Beano fans were given the chance to meet the creative brains behind the famous comic at an exclusive Courier subscriber event in Dundee.
Editorial director Craig Graham and creative director Mike Stirling welcomed scores of excited Beano fans to the free session at The Apex Hotel on Tuesday.
Organised by the magazine’s publisher DC Thomson, the event gave families an opportunity to discover the pair’s top-secret tips and tricks to making ‘blamtastic’ books and comics.
Ticketholders were offered refreshments upon arrival before an audience Q&A session with Craig and Mike.
They were then given the opportunity to meet the editors and to get a signed copy of Dennis & Gnasher: Little Menace’s Great Escape.
It is the latest sell-out success in DC Thomson’s calendar of subscriber-only events.
It follows an exclusive Evening with Brian Cox event in Dundee earlier this year, and a similar night with Ricky Ross last November.
‘There was definitely a future Beano editor in the crowd’
Speaking after the event, Craig said: “Wow! We always have fun meeting people at events but this was amazing.
“Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise in the city where Beano was invented, but today we met one of the naughtiest, noisiest, smartest, funniest and most creative audiences ever.
“There is definitely a future Beano editor in there somewhere, but I think there’s probably also an Olympic gold medallist, pop star, professional footballer and at least one first or prime minister.
“Hopefully Mike and I can say that we inspired them just a little bit to know that they’re amazing, and they can make their dreams come true.”
Mike said: “It was fantastic to meet so many dedicated Beano fans, at the heart of the world’s comics capital.
“Most of all, Craig and I had a great laugh listening to them.
“They shared some amazingly creative ideas, and I can confidently say the kids we met today would make the perfect Beano editors of the future.
“What a brilliant story that would be – and it all started here.”
Beano event sold out in hours
Such events are being seen as a great opportunity to keep DC Thomson subscribers engaged and to give access to people and experiences that they won’t get anywhere else.
Graham McDougall, head of digital subscriptions at DC Thomson, says there will be news of more events in the weeks ahead.
He said: “All 200 tickets for the event sold out on the day they were released, so it is clear there is strong appetite for subscriber events.
“The idea of these exclusive events is to thank our readers for taking out a subscription and to give them added value to go with all of the fantastic journalism we do.
“They also allow us to engage with our loyal audience and the local community.
“There will be news of more events and more subscriber benefits in the weeks and months ahead.”
Subscribers to The Courier are able to get unlimited access to the website as well as events.
