‘The Beano,’ Led By Denace The Menace, Is Coming To YouTube

A children’s comic that has been published continuously since 1938 is advancing into the digital age. The Beano, best known for introducing the character Dennis the Menace to the world, will soon launch a digital hub and a slate of YouTube videos that will be stocked with CG-animated characters.

Across more than 3,800 issues, The Beano has entertained multiple generations of children with its slapstick humor and the mischievous behavior of its characters. By going online, the comic will seek out its seven-to-ten-year-old target demographic on the platform where that group now consumes much of its media. Production for Beano.com will be overseen by a unit called Beano Studios, which will create listicles, games, videos, and some more light reading material for its young fans.

“We are taking the Beano spirit, we aren’t simply trying to transfer the comic online,” said Emma Scott, CEO of Beano Studios

. “And we will marry it with the best of the web, commissions from independent producers, YouTube, user-generated content – whatever fits with the Beano ethos.”

Beyond its digital hub, Beano Studios will also work to produce TV and film content. The Guardian notes that a 52-part series, titled Dennis and Gnasher Unleashed!, is in the works.

Beano videos are currently available in a limited capacity on a YouTube channel branded around Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher. In contrast to the CG characters Beano Studios plans to create, many of the videos currently available online are “motion comics” that tell Beano stories.

According to Gizmodo UK, The Beano’s digital hub will launch “later in the year.”