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The Beano: The UK's Favorite Comic
For starters, it's published by the UK's DC Thomson publishing company, and has been since its late 1930s inception. Though circulation is wide, it hasn't quite reached a mainstream American audience. But we wouldn't attribute that entirely to the publisher. It could also be the wonderfully quirky characters. The Beano's original cover star was Big Eggo, a bug-eyed ostrich who made his living as a zookeeper, but secretly aspires to be a hen, stealing eggs every now and again so he can sit atop them and perfect his hen-like illusion. Apparently, the pretending helps, as later in the series, Big Eggo is seen actually laying eggs, which are subsequently stolen by snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and the like. At one point, in an attempt to avenge one of many egg thefts, Big Eggo gets a snake to swallow a golf ball, then strings him up and uses him as a punching bag. Not your typical American comic fare, perhaps? Big Eggo's reign as The Beano's leading man lasted 'til 1949. For the next twenty or so years, several characters made cameos: Lord Snooty (the Earl of Bunkerton, who'd been ousted years before in favor of Big Eggo), Polly Wolly Doodle and her Great Big Poodle and Swanky Wanky Liz. In 1964, Billy Whiz replaced Big Eggo as a permanent Beano mainstay. A kid with an oblong head and a tuft of (hair? maybe it's just a two long shoots growing out of his forehead), Billy is best known for his ability to whizz from one spot to another in record speed. Several talented artists are responsible for each character that's ever graced the pages of Beano. Among them are Dudley D. Watkins (Lord Snooty), Reg Carter (Big Eggo) and David Law (Dennis the Menace-not to be mistaken for the Hank Ketchum American version of Dennis the Menace). Today, The Beano remains the UK's most loved variety comic, with nearly 200,000 copies sold weekly. A rare copy of the first issue was recently auctioned for ₤7,500 (approximately $12, 493.50 US dollars).
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