In a place where naughtiness is encouraged and characters like Dennis the Menace and Minnie the Minx reign supreme in their cheeky pursuit of fun, a birthday bash is in full swing.

Eighty years ago, on July 30 1938, the first edition of The Beano hit the shelves. It was full of mischief with story lines born out of the notion of 'thinking like kids'.

Even the name was fuelled within this intention with the word Beano being a shortened version of Bean feast, which means 'a rowdy jollification.'

Big Eggo the Ostrich featured on the first cover and 28 pages of funny comic strips and text adventure stories filled the comic with likes of Lord Snooty and Tin Can Tommy. And of course, there was the lure of a free Whoopee Mask.

Close to 4000 issues have followed since that first publication from the Dundee headquarters of publisher DC Thomson with more than 400 characters, and yet the Beano's charm of retaining that cheeky yet endearing free-spirited notion which children have in abundance has remained at the core of the production.

As part of 80th Birthday celebrations, comedian and children's author David Walliams has taken on the role of guest editor, saying he didn't think he would have got into writing his books without Beano.

Even an exhibition about its 80-year history has embraced this rebellious streak as the McManus museum in Dundee is renamed the McMenace.

So, how did Class 2B at Bash Street School and the crew led by Danny Morgan, come to be firm favourites among children over the past eight decades? And what made Dennis the Menace with his spiky hair and trademark stripy jumper come to be the face of the Beano, alongside his ever-faithful dog Gnasher?

The Second World War

One year after the launch of the Beano, the Second World War was declared and paper shortages meant the comic was reduced to a 12 page bi-weekly comic. Though normally non-political, it had a rebellious sense of fun towards Hitler and his Allies during the war and they were regularly ridiculed by the Beano gang within the pages of this new publication.

This was not without its risks as documents discovered after the war suggested that had the Nazi invasion succeeded, Beano would have been immediately closed down and the editor dealt with in the severest possible way.

A quick hit didn't take long for The Beano's popularity to reflect in its numbers and by 1950, each issue was selling close to two million copies. Today, 75,000 copies are produced every week.

The fight for the front cover spot

There have been three main characters during the comic's existence to feature on the front page. The first, Big Eggo, held the limelight for ten years before Biffo the Bear took centre stage.

Of course, the most famous face of all is Dennis the Menace, however, this cheeky chap didn't land a regular spot on the front cover until 1974, a position he has enjoyed regularly with cheeky glee ever since.

Looking at the anniversary front covers from the 40th anniversary onwards, you can see how well Dennis settled in to his role as leading character.

The rise of Dennis

Dennis first came into the comic in issue 452 in 1951 and was introduced as 'the world's wildest boy'. Swinging from trees and disobeying orders from the grown-ups set out his personality from the off and his cheeky manner endured from that moment on.

He was created by David Law and he went on to draw over 1000 strips. Interestingly, Dennis the Menace didn't wear his famous red and black-hooped jumper for the first few episodes of his story as his mum was still knitting it. He was never too far from his 'super-rare' Abyssinian wire-haired Tripehound called Gnasher. Apart from six weeks when Gnasher went missing from the comic before returning with six puppies in 1986, the characters were often inseparable.

Gnasher was clearly more than an abiding sidekick though, with the most popular part of the membership pack of the Beano Fan Club consistently being the hair Gnasher badge. Dennis has racked up more than 3500 weekly appearances while Gnasher debuted in 1963 giving him more than 2600 weeklies.

Bash Street Kids

Another set of cheeky characters followed in Dennis' footsteps with the arrival of the Bash Street Kids in 1954. With Danny Morgan at the helm of the gang in his instantly recognisable black skull jumper, the class of 2B at Bash Street School were always finding new ways to torment their teacher.

The Bash Street Kids came to be a part of the comic out after creators at DC Thomson's offices would look out the office windows to the yard of the local school and notice how the kids were interacting.

Minnie the Minx

Following in Dennis' footsteps and dressed in the same garish red and black stripes, Minnie the Minx first appeared in the comic in 1953.

Drawn by Leo Baendale, Minnie was created in a bid to appeal to more young girls and set out to prove to Dennis that he had met his match when it came to making mischief.

Claims to fame

Eric Clapton brought a touch of Beano with the album cover showing him reading the Beano no. 1242 comic of The Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album from John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. A decision which led to it becoming popularly known as 'The Beano Album' by music fans.

The comic has also included many a famous face within its pages over the years with Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron all appearing in Beano. Barrack Obama was the first President to appear in 2011.

The Royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was also recently marked by the Beano with a saltire strip that included The Bash Street Kids bagging an invitation, Gnasher eating the wedding cake and Dennis attempting to save the day by replacing the cake, a gesture that doesn't quite work out after he trips and ends up covering Meghan.

Famous face have also added their input into the content with guest editors including Andy Murray, Harry Hill, Richard Hammond and Nick Park.

Breaking records

Issue 3800 in 2015 broke the Guinness World Record for the longest running weekly comic. Beano continues to breaks its own record weekly.

A legacy in the making

Today, the Beano is still put together in its original Dundee headquarters and produces 75,000 comics every week. While the comic retains its place, the characters have enjoyed leaping off its pages and into new realms with Beano Studios launching Beano.com in 2016 and TV show Dennis and Gnasher Unleashed going on to become a favourite on CBBC.

Adding to the existing gang continues to take place too with a new character called Mandi introduced for the 80th year. Co-created by mental health charity Young Minds to address the issues experienced by kids today, Mandi gets her a mobile phone during her first appearance and goes on to understand the good and bad that comes with that.

Reflecting on the anniversary, Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios Scotland, says that although 80 years of the Beano is "extraordinary", it feels like they are just at the start.

"We have got such exciting times ahead," he says. "So many people today have loved Beano at some point in their lives. The really important job is to make sure it's enjoyed as much by the next generation and the next generation after that.

"The secret of our success is probably because the characters who maybe originated back in the 1950s have consistently and constantly evolved and changed to reflect the kids who were reading them at any one time.

"It is like Doctor Who, it gets regenerated and everybody gets interested all over again."

Seeing the world from a child's perspective has always been important to the makers of the Beano and this is something Mike says has been crucial in ensuring they stay relevant to their readers. "Everything we do across Beano is informed by kids," he says.

"Whether it is Beano.com or every week in the Beano comic or every year in the annual and that's because we speak to these kids every single day.

"We respond to their emails, we read their letters, we visit them in schools, we have them visit us and we have a group of kids nationwide called the trendspotters who make sure that old fogies like me can keep up to date with what's happening in their playgrounds."