This weeks Dandy

[Ginger]

Well, Rocky's Horror Show did not disappoint. Quite marvellous. Reminded me of early Mad magazine.
Odd that the Dandy scheduled two Frankenstein spoofs in one issue, though, no? Nuke Noodle being the other (and also very good).
I loved the use of colour in Mr Meecher; very cleverly culminating in the final panel.
And an enjoyable return for George vs Dragon.

On the negative side, I'm afraid I really don't think Phil Corbett's Korky cuts the mustard at all, if it must be in the comic I think the most it deserevs is a mini-strip. As a page it's just terribly poor value: Compare it to Rocky's Horror Show, or The Bogies (good again this week), or even Harry Hill. It just doesn't seem like Mr Corbett's heart is in it. Six sparsely drawn panels, and scarcely troubling the scorer on the Laughs Per Page ratio.
I do feel this redesign of Korky was a mistake. Oh it's a cute enough character, of course, but it looks much more like one of Korky's nephews than Korky himself.

[Jonny Whizz]

Cliff Richard has been used before as the epitome of 'not cool' in the Beano and Dandy - in one Minnie the Minx story, her parents threatened to take all the music off her ipod and replace it with Cliff Richard if she didn't behave.

My opinion on Phil Corbett's version of Korky is that it's hit and miss. I've found some of the strips I've seen funny, others haven't really worked for me. I do find Korky's appearance strange, mainly because of how short he is as opposed to any of the other changes - if he was taller, I think he'd be more recognisable.

[WizzKid97]

On the negative side, I'm afraid I really don't think Phil Corbett's Korky cuts the mustard at all, if it must be in the comic I think the most it deserevs is a mini-strip. As a page it's just terribly poor value: Compare it to Rocky's Horror Show, or The Bogies (good again this week), or even Harry Hill. It just doesn't seem like Mr Corbett's heart is in it. Six sparsely drawn panels, and scarcely troubling the scorer on the Laughs Per Page ratio.
I do feel this redesign of Korky was a mistake. Oh it's a cute enough character, of course, but it looks much more like one of Korky's nephews than Korky himself.

My opinion on Phil Corbett's version of Korky is that it's hit and miss. I've found some of the strips I've seen funny, others haven't really worked for me. I do find Korky's appearance strange, mainly because of how short he is as opposed to any of the other changes - if he was taller, I think he'd be more recognisable.

Phil Corbett's Korky is lazy, there I said it. Phil seems to just rush his stuff, there's no care put into it, just a simple, static, 'cute' cat with a load of puns in it. This week's made me laugh but the thing is, the artwork is too rushed. The scrawly, spidery handwriting makes the strips even harder to read, this one being an exception with the writing being fairly readable.

The problem is, everything's too static. Everything stays exactly where it is. Even their mouths. Korky's mouth rarely opens when he speaks. Also notice it's now called Korky, not 'Korky the Cat'?

Thing is, Phil's artwork IS rushed, Dino Vet and Freddy the Fearless Fly were rubbish, very rushed and hardly any movement. (But Freddy the Fearless Fly was one of his better strips). Bear Thrills was brilliant! That was very funny (well until Phil introduced puns.).

I don't think Phil is all that bothered about being in the Dandy, his blog rarely mentions the Dandy and he never buys the comic! Well, that's gratitude for you!

He's had his fair share of brilliant Korky strips though, the two page Harry Potter one was brilliant! One of the best stories done by Phil, and I loved the Postman Prat cameo! The Korky story where he finds a horse pretending to be a unicorn made me laugh out loud, it was random and funny. These are good Phil Corbett stories.

Phil once said on his blog he'd prefer to give Korky two pages as he thinks Korky deserves longer stories. (hence why his Korky mini strips have become so lazy and rushed lately, he doesn't like doing them.)

My honest answer to solve this = Bring back Chris McGhie's Korky the Cat.

Misleading contents: Harry Hill's twin wasnt evil. Mr Meecher i didnt get, Red or Black would have been advertised on the cover but it wasnt, thank goodness. Pre-skool prime-minister a spoof of something. Rocky's horror show i had to read twice before understanding. Bananaman seems to be an anti-climax every week now. Are you ready for the question, noel is hilarious! Postman Prat not as good as usual. Wasnt rocky o'flair in Nutty thirty years ago? Or maybe that was a dream.. Desperate Dan was decent...

