Beano are celebrating Bananaman’s milestone birthday with a special edition comic
Bananaman, Beano’s parody of the classic superhero celebrates his 40th anniversary on the 16th February
Beano are celebrating the milestone with a special edition comic in his honour, which features an extended Bananaman story and him appearing throughout all of the Dennis & Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids and Billy Whizz strips in the comic
Bananaman’s 40th commemorative Beano comic hits newsstands today (Wednesday 12th February 2020)
Download Bananaman 40thBirthday issue imagery here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Lb1P-fOKRHOTiy_LC7l3dP0HOTYTuxd9
Download Bananaman archive imagery here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KfPHl313Jy3p27YS9P2QAZIXx8l1wpKb
The commemorative Bananaman comic, sees Britain’s intellectually-challenged superhero getting into his usual scrapes. This time Bananaman’s birthday party has been crashed by a robot squid who has stolen all his powers, allowing villains to take over Beanotown. The Beanotown kids come together to defeat the baddies and free Bananaman.
Bananaman, and his alter ego Eric Wimp, first appeared in the British comic Nutty on February 16th 1980. Created by David Donaldson, writer Steve Bright and legendary artist John Geering, Bananaman turned traditional superhero tropes on their head with his hair-brained hijinks and misadventures.
In 1985 he moved across to the Dandy and after a short stint, Bananaman then appeared from 2012 in the Beano comic. Bananaman still appears in the weekly Beano comic, and stars in both The Dandy and Beano annuals each year.
Mike Stirling; Editorial Director of Beano Studios, said: “Get ready to peel the power! The last few years have been awash with superheroes, but none quite compare to our own barmy Bananaman. He might be originally from the Nutty comic but he’s Beano all the way down to his banana boots. This very special edition of the comic celebrating his 40th birthday will become a real collector’s item and treasured by fans for years to come.”
In honour of his birthday the Beano shop has released special edition Bananaman t-shirts and mugs with 15% off all products for a limited time using the code BANANAS. The range also includes dress-up costumes and ‘Man of Peel’ t-shirts.
Top 10 Bananaman Facts
Bananaman is the only character to had have an ongoing strip in both The Dandy and Beano at the same time
Originally it was said Eric Wimp gained his amazing Bananaman powers from the crescent shaped moon which resembled a banana when he rocketed to Earth as a baby. However, in 1991 it was stated in The Dandy that Eric actually received his powers as a baby from eating a Saturnium laced banana.
Eric Wimp (aka Bananaman) now lives at 29 Acacia Road, Beanotown, having moved from Nuttytown and Dandytown. Eric Wimp’s name was changed to Eric Twinge for the 1983 cartoon series
Mouldy bananas are to Bananaman as kryptonite is to Superman, they weaken his powers
Bananaman has the muscles of 20 men, but the brains of 20 mussels!
Bananaman’s powers include flying, super-strength, super-duper speed, the ability to fly through space and the ability to look only slightly stupid in a tight blue leotard
In 1983, Bananaman got his own cartoon on children's BBC, which ran until 1986. Voices of the animated characters were supplied by ex-Goodies members Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor. The series is now available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Bananaman has a feathered crow sidekick simply called “Crow”
Bananaman’s most famous evil rivals are General Blight, Dr Gloom and Appleman, he even went up against Desperate Dan during his time in The Dandy
In Croatia, Bananaman was broadcast as Danko Bananko
Beano comic is available, every week at all good retailers.
Bananaman’s 40thcommemorative Beano comic is available in stores on Wednesday 12th February 2020.
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For more information or to request an interview with Mike Stirling please contact Alex Butler (ab@taylorherring.com) 02082065151
Notes to Editors
About Beano Studios:
Beano Studios: a rebellious content business, driven by insight and data, which creates, curates and delivers entertainment worldwide.
The Studio produces diverse entertainment across multiple destinations; including TV, digital content, theatrical projects, consumer products, plus the legendary comic and annual.
The award-winning Beano.com is the UK’s fastest growing kid’s entertainment site, with 5M monthly reach across the Beano network.
Beano Studios’ International Emmy nominated Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! has been sold to 90+ countries, including Netflix in the US, reaching over 200 million people. After becoming CBBC’s highest rated animation at launch, the second series will start later this year.
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