IF the Dandy & Beano merged...

[rossmac]

... or rather if the Dandy folded as was abosrbed into the Beano....

a) Would you mind?

If you'd asked me this prior to the Dandy Xtreme makeover I'd have hated the idea. Unfortunately I no longer really like the DX all that much- I like the comics element, but as that is minimal I don't have much desire to buy it anymore. So now, I wouldn't mind. I'd rather see the Dandy characters alongside the Beano characters in a full strip-filled comic.

b) What characters would make the transition?

I would imagine that all the Beano strips would remain, but what of the Dandy? My money would be on Desperate Dan and Cuddles & Dimples for sure. Hard to tell with the others- Jak seems to be their current 'hero' strip, but is he popular enough? Blinky, Ollie, Banananman might make it too, especially the latter given his longevity (although what does that mean really? Korky & Lord Snooty had been around for a long time.)

c) What would it be called?

I guess to start with it would be "The Beano & The Dandy" much like it was "The Dandy and Nutty" and "The Dandy & Hoot" back in the 80s. But for how long would that last? I'd love for that to be the title forevermore, maybe in a Whizzer & Chips format, but can we really see that happening, when to be honest the Beano is the stronger brand.

d) Any other thoughts? Would it work, will it ever happen? etc etc

I wonder at what page count it would have- you'd have to drop a few Beano strips too if it were to stay the same size, or alternate them.... I would hope that if the Dandy were to fold that this would be what happens- at the very least have the main characters migrate, even if the title doesn't change.... I have no idea if the Dandy sales are satisfactory or not, and I understand that I (a 31yo) am not their target market so what does my opinion matter really- if kids like Dandy Xtreme, then that is all that really matters.


So what are peoples thoughts and answers to the above?

Ross

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

You seem to have nailed [and answered] many of the possibilities, ross; I admire how the 'DANDY' broke with tradition 2 or 3 years back, but whether this new 'improved' version has the staying power of 'DANDY' of old is anyone's guess.

It would be sad indeed if the comics merged, and hopefully both will remain popular enough within their own right to stay in business, but a worse-case scenario will see ONE decent DCT comic continuing, that I am sure of; IPC'S comics market was but a mere sideline to their multi-corporate publishing empire; they callouslly dropped the lot, though 'BUSTER' was kept going. probably at a loss, so it made the all-important 'year 2000' issue status [by the skin of it's teeth].

I expect that DCT will keep at least ONE traditional comic going; one good point would be it would employ only the cream of comics talent. What to call it raises some interesting point; 'BEANO' is clearly the household name by a country mile ['DANDY'S most famous stars, DAN and KORKY, are less contemporary than 'BASH STREET' or DENNIS], but 'DANDY' has the prestige, being historically around for longer.

Here's hoping that a merger never has to arise in the first place, however: I know I don't buy modern comics, but I don't watch telly either, but I don't especially want certain long-running shows to be cancelled; they are part and parcel of British life, even if fewer people are tuning in/reading comics.

[Lew Stringer]

IPC'S comics market was but a mere sideline to their multi-corporate publishing empire; they callouslly dropped the lot, though 'BUSTER' was kept going. probably at a loss, so it made the all-important 'year 2000' issue status [by the skin of it's teeth].

I think your history's a bit foggy Robert. IPC had nothing to do with the comics by that time. They'd all been sold off to Robert Maxwell years before, and then to Egmont.

Buster was a failing comic in the end but it wasn't being run at a loss. (Why would they do that?) It didn't reach the year 2000 as it was closed right at the end of 1999. If the publishers were interested in its "status" they'd have kept it going another five months to its 40th anniversary.

Lew

[dandy mad]

I hope that never happens i know the dandy in all its forms has been in the shadow of the beano for a very long time now but if it the beano did merge with the dandy i think thomsons would keep it going for a few years then drop the dandy as they have done with other titles in the past

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

THE final 'BUSTER' comic officially ends the week ending JAN 4, 2000, though the closing issue certainly went on sale in DEC, 1999: if it is merely co-incidence that 'BUSTER' closed on this date, [with the 'next millenium' just making the final date on the final copy] it is a coincidence-and-a half........

I have heard the name 'EGMONT', who I associate with '2000 AD' but I had no idea that they bought IPC'S ailing comics line: even knowledgable buffs on here class the generic line as 'IPC', and I'm afraid I'm sticking to this, LEW.....sorry it's not strictly accurate; EGMONT certainly didn't seem to have any real heart in continuing traditional 'funny' comics, and their 'input' regards 'BUSTER' etc seems a sorry footnote......

When did 'CAPTAIN BOB' actually snap up these titles? It surely couldn't have been all that long before that 'final swim'........

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

just checked: IPC /FLEETWAY/whatever flogged to ROBERT MAXWELL in 1987, then in 1991 BOB flogs the lot, lock-stock-and-barrel,to EGMONT.

BOB made his appointment with DAVEY JONE'S LOCKER on bonfire night of that same year: obviously, when he flogged the comics, his business brain was active: other business 'dealings' clearly troubled him, later in the year.

[bustercomic]

Just on that Buster status point, the top of the last issue does state (from memory)

1960-2000 Forty Years of Fun!

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

well, if YOU don't know, BUSTER, then NOBODY does! -----no disrespect, LEW......

[stevezodiac]

I suppose if the worst did come to the worst i'd settle for a Whizzer and Chips style middle pages seperate comic, say eight pages. But would they keep the seperate numbering? I always liked the idea of Whizzer and Chips and think doing the same to the Beano and Dandy would be just about as acceptable as could be expected.

[Lew Stringer]

Just on that Buster status point, the top of the last issue does state (from memory)

1960-2000 Forty Years of Fun!

