Dr Who Adventures comic 1 year old

steelclaw · Post by **steelclaw** » 31 Mar 2007, 10:20

Dr Who comic is 1 year old give or take a couple of weeks, Issue 26 came out on thursday.
Anyone still collection it, I've managed to get them all even with different covers & Different free gifts.
That's hope it lasts, I remember when it started I gave it till Issue 14

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 31 Mar 2007, 12:32

steelclaw wrote:Dr Who comic is 1 year old give or take a couple of weeks, Issue 26 came out on thursday.
Anyone still collection it, I've managed to get them all even with different covers & Different free gifts.
That's hope it lasts, I remember when it started I gave it till Issue 14

Considering it's almost always bagged, it must just sell on the name and its free gifts rather than its content. (It also has very good distribution.)

I gave up on it long ago I'm afraid. There's only so many comics one can support and I find the dumbing down of UK comics on the whole increasingly depressing. Considering that 40 years ago the same age group were being offered publications such as TV Comic and TV Century 21, DWA's mish-mash of shallow "features" and manic "design" is a prime example of a major problem with children's publications today: all noise and little substance.

Lew

Shaqui · Post by **Shaqui** » 01 Apr 2007, 13:41

I'm still collecting it...

David · Post by **David** » 01 Apr 2007, 14:24

Lew Stringer wrote:
steelclaw wrote:Dr Who comic is 1 year old give or take a couple of weeks, Issue 26 came out on thursday.
Anyone still collection it, I've managed to get them all even with different covers & Different free gifts.
That's hope it lasts, I remember when it started I gave it till Issue 14

Considering it's almost always bagged, it must just sell on the name and its free gifts rather than its content. (It also has very good distribution.)

I gave up on it long ago I'm afraid. There's only so many comics one can support and I find the dumbing down of UK comics on the whole increasingly depressing. Considering that 40 years ago the same age group were being offered publications such as TV Comic and TV Century 21, DWA's mish-mash of shallow "features" and manic "design" is a prime example of a major problem with children's publications today: all noise and little substance.

Lew

I'd never uy a bagged comic (unless it was something I knew) - I like to have a look inside to see if it's worth buying.

Earl · Post by **Earl** » 01 Apr 2007, 19:13

Not enough comic content for me.

Earl.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 01 Apr 2007, 22:07

Earl wrote:Not enough comic content for me.

Earl.

I remember in the 1990s an editor telling me she'd just come from a meeting where management had decided that comics were no longer popular and they were going to start launching "children's lifestyle magazines". This seemed as bizarre to me then as it does now. If comics fell out of favour in the UK (but not in other countries) then they just needed tweaking, not abandoning.

Unfortunately in this age of companies trying to reach "targets" it always leads to cutbacks. In the case of comics, the easiest way is to drop the freelancers (comic artists) and do most of it in-house. With no artists on staff, this means "children's lifestyle magazines" are padded out with press releases about the latest toys, games, etc. Or in the case of tv mags, publicity stills.

It all leads to a very insubstantial product. All the editors I know would much rather be filling the pages with comic strips, but it's not up to them any more.

Reflect kids pop culture at the right time and it works (Toxic, DWA). Sometimes it doesn't (Rampage).

I have to wonder where kids' comics/mags will go next though. There's been a gradual simplifying of comics in Britain for decades. There's the odd exception every now and then but overall comics have become aimed more and more towards a younger or less literate market, and it's been gradually going this way for at least 50 years.

So, considering most kids mags are as basic-entry level as DWA, where do comics go from here?

Picked up Shaun the Sheep No.1 this week. Although aimed at a younger reader than the superb Wallace & Gromit Comic, it's definitely superior to most comics for that age group. It'll be interesting to see if a more literate (and funny) nursery comic can work. And if it does, whether it'll encourage a reversal of the current trend to pitch kids mags towards the foetus market.

Lew

philcom55 · Post by **philcom55** » 02 Apr 2007, 00:01

Lew Stringer wrote:I remember in the 1990s an editor telling me she'd just come from a meeting where management had decided that comics were no longer popular

It's interesting to compare this situation with the history of Dr. Who on television. Despite years of relentlessly substandard scripts (and the fact that the Star Trek franchise was going from strength to strength at the same time) the BBC came to the conclusion that its declining ratings proved the series no longer had an audience. In the end it took Russell T Davies to show how much potential it still had, and that all the viewers had ever wanted were sufficiently involving stories and characters.

- Phil Rushton

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 02 Apr 2007, 01:26

philcom55 wrote:
Lew Stringer wrote:I remember in the 1990s an editor telling me she'd just come from a meeting where management had decided that comics were no longer popular
It's interesting to compare this situation with the history of Dr. Who on television. Despite years of relentlessly substandard scripts (and the fact that the Star Trek franchise was going from strength to strength at the same time) the BBC came to the conclusion that its declining ratings proved the series no longer had an audience. In the end it took Russell T Davies to show how much potential it still had, and that all the viewers had ever wanted were sufficiently involving stories and characters.

- Phil Rushton

Exactly, and as a result we're now getting more tv drama inspired by the success of Doctor Who. Okay, Robin Hood and Primeval aren't as good, Life on Mars is okay, but they're better than quiz shows and reality shows.

All it takes is one new comic, with a new direction, to prove it can be done. Viz invigorated the entire top shelf of WH Smiths at one time. I'm sure that a kids' comic could do the same for the children's section. (I don't mean a kids' Viz of course, but something lively and new.)

I honestly feel the days of the "naughty kid" strip are becoming as dated as the "jovial tramps" strips of the 1930s. If children's books and tv and movie cartoons can offer kids a variety of concepts then comics can do likewise surely?

Lew

Brendan McGuire · Post by **Brendan McGuire** » 03 Apr 2007, 22:04

I honestly feel the days of the "naughty kid" strip are becoming as dated as the "jovial tramps" strips of the 1930s. If children's books and tv and movie cartoons can offer kids a variety of concepts then comics can do likewise surely? Lew

Hear hear! (stands up applauding - would whistle using fingers if able to).

Muffy · Post by **Muffy** » 02 Jul 2007, 09:38

I did a freelancing stint at BBC Worldwide [though working in a different department], the comic is a massive seller for them (sometimes 120,000 sales per issue - which is more than most 2000ad's at their most popular). Sales sometimes speak for themselves.

Comics UK