A way to stop the bad sales

Discuss or comment on anything relating to Britain's longest running comic. The home of Korky the Cat and Desperate Dan. Has been running since 1937.

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-MikeD-
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by -MikeD- »

Raven wrote:
AndyB wrote:I think that DCT will fight to keep the Dandy alive as long as possible. I can't see it being allowed to die for a few years yet - and I hope that in a few years it has turned the corner as it deserves.
But Andy, if sales continue to drop over the next six months as they have over the previous six months - by another 7,000 - it would be down to zero readers. If anything even close to that happens, the comic just couldn't continue, so the prospect of giving it a few more *years* is very optimistic.
Yes. But we all hope there's a core readership, or at least a critical mass that can keep the comic going, and profitable, until they can turn the ship around. I refuse to even contemplate the idea that the ship is unturnable!
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Raven »

Well, if there's a core readership of 7,000 who will stick with it whatever, and sales will stabilise at that figure and drop no lower, that may keep it around for a while. But they'd have to start rising again at some point soon; its profits at the moment must be very low by Thomson's standards and expectations.

The trend, though, is a continual drop, which is now rapidly increasing - so is the above only wishful thinking?

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Digifiend
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Digifiend »

stevezodiac wrote:I wonder if we'll soon see "Great News folks, the Beano and Dandy are joining together to bring you all your favourite chums in one big comic!" Perhaps the Dandy will become an eight page section in the middle of the Beano.
Regrettably, that wouldn't surprise me - and is a possible reason for the Beano getting a page count increase this week. If the Dandy ends up merging with it, the Dandy strips (probably only Desperate Dan and Bananaman) would simply replace The Germs and Number 13, the two newly added reprints.

Of course, I'd rather both comics continued independently.

Lew Stringer
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Lew Stringer »

Digifiend wrote:
stevezodiac wrote:I wonder if we'll soon see "Great News folks, the Beano and Dandy are joining together to bring you all your favourite chums in one big comic!" Perhaps the Dandy will become an eight page section in the middle of the Beano.
Regrettably, that wouldn't surprise me - and is a possible reason for the Beano getting a page count increase this week. If the Dandy ends up merging with it, the Dandy strips (probably only Desperate Dan and Bananaman) would simply replace The Germs and Number 13, the two newly added reprints.

Of course, I'd rather both comics continued independently.

How did this thread shift from positive ideas to save the comic to yet another bleak speculation about a merger?

Comic mergers were such a 20th Century thing that were overused to death that I'm not even sure they'd be considered beneficial these days.

Perhaps when the Amazon Kindle Fire is available in the UK (sometime in early 2012 I'd guess, and substantially cheaper than buying an iPad) it might be the time for publishers to offer more comics in digital format. That's the way I see comics going, rather than folding or merging. (And a digitally printed paper version could still be sold by subscription if the reader preferred.)
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Fire-Tabl ... d_i=507846

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Gilly
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Gilly »

I think Lew that the doom and gloom is because everyone here cares about The Dandy and has seen it go through three revamps and still be in this position.

Having said that why can't we be more positive. Why are those 7000 readers definitely going to stop buying The Dandy and why can't they build on that again with some minor surgery.

It doesn't look good but The Dandy is not finished yet!!!

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Digifiend
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Digifiend »

I don't think the content is really the problem. It's the marketing. They blew it last October, by not advertising in their own other publications (most crucially, The Beano) and they failed to make the most of Harry Hill either. His website doesn't even mention the Dandy! So his fans may well be unaware that he's in it.

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Gilly
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Gilly »

They should mention The Dandy on TV Burp as well.

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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

The style of the newer era Dandy is maybe simply too ahead of public taste and expectations with it's more radical graphics.

However it's possible that a larger readership will come about after the newer styles 'grow' on potential readers.

The same sort of thing happened with punk rock in the 70s---- when it was new,it was condemned by all and sundry [with poor sales initially] but two years later down the line, many former critics caved in and started pogoing and wearing studded wristbands, gobbing in the streets to outrage pensioners, etc, etc.

Sometimes if something is too ahead of the game, it takes a fair bit of time for the general public to catch up, and it's entirely possible this can yet happen with the new-look Dandy.

I'm not especially a 'convert' and my own cartoons are usually described as 'retro' [I don't mind, but it makes me feel old!] but I'm all for comics trying out new stuff, and the sheer bravaudo of the comic's bold newer direction deserves to take off and succeed.
Last edited by ISPYSHHHGUY on 11 Oct 2011, 10:00, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Raven »

Gilly wrote:They should mention The Dandy on TV Burp as well.
Product placement? That would cost D. C. Thomson a small fortune.

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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by Raven »

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote: The style of the newer era Dandy is maybe simply too ahead of public taste and expectations with it's more radical graphics.
What do you think is especially radical about them?

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:The same sort of thing happened with punk rock in the 70s----it was condemned by all and sundry [with poor sales initially] but two years later down the line, many former critics caved in and started pogoing and wearing studded wristbands, etc.
Well, 'punk' was brief - what happened there was what always happens: it got assimilated into the mainstream (as 'New Wave.') Usually, the best elements of something that's initially underground get gradually consumed by and incorporated into the mainstream within a few years, with their rough edges removed - I'm not sure how this Punk/New Wave analogy could apply to The Dandy though.

