The deal was signed by Zoe Masters, Publisher Brands and Licensing at Farshore, and Rob Glenny, Executive Director of Growth at Beano, for World English Language rights.

This year marks Dennis the Menace’s 75th anniversary and next month sees Farshore launch Dennis the Menace: Mischief at the Museum, followed by a new Beano Joke Book in July.

2027 will see Farshore and Beano Studios launch of two brand-new graphic novel series. The first Dennis & Gnasher graphic novel arrives in March 2027 followed in July 2027 by a graphic novel series featuring Bananaman.

“At Farshore we love to entertain, engage and make reading fun to inspire every child to become a proud reader – something we very much have in common with Beano,” said Zoe Masters, Publisher Brands & Licensing at Farshore.

“We are therefore thrilled to renew our publishing contract with Rob Glenny and the incredibly talented team at Beano Studios. 2026 is a big anniversary year for Dennis the Menace and we feel very privileged to be able to contribute towards the next chapter of his story. Bananaman is another iconic character who has been loved across the generations for over 45 years. It is an exciting time for Beano with must-have-moments for retail and our consumers full of mischief, mayhem and of course plenty of laughter!”

Rob Glenny, Executive Director of Growth at Beano, added: “We’re delighted to take our publishing partnership with Farshore to the next level. At Beano, we’re all about making reading the most fun thing a kid can do, and we know children are going to love our ever‑expanding book range – from getting up to mischief with Dennis the Menace in a brand‑new graphic novel, to discovering fresh adventures across our fiction list.
“It’s been a real joy collaborating with the brilliant Farshore team on the exciting new direction for Bananaman. We can’t wait to get all these laugh‑out‑loud, mischief‑packed books into kids’ hands.”

Image credit: A Beano Studios Product © DC Thomson & Co Ltd (2026)

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Tell me a little more about Pokémon…
For Pokémon, we’ve got over 20 new titles across readers, fiction, activity, annuals and gift over the next 12 months as we ramp up towards the 30th anniversary. And of course, this year we’re thrilled to be celebrating World Book Day with a very special title: Pokémon: The Epic Pocket Guide. Children in the UK and Ireland will be able to access this special title FREE when exchanged with their £1/€1.50 World Book Day book token.

Excellent. You mention gearing up for Pokémon’s 30th anniversary next year… What, in your opinion, is the secret of its appeal?
In my opinion, Pokémon has managed to gain cross-generational appeal by engaging with fans across gaming, trading cards and anime. Each of these are equally core parts of the property – which is quite unusual when you think about it. Of course, we’ve also gone full circle with first-generation fans now passing on their love for Pikachu and friends to their children. This – coupled with collectability and great narrative depth – makes Pokémon ideal for long-term publishing.

Great answer! And what kind of challenges does a book publisher face when extending this kind of property to the page?
Pokémon has been around a long time, and there’s been extensive publishing through the decades. Pretty much every format and idea has been tried at one stage or another. To find fresh new formats, make each book stand out, and ensure they deserve a place in a fan’s collection is an engaging challenge for the team. Fortunately, with 26 series and over 1,200 episodes, we’ve never run out of new adventures to explore in our books.

And why is that, John? What’s the creative process behind these products?
Over the years, we’ve developed an in-house team who specialise in gaming… They’re gaming enthusiasts themselves, and they work across a number of the biggest brands in this space. As far as I’m aware, this is unique in the publishing industry. They’re experts in their area and love getting to grips with all the ins and outs of multifaceted brands like Pokémon.

From your perspective, what’s next for the Pokémon brand?
We’re fortunate in that Pokémon always has new stories and characters appearing in the anime series which we can then bring to our books. The most recent series, Pokémon Horizons, saw us move to a new region and a new cast of Pokémon Trainers…

That’s given us a rich source of inspiration over the next few years for our books. As mentioned, we’ve also got Pokémon’s 30th anniversary coming up in 2026… I’m excited to see what The Pokémon Company do for this big milestone. I mean, the 25th was huge!

And on that, you’ve been in books a long time, John…
Yes, I’ve been in books for close to 20 years now!

How did that happen? What’s your background?
It wasn’t at all planned: I started working in bookshops, then moved across to working for the head office for a book-chain specialising in non-fiction and children’s categories. After that, I skipped across to publishing. It’s been a very happy accident as I’ve always been a book lover.

Lovely! Thank you for that. And to finish things off, what’s the one question I could’ve asked you today but didn’t?
Hmmm… What are my favourite Pokémon titles?!

