Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Nostalgia time!
Back in the day when comics came and went by the way of the "Exciting News Inside", was there ever a merger which you would have liked to have gone another way?
In my case, when Cracker merged with The Beezer back in the 70s, I lost a comic as I never liked The Beezer. Now if it had been merged with The Dandy, I would have still lost a comic but at least I would have the characters from my two favourite comics appearing in the same publication.
Back in the day when comics came and went by the way of the "Exciting News Inside", was there ever a merger which you would have liked to have gone another way?
In my case, when Cracker merged with The Beezer back in the 70s, I lost a comic as I never liked The Beezer. Now if it had been merged with The Dandy, I would have still lost a comic but at least I would have the characters from my two favourite comics appearing in the same publication.
Last edited by SID on 19 Aug 2014, 20:47, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
I would have loved to see Cheeky (as the headliner) incorporating Whizzer and Chips, with only 3 pages of Cheeky plus keeping Sweet Tooth, Joker, Junior Rotter, Superstore and others.
Alternatively IPC could have kept Monster Fun going (dropping Mickey Mouse earlier) and have had Wow! merge with it or even Scream! for an adventure + humour title (with 2 or 3 adventure strips along the lines of 'March of the Mighty Ones'). Later 'The Supernaturals' could have merged with it. In the early '70s it was not unusual to have a mix of adventure and humour (see early '70s issues of Buster)..
For reprints in the mid '80s they could have bought back some of Shiver and Shake stories.
Alternatively IPC could have kept Monster Fun going (dropping Mickey Mouse earlier) and have had Wow! merge with it or even Scream! for an adventure + humour title (with 2 or 3 adventure strips along the lines of 'March of the Mighty Ones'). Later 'The Supernaturals' could have merged with it. In the early '70s it was not unusual to have a mix of adventure and humour (see early '70s issues of Buster)..
For reprints in the mid '80s they could have bought back some of Shiver and Shake stories.
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Monster Fun and Scream! - interesting combination.
Now I would have loved a Buster and Cheeky or even a Cheeky and Buster merger.
Now I would have loved a Buster and Cheeky or even a Cheeky and Buster merger.
Reading comics since 1970. My Current Regulars are: 2000 AD (1977-), Judge Dredd Megazine (1990-), Spaceship Away (2003-), Commando (2013-), Monster Fun (2022-), Deadpool and Wolverine (2023-), Quantum (2023-).
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
When Beezer and Topper folded, some of it's strips moved to Beano and Dandy but it didn't formally merge with either of the survivors (of course Blinky and the Numskulls are both Beezer strips but they ended up in different comics - something that couldn't happen if they properly merged - Blinky had to go to the Dandy though, as he was too similar to Erbert from Bash Street and therefore was unsuited to the Beano - Beryl probably went to Dandy for the same reason, being too similar to Minnie. Numskulls could've fitted in either comic). And more recently, The Beano took on Bananaman, the mini-strip concept, and the Madvertisements from the Dandy (and characters such as Nuke Noodle and Korky the Cat have made cameos on puzzle pages; they also took on the editorial staff). But again, no formal merger. That case is likely so that they didn't get backlash from the press for axing Desperate Dan.
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
I still say that, considering what happened to The Dandy, it should have been merged with The Beano. That way more than just Bananaman would have survived. DCT could have kept the annuals separate but at least characters would have lived on in weekly form.
Now what would have happened if The Beano merged with The Dandy back when The Dandy had been the more popular? Would have the surviving Dandy been The Beano in all but name by 2014?
Now what would have happened if The Beano merged with The Dandy back when The Dandy had been the more popular? Would have the surviving Dandy been The Beano in all but name by 2014?
Reading comics since 1970. My Current Regulars are: 2000 AD (1977-), Judge Dredd Megazine (1990-), Spaceship Away (2003-), Commando (2013-), Monster Fun (2022-), Deadpool and Wolverine (2023-), Quantum (2023-).
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
They way they did it did avoid negative press though. If they merged but didn't carry over Dan, it would've caused a backlash. As it was, any press they got was simply about how sad it was that the Dandy was closing after 75 years. The digital Dandy's launch and failure was all but ignored by other media.
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
But why wouldn't they want to carry over Dan? He is still a marketable and popular character so it doesn't make sense.Digifiend wrote:They way they did it did avoid negative press though. If they merged but didn't carry over Dan, it would've caused a backlash. As it was, any press they got was simply about how sad it was that the Dandy was closing after 75 years. The digital Dandy's launch and failure was all but ignored by other media.
Reading comics since 1970. My Current Regulars are: 2000 AD (1977-), Judge Dredd Megazine (1990-), Spaceship Away (2003-), Commando (2013-), Monster Fun (2022-), Deadpool and Wolverine (2023-), Quantum (2023-).
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Don't know, but for some reason they didn't. Maybe they were hoping that the Dandy could be somehow revived... but it's now been a year since the digital comic was cancelled. I think the ship has sailed and summer specials and annuals will be it's future now.
As for the merger topic, here's another suggestion: What if Plug, being based on a Beano character, had merged with that instead of the Beezer?
