I love the Beanoand the Dandy. They were part of my childhood. They, along with the works of Charles M.Schulz and Richard Scarry, taught me to love reading, to love books, to love illustrations.
What I hate is what they've become.
The Dandy was doomed from the October 2010 revamp. Readers deserted in droves and the people involved with the comic couldn't see why. It was because the new look they'd given the Dandy was terrible. Much of it looked as if it had been hastily drawn by twelve-year-olds during a boring history lesson. The level of humour had been dumbed down to fart / burp / snot / bogeys / poo 'jokes' - fine for toddlers but not much fun for older readers. It was as if someone thought the Dandy didn't look modern or 'hip' enough any more and in making such a sweeping change threw the baby out with the bathwater.
Progress, for its own sake, is bogus. Different is not necessarily good. A lot of things that were praised as being "different" at the time have not aged well; the new-look Dandy seemed out of date the moment it rolled off the presses.
I tried to point out the obvious shortcomings, but all I got from the contributors was "the old formula wasn't working" (maybe not, but it had a lot more than eight thousand readers) and accusations that I was frightened of change. One of them even intimated knowledge that I was a "bitter failed cartoonist, crying salty tears into your own p*ss poor efforts", regardless of the fact that the Dandy was losing readers faster than the Royal Bodyguard lost viewers. In fact, the readers themselves were criticised for not "cheering on a bold move". Well, when someone makes a bold move, I'll cheer it on, believe me. I know what a bold move is, and making the Dandy look like a webcomic doesn't constitute one in my books!
They just didn't know their cause and effect. Poor comic = poor sales.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! It wasn't the 2010 revamp which doomed it, it was the 2007 one. They changed the format so that there were a lot of non-comics pages. The people who liked the comic strips abandoned ship due to poor value for money. It was a steady decline from there. Then in 2010, the readers who liked the feature material ditched it when the comic went back to mostly comic strip. DC Thomson marketing failed badly. They put lots of copies into shops but didn't advertise it. As a result, the content of the latest revamp didn't matter. The fans who wanted to see comic strips return to the Dandy didn't come back, they lost a major opportunity to get new fans, they didn't even advertise in the Beano. They haven't lost many readers since 2010, but failed to gain any.
Tuesday sees the publication of the final issue of the weekly Dandy comic book in the UK, after seventy-five years, issue 3610. It guest stars Paul McCartney, and has 75 strips, some new, some old, going back throughout the history of the comic, and a facsimile of the first issue from 1937.
Mum said she's going to try and pick up a copy for me tomorrow. Sad to see it go though It was a British institution and nearly all of the UK (and even here in Ireland) grew up with it. The digital version just isn't the same.
It's virtually a sellout, thanks in part to greedy sods who sell them on eBay. If only all these Johnny-come-latelies had been buying it every week, it wouldn't be closing. :mad::(
I would have liked a copy of the last ever one for old times sake.
But the supermarkets say they didn't stock it, and WHSmith's had sold out.
I doubt we will be able to buy any direct from the publishers.
It's still up on DC Thomsons web site. DC Thomsons web site
I just bought one, couldn't find it in the shops and the ebay prices were just speculator prices to the absurd.
I got a tip off from an artist who happens to live here in Hull (Mike D, who drew Bone-O a couple of years ago), so I got a copy, after two days of searching. Nisa had four copies in stock.
It's still up on DC Thomsons web site. DC Thomsons web site
I just bought one, couldn't find it in the shops and the ebay prices were just speculator prices to the absurd.
Mum couldn't get me a copy but I'll be able to get it here in Ireland. I rang up Easons (Irish equivalent of WHSmith) and in my city they're getting them in on Saturday so if I call early on Saturday morning they'll reserve a copy for me and I'll go down in the afternoon and collect it.
It's still up on DC Thomsons web site. DC Thomsons web site
I just bought one, couldn't find it in the shops and the ebay prices were just speculator prices to the absurd.
Thank you for that info.
I've ordered one.
I'm way too old to still be buying comics but I just wanted to get a copy of this last one as a kind of nostalgia thing.
I've been searching in several shops and haven't found any, but today asked in my local WHSmiths to be told that the final edition was only being sold in Scotland and wouldn't be released anywhere else in the country.
So I've now ordered it online as well. Seems crazy to me, as surely the last edition would be incredibly popular by everyone!
It's still available online at publisher's Dc Thomson. Also, Scots might like to know that it is on sale in Braehead Shopping Centre, nr. Glasgow - a "pop up" shop has appeared there for a short time to sell only the last issue!
I managed to get a copy last Tuesday morning (day of release) at WH Smith. Got to confess to being a selfish b* as I never liked nor bought the comic - I was always an action/adventure comic fan - Tiger, Victor, Action etc.... so to buy it was being a pure hypocrite!! Personally, I didn't buy it because I thought it would be worth something in the future, it was out of sympathy that the industry has lost yet another giant.
I put my order in online, heard nothing from them, then got a delayed response to my email (at around 6.40 last night, and two days late!) informing me that 1,000 copies have already been sent out, and another 2,500 are to be dispatched soon, including mine. I just hope it arrives before Christmas!
Comments
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/12/03/the-cover-to-the-final-issue-of-the-dandy-in-print/
And also today - Dandy issue 0 – the first digital edition:
http://dandy.com/
R.I.P. Dandy, thanks for the memories:)
But the supermarkets say they didn't stock it, and WHSmith's had sold out.
I doubt we will be able to buy any direct from the publishers.
It's still up on DC Thomsons web site. DC Thomsons web site
I just bought one, couldn't find it in the shops and the ebay prices were just speculator prices to the absurd.
Thank you for that, I've got an order acccepted
Thank you for that info.
I've ordered one.
I'm way too old to still be buying comics but I just wanted to get a copy of this last one as a kind of nostalgia thing.
Thanks again!
So I've now ordered it online as well. Seems crazy to me, as surely the last edition would be incredibly popular by everyone!
The good news is, they doubled the print run. Was meant to be 50,000 but now another 50,000 are hot off the presses.
I managed to get a copy last Tuesday morning (day of release) at WH Smith. Got to confess to being a selfish b* as I never liked nor bought the comic - I was always an action/adventure comic fan - Tiger, Victor, Action etc.... so to buy it was being a pure hypocrite!!