Posted in: Comics | Tagged: bananaman, beano, dennis the menace, Ned Hartley

Bananaman Gets A New Origin In 2027 In A New Beano Graphic Novel Deal

Bananaman gets a new origin in 2027 by Ned Hartley and Wayne Thompson, in a new Beano graphic novel deal

Book publisher Farshore has announced that its publishing partnership with Beano Studios is behind Britain's longest-running comic (and second-longest in the world), The Beano, has been renewed through 2028, and signed by Zoe Masters, Publisher Brands and Licensing at Farshore, and Rob Glenny, Executive Director of Growth at Beano, for World English Language rights. 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of Dennis the Menace, who turns 75, and Farshore is redesigning its Beano fiction line, written by The Beano's Craig Graham and Mike Stirling, and focused on Dennis. Dennis the Menace: Mischief at the Museum, published this month to launch the anniversary, is followed by a Beano Joke Book next month. And 2027 will see the launch of two brand-new graphic novel series, Dennis and Gnasher in March 2027 and Bananaman in July 2027, in time for next year's San Diego Comic-Con.

Bleeding Cool favourite Ned Hartley will be writing a new origin for Bananama, drawn by Wayne Thompson, and will also look to the US for new audiences. Might we get an Absolute Bananaman out of this? Bananaman, the Man Of Peel, first appeared in the DC Thomson comic Nutty #1 in 1980, written and drawn primarily by John Geering. The strip later moved to The Dandy and then The Beano. The comic strip features Eric Wimp, an ordinary schoolboy living in Nuttytown (later Dandytown, now Beanotown), who, when he eats a banana, transforms into Bananaman, a massively muscled, caped adult superhero in a blue-and-yellow cowled outfit with a distinctive two-tailed yellow cape that resembles a banana peel. He gains superhuman strength, "the muscles of twenty men", flight, and near-invulnerability. However, he's famously dim-witted, with "the brains of twenty mussels." The TV comedy trio wrote and voiced a popular BBC animated series in the eighties with Graeme Garden as Bananaman and General Blight, Bill Oddie as Crow, and Tim Brooke-Taylor as Eric, which made the character nationwide famous, and even aired in the US on Nickelodeon alongside Danger Mouse. Bananaman generally parodies Silver Age superhero tropes with heavy British comic slapstick and eccentric humour, but more recently, writer Ned Hartley has parodied more recent superhero comics such as Miracleman, Absolute Batman, and Reign Of The Supermen. as well as occasionally going viral on X.

Zoe Masters, Publisher Brands & Licensing, Farshore, said: "At Farshore, we love to entertain, engage and make reading fun to inspire every child to become a proud reader — something we very much have in common with Beano. We are therefore thrilled to renew our publishing contract with Rob Glenny and the incredibly talented team at Beano Studios. 2026 is a big anniversary year for Dennis the Menace, and we feel very privileged to be able to contribute towards the next chapter of his story. Bananaman is another iconic character who has been loved across the generations for over 45 years. It is an exciting time for Beano with must-have-moments for retail and our consumers full of mischief, mayhem and of course plenty of laughter!"

Rob Glenny, Executive Director of Growth at Beano, said, "We're delighted to take our publishing partnership with Farshore to the next level. At Beano, we're all about making reading the most fun thing a kid can do, and we know children are going to love our ever‑expanding book range – from getting up to mischief with Dennis the Menace in a brand‑new graphic novel, to discovering fresh adventures across our fiction list. It's been a real joy collaborating with the brilliant Farshore team on the exciting new direction for Bananaman. We can't wait to get all these laugh‑out‑loud, mischief‑packed books into kids' hands."

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