Hi all,

I just bought today edition No 163 of the DC Thomson publication Classics from the Comics after randomly spotting it at the newsagents. Up until today, I wasn't aware of its existence.

Read it cover to cover and was flooded with memories from my childhood. Its 68 pages containing strips from early Beano, Dandy, Topper, Beezer, Sparky, Nutty and the Victor Comic. Really enjoyed it.

Does any one buy this?? I didnt know it existed until I randomly spotted it at the newsagents today, after it was misplaced and put in with men's lifestyles magazines. I had never seen it before, and I think it might be cos it doesn't have a wide ciculation.

The only problem with it is thatit seems unsure who it is targeting. Whilst the comic appears to be geared at nostalgic adults like myself, the "competitions2, activities etc seem to be geared at children, asking you to fill in your name and age in the coupons to eb returned lol.

Tis a shame. They should really look at targeting it at nostalgic adults, and increase the marketing behind it! At the mo, newsagents seem to be placing it in between current Beano and Dandy, and other children's publications like Disney spin off mags. Im guessing many more would buy if marketed appropriately as a nostalgia publication.

For the while, Im considering setting up a subscription with DC Thomson via their website. (£30 for 12 issues One Year inclusive of delivery to a non-UK adds)!

Would love to hear form any others who buy this great publication!

I have been buying Classics' for over a year now and it really is a great title. It does seem a wonder that it has been going for over 13 years now so it must be reaching an audience whoever that may be? I think I originally found it by accident although I may have read of it in Crikey!

As a child I didn't really read these titles much, The Beano sometimes but never the Dandy (don't know why), although at some point I must have read The Topper and The Beezer as I have some recollection of the characters. Do remember buying early issues of Nutty, especially issue one as it was the only time being in the newsagents felt like you were part of an ad that ran inside a comic to reserve an issue; the person in front of me was buying it and so did the person following me.

I was more of a action and adventure person and for most of my childhood bought Warlord. Surely there should be a market for an anthology publication of this sort of material (Victor, Hotspur, Hornet etc) if Classics is being bought purely by the nostalgia market. Perhaps DC Thompson know better?

Still buy my Classics from Smiths though so I can pick the latest Commandos at the same time. I am not in my second childhood I just don't think I ever left.

I've been buying Classics every month for a few years now (the largest of Hull's 4 WHSmith branches is the only place I can get it from though, so if they stop selling it, I'll be forced to subscribe), I even have issue 1, bought second hand at a car boot sale. For a long time, it's contents were from Beano, Dandy, Beezer, Topper, Nutty, Sparky, Cracker and Buzz. Now though, the Cracker and Buzz material is almost exhausted, and they no longer appear in every issue. They always carried a few adventure strips, but until a year and a half ago, these were always from Beano, Dandy, Beezer and Topper - examples being Billy the Cat, Black Bob, the Black Sapper, and the Whizzers from Planet Ozz. Now though, one or two adventure strips come from the boys papers.

Here's a nice bit of trivia: the current masthead is based on the first Dandy logo.

I would've entered the competition to win the Beano/Dandy and Bunty annuals, but I'm not cutting out that coupon!

Know what you mean lol Im the same

Nice to find others are enjoying this. I have just bought my first issue and am slightly annoyed that I didn't know it existed. And its been running for ten years now!!!!

Anyway, looking forward to future editions. I grew up reading the Dandy, Beano, Beezer, Topper, Victor. every week Comic Day was the highlight of the week for me! I bought the weeklies, monthly comic books (now called fun sized I think), seasonal specials, the annuals, inherited older copies from all my older cousins and even went along to jumble sales and car boot sales to try and find older copies of my faves! Those were the days.....!

The monthly Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries were replaced by the Fun Size Beano and Dandy in 1997, and switched from 2 of each title a month to one of each a fortnight (meaning you now get 26 of each a year instead of 24) last year. Unfortunately, they've been reprints since 2007, and I usually have the originals, which are from about 9 years earlier.

RIP Classics. Issue 175 will be the last one.

That's a real shame!

Unfortunately I think this might be down to sales, but they do seem to b hard to find and not stocked by many!

Hopefully sometime in the future we will get another nostalgia wave and perhaps another classic comic strips reprint publicaton with it. For now I think we have to go back to relying on jumble sales, charity shops and second hand bookshops in order to get a classic comic strip fix!

my letter to them got answered in last months issue - it seems that digital classic comics are in the pipeline...

That sounds even better! Would be grateful if you could post anything further when news is confirmed. Many thanks

When issue 172 was published, there were no plans to close Classics. The decision was only made last week, apparently, just as 174 was released. So I'm afraid those digital download plans are up in the air.

As I understand it, the decision was made because they need to cut back on lower selling titles for cost reasons now that they've had to outsource their printing operation.

Would've sold more if it had got better high street distribution...

It probably would, but high street distribution is not always that easy to get and is very costly. If the magazine isn't making enought o cover the cost of getting wider distribution, then you don't have the distribution to make the additional sales to cover the costs. Catch 22.

It was in WH SMith's, thats hardly bad.

Shame it being cancelled though.

And nowhere else, that's the problem.

Hmm, I got my subs copy today (well, Friday now), and there is no mention of "IMPORTANT NEWS INSIDE", indeed the editor talks freely about next month on the letters page, and there is the usual "next month" blurb on the inside back cover.

I would have thought if #175 was to be the last they would have given it a send off of some sorts??

As much as I liked the comic, if you cant survive while distributed nationally through smith's then it's not the distribution that is the probem.

Seems the decision to cancel was a bit rushed, and they didn't have time to remove the advert and update the letters page.
It wasn't even sold in every branch of Smith's - only 25% of their stores had it - well, it was 1 out of 4 in Hull anyway.

DC Thomsons' distribution can be very patchy. Just look at Commando, some times out of the 4 issues a fortnight a shop may only get 2 or 3, but still the same amount of copies, which can't help sales.

Well I've been in smiths in multiple cities and have always seen it.

It filled a niche market, and the distribution wasnt the problem, clearly not enough people enjoyed it to keep it going if it is being cancelled. Itd a shame as I liked it.

The problem was that it was economically viable t keep producing i while Thomsons had their own print works, but the increased production costs once everything was outsourced meant trimming some less profitable titles back.

Still would've been nice if they'd given the editor enough warning so that they wouldn't put in an advert for a non-existent issue 176. People will now turn up at the shops next month expecting a new issue, and shop staff will be wondering why it hasn't arrived in stock.

Used to buy these a couple of years ago, loved them

The Beano and Dandy Fun-Size comics have joined Classics on the scrapheap, due to low sales. Confirmed by DC_Thomson on Twitter.

Very sad, but not surprising-more cancellations were always on the cards.