Mail on Sunday special issue

Discuss or comment on anything relating to D.C.Thomson's second longest running comic. The home of Dennis the Menace. Has been running since 1938.

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AndyB
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by AndyB »

I can now confirm that Jamie is no longer drawing Roger - those of you who follow him on Facebook may realise that this is what he was referring to in his recent post about losing one of his regular strips. It's a terrible pity in my view because I love his work, but I'm glad that if he had to lose one of his strips, it wasn't going to be Bunny vs Monkey!

As for scheduling, there are a couple of possibilities. Alex might not have had time to do a suitable Ball Boy strip for the special, or he may have been replaced as Jamie was but they hadn't yet run out of his artwork, and the same with the distorted version of Nanaface (bearing in mind next year's movie!) The special edition may also have been developed and stories commissioned after the decision to make any permanent changes (such as Roger being handed off to Wayne) was made.

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Alex Matthews
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Alex Matthews »

I'm afraid I've been taken off Ball Boy, so this looks like what you'll get in the very near future. My last episode has a robot and the history of the football ball in it. Apparently my iteration wasn't going down well with the readers. Bah!
Last edited by Alex Matthews on 07 Apr 2014, 10:02, edited 1 time in total.

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Gilly
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Gilly »

I'm sorry to hear that Alex because I really thought you freshened up a stale strip in Ball Boy and made it funnier than it had ever been.

That and Jamie Smarts Roger had become my 2 favourite strips in The Beano and now their both gone. :(

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Alex Matthews
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Alex Matthews »

I've been told the readership is getting younger so it looks like they are aiming to appeal to that audience. Doesn't make sense to me, because this younger readership was surely attracted by the current content and will quickly grow out of it if they aim younger. It's frustrating that they keep on revamping. Still, Craig likes my stuff and is giving me a new strip although I don't know if it's a whole page. I'll tweet about that soon when I have details: @alexandermat

I can reveal that it will feature the return of an old character of mine!

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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by BeanoMaster »

I hope it's Nuke Noodle!

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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Lew Stringer »

TwoHeadedBoy wrote:
Lew Stringer wrote:
TwoHeadedBoy wrote:Nah, not those ones, I know who Joe King is - I'm talking about the balloon-shaped heads.

There's one above Dennis while he's holding an unexploded bomb, one above Ball Boy while he's meeting Wayne Puny, one near a Tom Paterson sock in the Billy Whizz thing, one next to Chief O'Reilly's head as Bananaman arrives, and so on and so forth.
Emoticons, used as an extra way to show the character's emotions I guess. I'd have thought the faces on the characters would be enough but it's an interesting addition.
What a strange world this modern one is.
It might be something influenced from Manga, although the swirly line is European (as seen in Tintin comics). Coincidentally, a few days ago, before I saw this freebie Beano, I added a couple of swirly lines emanating from the head of a giddy character in a mini-strip. I presume those emoticons may now be added to it. No problem. In time they'll feel as normal as sweat beads popping from character's brows, or light bulbs above their heads.
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big bad bri
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by big bad bri »

Gilly wrote:I'm sorry to hear that Alex because I really thought you freshened up a stale strip in Ball Boy and made it funnier than it had ever been.

That and Jamie Smarts Roger had become my 2 favourite strips in The Beano and now their both gone. :(
when did jamies roger go? i was just getting used to it & i did enjoy these ball boy's though it seemed he was at least out of school & more of an adult & more grown up,ball man perhaps :lol:

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Gilly
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Gilly »

Jamie's Roger has been replaced next Wednesday's issue by Wayne Thompson's version seen in the free Sunday Mail issue.

I suppose Ball Man doesn't have the same ring to it Bri. :wink:

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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by philcom55 »

Lew Stringer wrote:Emoticons, used as an extra way to show the character's emotions I guess. I'd have thought the faces on the characters would be enough but it's an interesting addition....Coincidentally, a few days ago, before I saw this freebie Beano, I added a couple of swirly lines emanating from the head of a giddy character in a mini-strip. I presume those emoticons may now be added to it. No problem. In time they'll feel as normal as sweat beads popping from character's brows, or light bulbs above their heads.
The evolution of these visual conventions which seem almost unique to the comic strip form is a fascinating subject in its own right. Though I've not seen the 'emoticons' mentioned above I can't help being reminded of the way in which Roy Wilson used to enhance the happy mood of his drawings by putting a face on the sun (not to mention the inevitable audience of grinning tigers, elephants, birds, fish and insects!).