Perfect! And what are your favourite Pokémon titles?!
I would say Where’s Pikachu? is a firm favourite, and I think the search and find format works especially well for this brand… So much so that we’re extending the series. I also reckon the Pokémon Encyclopedia is a fantastic gift for any fan, taking you through everything you need to know about the anime series.

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The first book in the series – Betty and The Yeti: Friends At First Fart – will publish in March 2025, and books two and three will publish in August 2025 and Spring 2026.

“Betty and The Yeti is one of the most popular and loved comic strips in the Beano, and Farshore are excited to work with Beano and Hugh Raine to publish these fantastically funny comics in graphic novel form for the very first time,” said Zoe Masters, Publisher for Brands and Licensing at Farshore.

“We have fallen in love with Betty and The Yeti, and cannot wait for both existing Beano comic fans as well as brand new readers to fully immerse themselves in their surprising, playful, and hilarious world.”

Betty and The Yeti creator Hugh Raine added: “I absolutely love writing and drawing the resourceful Betty and the loveable but unpredictably wild Yeti! I hope children and adults alike get as much enjoyment out of seeing them smash, bash and crash their way through life as much as I enjoy making the comics!”

Rob Glenny, Head of Commercial and New Business at Beano Studios, continued: “Comic storytelling is Beano’s forte, and we’re excited to bring it to the world of graphic novels with Farshore.

“The new series highlights the growing appeal of Betty and the Yeti’s mischievous adventures and Hugh Raine’s brilliant storytelling. It’s a great opportunity to engage both new and loyal readers, while continuing Beano’s tradition of delivering fun, imaginative stories. We can’t wait to introduce Betty and the Yeti to an even wider audience.”

Farshore have been the official publishers of Beano since 2021.

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The partnership kicks off next year with the launch of two Sonic the Hedgehog titles: a joke book in February and a sticker activity book in May.

“Farshore is proud and excited to partner with SEGA to publish Sonic the Hedgehog; there is a huge amount of love and affection for this cool blue hedgehog within our team,” said Zoe Masters, Brands & Licensing Publisher at Farshore.

“Sonic the Hedgehog has been a household name since the early 90s, with many children now discovering Sonic for the first time through the highly successful movie franchise and TV series. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will continue to expand over the next year with brand new games, a spin-off live action TV series and a huge global movie release – making 2024 the perfect time for us to launch our Sonic the Hedgehog range!”

Alex Gomez, Sr. Director of Licensing at SEGA of America, added: “Now has never been a better time to be a Sonic fan.

“Between games, TV shows, and movies, Sonic has been a staple in the industry for three decades along with a continuously growing community. Through our partnership with Farshore, we’ll be able to introduce Sonic to a new generation of younger fans.”

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I come from a publishing sales background which enables me to apply my experience and understanding of our retailers – and commercial knowledge of the book market – into our publishing strategy and plans.

What are some of the current licences in your portfolio?
In my role, I currently publish an array of fantastic brands including Beano, Cocoa Girl, CoComelon, Fireman Sam, PAW Patrol, Rupert, Something Special and Thomas & Friends. In addition to this, in the wider team we publish Disney, Dungeons & Dragons, Minecraft, Mr. Men Little Miss, My Little Pony, Pokémon, Tintin, Winnie-the-Pooh to name but a few!

We are the number one gaming publisher, and the number one annuals publisher. New annuals to our portfolio this year include Match Attax and PAW Patrol.

What makes a good licence for HarperCollins?
A good licence needs to be commercial first and foremost; a brand that both our retailers and consumers are keen to support. We are always looking for evergreen brands and long-term partnerships with a licensor. It could also be a brand with potential for growth, that has perhaps not been realised or isn’t currently recognised. Or a hot new emerging brand!

“We are passionate about creating books that make every child a proud reader, and licensed books are a hugely important part of this.”

At HarperCollins we also have the ability to acquire licenses across imprints; we have seen great sales success with PAW Patrol, which we acquired in 2021. It benefits from the publishing expertise of both Farshore and the Collins Learning educational imprint.

Many of our licensors have acknowledged and embraced the importance of representing the diversity of society in their brands, including but not limited to ethnicity, disability, and neurodiversity. We actively look for inclusivity and diversity in the licences we acquire; it is important and empowering for children to see themselves represented in the brands and characters they love.

When a rights owner is pitching to you, what tips do you have with regards to making the pitch relevant to you and your business?
We are keen to see a clear vision for the brand, stats, future hooks and plans, as well as an understanding of what they are looking for and need from us. The rights owner does not need to already know what the books will look like or what the publishing programme will be; that’s what we’re here for!