As for the merger topic, here's another suggestion: What if Plug, being based on a Beano character, had merged with that instead of the Beezer?
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
I doubt it. Firstly, Albert Barnes was a very different editor to George Moonie, so it's doubtful that Dennis the Menace would have been created under his editorship. And of course that strip was the catalyst for the change of tone and the creation of all the other classic '50s and early '60s characters.SID wrote: Now what would have happened if The Beano merged with The Dandy back when The Dandy had been the more popular? Would have the surviving Dandy been The Beano in all but name by 2014?
Secondly, I suspect the Dandy wouldn't even have survived as long as it did without the Beano providing a competitive spur, and an example to follow when it (the Dandy) began to lose ground. Unless there was a similar rival comic to provide such a spur. (Hope I don't sound like some free-marketeer here).
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
what if Warlord had joined with Battle? I know... two separate publishers and all that... but just think, if they could have come to some resolution - who knows. Marvel and DC have merged now and then (albeit with a mini series). Warlord sank eventually without trace whereas Battle was swamped with toys merchandise in its latter days before skulking into the wings of an ailing "Eagle". It could have been interesting.
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Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Well Battle was revamped with Action Force, then Storm Force, and then non-war stories because war comics were becoming unpopular. So merging Warlord into Battle and keeping it as a war comic wouldn't have halted the decline in readers.geoff42 wrote:what if Warlord had joined with Battle? I know... two separate publishers and all that... but just think, if they could have come to some resolution - who knows. Marvel and DC have merged now and then (albeit with a mini series). Warlord sank eventually without trace whereas Battle was swamped with toys merchandise in its latter days before skulking into the wings of an ailing "Eagle". It could have been interesting.
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Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
I do think that the move not to The Dandy with The Beano was a bit of a waste. It's a great shame that all those great characters created between 2010-2012 never found themselves a new home; The Dandy annuals mostly use retro characters and the Summer Specials are all reprint (though if next year's one does have new material, I do hope that they can get some post-2010 characters in there).Digifiend wrote:When Beezer and Topper folded, some of it's strips moved to Beano and Dandy but it didn't formally merge with either of the survivors (of course Blinky and the Numskulls are both Beezer strips but they ended up in different comics - something that couldn't happen if they properly merged - Blinky had to go to the Dandy though, as he was too similar to Erbert from Bash Street and therefore was unsuited to the Beano - Beryl probably went to Dandy for the same reason, being too similar to Minnie. Numskulls could've fitted in either comic). And more recently, The Beano took on Bananaman, the mini-strip concept, and the Madvertisements from the Dandy (and characters such as Nuke Noodle and Korky the Cat have made cameos on puzzle pages; they also took on the editorial staff). But again, no formal merger. That case is likely so that they didn't get backlash from the press for axing Desperate Dan.
Having The Beezer and Topper merge with The Dandy could have been a good idea, though having different characters distributed across both The Dandy and The Beano was probably a better decision. (and the name "The Dandy and The Beezer and Topper" sounds a bit silly) However, now that I have read some issues of The Beezer and Topper, I think it would have been better if more characters survived. More specifically, the characters conceived during the merged comic's lifetime. All of the surviving characters (with the exception of Potsworth & Co) existed prior to the merger (that includes Blinky as he was just a de-aged Colonel Blink) and Beryl was the only one to immediately transfer (all the others had to wait a few months or so) and The Beezer Annuals tended to just use pre-merger characters (and rarely any Topper characters). I think Fairy Grotto was an interesting strip that could have probably benefited from transferring to The Beano or The Dandy (although My Own Genie arguably pulled off a similar concept far better), Pxqztkle would have probably been quite at home in The Dandy, and I'd have liked to see "Ghost!" continue into one of the comics (The fact that he was brought back several years later as "Hector Spectre" implies that he was a popular enough character.) It's possible that they were planning to keep these characters alive by continuing the Topper annual, but unfortunately such a thing never happened either way.
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Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Having The Beezer and Topper merge with The Dandy could have been a good idea, though having different characters distributed across both The Dandy and The Beano was probably a better decision. (and the name "The Dandy and The Beezer and Topper" sounds a bit silly) .
I suppose they could have called it Dandy WITH Beezer & Topper like Buster did when whizzer & chips merged with it.
Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Maybe Warlord with The Crunch might have prolonged their lives a little. It would have moved Warlord away from strictly WW2, bringing in aspects such as sci-fi. Of course, that may have tuned Warlord readers off. Who knows but I would have loved to have read it.
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Re: Old Comic Mergers - What If?
Or better still, The Crunch and Warlord.starscape wrote:Maybe Warlord with The Crunch might have prolonged their lives a little. It would have moved Warlord away from strictly WW2, bringing in aspects such as sci-fi. Of course, that may have tuned Warlord readers off. Who knows but I would have loved to have read it.
Reading comics since 1970. My Current Regulars are: 2000 AD (1977-), Judge Dredd Megazine (1990-), Spaceship Away (2003-), Commando (2013-), Monster Fun (2022-), Deadpool and Wolverine (2023-), Quantum (2023-).