JUST WHAT HAS THE BEANO COME TO...?

Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Oh dear, just what has happened to The Beano?  It's gone all woke and preachy, seemingly more interested in 'educating' readers than in entertaining them.  Major mistake.  I bought the Minnie The Minx 60th Anniversary issue of the comic yesterday and could hardly find anything worth a laugh throughout the entire issue.  The only good thing I saw was the representation of a statue of Leo Baxendale in The Bash Street Kids being referred to as 'our founder' - a nice touch.

However, the comic's adopted mantra with which to bash (npi) readers over the head this week was 'don't be afraid to fail', which despite any good intentions, makes it sound that failure is something you should aspire to.  In trying to be all-inclusive and diverse, the comic has lost sight of its purpose in life - to be funny!  The stories feel contrived, with no real cohesion in their construction.  In some strips, it almost seems like the writers came up with the first and last panels to start with, then wrote what was happening between them as an afterthought.

And although the comic contains some nice art, the characters are all too unrelentingly 'cutesy' for my liking.  As good an artist as Nigel Parkinson undoubtedly is, his Dennis (likely drawn according to editorial direction) isn't a patch on Davey Law's original version.  Remember when The Beano was rebellious, anarchic, funny and had an 'edge' to it?  Well, not any more.  Just how much longer the comic will survive if it goes on like this, I shudder to think.

Any thoughts, you know where to let loose.  Oh, I almost forgot - Happy Birthday Minnie.

Posted in: Cartoons