What licensing trends are currently influencing your publishing decisions?
Trends are important and we spend a lot of time trendspotting. At Farshore, we pride ourselves on our consumer insights and research, finding out how children are spending their spare time, what they are interested in and what motivates them.

It is not new news, but it’s been interesting to see the surge in streaming, with YouTube and so on, and just how tech savvy even the youngest children can be! CoComelon is a prime example of how a brand with origins on YouTube can translate into commercial sales success.

From a design perspective, has there been any recent shifts in the look and styling of books?
The look and styling is often driven by trends. We keep a close eye on what is performing well through the Nielsen BookScan charts and listen to feedback from our retailers on what is working for them. We also need to consider our target market for a title; it may be that a more heritage or ‘classic look’ is more suitable. We are always very mindful of not only how a book looks on the shelf, but also how impactful it is as a thumbnail image for online shopping.

“A good licence needs to be commercial first and foremost; a brand that both our retailers and consumers are keen to support.”

Environmental considerations also feed into our cover design. In recent times we have removed glitter from our cover designs due to the micro-plastics, and we are continuously looking at ways to make our formats and cover designs more eco-friendly.

Do you think there is more crossover between publishing and other industries these days, thinking about sectors like toys?
We keep a close eye on what is happening in toys and the NPD toy charts, however sometimes what works well in books does not always work well in toys – and vice versa. Performance of toys and other merchandise for our brands is something our book buyers are always keen to hear about.

For pre-school novelty formats, we are experiencing many of the same challenges as the toy industry currently: rocketing freight and material costs, supply chain issues and so on. We often face the same challenges and opportunities as our fellow licensees.

We are always keen to look at ways to work together to cross-promote our books with other licensed product.

World Book Day has become a hugely successful and high-profile event. How do you think it has benefitted the licensing industry?
In the past few years more brands have been included in the World Book Day selections, which is fantastic.

Brands are often a gateway into reading for many children. It’s an extension of the toy they love, the TV series they watch, the game they enjoy playing… As a result, licensed books often feel much more accessible to many families and children who are potentially reluctant readers or have not previously read books for pleasure outside of school or nursery. In a former life I was a Key Stage 1 primary school teacher. I think it’s very easy when you exist in the publishing world to think that all families have books in their homes, but often this is not the case.

World Book Day is a brilliant opportunity for children to own a book and experience the joy that reading can bring. We are passionate about creating books that make every child a proud reader, and licensed books are a hugely important part of this.

Are there other events, campaigns, and initiatives in the publishing sector that IP owners should be aware of?
Seasonal moments are a significant sales driver for licensed publishing. Our retailers and consumers love a seasonal hook! We publish titles for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Eid, Father’s Day, Back to School, Diwali, Halloween, Christmas… Our books provide a narrative for these key events and enable children to understand and extend their enjoyment of these moments throughout the year.

“We actively look for inclusivity and diversity in the licences we acquire; it’s important for children to see themselves represented in the brands they love.”

Our licensors will often forge partnerships with products or non-book outlets such as restaurants, and books are a perfect promotional giveaway opportunity to introduce children and families to their brand. We work with the licensors to support these initiatives and create content to suit their specific requirements. Such partnerships support child literacy and also encourage a love of reading.

Zoe, this has been great. I have one last question! As a child what were your favourite books and characters?
Oh my goodness, where do I start! There are just so many books that I loved as a child… Mr. Men, Paddington, The Owl Who Was Afraid of The Dark, Dr. Seuss, Funny Bones, Burglar Bill, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Mog, Milly Molly Mandy, The Shrinking Of Treehorn, Flat Stanley, The Worst Witch, Famous Five, Malory Towers…

That all!?
I was also an avid reader of the Beano comic, and was a member of the fan club, so I am very proud to be publishing our fantastic new Beano list!

Did you retain that passion for reading throughout school?
Sadly, when I reached my teens, I stopped reading for pleasure. I just don’t think there were as many teen and young adult fiction titles available back then. These days there is such an incredible choice and quality of writing for this age group – and my colleagues in Farshore’s Young Adult imprint, Electric Monkey, are having great success in this market.

Thankfully, as an adult I rediscovered my love of reading and my life is all the richer for it – now I am never without a book! In the wise words of Dr. Seuss: ‘You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book’.

A great line to wrap things up on! Thanks Zoe.

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