As mentioned in my previous blog post, I consider Bananaman in Eurovillain Contest to be the first Bananaman graphic novel.

Printed and published in 1990 by DC Thomson as the second issue of the A Dandy Special series, it's a complete story which parodies the Eurovision Song Contest.

Wishing he had satellite TV, Bananaman's secret schoolboy alter-ego Eric Wimp decides to make his own satellite dish from various household items.  Surprisingly, his handiwork pays off and he settles down to watch the Eurovillain Contest, introduced by a presenter who is clearly based on the late Sir Terry Wogan, former presenter of Eurovision for UK audiences.

Regular Bananaman villain King Zorg stars as chief judge, with his Nerk minions making up the rest of the judging panel who are tasked with scoring supervillains from all over Europe on their attempts to best Bananaman.  At this point Eric realises he's not going to be able to relax in front of the telly after all...

Hilarity ensues with good-humoured writing and visual jokes aplenty poking fun at cultural stereotypes.

These stereotypes extend beyond the general public to the supervillains themselves.  From left to right in the image below is Doctor Gloom, King Zorg, Ivan the Terrible representing Russia, Garlicman from France, Greece's Abzorba the Greek, Weatherman, a Nerk, Switzerland's Goudaman and The Norseman (aka Ragnar the Hairy) representing Norway.

Their superpowers are inventive and bonkers in equal measure.  Goudaman gets around in a giant wheel of swiss cheese, the holes in which allow him to pop out to surprise Bananaman with a blast from his alphorn.  Eating a sackful of garlic cloves turns Garlicman's breath into a powerful blowtorch capable of burning through brick walls!  Abzorba the Greek is able to transform his body into the same material as anything he touches.

My favourite supervillain to feature in the story is Spaghettiman, from Italy.  A spoof of Marvel's Spider-Man, he shoots spaghetti ropes from his wrists and uses this pasta producing ability to perform other spider-like tasks too.

​Interestingly, despite being prominent on the comic's front cover, General Blight makes only a minor appearance on page one.  Supposedly partially based on Adolf Hitler, I imagine it was deemed too insensitive to have him feature in the story for obvious reasons​.

West Germany isn't represented in the story at all, and before German reunification on 3rd October 1990, The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

At one point in the story, Bananaman borrows Smiffy from The Bash Street Kids to deter Weatherman from expanding his focus on the whole of Europe.  A fun cameo from The Beano dunce.

Plenty more plot twists and silly surprises feature throughout the comic's 36 pages but I'll leave these for anyone thinking of finding a copy of the comic to enjoy.  Bananaman fans will certainly find it worth a read!

Next time, readers, I'll be taking a flick through Bananaman's second outing in the A Dandy Special series.  The Secret of Willie Boggins coming soon!

As part of the celebrations for Bananaman's 45th anniversary, Beano 4273 and 4274 were dedicated to The Man of Peel.

Issue 4273, dated 15th February 2025, featured rugby sports star Mike Tindall as guest editor.  Tindall appeared alongside Bananaman in a special story which ran throughout the entire comic, across pages usually exclusive to the likes of Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids and Roger the Dodger.

As part of a bumper double pack, issue 4274, dated 22nd February 2025, included a 52-page Beano Presents graphic novel titled Birthday Bash.  Essentially Bananaman's 40th anniversary story from Beano 4022 bar a few redrawn panels here and there, Birthday Bash was nonetheless a nice, quality extra for readers to enjoy.

My one grumble with Birthday Bash concerns the front cover, which states it is ​"Bananaman's First Ever Graphic Novel".

I believe A Dandy Special No.2 - Bananaman in Eurovillain Contest, printed and published in 1990, was actually the first.

These specials began as monthly publications but soon changed to quarterly.  Bananaman would feature a further four times, in A Dandy Special No.4: Bananaman - The Secret of Willie Boggins, A Dandy Special No.6: Bananaman in Stormy Weather, A Quarterly Dandy Special No.8: Dr Jackal and Mr Hide and A Quarterly Dandy Special No.10: Bananaman in Double Trouble, all published in 1991.

Short Bananaman stories with identical titles had previously been published but the specials consisted of 36 pages with 190x270mm dimensions, which is close to the standard American trimmed comic page size of 6.625" x 10.187" (approx. 168x259mm).

I'll be taking a look at these specials soon, dear readers.

Launching with a cover date of February 16th 1980 and comprising of 24 pages, Nutty was DC Thomson's attempt to produce a more tumultuous weekly comic compared to many others on sale at the time.

Available every Saturday for the pocket money-denting sum of 10p, this likely helped give the impression Nutty's content was more chaotic than established titles such as The Dandy and The Beano, which cost 7p respectively.
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The cover and centre pages were printed in full-colour, the reverse of these black ink plus one colour (red in this instance), and the remaining pages black ink only.

A packet of Space Dust bonbons (popping candy) was included with the first issue as a free gift, taped to the inside front cover.  Various flavours were available, including lemon, orange and strawberry.

Stories consist of Big 'N' Bud (a couple of wise-cracking boys, one of which is tall in stature), Pearl Potter (daughter of a TV and film producer), Mitey Joe (a boy with aspirations to be a strong man), Scoopy (a news journalist dog), Steevie Star (a boy whose adventures mimic popular movie plots, he also appeared in The Topper), Peter Pest (a young boy who inadvertently yet frequently bothers his older sister), Pig Tales (a family of pigs not unlike The Three Bears in The Beano), Wacky (a crackpot inventor), The Wild Rovers (a pack of mongrel dogs), Dick Turban (a young desert highwayman somewhat similar to Baby Face Finlayson in The Beano), Doodlebug (a mouse who likes to draw using a magic pencil), General Jumbo (from The Beano), The School Belles (rebellious schoolgirls in a similar vein to those in 1954 movie The Belles of St. Trinian's), Samuel Creeps (a teacher's pet), The Bar-O Boys (a family with the characteristics of American Wild West cowboys, only living on a farm somewhere in England), and Ethel Red (a Norse Sea Viking who looks strikingly similar to Minnie the Minx from The Beano).

The front cover features Wacky and Doodlebug, along with an eye-catching depiction of the free gift.  The Wild Rovers have a two-page story across the comic's centre pages.

Contributors to the first issue included editor David Donaldson, writer Steve Bright and the late British artists John Geering, Gordon Bell and Michael Attwell.