Bea (Dennis the Menace character)

Bea, real name Beatrice, is a fictional character in the UK comic strip Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, from The Beano. She is Dennis' baby sister, born in issue 2931, dated 19 September 1998. She gets her own comic strip in issue 3737 dated 7 June 2014.

Bea's introduction to the comic began with the edition of 8 August of The Beano ensuring readers that they may be in for a big surprise. Subsequently, Dennis' strip inside revealed that his mother was in fact pregnant. Dennis, reacting to the news, fainted out of surprise. The next week the comic went through a revamp and the cover showed Dennis' father announcing that he had just become father to a daughter. The story inside showed Dennis was worried about the news, feeling having a younger sister would tarnish his reputation as a menace. However, his family portrait revealed that his little sister, named Bea, was just as much of a trouble maker as him. These were the first Dennis strips drawn by the new artist David Parkins, who had taken over from the previous artist, David Sutherland.

Parkins had always intended that the character would be called "Bea" (short for Beatrice), taken partly from the comic's name and evidenced in the yellow-and-black striped romper suit/onesie she was seen wearing in her first appearance. However, the comic staff decided to put the name up for vote. The readers seemed to agree with Parkins, as "Bea" won the vote by a nearly two-thirds majority. Dennis' Mum regularly shouts; "Bea! No!" whenever she does something naughty, the two words evidently making the word "Beano".

In issue 2935 dated 17 October 1998 Bea gained her own solo strip entitled Beaginnings drawn by Nigel Parkinson. It was here that Bea uttered her first word, "Mud". Bea was voted naughtiest baby in Beanotown when she was only a week old, has Gnipper as her dog, and loves playing with Rasher. But for five isolated examples, the strip has always been drawn by Nigel Parkinson, who also frequently drew the main Dennis strip at that time. Issue 2942 (5 December 1998) was a special issue dedicated to her, where she appeared in every strip in the comic.

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