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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by WizzKid97 »

It's interesting how the Dandy isn't doing too well, down here in West Sussex I've seen a lot of kids and adults buying the Beano and Dandy (they once ran out of both (not that long ago either)).

I don't see why it's done so badly, surely people would want a classic comic with lots of comic strips but it seems kids want things like Toxic and Dandy Xtreme instead, it's very sad.

Also it's interesting that you're saying it wasn't publicised very well, didn't you watch the news or listen to the radio? There was quite a bit of talking about it.

Also up until the fourth issue, Tesco in Chichester had it's own special Dandy stall which was just full of Dandy's (four shelves full!), above was a brilliant advert displaying the Dandy logo (which was massive) and coming out of it were Harry Hill, Desperate Dan, Bananaman and Korky as well as lots of Blue Blobs (I think George VS Dragon, Robot on the Run and a 'Simples meerkat' were there as well but I can't remember.

My only problem with the radio and TV broadcasts was that it was saying it had lots of new characters in it then went on to name them, whereas I was expecting Harry Hill, George VS Dragon, Kid Cops, Pre-Skool PM to be named, instead they said Jeremy Clarkson, Simon Cowell and Noel Edmonds! *facepalm*
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ISPYSHHHGUY
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by ISPYSHHHGUY »

I'm stuck in a 60s/70s timewarp regarding the comics material I own., Raven...so maybe it's just me.

There's a Jamie Smart double-page strip that just has me scratching my head; I don't understand it, but it's not aimed at older fogeys like me. This strip has run for a year, so somebody must like it, but it's beyond my comprehension.......I'm glad in a way, because trends need to evolve to stay healthy.

The style of drawing on Mr Meecher or the Alex Matthews one totally tears up the rulebook of vintage comics, with more abstract visuals that look more like something from stylized artists. These are a million miles removed from old stuff like 'Bully Beef' or 'Brassneck' which were instantly recognized as commercial strips , but they were set in quite restrictive formats [if very successful, nevertheless].

A lot of the new Dandy strips are very unrestrained with newer artists given the freedom to do exactly what they want----the results are variable, but for me anyway this is a bold departure from the past.

This approach may well pay off in the long run though, it's all uncharted territory, so who knows? Surely some cartoonist/writers careers will take off using this method.

comicsgalore
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by comicsgalore »

Digifiend wrote:
stevezodiac wrote:I wonder if we'll soon see "Great News folks, the Beano and Dandy are joining together to bring you all your favourite chums in one big comic!" Perhaps the Dandy will become an eight page section in the middle of the Beano.
Regrettably, that wouldn't surprise me - and is a possible reason for the Beano getting a page count increase this week. If the Dandy ends up merging with it, the Dandy strips (probably only Desperate Dan and Bananaman) would simply replace The Germs and Number 13, the two newly added reprints.

Of course, I'd rather both comics continued independently.
The Germs and Number 13 wouldnt be dropped straight away surely? Anyway, what about the other dandy strips?

comicsgalore
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by comicsgalore »

Lew Stringer wrote:
Digifiend wrote:
stevezodiac wrote:I wonder if we'll soon see "Great News folks, the Beano and Dandy are joining together to bring you all your favourite chums in one big comic!" Perhaps the Dandy will become an eight page section in the middle of the Beano.
Regrettably, that wouldn't surprise me - and is a possible reason for the Beano getting a page count increase this week. If the Dandy ends up merging with it, the Dandy strips (probably only Desperate Dan and Bananaman) would simply replace The Germs and Number 13, the two newly added reprints.

Of course, I'd rather both comics continued independently.

How did this thread shift from positive ideas to save the comic to yet another bleak speculation about a merger?

Comic mergers were such a 20th Century thing that were overused to death that I'm not even sure they'd be considered beneficial these days.

Perhaps when the Amazon Kindle Fire is available in the UK (sometime in early 2012 I'd guess, and substantially cheaper than buying an iPad) it might be the time for publishers to offer more comics in digital format. That's the way I see comics going, rather than folding or merging. (And a digitally printed paper version could still be sold by subscription if the reader preferred.)
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Fire-Tabl ... d_i=507846
I've always liked you as an artist and a person, lew, and that's a good comment. Let's hope the comics dont merge because this stuff is ridiculous.

comicsgalore
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Re: A way to stop the bad sales

Post by comicsgalore »

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:I'm stuck in a 60s/70s timewarp regarding the comics material I own., Raven...so maybe it's just me.

There's a Jamie Smart double-page strip that just has me scratching my head; I don't understand it, but it's not aimed at older fogeys like me. This strip has run for a year, so somebody must like it, but it's beyond my comprehension.......I'm glad in a way, because trends need to evolve to stay healthy.

The style of drawing on Mr Meecher or the Alex Matthews one totally tears up the rulebook of vintage comics, with more abstract visuals that look more like something from stylized artists. These are a million miles removed from old stuff like 'Bully Beef' or 'Brassneck' which were instantly recognized as commercial strips , but they were set in quite restrictive formats [if very successful, nevertheless].

A lot of the new Dandy strips are very unrestrained with newer artists given the freedom to do exactly what they want----the results are variable, but for me anyway this is a bold departure from the past.

This approach may well pay off in the long run though, it's all uncharted territory, so who knows? Surely some cartoonist/writers careers will take off using this method.
Is it Pre-skool Prime Minister, which is very funny?

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