Free comics in The Guardian

[Phoenix]

The partwork Images of War did exactly the same thing several years ago. Then it had a variety of newspaper reprints, particularly a lot of Daily Mirrors, so plenty of strip reprints there.

Somewhere I have full sets of The War Papers and The Royal Papers, which were issued in tandem over the best part of a year. I'm not sure when they were published but I would guess at 1979, that being 40 years after the war started. Is Images Of War a completely different partwork, Lew, and if so can you date it?

[Lew Stringer]

The partwork Images of War did exactly the same thing several years ago. Then it had a variety of newspaper reprints, particularly a lot of Daily Mirrors, so plenty of strip reprints there.

Somewhere I have full sets of The War Papers and The Royal Papers, which were issued in tandem over the best part of a year. I'm not sure when they were published but I would guess at 1979, that being 40 years after the war started. Is Images Of War a completely different partwork, Lew, and if so can you date it?

Yes, totally different. Images of War probably came out about 20 years ago now, then was reissued a few years later. It was a colour mag, about 32 pages, and each issue came with a newspaper reprint and a campaign map of whatever battle was featured. It ran for a long run, over a year. Co-published with the Imperial War Museum. Excellent partwork. Probably one of the last good partworks before they turned into thin pamphlets with bulky extras.

Lew

[Phoenix]

Thanks, Lew. I suspect now that the reason I didn't notice it at the time is that I'd only recently gone through a divorce and I was extremely busy bringing up my two teenage boys and keeping on top of my job as Head of the Spanish Department in a local comprehensive.

[Digifiend]

That would be 1989 then - 50 years after the start of the war. Now would've been exactly the right time for a reprint, since this week was the 70th anniversary.

[Lew Stringer]

That would be 1989 then - 50 years after the start of the war. Now would've been exactly the right time for a reprint, since this week was the 70th anniversary.

I said it was about 20 years ago. I'm not sure of the exact year.

Unlikely they'll reprint it after all this time but it sounds like the magazine Steve mentioned will do more or less the same job anyway: http://www.ww2-eyewitness.com/

Pity it's so Torygraph-centric but I'll pick up No.1 and see what it's like.

Lew

[Digifiend]

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2009/09 ... rdian.html

You forgot to post your blog link Lew, and you also didn't mention here (although you did on the blog) that the Beano one is actually in The Observer. That means it will cost more than a modern Beano. Disappointing, but I still intend to pick it up.

[Lew Stringer]

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2009/09 ... rdian.html

You forgot to post your blog link Lew, and you also didn't mention here (although you did on the blog) that the Beano one is actually in The Observer. That means it will cost more than a modern Beano. Disappointing, but I still intend to pick it up.

I didn't forget. I just felt it'd be too obtrusive to post an item here every time I updated my blog and that people interested in UK comics will be following it anyway.

Yes The Observer costs more than The Beano, but it takes longer to read.

Lew

[Spencer]

Just a clarification as it isn't obvious in the Daily Telegraph's blurb... the reproduction newspapers aren't actually the FULL newspaper well, not if the first issue is representative of the rest. The reproduction issue seems to have just produced the 'relevant' pages. Might not matter to some but, personally, I would have preferred a full reproduction paper... I'm just a bit fussy like that!

As for the comic reproductions - I'll be getting all of those, despite the fact I've probably got at least 5 of them originally.. thanks for the heads-up Lew.

On the subject of partworks, I wonder if a "Greatest Comics of the 20th Century" partwork would be popular? Focus on a different comic each issue with informative articles etc about the history, strips etc. and have a free 'reproduction' of that comic attached to the partwork. (Could be a 'landmark' issue .. no.1, a Xmas or Easter issue where applicable, last issue, summer special etc)..

Obviously it would be popular with this board but I do sometimes marvel at the subjects these partworks come up with -- a lot of them seem VERY specialist to me (Build A Model of HMS Victory, You & Your Destiny (astrology), Build A Model Solar System) etc.

Any thoughts chaps? Toooo specialist to work? Would copyright issues prove prohibitive?

[Digifiend]

I don't think DeAgostini or similar companies would be able to get the rights to use DCT or Egmont properties, that's why there's never been such a partwork produced. Besides, one issue wouldn't do comics such as Beano, Dandy, Buster, and 2000AD justice, because of their longevity.

[Lew Stringer]

I've often thought a History of Comics partwork would be a great idea Spencer, and if it came with a facsimile comic, even better.

Copyright may be a problem, but another hurdle would be that, as we've seen here, some fans are specialized in their comic preferences. There's no guarantee that the reader who picks up History of Comics No.1 with its free Dandy No.1 will want No.2 with its free Tiger Christmas issue or No.3 with its free Pippin Easter issue for example.

