Bravo Beano

Admittedly, the Pokémon phenomenon is still everywhere. It will, however, soon be forgotten. Within a couple of years, children will ask: "Pokémon? What's that?" Try asking a seven-year-old about Tamagotchi (sorry?), or a 10-year-old about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (who?). You will be met by the blankest of looks.

Admittedly, the Pokémon phenomenon is still everywhere. It will, however, soon be forgotten. Within a couple of years, children will ask: "Pokémon? What's that?" Try asking a seven-year-old about Tamagotchi (sorry?), or a 10-year-old about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (who?). You will be met by the blankest of looks.

Meanwhile, however, the most unlikely classic continues to endure. When Beano and the Bash Street Kids first appeared in 1938, it seems fair to assume that even the comic's most devoted admirers did not expect the characters still to be going strong in the year 2000.

None the less, here we are: the Beano annual looks set to outsell all other annuals, with sales of maybe 300,000 this year. Partly, this is because it appeals across the generations. Grandparents and parents have fond memories of Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx. In addition, however, the children themselves are still happy to lap it up.

Quite right, too. Pokémon may come and go, but Dennis the Menace and Gnasher will (we hope) never die.