A dedicated comic book fan has managed to amass more than 2,000 copies of The Beano since he first started buying the comic 44 years ago.
Kevin Payne, 55, said he was a young paperboy delivering these comics when he first got fascinated with them.
He bought his first issue in 1975 for two pence when he was 10 years old and has never stopped collecting them. Kevin currently owns 2,003 copies, from the 2,000th volume to the 4,000th which was recently released.
Watch to meet this dedicated fan below.
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Video credit: Rumble
The Beano is Britain’s longest-running children’s comic magazine. Its first volume came out on July 30, 1938, and its 4,000th issue was published on August 28, 2019. With that, the publication is now on par with other long-running titles like Dennis the Menace, The Bash Street Kids and Co., and Minnie the Minx.
Kevin, who has five grandchildren, said his dad once burned his small stash when he was a youngster as punishment for some infraction. But despite that, he’s only missing a few issues. And he intends to keep collecting them until he’s 80.
He said: “I’d say I’m the most consistent, genuine fan because I’ve been collecting them for so long.
“I decided to start collecting seriously when I first saw the front cover as a paperboy I said to myself as a kid I would keep collecting until I was 80-years-old.
“The comic had survived since 1938. There was no reason to suspect it wouldn’t survive that long so I’ve stuck to that.
“It hasn’t always been easy with growing up and starting a family but I’ve stuck at it and I think its quite an achievement.
“I believe all other rival boys comics are discontinued. Dandy does not exist in paper form anymore.
“That makes The Beano the most iconic British comic of all time. It was only luck really that I chose this comic as my collectible.”
Tracy Downing, 56, is Devin’s partner and tolerates his hobby even if the stash takes up a lot of space at the loft in their home in West Heath, Birmingham.
He added: “I keep them all in individual bags, grouped into hundreds in the loft.
“I’ve marked the odd missing one with a bit of paper in case I find the edition. There’s 2003 in total.
“It was painstaking logging them but worth the effort to know where they all are.
“My partner is tolerant, she’s been really good about it. But her lad Craig, who is 30, is more into it.
“Recently we paid £160($200) for one of the first 100 from 1939. When I started buying them in 1975 they cost two pence. That was quite a lot of money back then.
“It looks very basic now. It was in color, definitely on the front and back. But mainly red, black and yellow. That’s why so many of the characters are those colors.
“There used to be a lot of bullying in it, with Dennis the Menace picking on Walter and Softy and his crowd.
“Often Dennis got a slipper across the back from the teacher and even in the 1980’s, there was a cane.
“It’s moved with the times really well. There are more girls and more diversity in terms of color. There are more children characters than there used to be.
“My favorite characters used to be the McTickle family from Scotland. They used to wear kilts and keep animals called McHaggises in fields and forests.
“They used to tickle me and still make me laugh today.
“I did love the stories. I used to read all of them, I’d sit with a bag of crisps in bed. Some stories I still think are very good.
“It is massively nostalgic and brings back good memories. The comic marks the turn of the millennium and events like royal weddings.”
Eventually, Kevin wants to try collecting back issues in addition to the new volumes coming out. He also hopes The Beano goes on to reach 5,000 issues.
He added: “It’s going to be hard. Someone once paid £17,000($20,000) for a copy of the first edition.
“I know the ones from the war years are very rare because of paper rationing. They’d be valuable.
“I haven’t always been obsessive about it, but have always bought it at the newsagents when it came out or asked them to save me one and now I subscribe.
“One of the reasons I wanted to celebrate the 4,000th was to show adults it’s still going.
“I am not a member of any club associated with The Beano or historian. But I am still proud to promote this British icon and I celebrated in my specially-made commemorative T-shirt.
“It is not certain that The Beano will survive the next 20 years to reach 5,000 copies.
“But as long as it appeals to its audience it certainly stands a chance.”
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