It's Not The End Of The World

Today is supposedly the Earth's deadline, so instead of us all perishing in flames (or however you picture the planet to end) let's sit here and enjoy some comic strips about the end of the world! First up is this excellent Fred's Bed strip from the 2012 Beano annual, illustrated by the incredible Tom Paterson!

Next up is this Captain Contacts strip from Fizog issue 2! I'm unsure of the artist, the little smiley face above the 'NKM' in the title box doesn't mean much to me and a google search reveals nothing. A possibility is Nicholas Schwab - thanks TwoHeadedBoy!

James Turner's Beaver and Steve, quite possibly the greatest webcomic ever written, destroyed, or nearly destroyed, the Earth on multiple occasions. Here is one of them:

Oh no! The END! What could these aliens possibly do? Read on...

As I said, this wasn't the only time Beaver and Steve faced (or created) ultimate destruction, another is shown at the top of this post, where they destroy humanity with a giant shoe! How did it happen? To find out, head over to 'The Archive' on the Beaver and Steve website and read 'Revenge Of The Shoe Goblin', which starts at episode #208!

www.beaverandsteve.com

Here is a strip that appeared in The Dandy earlier this year. It's the final episode of Cavemen in Black, written and drawn by Andy Fanton!

My webcomic Graham's Onions returns for a third series as of today, and the first strip (actually episode 10) is based around the apocalypse! The style is based on Ken Reid's stuff, can you guess who Graham himself is based on? Here is a sneak preview, but to read the full thing go to:

www.grahamsonions.com

This Week In... 2011 - The Beano

Time for a second 'This Week In' post for the week, this time we head back just one year to see how much The Beano has changed over the past 12 months! Although this issue is dated 26th November, people would have been getting their copies by now if they subscribed.

Inside, things are different. Dennis the Menace's parents still looked old (I'm not a huge fan of the new look parents) and was still drawn by Barrie Appleby, and the contents page looked very dull and boring compared to the bottom one which appeared in The Beano a few weeks ago.

By the way, if you are rummaging through your comics and want something to look at, compare the contents pages in Beano #3659 and #3660! Yep - they're exactly the same!

Further on in the comic and, even six months before, the comic was still building up to the Olympic Games, with an advertisement comic strip called Wenlock and Mandeville, illustrated by Nigel Parkinson. 

Fred's Bed was still in his original form, illustrated by David Sutherland. In this strip Fred travels to a military base and ends up in a comic crossover - going to school at Bash Street!

At the time The Beano was running a reprint series of two different classic strips. The first was Number 13 Beano Street, illustrated by John Geering...

...And the second was The Germs, illustrated by David Sutherland.

The Beano has changed rather a lot over the past year, who knows where it will head in 2013. If the recent revamp is anything to go by, it looks like the comic will only be improving!

Beano Annual 2013

This years Beano book is on sale now, and it comes in at a low £7.99 for just over a hundred pages of fun! The excellent wrap-around cover is illustrated by Steve Bright, as are the inside cover spreads.

Inside, Dennis the Menace's parents look like their younger selves, even though this annual went on sale before they got the makeover in the comic. Personally, I think it would be better if they didn't look so young and 'trendy' because Dennis is a rebel and isn't supposed to get on with at all with his parents.

I wont reveal too much about whats inside as this annual is often given away as a Christmas present, but some of the stories inside include this excellent Bash Street Kids 5 page strip by David Sutherland...

... A great story about Fred's Bed and Shakespeare drawn by Nigel Parkinson...

... And a six page Bananaman strip about defeating the cold, illustrated by Steve Bright!

You can get this book on Amazon, through the D.C Thomson website and various stores throughout the country, all for just £7.99! Plus - if you order from the D.C Thomson website you can get both The Beano and The Dandy annual for just £10!

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/Product-Beano_Annual_2013(20120101)-DCS(2)-BA13(2091).aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beano-Annual-2013-Annuals/dp/1845354869/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347337843&sr=8-1

This Weeks Beano - 25th August 2012

This weeks Beano is a very intresting issue, with the cover advertising a new look for Fred's Bed. However, I personally don't think the new artist suits Fred's Bed, as the strip has always been more detailed when I've read it (and I don't like Fred's new bowl-cut haircut), but I'm sure the artist would suit a different strip.

Also inside wimpy Walter has fired his pet Foo-Foo, and has instead hired Claudius, who is still going to be here for a long time yet! Is Claudius going to go down in history along with other Beano characters? I'd say so!

The comic also comes with the final Golden Ticket, lightly glued to one of the inside pages!

All this and much more fun, out now for only £1.50!

The new look Fred.

Tom Paterson returns to The Beano!

Tom Paterson, the great artist of Sweeny Toddler, Fiddle O' Diddle and Clamity James, returns to The Beano with the latest issue! Tom has taken over from Nigel Parkinson on Fred's Bed, and this weeks episode is about the planet of the hamsters!

Be sure to pick up your copy of Beano #3648, out now for only £1.50! (And whilst your at it, why not grab a Dandy?)

With thanks to Harry Rickard for the photo - be sure to check out his blog here!