Front: Dennis and Gnasher are chasing a pair of cats through the snow (and past a Dennis-like snowman). Front: Dennis is about to score a goal, for his football team. Gnasher is growling at the Bash Street Kids (who are all on top of the goalpost).

Because of his popularity, Dennis the Menace has appeared on the front cover of every annual since the release of the 1979 book in 1978. Front: Dennis is riding on a Gnasher-themed snowboard, while Gnasher himself is laughing in the foreground. This book also marked the 60th birthday of Dennis the Menace with a special logo that was displayed in the bottom-right corner of its front cover. General Jumbo is controlling the other characters (Dennis, Biffo, Minnie, Roger, The Bash Street Kids, Lord Snooty and The Three Bears) with his radio control, and Danny (from the Bash Street Kids) is holding a red balloon, which has "1967" upon it.

Front: All the characters are playing on a giant 3D mechanical Gnasher (a 2D one had previously been built by a school of aliens, in the 1997 annual).

Since the Beano's redesigned logo debuted on the 2017 annual (released 2016), the words "BEANO" and "ANNUAL (year)" have been displayed in a consistent size and font on the cover and spine each year; this had not previously been the case. Front: Little Plum and Minnie the Minx (the latter is wearing a red-and- yellow striped jumper) are blowing up a giant balloon which is shaped like Biffo's head.Front: Dennis is on a "Rebels Wanted!" poster, and he has a Gnasher fan-club type badge on his chest, while other characters are cheering. By 1966, DC Thomson artist Jim Petrie had taken over Minnie the Minx. He would go on to do exactly 2000 Minnie the Minx strips for the weekly comic!

Biffo is acting as General Jumbo with all the other then-current characters acting as the radio-controlled army. Front: Dennis is jumping onto a seesaw which causes Gnasher to fly over a fence into the Beanotown Cats' Home. Biffo the Bear is painting a portrait of Big Eggo and all the other (then-current) characters on a large canvas.The comic's title is displayed in large letters – with pictures of Dennis, Danny, Wilfrid, Little Plum, Toots, Roger, Plug, and upside-down Smiffy on the top; and Jonah, Minnie, Biffo, Sidney, Fatty, Kat and the Bash Street Teacher (with Kanary on his nose) below. Front: Dennis and Gnasher are driving their Menace Car through a computer-generated world, trying to escape from an army of weird Beano robots (as there was a story about them travelling to a planet inhabited by them, and destroying them, in the annual). Front: Roger (top left), Minnie (top middle), Billy Whizz (top right), the Bash Street Kids (middle left), and Ivy the Terrible (bottom middle). Biffo is doing a juggling act, and a swarm of bees (which have been released from their hive by Dennis and Minnie; this is the first Beano annual to feature her at full size on the cover, as she was miniaturized for 1956 one) are flying towards him. Front: Dennis, Gnasher, Minnie, Danny, Plug, Billy Whizz, and Ivy the Terrible are flying in a hot air balloon which has the name of the book on it.