I knew it was old, but didn’t realise the Beano started in 1938, with an ostrich having a pop at Hitler. The story lines and characters have changed over the years, obviously, but so too have the values and attitudes behind them. Thankfully.
Groo! Yeuch! The Beano at eighty
And for the most part, these stereotypes did not poke fun at the people themselves, they just added to the parade of characters. The most uncomfortable situations were probably those with Dennis and his archnemesis Walter; sometimes Dennis’s menacing could look like homophobic bullying, since all “Walter the Softy” seemed to do was skip around with his pals singing “tra-la-la” and sniffing flowers, which earned him undying contempt. But the Beano got wise to this after a while and Walter was given more agency, and more cunning, which made things more interesting and less unjust.
Speaking of which.
Jacob Rees-Mogg accused of ‘copying’ Walter the Softy
In the letter, addressed to the North East Somerset MP at the House of Commons, Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios Scotland, said Mr Rees-Mogg had been “infringing the intellectual property rights of one of our cartoon characters”. He said it was “evident there are numerous instances whereby you have adopted trademarked imagery and brand essences of the character to the benefit of enhancing your career and popularity”.
Miscellaneous Details 