We Dundonians are proud of our comic roots, but sometimes not really fully aware of the visionary people that created our rich history. As someone from the city of the three J’s, I found The Unofficial History of the Beano fascinating. This stupendous book takes the reader through the corridors of DC Thomson twisted around the Beano’s production timeline. McLaughlin shines a light on the vivid & cheeky characters that existed off the page who brought our favourite heroes & villains to life and into our hearts. Dundee has given the world a variety of marvellous things and the Beano is one of our biggest gems that it is quite rightly celebrated in this book.

Buy your copy before Dennis the Menace hides them all!

The Beano comic is old that there is now almost no one left alive in the UK who could not have potentially read it as a child.

The acclaimed children’s illustrator, Shirley Hughes, who died last month aged 94 apparently retained some memories of comics which “predated The Dandy and Beano.” Such people must be a rarity today. Besides even Hughes would have only just celebrated her eleventh birthday when the first Beano arrived in July 1938.

This book provides a decent and comprehensive history of Britain’s longest running comic authored by the appropriately named Iain McLaughlin, a onetime editor of The Beano himself.

This is as the title states, an unofficial history, however, and its worth mentioning that there are no images included from any issues of The Beano in this book at all. Such pictures as there are mostly restricted to some fairly dry images of former contributors, statues of iconic characters such as Minnie the Minx and a cover which manages to evoke memories of the comic without actually including any pictures of characters at all. One wonders if there was some behind-the-scenes wrangling over this, perhaps explaining why the book was delayed from its original scheduled 2021 publication date.

It’s worth emphasising: this is still a solid, informative read. However, if you want to revisit the adventures of your favourite Beano characters be they Dennis the Menace, General Jumbo or Baby Face Finlayson, you’ll have to look elsewhere. There are no snapshots from Beano stories or even cover images inside.

Which Beano do you remember? Very old readers might just remember the very first Beanos featuring the likes of Big Eggo, Pansy Potter: The Strongman’s Daughter and Lord Snooty and his Pals. The new comic was one of three titles launched by Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson in the immediate pre-war era. The first, The Dandy (1937) featuring Korky the Cat and Desperate Dan was The Beano’s companion and rival until it folded in 2012 after an impressive 75-year run. The third comic, The Magic (1939), in contrast, never took off. Launched barely forty days before Hitler invaded Poland, the outbreak of the Second World War effectively finished The Magic off although it shared an annual with The Beano (‘The Magic-Beano Book’) for some years after its official closure in 1941.

Perhaps like my father’s generation, your old enough to remember The Beano’s 1950s golden age, a brilliant period for the comic which saw the launch of many of its most famous characters including Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Roger the Dodger, the now politically incorrect Little Plum and, best of all, The Bash Street Kids which originally appeared under the Hemingway-esque moniker, When The Bell Rings.

All of these stories were still going when I myself started getting the comic in the mid-1980s now joined by the likes of Billy Whizz, Smudge and Ball Boy and as time wore on Ivy The Terrible and Calamity James.

This is a good story about a comic which has lasted a phenomenal 84 years. Hopefully your own memories of The Beano are vivid enough that you won’t need to see pictures of Biffo the Bear, Plug or Les Pretend in order to enjoy this.

If you do, try Googling them!

*Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for supplying a copy of this e-book in return for an honest review.*

As a child fan who has since turned into an adult subscriber of the Beano, I really enjoyed this! The book includes much interesting back information about a comic that should be more widely seen as a British/international treasure. The history is very sympathetically described by a one-time Beano editor. While some controversies are briefly discussed they are spun into the upwards trajectory of changing social norms. I especially loved the descriptions of the various comic strips and office life, which were very vividly described. This style brought the reader close to the key protagonists creating a very enjoyable reading experience. The one unfortunate thing is the lack of any included comics -- notable in the cover's design and "unofficial" tagline.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Unofficial History of the Beano by Iain McLaughlin is a nonfiction book about Britan's longest-running comic. According to the description, the comic has "brought thrills and laughter to generation after generation of children, seeing the young and young-at-heart through World War 2, the social changes of the 1950s and 60s and on into a new millennium." The most famous of these comics is Dennis the Menace, in my opinion.

Overall, The Unofficial History of the Beano is a lovely nonfiction book and slice of comics history. One highlight of this book is how much research must have been done in order to complete this book. It's apparent from the wealth of information that the author really treasured The Beano. I did take off 1 star, becaue there wasn't a single comic or illustration included in the book. If you're intrigued by the description, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in March!

Iain McLaughlin’s Unofficial History of the Beano is 190+ page walkthrough of the Beano’s history, from DC Thomson’s desire for a rapid follow-up to the unexpected success of the Dandy’s launch in 1937 to tweaks made during the recent pandemic. McLaughlin shows how different the Dandy & Beano were to previous comics, e.g. by using speech bubbles inside the picture frames. The first editor, George Moonie, was in the job from the initial planning of the Beano in early 1938, when he was just 24, until 1983. Reading the book, one is impressed by how young the staff were when they started work for DC Thomson - R. D. Low, the Managing Editor of all of DC Thomson’s children’s publications was only 26 – and how long-serving many of them were.

