What comics did you buy today?

[PaulTwist]

Wow, the Works must've changed their buying policy, they usually get stock in long after the release date. For example, they currently have Classic Beano and Dandy Celebrate Dennis the Menace - which is technically a 2012 annual! And no, they didn't have it in 21 months ago, for some reason, while they do stock annuals, they don't seem to get DC Thomson ones.

Some books are deliberately published for discount bookshops on the pretense that you're getting a bargain of half price or whatever. Well, not exactly a pretense. Somewhere in the UK they will be sold at full price to make it all legal. I'm not saying this book was devised like that, but some books are.

A few years ago, the Look-In Best of the 80s book was available in discount and regular bookshops simultaneously, yet the discount version had a different cover, so presumably that was deliberately printed in two variants? (IIRC the price on the cover of each was the same, but the discount version was, erm, discounted. Obv.)

[felneymike]

I remember seeing the first two of the big, 12-story Commando books in The Works, they had the same covers, but slightly different titles, and only 10 stories. Ought to be interesting curiosities, one day.
I would have thought anybody who was interested in big Commando books would have bought them already by that stage, though. I remember Borders in Cambridge having loads of the first two left over, stacked up under the stairs with increasingly lowered-prices.

[r3tr0_gam3r]

Last night on eBay, I bought The Beano annual 1963 and The Dandy annuals 1961 & 1963. Then went back on today and bought The Beezer annual 1971 and Topper 1975.

[vexillia]

Then went back on today and bought The Beezer annual 1971 and Topper 1975.

See http://bit.ly/17VNuIE for 1968 Beezer & Topper annuals. Just listed.

[r3tr0_gam3r]

Then went back on today and bought The Beezer annual 1971 and Topper 1975.

See http://bit.ly/17VNuIE for 1968 Beezer & Topper annuals. Just listed.

Thanks, I have sent you a PM.

Been on eBay again and bought The Topper 1989 annual and 5 Hotspur comics, issue numbers: 488,512,513,515,953.
Oh dear... I believe I may be becoming an eBay addict

[Digifiend]

I remember seeing the first two of the big, 12-story Commando books in The Works, they had the same covers, but slightly different titles, and only 10 stories. Ought to be interesting curiosities, one day.
I would have thought anybody who was interested in big Commando books would have bought them already by that stage, though. I remember Borders in Cambridge having loads of the first two left over, stacked up under the stairs with increasingly lowered-prices.

So they bought too much stock? No wonder they went bust.

[stevezodiac]

The Jester and Wonder was practically two papers in one mixing funny strips with serious text stories. The Christmas 1903 issue had 24 pages for two pence but some pages were in full colour.

[r3tr0_gam3r]

Last night, I also bought the Topper 1968 and then just now I have bought the Beano 1961. The latter purchase made me very happy, as it has completed my collection from 1957 - 2013. Just a few more Beano annuals to go, and I'll have reached my target of every annual from 1950 onwards. Then I guess I'll just need a new target!

[AndyB]

The Beano and Beezer Summer Specials from 1977. 20p in 1977, £3 each today.

[Dunder Ed]

Picked up the last Beano Max....£4 no wonder its folding! Must be the incredibly cool banana spring gun, and rubber custard cream.

[Digifiend]

That price is actually normal. And yes, those cover mounts are partly to blame for the price. Probably account for half of it actually, given that MAX only had 4 pages more than the weekly Beano, which is half the price. However, a lot of other comics do the exact same thing, charge £3 or £4 and have a cover mounted gift or two, instead of charging £2 for just the comic like the Beano usually does.

Anyway, "no wonder it's folding"? I'm not sure low sales are the reason. The Dandy was doing far worse when it kicked the bucket.

[Lew Stringer]

Picked up the last Beano Max....£4 no wonder its folding! Must be the incredibly cool banana spring gun, and rubber custard cream.

Dennis & Gnasher comic will also be £3.99, but the gifts are good ones. Sadly, a high cover price is often necessary to encourage retailers to stock titles. But for kids and parents, four quid for a comic and a toy probably doesn't seem too bad.

[Digifiend]

Higher page count too. It said 60 on the press release, if I recall correctly. BeanoMAX was 40 pages.

[Raven]

Anyway, "no wonder it's folding"? I'm not sure low sales are the reason.

That's just about the only reason something would get cancelled. If it was successful enough, they'd bring out a new title as well, because they wouldn't need to fix a situation that isn't broken.

The Dandy was doing far worse when it kicked the bucket.

That's irrelevant. The Dandy was a flagship title for the company since 1937. Obviously, they were far more reluctant to just cancel it. Most titles wouldn't be allowed to continue if they dropped anywhere near as low as that one in sales.

[Digifiend]

Need I remind you of why Classics from the Comics ended? They didn't have the print capacity any more when they outsourced the printing of their other titles! It's not always down to sales figures alone.