Beano Annual

The Beano Annual by DC Thomson Publications first hit the stands in 1939 as The Beano Book. It came into being in connection with the children's comic ‘The Beano’. Since 1965, it has been appearing in autumn, just before Christmas. The Beano Annual first featured a publishing date on its cover in the 1965 issue and the practice now continues.

Between 1942 and 1949, it appeared under the name ‘The Magic Beano Book’, deriving this title from the short-lived ‘The Magic Comic’. ‘The Magic Comic’ which was discontinued in light of World War II related paper shortages catered mainly to younger readers and focused primarily on picture stories. ‘The Magic Comic’ first appeared on July 22, 1939 and lasted for just 80 issues until January 25, 1941. It featured an annual version called the Magic Fun Book.

The name was reverted to the original title of ‘The Beano Book’ around the 1950s. This name continued until the 2003 issue was released in 2002. The following issue appeared as ‘The Beano Annual’ and since then the book is being released in that name. Dennis the Menace, one of the most popular comic characters in the Beano Annual now traditionally appears on all its covers. ‘The Beano Annual 2007’ features Dennis and Gnasher, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Minnie the Minx and the rest.

From the 1930s through to the 1950s, The Beano comic and Beano Annual, along with the Dandy comics, were mainstays of the DC Thomson publication empire. Along the way, these landmark comics have spawned some of the best-loved British comic characters. Well preserved copies of the Beano Annual like ‘The Beano Annual 1959’, ‘The Beano Annual 1968’, ‘The Beano Annual 1970’ and ‘The Beano Annual 1978’ are a favourite amongst the collectors.