IF the Dandy & Beano merged...

[Lew Stringer]

Just as a bit of additional info: it was Maxwell's son who was in charge of the comics for a while, not RM himself.

Back on topic, we've heard the "Dandy might close" rumour here before. I seem to recall someone directly stating it was going to fold several years ago, when in fact it revamped itself with better paper and more pages. (This was before the second revamp into Xtreme.)

Which just shows how Thomsons are more likely to try their best to keep it around rather than merge it, even if (and this is only my speculation) the next revamp is to make it monthly.

What often occurred to me was the fragile logic behind a merger. If a comic is failing, surely merging it with another will only dilute the stronger title? I can understand the idea that you're effectively "carrying over" thousands of new readers into the dominant comic, but you're also bringing in strips that readers of the dominant comic don't want. (Or they'd already be buying the weaker title.) Swings and roundabouts? Although if the worst came to the worst, better to merge than to lose long term characters forever.

Lew

[johnfreeman96]

Back on topic, we've heard the "Dandy might close" rumour here before. I seem to recall someone directly stating it was going to fold several years ago [snip] Which just shows how Thomsons are more likely to try their best to keep it around rather than merge it, even if (and this is only my speculation) the next revamp is to make it monthly.

What often occurred to me was the fragile logic behind a merger...
Lew

Never mind the mergers, bite the bullet (no pun intended!) and brink back Sparky!

[kevf]

There is a Beano theme park, at Chessington World of Adventures (well, there was a couple of years ago). Beanoworld it's called, not that I've been.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

yeah, I have heard of it, KEV: wouldn't mind a visit; the point I was trying to make is that the Americans go 'the full way' with this type of thing: the biggest DISNEY theme park is over 30 miles in length, apparantly!

----not to mention 'LOONEY TUNES' world, the wholly seperate 'BUGS BUNNY WORLD', 'HANNA-BARBERA' world ,and probably many others.......we're lucky if we get an ANDY CAPP mural on the seaside pub wall!


[OK, there's an ANDY CAPP 'life-size' statue in REG SMYTHE'S home town,-----which some members of the the local council tried to block!------ but it's STILL not quite the same!]

[AztecComics]

Lew, That was me that mentioned the Dandy could well fold many years back, at the time I came under a lot of stick on this site for rumours, but at the time I had a friend who worked at Thomson who informed me that the management where looking at all options for the Dandy at that time & yes including merging it with the Beanoy. I mearly asked everyone on this site to contact the Dandy editor & encourage him to keep it going. They listened & we got the first revamp & now Xtreme which I still buy out of loyalty for my favourite comic. We are lucky that we have a site like this to air our fears/views or information we may all have, no one should be critised for that & campaining to keep things in the public eye whether it be a comic or something else close to there hearts... I would do the same thing again for The Dandy....

[Conor B]

I wouldn't mind, as long as the features don't come to the Beano. They're awful!!

I think the Dandy should be more like the Beano...

[dream] ...moderately glossy paper...£1.25...32 pages...weekly...

01. Desperate Dan
02. Advert
03. Desperate Dan
04. Desperate Dan
05. Puss 'n' Boots
06. Ollie Fliptrik
07. Ollie Fliptrik
08. Owen Goal
09. Blinky
10. Hyde and Shriek
11. Hyde and Shriek
12. Lucy Grimm
13. Advert
14. Feature
15. Advert
16. Cuddles and Dimples
17. Cuddles and Dimples
18. Cuddles and Dimples
19. Bananaman
20. Dandy Club!
21. Dandy Club
22. Winker Watson
23. Winker Watson
24. Marvo the Wonder Chicken
25. Advert
26. My Own Genie
27. My Own Genie
28. Korky the Cat
29. Advert
30. Jak and Todd
31. Jak and Todd
32. Join The Dandy Club

... [/dream]

[Lew Stringer]

Lew, That was me that mentioned the Dandy could well fold many years back, at the time I came under a lot of stick on this site for rumours, but at the time I had a friend who worked at Thomson who informed me that the management where looking at all options for the Dandy at that time & yes including merging it with the Beanoy. I mearly asked everyone on this site to contact the Dandy editor & encourage him to keep it going. They listened & we got the first revamp & now Xtreme which I still buy out of loyalty for my favourite comic. We are lucky that we have a site like this to air our fears/views or information we may all have, no one should be critised for that & campaining to keep things in the public eye whether it be a comic or something else close to there hearts... I would do the same thing again for The Dandy....

I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything from AztecComics that I was thinking about. The posts I'm remembering were a spate of declarations that The Dandy was to fold. They didn't seem particularly constructive. A revamp for The Dandy was on the cards a few years before the Jak cover revamp, as I remember the editors showing a dummy copy at a Bristol Comic Expo.

Lew

[SID]

I too think it would be a sad thing to merge the Beano and the Dandy together - especially I am a Dandy fan.

I wonder that instead of doing that, would it be a good idea to create a Beano stable of comics consisting of the following:

Beano - flagship comic
Beanomax - big brother to the Beano
Dandy - rival to the Beano
Classic from the Comics - archive to the Beano and other comics

The Beano and Dandy comics would remain separate though the Dandy could have the subheading "Rival to the Beano" and DCT would actively promote the rivalry between the comics to the point where characters from either comics would pop into their rival to do mischief and that their associated clubs would think of ways of getting "one up" on each other.

Maybe even have a common strip running both comics perhaps starring Minnie the Minx and Beryl the Peril where they are trying to outdo each other though the stories should be different in both comics (but if they do a cross-over, have it so that kids are not forced to buy both titles to understand the story).

Yes, I supposed it would be Whizzer and Chips-like but the titles would still be independant and kids would just read them in their own right.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

you sure talk like an IPC marketing strategist, SID! The spirit of BOB PAYNTER himself lives on! I'm certainly not knocking you, however.....you clearly want these last standing bastions of UK humour comics to continue..........

[Conor B]

SID, I completely agree with you. This is really what (IMO) the readers would enjoy.

[Lew Stringer]

you sure talk like an IPC marketing strategist, SID! The spirit of BOB PAYNTER himself lives on!

Bob's still with us I'm glad to say. He was on the Comics Britannia documentary several months ago.

Lew

[Lew Stringer]

SID, I completely agree with you. This is really what (IMO) the readers would enjoy.

The problem I see with that is by introducing fierce competition between the two comics, some kids are likely to back who they consider the winner. (It's human nature.) So The Dandy could lose even more readers.

Lew

[SID]

Through my enthusiasm, I do see your point, Lew.

I still like the idea of the Beano stable of comics and I do wonder if a closer association between the two comics (maybe friends rather than enemies with cross-over strips, etc...) would help the Dandy's circulation.

[MikeC]

I too think it would be a sad thing to merge the Beano and the Dandy together - especially I am a Dandy fan.

I wonder that instead of doing that, would it be a good idea to create a Beano stable of comics consisting of the following:

Beano - flagship comic
Beanomax - big brother to the Beano
Dandy - rival to the Beano
Classic from the Comics - archive to the Beano and other comics

Isn't that exactly how it was before, though. It didn't work then.

[Sheldon]

I'd rather they didn't merge. Honestly honestly honestly wish the pair of them would move into webcomics. Just seems that that avenue hasn't been fully exploited yet.