Dandy Relaunch THIS WEDNESDAY!!!

[STARBOY]

Very nice looking comic indeed, if I was 10 years old again I'd be a happy bunny with this version - lovely bright colours , great paper and modern art styles. Although it is very much its own title, there were shades of Film Fun (well in that it TV characters) Mad (Kids) and Wham to me, and a very European feel/look to it as well. Thought Bananaman was very different from previous incarnations (not that I'm a regular reader but certainly different to what I remember) liked it though - Liked all the strip art (the stories are aimed at kids and go over my head re humour, but if was 10 I'd be gutting myself lol) in particular I really liked George V Dragon, Harry Hill and Kid Cops. Lots of Dandys in the 2 supermarkets and 3 newsagents I went into today so its well stocked here.Looking good for comics in UK this weather. Would have liked to have seen an adventure/serial type strip in the Dandy though.

[colcool007]

For those of you that have heard of Radio 2, it was featured on the Jeremy Vine show today and there were a few excited people on there.

[kevf]

The new look Dandy came out today and I had the opportunity to show the first issue to the pupils in my Comic Art Masterclasses at Gosport Discovery Centre. Both groups were mixed ages, from 7 to adult, and I'm delighted to report that, firstly, I think the new Dandy is brilliant. It's all comic strip, and all the comic strips are good. It reminds me, more of anything, of Oink, the comic in which I began my career and which is fondly remembered by anyone who ever read it.

The kids, too, seemed impressed, and certainly Harry Hill as a cover star is a marvellous choice. Peppering the comic with other familiar TV faces, Cheryl Cole & Simon Cowell in particular, hits the target market's taste buds square on too.

To celebrate the launch day, I drew some of the characters on the flip chart, the kids responding well to the choices and my doodles:



The Dandy theme continued in the comics the groups produced in the classes. I drew Harry Hill on the front cover of the morning's comic, and in the afternoon group one enterprising artist created Harry Hill Gets Fit, a drawing and strip based on the Dandy designs:



I look forward to reporting back on the response to the Dandy from the chalkface over the coming weeks.

Kev F's Comic Art Masterclass

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

The relaunch was probably better WITHOUT the use of a free gift; this ploy has been grossly overdone over the last 20 years or so, it's healthier to let the new characters stand up on their own merits without the usual hype.

This also helps to keep costs down. Free gifts are OK in moderation, but the sheer overkill of 'free' gifts of more recent times has been an off-putting factor for me at least. [again, these comics are mainly aimed at kids, not me!]

[DandyEd]

Hi all!

As a long-time silent lurker here, I thought I should finally contribute. I am Craig, and I am an editor of The Dandy. One of only four in 73 years, which makes me an incredibly lucky boy.

I'm glad you all seem to like the new direction. A lot of research, experience and plain hard work has gone into it since we kicked the project off, and its success as a comic is all down to its contributors, whether freelance or DCT-employed.

Some post here and some don't, some are long-standing Dandy contributors and others are entirely new to kids' comics - one thing unites them all: they have been heroic in their commitment to this project and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.

If you're interested, these are the contributors to issue 3508:

Nigel Parkinson - Harry Hill, The Phantom Pharter, Little Simon and chief Harry-knowing comics nut: His contribution has been incalculable - and should be applauded to the hills.
Jamie Smart - Desperate Dan, Pre-Skool Prime Minister, the Style Guide: Jamie's been a part of The Dandy for six years now, and when we came to set up the style guide, Jamie's name was first on our list. He was also author of a remarkable email to me which coincided, in emotion and timing, with the initial proposal for these changes.
Wayne Thompson - The Mighty Bork, Pepperoni Pig, Shao Lin Punks, Bananaman and Noel or No Noel: a remarkable artist and friend.
Lew Stringer - Postman Prat and Kid Cops: long-time champion of comics, artist and one of the first names on the list of new artists we hoped to get on board. Thanks for all the support, Lew.
Nigel Auchterlounie - The Bogies, Professor Dandy: great writer, artist and ideas man. Look out for much much more from Nigel in The Dandy. Also an early morning Sky TV superstar - cheers, Nige!
Duncan Scott - Simples!, Count Snotula and What's In Cheryl's Hair Today? - There really will be 101 meerkat episodes! Not so many of Cheryl's hair. Top guy and great artist.
David Mostyn - Dr. Doctor: Mr Mostyn is supremely talented as a children's book illustrator and also past Dandy artist. It's a huge pleasure to have him onboard again, and you can all look forward to some absolutely top-notch work from him in the near future.
Chris McGhie - iDad: Chris is very busy with things far more important than comics, but he always finds the time to help us out.
Alexander Matthews - Robot on the Run: Alexander is well-known in more grown-up cartooning circles, but new, I believe, to kids' comics. ROTR is, in fact, a serial (someone mentioned this earlier?), and it's a good 'un! Nice one, Alexander!
Andy Fanton - George vs. Dragon: a friend of Jamie's, recommended by him, and one of the first new artists we found for The Dandy. Doing more stuff as we speak.
Phil Corbett - Korky the Cat: Korky wasn't coming back until Phil and Chris (staff artist) combined their energies to fight his corner. Turns out it was good enough to make the cover, so what do I know?!
Garry Davies - TV Teaser: Great guy, simple idea, kids love it. What more do you want?

