Beano Studios is already plotting an autumn launch for the new Beano.com website, but there are also discussions over the possibility of making a new Dennis the Menace TV series that will forego traditional animation for CGI. "We are taking the Beano spirit, we aren't simply trying to transfer the comic online," says Beano Studios' Emma Scott. "We will marry it with the best of the web, commissions from independent producers, YouTube, user-generated content -- whatever fits with the Beano ethos."

The Beano is the latest in a long line of older-generation brands that are getting a modern facelift. The BBC brought back popular 80s cartoon Dangermouse last year and ITV ditched puppets in bringing Thunderbirds back to screens. While Beano Studios' new "digital entertainment hub" may lure in new audience, bringing the characters to YouTube may help breathe new life into Minnie the Minx, Billy Whizz and Rodger the Dodger.