The Beano
The Beano
“Comics are becoming the new pop art. The new post modern communication. This is not just comics, but a new breathtaking new multi-media format. Comics are the new culture.” (Kapur)
The development of comics is extremely important – firstly because it is a massive industry but also because it has huge cultural implications. An example of this is that in most movies based on fictional characters there is a ‘bad guy (or guys) that are trying to take over the world or trying to destroy stuff, and the good guys have to try and stop them from doing this. The bad guy is always trying to destroy the country that the good guy comes from or even the whole world, never a country that has nothing to do with the situation. This is because the country that was getting destroyed could be seen as a reflection of the perceptions the ‘other’ has of them. The dynamic and constant creation of new culture is key to the maintenance of cultural power. Popular culture not only fuels the development of new culture but also helps to bring back older styles.
Coming from a background of reading comics as a child, I have slowly seen a change in some of my favourites like The Beano and The Dandy. The differences are unbelievable - the prices for these comics have sky rocketed, and the content in them has adapted to suit the rules and norms of modern day society. With modern day children, the companies that produce these comics have to be incredibly careful with what they say and put in them as lawsuits have become more commonplace as a way to solve grievances. I’m going to be focusing on the Beano as my main comic that I will be comparing because it was one that I was bought every week without fail as a child, and I have seen the changes with my own eyes. These two comics I have chosen to compare to one another are separated by 31 years, therefore we should expect to see significant changes that have been made to the comic to be able to still sell it in the new world we
“Comics are becoming the new pop art. The new post modern communication. This is not just comics, but a new breathtaking new multi-media format. Comics are the new culture.” (Kapur)
The development of comics is extremely important – firstly because it is a massive industry but also because it has huge cultural implications. An example of this is that in most movies based on fictional characters there is a ‘bad guy (or guys) that are trying to take over the world or trying to destroy stuff, and the good guys have to try and stop them from doing this. The bad guy is always trying to destroy the country that the good guy comes from or even the whole world, never a country that has nothing to do with the situation. This is because the country that was getting destroyed could be seen as a reflection of the perceptions the ‘other’ has of them. The dynamic and constant creation of new culture is key to the maintenance of cultural power. Popular culture not only fuels the development of new culture but also helps to bring back older styles.
Coming from a background of reading comics as a child, I have slowly seen a change in some of my favourites like The Beano and The Dandy. The differences are unbelievable - the prices for these comics have sky rocketed, and the content in them has adapted to suit the rules and norms of modern day society. With modern day children, the companies that produce these comics have to be incredibly careful with what they say and put in them as lawsuits have become more commonplace as a way to solve grievances. I’m going to be focusing on the Beano as my main comic that I will be comparing because it was one that I was bought every week without fail as a child, and I have seen the changes with my own eyes. These two comics I have chosen to compare to one another are separated by 31 years, therefore we should expect to see significant changes that have been made to the comic to be able to still sell it in the new world we