This week's issue - Take 4

Discuss or comment on anything relating to D.C.Thomson's second longest running comic. The home of Dennis the Menace. Has been running since 1938.

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Al
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This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Al »

Another new thread. Please keep it on topic people.

Al

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

Just reading the issue. Looks great so far, I love the Dennis story and Billy Whizz and the mini's are on form as usual. I loved Ball Boy this week.
Reading comics comes naturally to me.

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Digifiend
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Digifiend »

The Bash Street Kids aren't at school this week, and no Teacher in sight. Would've been ideal to run in August, during the summer holidays.

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

Very true but it was an interesting change of pace seeing The Bash Street Kids out of school. I wonder if there'll be more strips like this as I don't think it has been done too often.

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

Here's my review of the issue.

Page 1 - Front Cover - Nigel Parkinson
Page 2 - Mr. Bonkers' Joke-Telling Cheese Plant - Jamie Smart
PG 3: What's Inside?
Page 4 -6 - Dennis the Menace and Gnasher - 6.5/10 - A slightly weaker story this week, I actually found it rather boring. The artwork and overall story was good but something was missing this week for me.
Page 7 - Dennis and Gnasher's Gnawsome Giveaways!
Page 8 - Bash Street Burp - 6/10 - The whole thing was a bit predictable, and the usually-intentionally-scrappy artwork looked even more scrappier than usual. Not bad, though.
Page 9 - Billy Whizz - 4/10 - I've changed my mind about this. The whole script seemed unappealing and lazy, and I hated the "mum" joke. The artwork's fine, but the rest wasn't great for me.
Page 10 - Ball Boy - 9.5/10 - Now this is more like it from Ball Boy! I loved the whole scene of it, I loved the Alex Ferguson reference, and even though Ant & Dec were referenced in it I still adored the whole thing. Brilliant artwork, brilliant everything!
Page 11 - Funsize Funnies
Ninja Nuns - 5/10 - A respectable start. The artwork wasn't on top form as we usually see from Andy but I liked the script.
The Incredible Skunk - 3/10 - I thought last week that the Incredible Skunk was too dependent on fart jokes. Still, lots of toilet humour, very reliant. Anything else we're seeing in the strip, the artwork etc..., isn't improving. As a matter of fact, it's getting worse.
Angel Face - 7.5/10 - WizzKid was confused, I was slightly as well, although admittedly only after he mentioned the paint plot hole. The artwork is good though and so was the plot.
I Pity the School - 8.5/10 - I remember this one from the 2012 Dandy, loved it then, love it now. Great artwork, except for the man in panel one, which was the only thing which stopped me from giving it a 10. Great plot as well.

Page 12 - Beano Jokes Advert
Page 13 - Mega Mega Mootants - 7/10 - This has so much potential...great artwork and plot. However, I agree with WizzKid, it needs at least two pages.
Page 14 - 15 - The Numskulls - 3/10 - I found this Darth Vader plot boring, badly drawn and it was very tempting for me to just turn the page. Disappointing.
Page 16 - The Castle Rock - 4.5/10 - I wasn't sure if this should have an extra page or not. The cliffhanger was good, but this wasn't particularly well drawn, amongst other things. It has lots of potential, though.
Page 17 - Celebrity Twins
Page 18 - 19 - The Bash Street Kids - 6.5/10 - I liked the jokes and the artwork, but the thing that stopped me from giving a higher score was that there was no school involved this week, and the story suffered from it. I'm just not into all the "Bash Street Kids play stunts on their bike." As others have said though, Spotty is getting his Mike Pearse personality back.
Page 20 - Funkids Radio Page
Page 21 - Funsize Funnies 2
Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares - 4/10 - Can I just say how great it is to have the wonderful Mike Pearse back? He needs more space. The joke and script was quite weak this week. I hope Mike Pearse doesn't write this (of course he doesn't).
The Great Beanotown Face-off - 4/10 - I liked the artwork, but the plot is tired and I didn't get the joke.
Jessie's J - 9/10 - Brilliant. The artwork suits the strip, and I loved the plot and story. The end joke was weird in a great way.
Penguin Club - 4.5/10 - I didn't get the joke, but the artwork is good, with weird teeth. Not great.

Page 22 - 24 - Wallace and Gromit - 4/10 - The artwork is good, but I feel that the jokes and puns are very forced. This strip has lots of potential, though. It needs to use it next month.
Page 25 - Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions Manual
Page 26 - 27 - Bananaman - 3.5/10 - Contrary to what WizzKid's opinion was, I thought the strip had marginally inproved this week, the plot suited it better and that showed. Still, the lines in the artwork are still very clunky, the rest of it, particularly in drawing's of Bananaman was squatty, but it did improve this week.
Page 28 - Super Menaces
Page 29 - Minnie the Minx - 9/10 - Probably one of the best of the week. Great artwork, plot, at times a bit rushed (maybe two pages would suit it better), but great.
Page 30 - Subscription Deal
Page 31 - Funsize Funnies 3
Smiffy's Top Tips! - 4.5/10 - The joke was weak. The artwork by Paul Palmer is good, though.
Not So Horrible Histories with Terry Deary - 8.5/10 - Love it. Great, gory artwork, the paint though didn't look great. But I really, really liked this.
Man VS Food (Wood) - 3/10 - Strange. First of all, the strip is called ''Man VS Wood'', but the title printed it as "Man VS Food". As WizzKid said, why did Adam win? The joke at the end was ok, but nothing else is good.
The Fresh Prince of Buckingham Palace - 7.5/10 - This is good, the plot is good, the jokes are good, The artwork was ok, but it seemed a bit ametur-ish. Its unsteady. The rest was brilliant.

