10 Weirdest Controversies Surrounding Comics
5. The Beano Vs. Big Business
The Beano is the world's longest running weekly comic, racking up over 4000 issues since it launched in 1938. In that time, the British funny paper has lived through a lot of history, and satirised contemporary issues such as the rise of the Axis during World War II, the elitism of the British aristocracy, and... Tesco?!?
That's right! In 2006, one of the Beano's most popular mischief-makers, Minnie the Minx, took a stand against the capitalist gentrification of the urban village. When the ten year-old menace couldn't find a toilet on Beanotown's high street, she realised it was because competition from superstore 'Toscos' had driven every other shop out of business. Rallying the small business-owners together, Minnie concocted a plan fit for a Scooby-Doo villain: she covered herself in flour, pretended to be a ghost, and scared all the customers out of the mega-supermarket. Soon enough, the local butchers, bakers and barbers were thriving once again.
Although the then-editor of the Beano, Alan Digby, claimed that Minnie's actions were "not political", it's pretty clear that this was a case of one Minx sticking it to the man.