The Beano at 80: How a British institution is keeping the kids chuckling

“Whenever we come up to a major anniversary, people always ask us how much longer The Beano can keep going, whether we think we might actually make it to the next birthday,” says Mike Stirling, the title’s editorial director. “But this time things are different – in 2016 we revitalised ourselves with the creation of Beano Studios, and sales of the comic are increasing. I wouldn’t says that makes us cocky, but there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that no one’s going to be asking the question this time!” He says this with a touch of the impudence of The Beano’s Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx or one of the Bash Street Kids, a stable of characters who have become intergenerational household names in the UK. Yet if the enthusiasm of the guy in charge echoes the spirit of the comic, this only emphasises one of the key reasons for The Beano’s unlikely but very much ongoing success. As well as the embrace of other technologies which Beano Studios was designed to bring about – the free website and app have been hugely successful, and the 2017 animated series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! Read MORE…