The ''Fun Size Beano'' and ''Fun Size Dandy'' were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times monthly by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the ''Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries'', originally printed in red, white and black and published from 1982 to 1997. The Beano Comic Libraries lasted for 368 issues and their Dandy counterparts lasted for 344 issues. There were also comic library specials, The Beano Comic Library Specials being puzzle books and lasting for 87 issues (1988–1994) and the Dandy Comic Library Specials being cartoon books, featuring a number of single page comic strips and these lasted for 88 issues (1987–1994). The comics were spin-offs of the weekly comics, The Beano and The Dandy. Two of each title would appear each month; they later appeared one Beano and one Dandy Fun Size every fortnight, rather than two of each at a time. This meant there were now two extra issues of each title per year. As of 2006 two comics a month were reprints from the 1990s, but as of 2007 all four became reprint-only. ''Fun Size Beano'' and ''Fun Size Dandy'' were both discontinued in November 2010 due to low sales.

Special version

For a period, if readers joined The Beano Club, subscribers would receive a special version of a ''Fun Size Beano'', called the ''Beano Club Special.'' This was originally printed in 1999, and contained some reprints from 1980s annuals, alongside some new strips by Barrie Appleby and Nigel Parkinson.

Characters in ''Fun Size Beano''

* Ball Boy * Dennis the Menace *

Ivy the Terrible Ivy the Terrible is a fictional character featured in ''The Beano''. She is a four-year-old girl who annoys her parents with her misbehaviour. She first appeared in ''The Beano'' in 1985 in the comic strip of the same name, but has starred in ot ...

Minnie the Minx Minnie the Minx, whose real name is Hermione Makepeace is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, ma ...

* The Bash Street Kids *

Billy Whizz Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic ''The Beano'', first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His ...

Roger the Dodger Roger "the Dodger" Dawson is a comic strip character from the comic magazine ''The Beano''. He first appeared in his eponymous comic strip in 1953, and is one of the longest-running characters, known for his tactics of avoiding responsibility a ...

Les Pretend Lesley Presley Pretend is a fictional character in a comic strip (Les Pretend) in the UK comic ''The Beano'' with the byline "the Little kid with the big imagination". Originally drawn by John Sherwood, he first appeared in issue 2493, dated ...

* The Numskulls *

Little Plum Little Plum (full name revealed to be Little Plum Stealing Varmint) is a British humoristic western comics series about a little Native American, originally created by Leo Baxendale and published in the magazine ''The Beano''. Concept The epon ...

Tim Traveller Tim Traveller was a British comic strip created by Vic Neill and published in the British comics magazine ''The Beano''. He first appeared in issue 2862, dated 24 May 1997, as part of a continuing set of six new comic strips where the one with th ...

* Bash Street Bugs * Bea occasionally. * Biffo *

Stunt Boy A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

Lester the Jester Lester is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname and given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name * Lester Bangs (1948–1982), American music critic * Lester W. Bentley (1908–1972), American artist from Wiscon ...

* Erbert from the Bash Street Kids.

Characters in ''Fun Size Dandy''

* Desperate Dan * Puss 'n' Boots * Beryl the Peril * Cuddles and Dimples *

Owen Goal Owen Goal was a British comic strip published in the comics magazine ''The Dandy''. It centers around a schoolboy who plays for a school football team. The comic strip is one page long and features Owen's interaction with his overweight, lazy ...

* Blinky *

Bananaman Bananaman is a fictional character appearing in British comic books. Bananaman is a parody of traditional superheroes, being portrayed as a schoolboy who is transformed into a muscled, caped adult man when he eats a banana. The character origin ...

* Cowrin Wolf * Strange Hill School *

Desperate Dawg Desperate may refer to: * Despair (emotion), a feeling of hopelessness * ''Desperate'' (film), a 1947 suspense film directed by Anthony Mann * ''Desperate'' (Divinyls album), a 1983 album by Australian rock group Divinyls * ''Desperate'' (Daph ...

Additional characters from other comics

* I Spy (

Sparky Sparky is a common nickname for people and animals. In the British Commonwealth, it can also be used to refer to an electrician. People * Sparky Adams (1894–1989), American Major League Baseball player * Sparky Anderson (1934–2010), American ...

) * Dreamy Daniel (

) *

Badd Lads "Badd" is the second single from the Ying Yang Twins' album ''U.S.A. (United State of Atlanta)''. It features Mike Jones and Mr. Collipark. In 2006 it reached number 6 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The ...

(

The Beezer ''The Beezer'' (called ''The Beezer and Topper'' for the last three years of publication) was a British comic that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in ''The Beezer' ...

) * Tiny ( Topper) * Scoopy ( Nutty)

Characters who were exclusive to Fun Size Comics

Marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

King of the Jungle, * Salty Sam, *

Luncheon Vulture Lunch is a meal eaten around the middle of the day. It is commonly the second meal of the day, after breakfast, and varies in size by culture and region. Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the etymology ...

, *Stunt Boy drawn by

Nick Brennan Nick Brennan is a British cartoonist who works mainly for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. He started drawing for the company in 1993, drawing a revival of Peter Piper from ''The Dandy'', revived from The Magic Comic, but with a departure from Watkin ...

*Lester the Jester.

References