Image

On the subject of the Beano's increasingly youthful audience I'd guess that it has a lot to do with the fact that virtually all the other titles it gets displayed with (seemingly hundreds of them!) are clearly aimed at what used to be classed as the 'nursery' market. The sad fact is that there's hardly any middle ground left between 'Dora the Explorer' and 'Judge Dredd' or Viz.

- Phil Rushton

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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Phoenix »

philcom55 wrote:I can't help being reminded of the way in which Roy Wilson used to enhance the happy mood of his drawings by putting a face on the sun (not to mention the inevitable audience of grinning tigers, elephants, birds, fish and insects!).
I imagine that the forthcoming war would take the grins off their faces, but I particularly like the reversal of the octopus feeding the little fish instead of eating them as it normally would.

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philcom55
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by philcom55 »

Phoenix wrote:...I imagine that the forthcoming war would take the grins off their faces
The hindsight of history can give some of those late 1930s publications an almost heartbreaking poignancy - something that is beautifully captured in Al Stewart's song 'Laughing Into 1939':
...For tonight is New Year's Eve
Uncork your spirits and welcome it in
Who knows what it's got up its sleeve
Can't wait for it all to begin
Stand by the girl with the purple balloon
The look in her eyes just lights up the room
In the corner of her smile
She'll be seeing you soon
Under a mistletoe moon

Out on to the balcony
Come the King and Queen
And the crowd go wild
He's a little bit nervous
But that's just fine
And they're laughing, laughing into 1939
Oh, laughing, laughing into 1939...
- Phil Rushton

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DJDogfart
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by DJDogfart »

Been away to south Devon over the weekend and picked up the Mail as my holiday Sunday read, don't normally get a paper on Sunday so the Beano freebie seemed an obvious choice. I have to say, I thought the comic was better than I expected. Haven't bought a copy for many years as I was a Dandy subscriber to the bitter end and didn't want to get both. If it is a representation of the weekly comic, I may consider getting it from now on.
I have to say I have been surprised by many of your reactions as to the choice of newspaper Thomson decided to go for. If it had been in the Sunday Sun for example, would that have made it any more palatable for you? Or the Times, or the (not as good or as fresh imho as it was when it launched the new format) Observer?
My own father takes the Mail, does the crossword, and I get it on Saturday for the TV guide, and, as far as I know, neither of us is a member of any extreme political parties, and are quite capable of having a balanced conversation with any other reasonable person regardless of colour, gender, or orientation. Also, I think most people are more than capable of picking up a newspaper, reading what they want, and understanding that most of what they are reading, like the rest of the media, is stretching the truth or downright nonsense.
Although you can see I have been a member of this forum for a long time, I am only a sporadic poster due to time constraints at work and busy evenings. But I do read this every day, and have learnt an awful lot from you guys (and it's easy to be misinterpreted on forums) I love it here, I really do, and I love British comics even more.
Have an opinion, but don't be mean.
Then again, I am from Dorset, and as any fool knows, we are a bit... well, you know
Scccrrruunnge

Anorak783
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Anorak783 »

I bought this as a crafty way of having a look at the Beano after many years of absence and I have to say found myself chucking away in quite a few places.

Not as funny as the main newspaper, admittedly, but what the hey. :wink:

Personally, I prefer the traditional-style rendering used in this edition but as I turned 50 three days ago I suppose I now officially qualify as an old git.

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philcom55
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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by philcom55 »

Anorak783 wrote:...as I turned 50 three days ago I suppose I now officially qualify as an old git.
Sorry Anorak, you have to be pushing 60 to qualify as a genuine old git these days. I'm afraid you're still just a middle-aged git! :wink:

- Phil R. (Almost 59)

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Re: Mail on Sunday special issue

Post by Lew Stringer »

I've just been informed by someone posting on my blog that the Scottish newspaper The Courier will be giving away the same free Beano with this Thursday's edition.
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
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Blog about my own work: http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com/

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