70th birthday bash at Bideford's Burton

DESPERATE Dan, Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx are all in town to help celebrate the 70th birthday of the popular Beano and Dandy comics with an exhibition in the Burton Art Gallery and Museum. On loan from The Cartoon Art Trus

DESPERATE Dan, Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx are all in town to help celebrate the 70th birthday of the popular Beano and Dandy comics with an exhibition in the Burton Art Gallery and Museum.

On loan from The Cartoon Art Trust, the exhibition is a great opportunity to rekindle childhood memories of comic book cartoon favourites, with a selection of original artwork from eight decades depicting how the comics and their characters have developed.

Other iconic characters from the two comics, which have entertained generations of British children, include Ball Boy, Bully Beef and Chips, Brassneck, The Three Bears, Les Pretend and Winker Watson as well as feisty girl characters such as Pansy Potter, the strongman's daughter, and the more recent Ivy the Terrible.

Some things have changed - graphic style has evolved to suit modern tastes - but children still love the mischief and mayhem created in their pages.

Warren Collum, exhibitions and collections officer at the Gallery said: "It's great to see the pleasure this exhibition brings to audiences. It touches a range of ages, young and old, and it is fascinating to see what the Beano and Dandy means to each one of those visitors."

The exhibition runs until July 13.