The shrinking Dandy Masterhead

[Conor B]

Yep, he's missed around 5 issues since the Xtreme started, I know that's not much, but he's always been a main character, in almost every issue. But not this issue, though.

[SID]

Maybe it's because it is the Monday Blues, but I do wonder about DCT's efforts in keeping the Dandy going.

Don't get me wrong, I cannot knock them for trying but is it really working? Does Dandy Xtreme sell any better than the Dandy?

I am and will always be a Dandy fan, but as stated before, the Dandy Xtreme is a different comic altogether. Only the numbering gives any indication that the Dandy and Xtreme are the same comic (and not two separate publications such as the Beano and BeanoMax).

Though ever hopeful for the Dandy's success, I am starting to wonder more and more whether it would have been better to have retired her altogether and instead launched Xtreme as a new title with its own strips (could be some revamped characters from the DCT stable and not just the Dandy's).

I would love it if DCT did separate the Dandy from Xtreme like Lew says. I would even be happy if they made the comic just Xtreme and merged all things Dandy into the Beano.

But what would be the saddest thing to me is to try and shoehorn the Dandy into a Toxic look-alike only for her to fail and go out with a whimper.

Ah! It's Tuesday.

[AndyB]

Sales did go up, didn't they? Alas, still behind Beano Max, but...

[SID]

Sales did go up, didn't they? Alas, still behind Beano Max, but...

Sales going up. Was that overall? Or just after the relaunch?

[Raven]

Sales did go up, didn't they? Alas, still behind Beano Max, but...

Sales going up. Was that overall? Or just after the relaunch?

I think they continued to go right down after the relaunch but then went back up a little again at the last count.

[Digifiend]

Sales did go up, didn't they? Alas, still behind Beano Max, but...

That just shows how strong the Beano brand is these days compared to Dandy's. BeanoMAX was only a few issues old when Xtreme launched after all, and the formats are very similar (although Max has more and better known comic strips than Xtreme, whose only well-known characters are probably long-running Desperate Dan and TV star Bananaman! As noted earlier, neither are ever-present now).

Face it guys, if sales drop much further, that masthead won't be shrinking any more, it'll disappear - because The Dandy will be no more. So we'd better hope for improvement. I wonder how Beano, BeanoMax and Dandy Xtreme's sales compare to Toxic and some of the licensed stuff like Doctor Who Adventures?

[SID]

To anyone that would know:

Is it likely that the Dandy will disappear - just leaving Xtreme or would the title more likely fold?

In other words, does making the Dandy logo smaller on the cover make any difference to sales? Surely it's the content that matters?

[Digifiend]

Free gifts are already using just the Xtreme name on its own. Hope it's not the future...