Posted in: Comics | Tagged: beano, scotty, spotty

The Beano Changes 67-Year Old Character's Name Spotty To Scotty

You canna change the laws of physics. But you can change the name of a comic book character. And get headlines out of it. The Beano is one of the longest running comic books in the world, the first issue published just weeks after Action Comics #1 – and it has been weekly as well. The Bash Street Kids has been running since 1954, created by Leo Baxendale, about a class of naughty schoolkids. And with the new issue, The Beano #4114, one of the character's names has changed from Spotty to Scotty, following up on Fatty, who was renamed Freddy in May. Both changes were made over fears the nicknames could be seen as offensive, or used as playground insults. No word yet on any changes to Plug – so named because he is plug-ugly.

Michael Stirling, the head of Beano Studios, said: "James Scott Cameron, AKA Spotty from the Bash Street Kids, is now simply Scotty. As Scotty said to his classmates, there's more to him than his physical characteristics, and that's true for any child. Much like in 1954, when the Bash Street Kids were created based on the zany antics spotted in the school playground outside the Beano office, kids are still the inspiration for our characters and storylines. It's important to us that our readers see themselves and their lives reflected in Beanotown".

The new name comes after Spotty expresses disdain at his school nickname. Then, after Spotty's mother shouts his name out for kicking a football through a window, saying "James Scott Cameron!", one of his friends picks up on his middle name and declares: "Wait, your middle name is Scott? I think I've got it. We should call you Scotty." The character, formerly known as Spotty says: "Yeah. I like that." And another friend adds: "It suits you."

Beano writer Ned Hartley tweeted out "I've said this before, but there's a huge responsibility when you write for kids, and the Beano staff are so brilliant at understanding that." And with the Telegraph kicking off about the change, added "Very proud to write for a comic that makes these sort of people angry."

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