The following people work in the Dandy Office and their efforts have been unstinting, even when putting together Dandy Xtreme and working on this project:

Michelle, Ally, Katy, Mark and Chris.

Thanks to them all, and to you for reading.

Craig

[steelclaw]

Picked my copy up this morning as an old fart I found it refreshing, I now declare Dandy the best humour comic on the market.
Some good art and stories, I tended to like the strips that had some familiar detailed background to them, like Harry Hill,Postman Prat, Little Simon & Pepperoni Pig,but maybe that's me just being weird.
Well done everyone who has worked on the new 'Dandy'
I hope it's a great success and I don't see why not.

Lew
Now the cat's out of the bag, actually how long ago did you know that the 'Dandy' was going to be relaunched?

[steelclaw]

DandyEd,
Can I be the first to Congratulate you on a fine return of 'Dandy'

[kevf]

The relaunch was probably better WITHOUT the use of a free gift; this ploy has been grossly overdone over the last 20 years or so,...Free gifts are OK in moderation....

Free gifts boost sales. The Beano can sell 4 times as many copies with a gift on the cover than without. But Dandy Extreme jumped the shark and lost the comic, and its soul, reducing it to an incidental pamphlet floating in a bag of plastic trinkets.

The new look Dandy will have to strike a balance. It will carry gifts when it must (thought its choice of gifts are limited as they can only amount to a strict percentage of the cover price), but hopefully will keep the strips and their quality to the forefront as long as possible.

New look "issue 1" is a very good mission statement.

[Lew Stringer]

Some good art and stories, I tended to like the strips that had some familiar detailed background to them, like Harry Hill,Postman Prat, Little Simon & Pepperoni Pig,but maybe that's me just being weird.

Not at all. You're just favouring the approach you're mostly familiar with, which is natural. I have to admit that the more modern styles took me a while to get used to, then it clicked and I appreciated it as much as the other material.

Lew
Now the cat's out of the bag, actually how long ago did you know that the 'Dandy' was going to be relaunched?

I'd heard rumours several months ago but nothing was certain. (These things can easily go either way.) I was fairly certain that The Dandy wasn't going to be scrapped though, which is why I tried to diffuse the rumours of its demise here.

The editor asked me to contribute back in early July, and I heard about the definite plans for a revamp around that time.

Originally I thought I'd be contributing just one strip, with the other replacing it a few weeks later. It was only recently I had the pleasant surprise that both of my pages would be in the first new issue. Which means I'm suddenly much busier than I anticipated, and I'm still working on Toxic, The Beano, Viz, and Comic Heroes too! Not that I'm complaining of course.

[Lew Stringer]

Congratulations to all who have contributed to make this comic happpen.
I can reveal i am responsible for The Mighty Bork, Banana Man, Pepperoni Pig,
Shaolin Punks and Noel Edmonds.

Wayne, as ever I'm staggeringly impressed by the sheer versatility of your styles. The only disappointment for me when I saw the new Dandy was that I thought you weren't in there, which puzzled me as you'd been such a major contributor for several years. Now to find out you have five pages in there, all different, is both pleasing and mind-bending!

I really like the style on The Mighty Bork by the way. I predict that's going to be a big hit.

[philcom55]

Saw Clint no.3 and the new Dandy for sale today. One was an impressive demonstration of all that is best in cutting-edge graphics and sophisticated, state-of-the-art storytelling...the other was Clint.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

- Phil Rushton

[Peter Gray]

Can't believe it was
Wayne Thompson - The Mighty Bork, Pepperoni Pig, Shao Lin Punks, Bananaman and Noel or No Noel:

well I didn't get that right..

Hope Laura can join the Dandy band later on..

[Digifiend]

Good to hear that Super School isn't under threat because of your new Dandy workload, Lew. Thanks for that artist information Craig, and it's good to see the Dandy editor here on the forum. Nice touch crediting the office staff at the back of the comic. ISPY is right about the free gifts, that cover stuck out like a sore thumb among the other comics (which is a good thing!). I wouldn't be able to say the same if it was bagged up like most issues of Xtreme were. I'm surprised Wayne did so much - didn't realise he was that versatile! Compare his versions of Jak, Billy the Cat and Billy Whizz (the latter two in The Beano of course), they were in similar styles. These new strips aren't (lol, looks like Lew just said the same thing).

By the way, kevf, excellent ghosting of NP, Wayne, and Jamie on that flip chart there. It's a real shame The Beano no longer uses you.

Wow, 3 new posts while I've been typing this. That's never happened before, the power of the new Dandy, eh?

[steelclaw]

Saw Clint no.3 and the new Dandy for sale today. One was an impressive demonstration of all that is best in cutting-edge graphics and sophisticated, state-of-the-art storytelling...the other was Clint.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

- Phil Rushton

Blimey CLiNT No.3 out aready.

[blaing]

Congratulations on the relaunch Craig.

As someone who lives on the other side of the world, I'll try and locate the premiere issue when it hits our shores (see my profile) in December.

Or, better still, can I get someone to purchase for me a copy and mail it out to me (I'll pay for the issue including postage via PayPal). PM me if you would like to help out.