Bash Street Kids Annual 1993

The Bash Street Kids comic strip from The Beano began appearing in collected volumes in 1980, old strips from the comic accompanied by some new features and artwork. Part of the fun of the annuals is (well for me anyway) trying to work out when the comic strips appeared in the Beano originally.

Early on in this annual there is a hint, the story TV or not TV features the kids as TV mad and watching breakfast TV. It is likely this is mentioned due to breakfast TV being new and novel at the time, that would put the stories in this annual around the 1983 time frame. 

Olive also appears as the cook and she did not feature until 1981, earlier annuals had different and unnamed school cooks (though just as inept!)

This is a good annual anyway, not quite as good as the annuals released in the 1980s which featured strips from the 1960s and 1970s, a true golden age.

Dennis the Menace Annual 1974

As with the Bash Street Kids, Dennis the Menace also got his own annual for many years which collected together old comic strips along with new custom made material. 

Despite the appearance of Gnasher on the cover, he does not appear in any of the comic strips (though does in the extra material) which means that the stories pre-date 1968 as that is when Gnasher first appeared in the Dennis comic strip.

The stories are fun, though can be a big repetitive. Dennis gets into trouble and causes mayhem, and the story usually ends with him being beaten - often in a rather strange manner, such as by an elephant! 

It can get a bit samey after awhile (which is why the Bash Street Kids collected stories work better in annual form), of course not a problem when the stories were originally published as you had a week's wait between them!

Its still a fun read.