The ''Fun Size Beano'' and ''Fun Size Dandy'' were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times

monthly Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of something every month. It may also refer to: * ''The Monthly'' * '' Monthly Magazine'' * ''Monthly Review'' * '' PQ Monthly'' * '' Home Monthly'' * '' Trader Monthly'' * ''Overland Monthly'' * Menstruati ...

by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the ''Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries'', originally printed in red,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

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 ''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 ...

and

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 O ...

. 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 Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tenn ...

* Dennis the Menace * Ivy the Terrible *

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, m ...

The Bash Street Kids ''The Bash Street Kids'' is a comic strip in the British comic magazine '' The Beano''. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as ''When the Bell Rings'', first appea ...

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 *

The Numskulls ''The Numskulls'' is a comic strip in ''The Beano'', and previously in ''The Beezer'' and ''The Dandy'' – UK comics owned by D.C Thomson. The strip is about a team of tiny human-like technicians who live inside the heads of various people, ...

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 epo ...

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 spe ...

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 Wisco ...

* Erbert from the Bash Street Kids.

Characters in ''Fun Size Dandy''

Desperate Dan Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the now-defunct Scottish comic magazine ''The Dandy'', and became its mascot. He made his appearance in the first issue which was dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, ...

* Puss 'n' Boots *

Beryl the Peril Beryl the Peril (or simply Beryl) is a fictional character created by David Law, the creator of Dennis the Menace, for issue 1 of '' The Topper'' comic (dated 7 February 1953) published by DC Thomson & Co. Limited. Like Dennis, she had black ...

Cuddles and Dimples ''Cuddles and Dimples'' is a British comic strip published in the comic book magazine ''The Dandy''. It was first published in 1986. The stories' protagonists are two toddler brothers who like to cause double the trouble wherever they go. The ...

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 Blinky may refer to: Characters * ''Blinky'' (comics), a character in the UK comic ''The Dandy'' * Blinky (ghost), a red (sometimes orange) ghost in the ''Pac-Man'' franchise * Blinky (mascot), the mascot of FreeDOS * Blinky (The Simpsons), t ...

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

Additional characters from other comics

I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

( Sparky) * Dreamy Daniel ( Sparky) * Badd Lads (

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 ''Nutty'' was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with ''The Dandy''. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, ''Nutty'' was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic co ...

)

Characters who were exclusive to Fun Size Comics

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

King of the Jungle, * Salty Sam, * Luncheon Vulture, *Stunt Boy drawn by Nick Brennan *Lester the Jester.

References