Yes but I'm afraid the comic was still five months short of its actual anniversary. That was just a nod by the editor to try and acknowledge an anniversary it was fated not to have.

THE final 'BUSTER' comic officially ends the week ending JAN 4, 2000, though the closing issue certainly went on sale in DEC, 1999: if it is merely co-incidence that 'BUSTER' closed on this date, [with the 'next millenium' just making the final date on the final copy] it is a coincidence-and-a half........

There was no plan of status to end Buster on the eve of 2000. The cancellation of the comic came suddenly. So quickly that the editor didn't know about it until he returned from a holiday break to find his services no longer required. (For the last several years of its life Buster had been packaged outside of Egmont, by the editor working freelance from home.)

I was in regular contact with the editor throughout the 1990s, even after Tom Thug went reprint, so I remember how things transpired. A very good and highly professional editor by the name of Allen Cummings. (No, not the actor.)

I have heard the name 'EGMONT', who I associate with '2000 AD' but I had no idea that they bought IPC'S ailing comics line: even knowledgable buffs on here class the generic line as 'IPC', and I'm afraid I'm sticking to this, LEW.....sorry it's not strictly accurate; EGMONT certainly didn't seem to have any real heart in continuing traditional 'funny' comics, and their 'input' regards 'BUSTER' etc seems a sorry footnote......

Carrying on with the traditional formula would have been commercial suicide. Those comics were of their time and were failing. Perhaps if IPC / Fleetway Editions / Egmont had promoted their characters more (as Thomsons do) they'd have had more longevity. They did brilliantly in their heyday and we all loved those IPC humour comics but cloning Whizzer & Chips style humour for the umpteenth time wasn't going to work for another generation. It needed to evolve.

What Egmont then did was to move further into licensed properties and children's magazines. Sonic the Comic, - 100% British and all comic strip, - was a huge success for them and ran for six or seven years. CiTV Tellytots did well initially but burnt out after a couple of years. Lego Adventures (CGI strips, - great fun to write) again did very well initially and ran for three years. Toxic (mostly feature based but with a few strip pages) still does well for them after six years. None have matched Buster's longevity yet, but that's more to do with a general decline in comic/mag sales than anything else I think.

I'm sure there were others but I can only remember the ones I worked on. I too wish Egmont UK would produce more comics, as Egmont overseas do, but it doesn't seem likely at the moment unfortunately.

Lew

[Lew Stringer]

I hope that never happens i know the dandy in all its forms has been in the shadow of the beano for a very long time now but if it the beano did merge with the dandy i think thomsons would keep it going for a few years then drop the dandy as they have done with other titles in the past

Bearing in mind we live in different times than the "merger days" of the past, there are other options. With the rise of Print On Demand making good quality colour printing affordable a comic could exist indefinitely as a subscription-only title. A company as large as Thomsons might not see the point in this though, as there would be little if any profit in it.

They could also keep the "brand" alive as a web-based comic, or as a comic that kids could download to their iPods.

Both of these options would circumvent the high street retailers, but considering the shoddy way comics are presented in shops now, and the high prices retail giants charge for what's laughingly called "display space", (yeah, displaying the comic upside down, hidden behind other comics, or on the floor) that might be inevitable.

All speculation of course. I hope The Dandy can survive for a good few years yet!

Lew

[steven]

The Beezer and Topper merged in September 1990 and it became a different comic so the issue numbers were recounted and ran for 3 years. When it folded, Only the Numskulls went to the Beano and Blinky and Beryl the Peril moved to the Dandy

[kevf]

We could run a book on when it'll happen. Beano & Dandy - isn't that how we already refer to them?

I could see a bright future for the Beano (and Dandy and all old DC Thomson characters) in a mix of online publishing, books and spin-offs. But it would need someone in DC Thomson who cared and was able to do something about it.

Sadly, in my experience, the people who care are regularly denied the opportunity to do something about it by the people with the power to do something about it, who don't care.

DC Thomson's intellectual properties could be as big as Marvel's or Asterix or any of the rest. They are a wasted opportunity in their current mess of repetitive old fashioned formats and reprints.

This year's Bash Street Kids annual (new Mike Pearse story and 4 good quality Mike Pearse reprints) is very promising. If it could be built on, and such books repackaged as proper books rather than annuals (ie they'd stay on the shelves all year round, and the line could be built on and added to) then that would be the beginning of a new and successful publishing direction for DCT's properties.

A daily or weekly online serial would be a good hook for new viewers, and could attract advertising and promotion on Bebo or other kid friendly sites.

Even the DFC's subscription model could be far better exploited by DCT than by the DFC. If every kid who's currently a Beano club member could become addicted to a weekly special comic....

Hell, let them get on with it themselves. They're not stupid. *








*Not all of them.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

If the 'BEANO/DANDY' phenomenon had occurred in the US rather than here, there probably would have been a DISNEY-styled 'BEANOWORLD' several miles in circumferance, established in the early 60s!!!

[johnfreeman96]

just checked: IPC /FLEETWAY/whatever flogged to ROBERT MAXWELL in 1987, then in 1991 BOB flogs the lot, lock-stock-and-barrel,to EGMONT.

BOB made his appointment with DAVEY JONE'S LOCKER on bonfire night of that same year: obviously, when he flogged the comics, his business brain was active: other business 'dealings' clearly troubled him, later in the year.

Just as an aside to the main thrust of this thread, I can remember reading about the sale of the IPC Comics to Maxwell in the Guardian while on the way to the 1987 UKCAC. I asked Alan Grant, who was on stage at the time with some high up from IPC, how the sale woudl affect them... and it was the first they'd heard of it!

Like others here, I suspect it won't be long before the Dandy is merged into the Beano, and Kev's comments are very constructive, but as he already knows, things don't change at DCT very quickly on some fronts.