Beatrice "Bea" Menace is a fictional character from the British comic magazine ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...

''. She was born in issue 2931 (introduced by David Parkins) and is the baby sister of Dennis the Menace. She appears frequently in her brother's comic strip, but would receive comic strips of her own to star in, including a crossover comic strip with

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 ...

. She is very

flatulent Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...

and often farts. She uses her farts as a way of menacing.

Physical appearance

Bea's appearance is extremely similar to her elder brother's in that she sports short jet-black messy hair and a behind the nose grin. She is a

toddler A toddler is a child approximately 12 to 36 months old, though definitions vary. The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "to toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, like a child ...

who wears a striped yellow and black onesie with a short ponytail with a yellow hair band to match. After the 2009 re-launch of ''Dennis and Gnasher'', eyelashes were added to her appearance and she became far more baby-like in not only looks but also personality. David Parkins had always intended that the character would be called "Bea" (short for Beatrice), but the comic staff decided to put the name up for a reader vote. The readers seemed to agree with Parkins, as "Bea" won the vote by a nearly two-thirds majority. Dennis' Mum regularly shouts, " Bea! No!" whenever she misbehaves.

Publication history

Introduction to ''The Beano''

As part of ''

'' 65th anniversary, issue 2925 teased a "big surprise". Five issues later, Dennis' parents announced his mother was pregnant, making Dennis faint in shock, but ended on a cliffhanger as his mother went into

labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and rushed to the nearby hospital. The front cover of the following issue showed Dennis' delighted father rushing out of the

maternity ward Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births global ...

to tell his son (and

Gnasher Gnasher () is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine ''The Beano''. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher ...

) "It's a girl!" The story inside showed Dennis and Gnasher's worry that a little sister would mean constant crying, baby toys all over the house, and that she could grow up to be an ultra-feminine little girl obsessed with makeup and perfume, who over-occupies the bathroom. The final panels reveal he has nothing to worry about as Walter takes a family photo that shows Bea kicking her father in the mouth and spraying her mother with a milk bottle. She would later win the vote for naughtiest baby in Beanotown at a week old.

Solo stories

In issue 2935, Bea starred in ''Beaginnings'' drawn by

Nigel Parkinson Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy''. Biography Parkinson is the official artist for Dennis the Menace in ''The Beano''. His career in comics began ...

. It was about her misbehaviour at home, saying her first word (" mud") and playing with her older brother's pets. The title changed to ''Dennis's Little Sister Bea – the Mini-Menace'' from issue 3099, but was also known as ''Bea''. She shares notable similarities with fellow ''Beano'' character,

, who, from August 2008, joined Bea in her strip, renamed '' Bea and Ivy''. Nigel Parkinson continued as artist, as Ivy had been reprinted before the team up. Bea's own strip returned for a few issues in 2009, however, this was dropped later that year, mainly due to her older brother's

relaunch Relaunch (March 16, 1976 – November 5, 1996) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Background Relaunch was a gray horse bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm & Taylor Made Farms. During his racing career he was owned by Glen Hill ...

. In 2010 Bea joined up with Gnipper and Harley, Gran's pet pig, in a new strip titled ''The Bea Team'', the title being a parody of ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

'' film which was released around the time the strip was in ''The Beano''. In 2014, Bea returned to her strip drawn by

Subsequent appearances

Issue 2942 (5 December 1998) was a special issue dedicated to her, where she appeared in every strip in the comic. Bea makes appearances in the CBBC series ''

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher ''Dennis the Menace and Gnasher'' (originally titled ''Dennis the Menace'' and currently titled ''Dennis and Gnasher)'' is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic ''The Beano'', published by DC Thomson, of Dundee, Scotlan ...

''.

References

External links

* on the official ''Beano'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bea (Dennis The Menace) DC Thomson Comics characters Beano strips Comics characters introduced in 1998 Child characters in comics Gag-a-day comics 2014 comics debuts Comics spin-offs British comics characters Female characters in comics Dennis the Menace and Gnasher