The Beano gets a red and gold makeover for Red Nose Day

The Beano celebrates Red Nose Day with a red and gold pop art inspired cover. Unlike any previous covers, it features Dennis the Menace’s many faces (and noses) to encourage readers to support Red Nose Day’s ‘make your face funny for money’ campaign. The special issue of The Beano goes on sale Wednesday 11th March 2015.
The cover is the creation of Dennis the Menace illustrator Nigel Parkinson, and is inspired by an illustration from a vintage The Beano Annual. To celebrate the special issue, the cover also features a rarely-used gold metallic ink. The ink is used by the title to mark significant occasions, and has only been used once before, to celebrate Jessica Ennis-Hill winning Gold at the 2012 Olympics. In the Red Nose Day Special, Red Nose Day comes to Bash Street School. Competition hots up as Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids all enter the funny face contest. Determined to win at all costs, mischievous troublemaker Dennis the Menace enlists the help of his dog, Gnasher, to scare Teacher off letting anyone else win. The funny face competition takes a number of turns, including Bananaman aka Little Eric’s secret identity almost being revealed, Lord Snooty being disqualified for cheating (shock horror) and Plug finally winning the ‘Funniest Face of Bash Street School’ award despite thinking it was a beauty contest! The Beano Editor Craig Graham said, “This week’s special issue sees The Beano celebrating all things Red Nose Day. We want to encourage our readers to get involved with the ‘make your face funny for money’ campaign, and Dennis and the gang show them how to do just that, albeit in the most mischievous way possible. “We also hope that fans of the comic will like the cover we’ve created. It’s based on some beautiful classic artwork from a vintage Beano Annual and we thought it perfect for this occasion; the number of frames fits the number of Red Nose Day noses perfectly it was clearly meant to be!” The special Red Nose Day issue of The Beano goes on sale Wednesday 11th March 2015. Red Nose Day returns on Friday 13th March, and this year the public have been asked to ‘make your face funny for money’. For more information on Red Nose Day, go to www.rednoseday.com.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:The BeanoThe Beano is the quintessential British children’s comic, first published by DC Thomson in July 1938 and still printed weekly. It reaches hundreds of thousands* of children every week. The Beano is best known for its famed characters such as Dennis the Menace, Gnasher, The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx. The spin-off animation series, Dennis and Gnasher is exported around the world and is one of the highest rated shows on CBBC. *TGI Youth Spring 2014, The Beano readership, 528,000. DC ThomsonDC Thomson & Co Ltd is a private company and one of the leading publishing houses in the UK. The company’s headquarters is in Dundee, Scotland, with a London base in Fleet Street. DC Thomson publishes newspapers, magazines, comics and books. The company also has interests in radio, printing, retailing and online services. About Red Nose Day / Comic Relief Red Nose Day 2015 is heading your way on Friday 13th March when the great British public will be asked to ‘Make Your Face Funny for Money’. By raising cash this Red Nose Day, you’re helping to change lives forever. That’s because Comic Relief spends the money raised to help change the lives of poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged people across the UK and Africa. Red Nose Day comes along every two years and combines two very British things: having a laugh and helping others. Be it at school, work or home, people across the land put on Red Noses and pull out all the stops to raise as much money as possible. Then, once everyone’s run out of fundraising juice, they tune into BBC One for some top entertainment from their favourite comedians and to donate even more cash! And why do they do it? To help poor and vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both here in the UK and in Africa Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)