Wednesday, 20 November 2013

The Beano Annual review


As a child, I always used to get a Beano annual (and a Dandy one) in my Christmas stocking (or rather just behind it because they wouldn't fit inside). Sitting down to read it while my mum started fighting with the turkey and vegetables in the kitchen and Noel Edmonds was making people's festive wishes come true on the telly became an integral part of the Christmas morning routine. I haven't read The Beano for years though, so when the opportunity came up to review the 2014 annual, I jumped at the chance to reconnect with my inner child !



Right from the first page, I loved the retro feel - it didn't look like it had changed a scrap since my time reading it in the 70's and 80's.


All my old favourites are still in there - I used to be in the Dennis the Menace and Gnasher fan club.


I had a red and black rugby shirt that I used to love too so that I'd look like Minnie the Minx !



I remember Little Plum too.


And Pansy Potter the Strongman's Daughter. They can't be written and illustrated by the same people as when I first discovered it all those years ago, but they've really managed to keep the same retro feel that older fans will love and recognise.


It does have some new (to me) characters though, that I loved discovering - the football-crazy Ball Boy for example. 


Bananaman for another one - I've seen him elsewhere but never realised he came from The Beano.


The Madhouse Mini-testers loved the silly escapades and the cheeky sense of humour that also appealed to me when I was their age.



In fact, it looks like a new generation of Beano fans may have just been born !

The Beano is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year so there are lots of products being launched that will make great stocking fillers for any fans, whatever their age.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £7.99

  • Hardcover: 96 pages
  • Publisher: D.C.Thomson & Co Ltd (5 July 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1845355083
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845355081
  • Product Dimensions: 28.6 x 22 x 1.2 cm



Disclosure : We received the annual in order to write an honest review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Picture book review : The Nativity - May Eliot

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