. In this tome they trade in two wheels for four, to become the Q-Karts<\/em> for an Australian adventure, whilst the aforementioned General captures a team of safecrackers in his home town.<\/p>\n

These annuals were traditionally produced in the wonderful \u201chalf-colour\u201d that many British publishers employed to keep costs down while adding a bit of pizazz. This was done by printing sections of the books with only two plates, such as blue\/Cyan and red\/Magenta. The versatility and palette range this provided was astounding. Even now this technique screams \u201cHolidays\u201d to me and my rapidly dwindling contemporaries.<\/p>\n

Some Dennis the Menace<\/em> strips are possibly drawn by original creator Davy Law, but are most likely the work of his style-chameleon replacement David Sutherland. They all feature his charismatic then-new co-star \u2018Gnasher\u2019<\/em> too. Woefully dated, culturally suspect but astoundingly funny, the Little Plum<\/em> strips are by Ronald Spencer, I think, as are The Nibblers<\/em>: an anarchic gang – and weren\u2019t they all in The Beano<\/strong>? – of mice.<\/p>\n

The 3 Bears<\/em> segments are by Bob McGrath whilst Lord Snooty<\/em> (one of the longest running strips in the comic\u2019s history – a record only recently overtaken by Dennis) is the work of Robert Nixon, as is the Roger the Dodger<\/em> Family Album<\/em> section. There are short romps with Pups Parade<\/em> (AKA the Bash Street Pups – the unlovely pets of those unlovely kids) by Gordon Bell, and exemplar of Girl Power Minnie the Minx<\/em> gets her own 16-page mini-book in this annual – and who could stop her? – courtesy of the wonderful Jim Petrie, but I\u2019ll admit to being totally stumped by Swinging Jungle Jim<\/em>: a frantic boy-Tarzan strip that has sunk without trace since those faraway times.<\/p>\n

Topped off with activity and gag-pages, this is a tremendously fun book, and even in the absence of legendary creators such as Dudley Watkins, Leo Baxendale or Ken Reid, and with a small but noticeable decline in the mayhem and anarchy quotas, there\u2019s still so much merriment on offer I can\u2019t believe this book is 55 years old. If ever anything needed to be issued as commemorative collections, it\u2019s DC Thomson annuals. Perhaps as the company pursues digital reprints volumes we could anticipate entire Annual re-releases?…<\/p>\n

Divorcing the sheer quality of this brilliant book from nostalgia is a healthy exercise, but I\u2019m perfectly happy to simply wallow – even today – in the magical emotions this \u2018almost-colourful\u2019 annual still stirs. It\u2019s a good solid laugh-&-thrill-packed read from a magical time (I was in my final year of primary school and a beloved, spoiled and precocious little snot with not a care in the world), and turning those stiffened two-colour pages remains an unmatchable Christmas experience.
\n\u00a9 1970 DC Thomson & Co., Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Sutherland, Malcolm Judge, Paddy Brennan, Ronald Spencer, Bob McGrath, Robert Nixon, Gordon Bell, Jim Petrie, many & various (DC Thomson & Co., Ltd.) ISBN: 978-0-8511-6031-3 (HB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. For many British fans Christmas means The Beano Book (although Scots worldwide have a pretty fair claim … <\/p>\n

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