I wouldn't say 'misleading' as such, the only one there that is misleading was the Harry Hill meets his Evil Twin. Yeah right! To be honest I found Postman Prat's story this week one of his best, no puns and a funny storyline, a great story! Rocky's Horror Show wasn't hard to get but I imagine a younger audience would find it quite wordy and confusing. Shame really because it was brilliant! Bananaman was funny this week, however I'd prefer not as many continued storylines... Mr Meecher was probably also confusing for a younger audience due to the fact that not many kids would've heard of Cliff Richard. Let alone why a girl would want to listen to that. I reckon it would've been better if Trevor's Mum whispered the song and said it was one of Trevelyan's favourites!

Desperate Dan was more than decent! It was hilarious! And also, 'Are you ready for the Question, Noel?', funny, really? It's just 'Knock, Knock!' with a celebrity instead! Also Red and Black was funny strangely, I found it very good! Also what's wrong with Pre-Skool PM advertising and how was it a spoof?

[yanobandy]

You've disagreed with me on every point there.

[WizzKid97]

You've disagreed with me on every point there.

No I haven't. Harry Hill's Evil Twin I agreed with you on.

[Raven]

Cliff Richard has been used before as the epitome of 'not cool' in the Beano and Dandy - in one Minnie the Minx story, her parents threatened to take all the music off her ipod and replace it with Cliff Richard if she didn't behave.

I think it's a dated gag in 2011 though, and probably not one tens and unders would get.

I'm not sure what a contemporary equivalent of a Cliff Richard would be.

[-MikeD-]

My honest answer to solve this = Bring back Chris McGhie's Korky the Cat

>comment deleted<

[WizzKid97]

My honest answer to solve this = Bring back Chris McGhie's Korky the Cat

>comment deleted<

Huh??

[yanobandy]

Why did Mike Donaldson delete Wizzkid's comment? Anyway, i dont like McGhies, version, too gross.

[WizzKid97]

Why did Mike Donaldson delete Wizzkid's comment? Anyway, i dont like McGhies, version, too gross.

I dunno. :/
Anyway, as far as I know it's still there...

Also Chris' artwork is good but I agree some of his stuff is too gross.

[Ginger]

Phil Corbett's Korky is lazy, there I said it. Phil seems to just rush his stuff, there's no care put into it

Exactly what I was trying to say.

I find Chris Mcghie's stuff too gross as well, and I had no idea he'd ever tackled Korky.
Much as I dislike his style, I'm curious to see his Korky. I googled, but to no avail. Anyone?

[WizzKid97]

Phil Corbett's Korky is lazy, there I said it. Phil seems to just rush his stuff, there's no care put into it

Exactly what I was trying to say.

I find Chris Mcghie's stuff too gross as well, and I had no idea he'd ever tackled Korky.
Much as I dislike his style, I'm curious to see his Korky. I googled, but to no avail. Anyone?

You can find Chris' fantastic Korky in the Dandy Annual 2012 out now!

[-MikeD-]

Why did Mike Donaldson delete Wizzkid's comment? Anyway, i dont like McGhies, version, too gross.

Confusion reigns! I deleted MY comment on Chris McGhies' Korky strips as I thought it came across as an insult directed at Chris, and not just his interpretation of Korky. But I just muddled things. Ignore this and carry on...

Oh, and why use my full name (well researched) and not my nick on the forum...?

[swirlythingy]

Is it just me, or is DC Thomson trying to lay off its letterers? Only one two-page strip (Bananaman) and five mini-strips (three of which were 99 Genius Homework Excuses) in this week's issue had the generic style, and two artists (Steve Beckett and Lew Stringer) who had previously used it started lettering their own work as of this week. Those artists remaining are all of the 'old crowd', having had work published in the pre-2004 Dandy: Wayne Thompson, Karl Dixon and Nick Brennan. The other such artist, Nigel Parkinson, has also stopped using in-house lettering, even on this week's celebrity page.

Contrast this to the Beano, where the only artist who lettered his own work in the last ten years (unless anybody knows any different) was Mike Pearse.

[Lew Stringer]

Is it just me, or is DC Thomson trying to lay off its letterers? Only one two-page strip (Bananaman) and five mini-strips (three of which were 99 Genius Homework Excuses) in this week's issue had the generic style, and two artists (Steve Beckett and Lew Stringer) who had previously used it started lettering their own work as of this week.

It's just you. The lettering on Postman Prat was done in house on computer previously by the staff, then I was asked to do it. So rather than "laying off" letterers that didn't exist, they've paid a few quid more for us to letter our own pages.

I'd rather do it myself as I can put the balloons where I intended them to go. Sometimes, due to me not leaving enough space or because they're rushed, staff can place them over characters or props and dilute the impact.