McLaughlin tells us about the editors, cartoonists and writers who influenced the development of the comic; how the comic has changed; and the various characters that have appeared in the comic such as Lord Snooty, Desperate Dan and, of course, Denis the Menace. Dave Sutherland is still drawing the Bash Street Kids every week, more than sixty years since he drew his first page for the Beano.

If you have any interest in the Beano – and who didn’t read it during their childhood? – this is a book to enjoy. I like McLaughlin’s throwaway comments such as “Mysterious old hermits tend to appear quite regularly in old adventure stories but are rarely seen anywhere else, If you ever meet one, there is a good chance that you are in a comic strip.” My only criticism is that my copy was an early proof and there was one chapter that had a lot of repetition – I’d expect that to be edited out before publication.

#TheUnofficialHistoryoftheBeano #NetGalley

The Unofficial History of The Beano, by Iain McLaughlin, is a wonderful peek behind the scenes of the UK's best loved children's comic.

Former Beano editor McLaughlin takes the reader on a journey from the Beano's beginnings back in 1938 right up to the present day, as it prepares to celebrate it's 85th anniversary in 2023. He covers all the big milestones in the Beano's history, the appearances and departures of both big and not-so-big name characters, the comic's role in keeping morale up during World War II, it's impact on popular culture in the UK and how it has changed over the years to meeting the developing tastes of each new generation of readers.

But what makes this book so enjoyable is the unparalleled access McLaughlin has to a host of personal interviews, anecdotes and reminiscences from Beano writers, artists and editors both past and present, having worked with many of them himself over the years. These add a great deal of insight, humour and warmth to the book, and allow the love the Beano's creators clearly have for the comic to come shining through.

The Beano has been a treasured stalwart of British culture for over 80 years, and Iain McLaughlin’s book is a splendid celebration of Britain’s longest-running comic. Furthermore, it is also relives the glory days of British comics with enthusiasm and depth.
The Beano’s importance as a morale-boosting publication despite paper shortages during the Second World War is analysed with the strips gloriously lampooning real-life figures such as Hitler and Mussolini and even the characters themselves doing their bit for Britain. The creation and development of all the major Beano characters such as Dennis the Menace, Roger the Dodger, Minnie the Minx and The Bash Street Kids is thoroughly examined. Thoroughly researched and full of interesting nuggets such as the fact that the first issue had ten pages devoted to text stories, and that the Bash Street Kids’ headmaster was modelled after the Beano’s editor. Biographies of the artists and writers who created the comic being these lesser-known figures to life, and the book includes quotes and anecdotes from them. Each decade of the Beano’s life is analysed right up to the present day where it continues to go thrive.
This is an unofficial history but the book is fully illustrated with photographs, and there is a full timeline and an index. This book is written with skill and knowledge, relating the whole Beano story from its birth right up to the present day. McLaughlin keeps the tone light throughout and writes with obvious affection for the comic, but this doesn’t detract from what is most definitely a work of scholarship. The book shows how the comic has survived the decades and adapted to the times while maintaining its core values of quality, fun stories and characters for everyone.

This a British comic which most children have grown up with affection since just before the war and in my life was a weekly staple of my reading when a child and the annual each year as a Christmas present as it is based in Dundee. Enjoyed this look at the history of the comic as part of the DC Thomson publishing empire in Dundee as the comic started just before the war and progressed with so many characters we love today Dennis the menace, Lord Snooty, roger the dodger and minnie the minx.

NB: free ARC received for honest review

I read 'The Beano' as a kid, so I was definitely interested to learn more about the comic's past. This book - which while 'unofficial', clearly enjoyed a lot of cooperation from Beano staff past and present - does a good job of outlining the successes and trials of the now 80-year old periodical. I was disappointed that there were not any excerpts from actual issues - it would help to have examples of the art that was being discussed! - but that's a pretty minor complaint.

I was particularly interested by the section on the Beano during WW2, and the author's discussion of the efforts taken to reinvent and update material to allow for changing social mores such as the decline of corporal punishment for kids, and the growing diversity of British society.

*Huge thanks to Netgalley and ‘Pen & Sword’ for providing me with an ebook for Review*
As a kid growing up in England, my early Christmas memories will always include the yearly annuals including Beano and Dandy. I was also a proud member of the Beano fan club. I never really thought about the creators of the comics and what it took to make them.
This book goes in deep to explain the full history of the series from its inception in 1938 to present-day 2021. The main focus of the book is the people, the writers and artists and what their daily lives were. My only gripe with the book is that it is ‘unofficial’, which means it lacks any of the artwork that the text refers to. This is a shame as it would have added so much to the experience.
A particular highlight was the timeline at the back. Now all I need to do is search my loft to find my annuals.
My review can be found on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/26094184-cadguycad

A thrilling look at the history of the Beano. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return got my honest feedback.