What Shall We Do?

[Captain Storm]

So it's official , the Dandy is to be no more come end of year , at least in hard copy form. A sad end to a great comic , but we should still celebrate the fact that it lasted so long. That just leaves the Beano and Commando - the last two sentries from the old days. I feel as the last major comics producers in this country , the heads at D.C. Thomson should hold an emergency meeting and create 2 new comics - yes , you heard right! One for boys and one for girls. The content can cross all genres and doesn't have to be age specific per se. We have the talent in situ who would jump at the chance of becoming involved in such an exciting venture. And of course we have a roster of Foreign artists who would be only too happy for the work. But it's only fuddy duddy middle aged men and women who would even contemplate buying such a thing , I hear you cry. Hang on , how many middle aged men and women who originally bought comics in their youth are resident in Britain and abroad? Millions! With the right T.V. and Internet advertising aimed squarely at the nostalgic heart of this demographic it would push all the right buttons. Nostalgia sells - ask the owners of eBay! But that's just plain crazy , you say! Is it , is it really?

The Cap.

p.s. Al , if you read this , please forward it to D.C. Thomson.

[Tin Can Tommy]

Bring back Classics from the Comics.

[Captain Storm]

Hi Tin Can Tommy,

I was actually thinking more along the lines of new stories using the cream of talent today coupled with the still living masters of yesteryear with a nod to the past. Adventure , crime , romance , humour , supernatural , sci fi , etc Two gender specific titles that would appeal to all tastes. Not merely a reprint title. Rather a continuation of the old but bang up to date as it were.

The Cap.

[Digifiend]

So modern versions of Bunty and Victor? I wouldn't use the Bunty brand though. Too old fashioned.

Bring back Classics from the Comics.

Yeah, it had a big distribution problem, but the Beano Ultimate Summer Special seems to be a success. Make it monthly, add content from the other comics, and lose the stiff cover (to reduce the price a bit). I'd call it Beano Retro, with the cover design indicating that it also features characters from other comics - the reason for using the Beano brand is marketing (after all, with Dandy gone, it's now the final link in the entire lineage dating back to Adventure).

[PaulTwist]

I'd love to see a Beano Retro, like Digi suggested. Somewhere between CftC and the summer specials. It'd probably have to have a high price tag for WH Smith to be interested - maybe a 68-page monthly for £3.99, with Beano branding but reprinting strips from across the DC Thomson archives?

Or maybe they could relaunch The Dandy as a retro title instead, aimed squarely at the nostalgia market rather than children?

I miss Classics from the Comics. It was only £2! It was probably underpriced really - it was worth twice that.

[Captain Storm]

Hi Digi , I don't mean using old brand names - something new and current - hadn't really thought about the comics names to be honest. Let's see - Quake! for the boys i.e. us and maybe Mia for the girls. Any other suggestions for the title names , folks? As I already mentioned , the comics wouldn't be age specific , though they would be aimed at the 40 somethings and their wallets. I'm pretty certain the likes of Oli Frey would jump at a chance to showcase his fantastic artwork in a new comic. I really and truly believe that this would work. D.C. had better do something before it's all too late and the Beano follows suit. Test the waters and take a chance. Or there really will be no comics left. Comics Jim , but not as we know them

The Cap.

[Lew Stringer]

Hang on , how many middle aged men and women who originally bought comics in their youth are resident in Britain and abroad? Millions! With the right T.V. and Internet advertising aimed squarely at the nostalgic heart of this demographic it would push all the right buttons. Nostalgia sells - ask the owners of eBay! But that's just plain crazy , you say! Is it , is it really?

There's one big problem with that unfortunately. There isn't a potential market of millions of people. Most people "grew out" of comics. They don't see them in the same way that the small number of collectors do. They might be interested enough to post a quick comment online to say "Comics? I remember Corporal Clod from The Sparker!" but they're not bothered enough to support a comic even if it did look like something they read as a child.

[stevezodiac]

How does America produce hundreds of titles a month and we can only produce a handful? I've e-mailed the Weekly News asking if they could have a Dandy fun section in the paper to keep the title going. Its a forlorn hope but i'm sure Thomsons would like to retain the title somehow. Alternately The Sunday Post could at least bring back the four page Fun Section and include Desperate Dan reprints plus perhaps rotating characters from the Dandy.

[dandy mad]

If DCT was to work its magic then it would have to be something special to counter the already saturated market of plastic bags and cheap plastic toys they give away week in week out....

[dandy mad]

How does American produce hundreds of titles a month and we can only produce a handful? I've e-mailed the Weekly News asking if they could have a Dandy fun section in the paper to keep the title going. Its a forlorn hope but i'm sure Thomsons would like to retain the title somehow. Alternately The Sunday Post could at least bring back the four page Fun Section and include Desperate Dan reprints plus perhaps rotating characters from the Dandy.

Simple the American market is bigger with better marketing and with comic characters that are known throughout the world bar a few communist states....

[McSCOTTYS GHOST]

America is a different market though and the (mostly) super hero genre has always had a traditionally large cult following and unlike the Beano and Dandy you don't grow out of reading Batman etc as quickly as say Desperate Dan and the like - Plus the recent movie blockbusters help a lot to generate interest in those strips - even in the US titles like Mad are struggling (as are about 90% of superhero titles but so far they sell enough to keep going) - Comics all over are in decline the medium itself needs help

[Captain Storm]

Correct marketing is the solution. If the current team at D.C. aren't up to the challenge ,well then , fire them. Harsh but true. A business is a business. Results are everything. Time for a few mavericks to shake and bake. If nothing is done , it will not be long before every artist , writer and letterer will be redundant! The fans want this. How do you get somebody to buy something? You convince them that they need it! Simple marketing strategy. I tell you now , my idea will work. It just takes somebody with the gonads to start the ball rolling! Faint heart never won fair love.

The Cap.

[Digifiend]

Call it DCT, please. DC is the company who publish Batman and Superman.

How does American produce hundreds of titles a month and we can only produce a handful?

You can ask the same thing about Japanese manga.

[philcom55]

Back in the 1970s nearly everybody in the business thought that American comic books were on the verge of extinction (in fact DC and Marvel looked on IPC and DC Thomson with pure envy in those days!). In the event they were saved by the development of the direct market, combined with new printing techniques that meant a publication could break even with a much lower print run. Sadly for DC Thomson, British comic shops have never shown any interest in their output, while the total population of the UK just isn't large enough to support the level of niche marketing that is viable in the US. Of course, American superheroes continue to sell in the UK but these benefit considerably from film tie-ins and off-the-shelf artwork.

- Phil Rushton

[AndyB]

The marketing team is almost irrelevant as long as the supermarkets and WHS keep overcharging to actually stock the magazines and thus loading the market - the result is high prices, low demand, bad distribution, lower demand, worse distribution...

There's a reason why the subscriptions are well below the cover price - I reckon that the subscriptions for the weeklies at £17 per quarter (ongoing, not new subscriptions) are half cover price or less plus postage.