Page 32 - 33 - Roger the Dodger - 9.5/10 - I thought this was extraordinary. The artwork by Jamie Smart was brilliant, the 2nd and 3rd panels were a bit weak, but perfect other than that. So funny!
Page 34 - Wrap Up - Nigel Parkinson and Craig Graham - 9/10 - Great. Great artwork and joke. Other characters in the story would have been nice but otherwise great.
Page 35 - Next Week Preview and Funkids Advert
Page 36 - Calamity James - 9/10 - The artwork is great, the plot and joke in this were great too! The end joke was funny, but James seemingly fainting was a bit forced. Great, though.

Here's the leaderboard.

=1st - Ball Boy - 9.5/10
=1st - Roger the Dodger - 9.5/10
=3rd - Minnie the Minx - 9/10
=3rd - Jessie's J - 9/10
=3rd - Wrap Up - 9/10
=3rd - Calamity James - 9/10
=7th - I Pity the School - 8.5/10
=7th - Not so Horrible Histories with Terry Deary - 8.5/10
=9th - Angel Face - 7.5/10
=9th - The Fresh Prince of Buckingham Palace - 7.5/10
11th - Mega Mega Mootants - 7/10
=12th - Dennis the Menace and Gnasher - 6.5/10
=12th - The Bash Street Kids - 6.5/10
14th - The Bash Street Burp - 6/10
15th - Ninja Nuns - 5/10
=16th - The Castle Rock - 4.5/10
=16th - Penguin Club - 4.5/10
=16th - Smiffy's Top Tips! - 4.5/10
=19th - Billy Whizz - 4/10
=19th - Fatty's Kitchen Nightmares - 4/10
=19th - The Great Beanotown Face-off - 4/10
=19th - Wallace and Gromit - 4/10
22nd - Bananaman - 3.5/10
=23rd - The Incredible Skunk - 3/10
=23rd - The Numskulls - 3/10
=23rd - Man VS Food (Wood) - 3/10

Average: 6.2/10

Overall Comment: A good-ish issue overall. The standout's for me were, as it suggests on the leaderboard, Roger the Dodger and (especially) Ball Boy. The worst were the bottom three.
Reading comics comes naturally to me.

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Digifiend
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Digifiend »

You didn't like BSK this week? I thought it was good, my only complaint was that they should've done that storyline in August. I know you can say it was the weekend, but all of August's strips were set in school, and in real life of course, children were on summer holidays.

As for Ball Boy, don't knock the Ant and Dec reference, it's a simple case of mistaken identity, which given the design of the caricatures, is perfectly understandable! Since the joke wouldn't have worked without referencing them, I can't see the problem. It fits BB's personality anyway, he thinks he's a better footballer and a bigger football fan than he really is. He's always been deluded and Alexander Matthews just went with that and took it to the extreme.

The Numskulls, well, think about it, the second Brainy was supposed to be Anakin Skywalker. Yes, Nigel Auchterlounie depicted Darth Vader as having split personality disorder due to having two Brainy Numskulls. They were fighting for control of his body. As for the artwork, it was no different to usual. Are you just not a Star Wars fan?

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

I've never seen Star Wars. I'm at risk of going off-topic so no more on this.
Reading comics comes naturally to me.

Nigel Auchterlounie
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Nigel Auchterlounie »

dennisboy wrote:I've never seen Star Wars.
:shock:


If I hadn't seen a star wars I would have read this weeks Numskulls and thought "What's this Garbage!?!"

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Gilly
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Gilly »

Get them watched dennisboy, especially the original three which are episodes 4 to 6. :D

I found it funny Nigel, also Dennis was brilliant as usual. :)

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diegotheterrible
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by diegotheterrible »

Is The Great Beanotown Face-off a mini-strip i illustrated? Could anyone post a pic here? Thnx! :)

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Digifiend
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Digifiend »

Yes it is... so it wasn't named when you drew it then?

Kid Robson
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Kid Robson »

Had a look at this week's issue in WHS, put it back on the shelf. Any comic that insults my intelligence by wasting space with a contents page is asking for my contempt, to be frank. I remember feeling the same way when The Dandy did the same thing back around 2004 and my opinion hasn't changed. Too many pages these days just seem like 'filler' material to me.

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

So you judged an entire issue on one page?
Reading comics comes naturally to me.

dennisboy
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by dennisboy »

Digifiend wrote:You didn't like BSK this week? I thought it was good, my only complaint was that they should've done that storyline in August. I know you can say it was the weekend, but all of August's strips were set in school, and in real life of course, children were on summer holidays.
I did like it, just not as much as I usually do.
Reading comics comes naturally to me.

Kid Robson
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Re: This week's issue - Take 4

Post by Kid Robson »

dennisboy wrote:So you judged an entire issue on one page?
No, I decided against perusing an entire issue on two pages - 2 & 3, which were mere filler-material. I made no pronouncement on the quality (or otherwise) of any other pages.

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