Dennis & Gnasher Cartoon Capers - Beano Books

I have been forced and held against my will to write a review on my 8 year old son's favourite comic of all time - The Beano! (Truly, it is my son who reads this and not me!)

For almost the same price as a couple of packets of crisps (65p to be precise) my son and I trot down to the local newsagents every Thursday to make our weekly purchase of what is arguably a very funny and cheap read. The front page often adorns a "freebie" which is even more enticing to a child's eye but this doesn't happen regularly, nor does it need to as the Beano stands out on its own without any need to lure children with a free toy/sweet on it's front page.

Inside this comic you will find 15 different mini stories of cartoon capers beginning on the first inside page with, of course, Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, who else?!. Other cartoon stories include oldies such as Ball Boy, The Numskulls, Little Plum, The Bash Street Kids, Minnie The Minx, Rodger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, with a few new ones amongst them such as Ivy The Terrible and Tim Traveller.

My son loves The Beano so much that in almost 2 years he has collected roughly 100 copies. Where does he keep them? Having tried to get him to part company with them but him steadfastly refusing to watch his beloved Beanos being recycled, we found out that you can actually purchase Beano Binders to hold your comics in. I purchased a couple on the Internet by going into www.beanotown.com but have to admit that, although the binders are great at keeping all his comics together and in one place, they are quite pricey (about £5-£6 if I remember rightly).

Joining the Beano Club is also well worth it - £15 for kids, £17 for adults. This gives you a whole year's membership which includes receiving a t-shirt (not available to purchase anywhere), lots of little gifts, a poster, pocket-size Beano books, etc, and throughout the year you will also receive a birthday card from them, newsletters and offers only available exclusively to Beano members. It really is a great membership.

Measuring in at approximately 22cm x 29 cm, folded in half this will adequately fit in any lady's standard-size handbag should she have to purchase this child's comic without kid in tow. Men - try folding it over about a dozen times and it may just fit in your wallet or, of course, your back trouser pocket. Better still, if you're not as mean as myself, you might like to have The Beano delivered to your home direct by the newspaper boy/girl and thereby avoid any of these embarrassing problems!

The Beano is definitely recommended by my son - but I have to say that I recommend it for one reason only....it keeps him quiet for a little while every Thursday night! Bliss!

(By the way, the specific criteria has been evaluated by my son since I don't actually read the comic!!!)