''The Beano Annual'' is the current name of the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

that has been published every year since 1939, to tie in with the children's comic ''

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 ...

''. there have been 84 editions. The annuals are traditionally published in July or August, in time for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, and since 1965 they have had the date of the following year on the cover. Before then no date was given. From 1943 to 1950 the annual was called "The Magic-Beano Book", which referred to the short-lived Magic Comic that had ceased publication in 1941 due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. The name reverted to the original title of "The Beano Book" in 1950 and continued, the year changing for each subsequent annual, until the release of the 2003 book in 2002 when it was renamed "The Beano Annual". The 2011 Beano Annual is taller and wider than previous annuals. After paper rationing had ended, The Magic Comic was never revived, but some of the characters who had originally appeared in the pre-war Magic Comic remained as regular strips in the post-1950 Beano Comic (such as Koko the Pup). Because of his popularity, Dennis the Menace has appeared on the front cover of every annual since the release of the 1979 book in 1978. The latest version came out 2021 and was dated 2022. The book consistently retails at 6.98 from 2022 (released 2021)

List of annuals

This information is necessary to identify older annuals which are not dated. If an annual is dated 1940, it would have been published in August 1939. Prices are in shillings and pence with one shilling (1/-) equal to 5p. Modern equivalent prices (not inflation-adjusted) are given in brackets.

The Beano Book (1940-1942)

The Magic-Beano Book (1943-1950)

The Beano Book (1951-2002)

The Beano Annual (2003-present)

Since the Beano's redesigned logo debuted on the 2017 annual (released 2016), the words "BEANO" and "ANNUAL (year)" have been displayed in a consistent size and font on the cover and spine each year; this had not previously been the case.

References

External links

Beano Annual Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beano Annual, The Comics anthologies DC Thomson Comics titles British children's books The Beano British comics 1939 comics debuts Publications established in 1939