Beano comic #598 - Jan 2 1954 New Year with great cover VG

Bright cover colours. Pencil name. A light curl to the top right hand corner. Odd small tear and crease.

A VG example.

We offer 45 of the 52 issues of The Beano from 1954 in our current auctions. This was the year that The Bash Street Kids strip was launched in the comic. After Dennis the Menace, we'd argue that the Bash Street Kids are likely the most popular Beano strip in the long running comic, with the work of David Sutherland working perfectly following Leo Baxendale's departure from the comic. The strip was originally called "When The Bell Rings". There's a preview banner in #602 and 603, before the strip was launched properly in #604. In terms of the early development of the nine regular characters that became the Bash Street Kids for many decades (Danny, Toots, Fatty, Plug, Wilfred, Smiffy, Spotty, Erbert and Sidney) it is interesting to note the following. Danny and Toots are clearly visible in #602 and 603, Toots being named and Danny wearing his trademark black top with skull and cross bones. A "Fatty" like character is also seen. The Porter was present in #604 and 606, but became the better-known Janitor from #607. Danny is first named in #605, as is Fatty. #606 sees the first appearance of Plug, although he is named "Pug" - his ghastly appearance clearly gives him away! In #608 Plug is named Plug for the first time. #613 has the first named appearance of Smiffy. Interestingly, Plug is called "Pug" again in #614 and 616. In #615, a character looking very much like Wilfred is seen, with his jumper pulled up over his chin, although he isn't named.

Item condition: eBay's mandatory 'Condition' tab at the top of each auction page uses five (very limited) grades which are not in line with the standard grading guide for comics (see below). We select the average grade of "Very Good" on all listings but please ignore this as we have provided a full description of the condition / grade above.

Grading Guide: We use the standard Grading Guide for comics, as below, incorporating +/- signs to denote slightly better/worse grades, in addition to split grades such as VG/FN.

Poor (PR) - Fair (FR) - Good (GD) - Very Good (VG) - Fine (FN) - Very Fine (VF) - Near Mint (NM) - Mint (MT)

eBay for Business Awards winner! Having traded in comics on eBay for over 20 years, we were delighted to win the 'eBay Pioneer' award in the 2023 eBay for Business Awards. You can watch a 2 minute video showcasing our eBay business by clicking the 'About' tab in our eBay shop.

Save Seller: Over 2,200 collectors have saved us as a seller and receive updates from eBay for our regular auctions of vintage comics. To join the list, just click the 'Save Seller' link which is underneath the Seller information section on the right hand side of any of our auction listing pages.

Comic Free Gifts: Some of the British comics we sell originally came with a free gift, which are now hard to find. If the free gift is present we always include a picture and mention it in the title and description, otherwise the gift is not present.

Combined postage - Further details:

If successful with more than one bid, please delay making any payment until you have completely finished bidding, even if the listings span two or more days in the same group of auctions. Once finished, please send us an email requesting a combined postage total. We'll pack and weigh the items and then send the invoice so you can make a single payment. Whilst you wait for the invoice, please ignore eBay's automated payment reminder messages.

If you pay prior to a combined invoice, ebay will just tot up the separate postage rates with no discount. Whilst you can rest assured we always refund excess postage paid, it is preferable to pay the correct postage first time round by requesting a combined total. We're aware of a potential glitch with the 'request total' feature on eBay, so an email is fine.

We usually quote postage in each listing to include compensation cover for the estimated value of the item. When combining more than one item into one parcel, we quote postage to include compensation cover to the full value, where realistically possible, but try to find the cheapest and most suitable service we can.

Cashback We would recommend signing up to a cashback site like Quidco or Topcashback. When coming to pay for your items, follow the eBay link within their site to receive 1% cashback on your eBay purchases. It's amazing how it all adds up!

We buy collections! We buy and commission the sale of vintage comics and annuals, from high value single items to entire collections.

Best of luck if you decide to bid and we hope to trade with you soon!