GOOD NEWS: The BEANO TURNS 75 YEARS OLD. BAD NEWS: 60 YEAR-OLD ROGER The DODGER Is MURDERED...

Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Picked up the latest issue of The BEANO today, celebrating 75 years of publishing.  Took a quick look through it and was glad to see that they've now switched back to an upper case lettering font which, despite claims by some, does not give the impression that everyone is shouting - and is also much easier to read.  (And just looks better!)

The bad news though, is that long-running stalwart, ROGER The DODGER has been murdered - and replaced with a strange, alien-looking creature that seems immensely juvenile in both art and lettering.  Having ditched the nursery look in the rest of the comic, whatever possessed DCT to let the artist letter his own work?

The lettering, which is not much more than a scrawl, and the balloons, which are far too large, dominate the panels, and are not only sore on the eyes but utterly uninviting.  I didn't even bother trying to read the strip, which is populated by basic, unappealing, bug-eyed jellyfish-type doodles, 'illustrated' in the 'How to Draw Comics Quickly and Without Much Effort' style that the artist is (in)famous for.

The editor, the same man responsible for the decisions behind the demise of The DANDY, doesn't seem to have learned much (apart from in the lettering dept - bar one), from his previous mistakes and seems determined in trying to convince us that, when it comes to what comic art should look like, he knows best.  We can only hope that what is so far only a small irritating rash does not turn into the same full-blown terminal disease that doomed The Dandy.

Fingers crossed, eh?

R.I.P. ROGER The DODGER.

1953-2013.

"We Shall Remember Him."

FUN WITH RUPERT...

Images copyright EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS Plc

"Oh, RUPERT, RUPERT The BEAR - everyone sing his name!"  So ran the theme tune to the lunchtime television show which was broadcast between 1970 and '74.  However, as most fans know, the correct way to refer to the bruin is simply Rupert Bear - without the definite article.

Created by MARY TOURTEL and making his debut in The DAILY EXPRESS on November 8th, 1920, Rupert soared to even greater heights of popularity under ALFRED BESTALL, who took over the strip in 1935 until 1965.  (Though he continued to draw covers and endpapers for the Annuals for years afterwards.)

Rupert's newspaper strip usually consisted of two illustrated panels (four in the Annuals, in two tiers), with text underneath, instead of incorporated into the art like other comic strips.  However, back in 1988, the first of three RUPERT FUN books was released, featuring the little brown bruin's adventures in the more 'modern' form, with captions and speech balloons within the panels.

The first two were hardback (48 pages, including covers), with the third being cardboard covered, with a 48 page interior page- count.  Along with repackaged reprints of earlier strips, the books also featured puzzles and games, and were full-colour throughout.  Costing only £1.99, they represented extremely good value for money, and it's a shame the series didn't continue.

So, just in case you've never seen them before, here are the covers of all three books, along with a small selection of interior pages from the first.  Hum the theme tune while you look.

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Click here for more about Rupert.