Having said that, yes, I agree that if there's a market for a build-a-bomber partwork there must be a market for a History of Comics one. (However, a quick look at some discussion boards finds one WH Smith employee saying those bomber partworks aren't selling and are coming back as returns.)

The way partworks succeed is the first few issues make a big enough profit to pay for the rest of the run (most of which will be subscription only and have a much smaller print run). However, all partworks are first test-marketed in certain selected tv areas for about six issues. If they don't sell, the series is canned. If it works it's relaunched nationally from No.1.

I'm sure it could work though. Let's face it; they've done partworks for practically everything else, so a History of Comics one is notorious by its absence! The closest they've come to it are those Marvel / DC comics magazine/figurine editions, but those mags just tell the history of the characters, not the more interesting history of comics themselves.

Lew

[Phoenix]

Stating the obvious, the general aim of partworks is for the purchaser to get them all. If you miss buying a couple of issues of HMS Victory, you might end up with a gap where the captain's cabin should have been and a serious lack of guns to starboard. If you fail to buy Mercury and its connecting strut, the Sun and all Saturn's moons, the Solar System would be so incomplete that it will have been pointless starting out in the first place. On the surface, Greatest Comics of the 20th Century would have the same ultimate objective as the two projects mentioned above, but in real terms it wouldn't, because no actual model would be being built. If the publisher goes for Spencer's suggestion, there is no doubt that many issues, such as The Dandy, The Topper and Bunty, would sell very well indeed. However, as Lew strongly implies, a good number of others might sell very few copies. Purchasers would naturally pick and choose, and they would not be remotely concerned at not getting the entire set of the partworks. Perhaps a better plan might be to develop the partworks along the lines of a Thomson story paper with its overlapping serials, starting with four or five titles in the first part. That way the person who wants the issues covering, say, The Beezer or The Rover, will have to buy issues containing some contributions towards the complete history of Mandy, The Beano and Bimbo, for example. One caveat. To assess fully the potential success of such a project, the publisher would need to bear in mind that the buying public, when they were children, only bought their favourite comic or story paper for about five years. Those years may well be the only ones they are interested in revisiting. None of what I've said would affect the other idea, that of a reprinted comic as a free gift with each part.

[philcom55]

I seem to have a vague memory of an Italian partwork which was based on the History of Comics, though I don't think it included free facsimiles. As for the problem of readers with selective interests I guess the same thing could be said to apply to collections of Great Writers or Great Artists (I know I always tended to pick just those parts I was interested in - eg Millais but not Modigliani ). On the face of it one would certainly think there ought to be enough buyers for a British History of Comics if those metal figurines of American superheroes sell - until one considers that the latter can be repackaged for an international market whereas the former would be unlikely to interest anyone beyond these shores.

- Phil Rushton

[Lew Stringer]

Stating the obvious, the general aim of partworks is for the purchaser to get them all.

True, but in reality many people lose interest after several issues.

One caveat. To assess fully the potential success of such a project, the publisher would need to bear in mind that the buying public, when they were children, only bought their favourite comic or story paper for about five years. Those years may well be the only ones they are interested in revisiting.

Good point. Something like a history of WW2 partwork works because war historians are usually interested in the big picture, but whilst Joe Public might be interested in a Buster reprint from his childhood he might not be so inclined to pick up a Comic Cuts reprint.

Publishers like to aim at a specific age / demographic. The history of UK comics is perhaps too broad to interest many people as an expensive partwork series. Perhaps those new books by Adam Riches are a better way to go; individual books based on specific genres?

Lew

[Kashgar]

It's weird how often, what initially seems like a perfectly good idea, on reflection just falls apart in your hands. Copyright problems, problems of assessing target readership and fickleness thereof etc etc. Just reckon we'll have to enjoy these Guardian giveaways and get back to building our balsa wood boats and fondling our figurines.

[Lew Stringer]

It's weird how often, what initially seems like a perfectly good idea, on reflection just falls apart in your hands. Copyright problems, problems of assessing target readership and fickleness thereof etc etc. Just reckon we'll have to enjoy these Guardian giveaways and get back to building our balsa wood boats and fondling our figurines.

Thinking about it I don't think copyright would really present a problem as books on comics manage to overcome that hurdle.

However, regarding the loyalty of the readership, I suppose Crikey! is a good example. I get the impression that (surprisingly) not everyone here buys that mag, and it's only bi-monthly, so what chance of a fortnightly comics partwork succeeding?

Lew