Nearly a century of mischief, mayhem and fun - Happy 80th Birthday to The Beano, the generation-spanning comic.

I think just about everyone reading this blog will have, at one point or another, owned an issue or perhaps an annual from The Beano Comic.

It seems incredible to think that the comic is coming up for its 80th Birthday, with the first issue arriving on newsagent shelves on 30th July 1938.

It's 2018 and the comic is still going strong, with a whole new generation of artists and authors bringing to life the Beano's enviable collection of miscreants, weirdos and downright cool characters.

Front and centre is Dennis the Menace, with his faithful hound Gnasher - and Dennis shows you some of his insider tricks to being a complete menace in the upcoming "Beano Book of Mischief, Mayhem and Fun" coming soon from Studio Press.

The book is chock full of brilliant makes and projects that'll definitely help you spend your summer getting up to no good (well, in a fairly lighthearted way!)

Construct all manner of amazing contraptions from pencil catapults, to pea shooters, play crazy tricks on hapless adults and don your black and red stripy jersey for japes and hijinks along with a ton of other Beano faves.

Danny shows you how to build a cool code so you and your friends can communicate in secrecy. No adults allowed!

It's a fantastic activity book and even though we've seen some of the ideas in other 'make' books, these are presented in a cool Beano-esque way.

Remember kids, safety first. Never aim any of these at animals or humans!

"The Beano Book of Mischief, Mayhem and Fun" is available from Studio Press.

The building fun doesn't stop there either, there's also a couple of corkingly brilliant project books from Studio Press.

Beano Builds Go Kart. Build your own mean machine!

"Beano Builds Go Kart" will help you realise your soapbox derby dreams with a mean machine of your own creation. (I actually remember getting into trouble as a kid for removing the wheels from my little sister's pram to build a go kart. Well, I thought she'd finished with it as she was walking at the time - how was I supposed to know they wanted to sell it :)

Karts not your thing? Well surely Dens are...

Forget playing Fortnite. Get out there and build your own fantastic den!

"Beano Builds: Secret Den" will help you create a secret lair all of your own. Love that these books are also produced in partnership with Save the Children. Bonus points for being cool AND being uber-helpful to a fantastic charity. AWESOME!

Sticking with the 80th birthday celebrations you may also want to grab the latest edition of The Beano Annual too!

The Beano Annual 2018. 80 years of keeping kids blissfully quiet for hours!

Oh and this was the first one I was bought! Yes, showing my age, I know!

Ah Biffo the Bear and Lord Snooty!

Celebrate a summer of awesome comic fun with The Beano! You know it makes sense!