This week's issue

[Raven]

I wonder if Beano is having distribution issues. I was just reading the new 'Beano Review' entry where they joke that D. C. Thomson seem to be withdrawing the comic from their area so they can't review it: "Which is why, after fully 19 visits to newsagents, supermarkets and at one desperate point even a branch of HMV this week, we at the Beano Review began to worry. For not only had we failed to find a single copy of issue 3577(b) to review ... " etc.

I had similar trouble looking for the Dennis special birthday issue last week. The big supermarket that regularly stocks it still had the previous week's issue all week, not replacing it with the new one; none in WHSmith, nor any newsagent. I finally found a single copy hidden behind some other comics in Tesco but, alas, too tatty and scrunched to buy.

[Lew Stringer]

I wonder if Beano is having distribution issues. I was just reading the new 'Beano Review' entry where they joke that D. C. Thomson seem to be withdrawing the comic from their area so they can't review it: "Which is why, after fully 19 visits to newsagents, supermarkets and at one desperate point even a branch of HMV this week, we at the Beano Review began to worry. For not only had we failed to find a single copy of issue 3577(b) to review ... " etc.

No Beanos in 19 shops eh? I wouldn't take much notice of the absolute twaddle that The Beano Review posts. It's a site in love with the sound of its own opinions and not remotely as funny as it thinks it is. Anyone who describes Davey Law's work as "a time when Dennis was apparently drawn by a five-year-old with detached retinas" doesn't have a clue about the comic he's reviewing.

Anyway, what is it with all the recent Beano-bashing from grown men who might be better off reading Viz instead? Still, it's a change from all the "Dandy is doomed" posts that suddenly stopped after its relaunch. I guess some fans have to complain about something.

[STARBOY]

I can't believe anyone could say that about Davey Law's art (stunned) he was an amazing artist / cartoonist - have to say I have noticed a lot of Beano bashing on here as well Lew -I don't read the Beano (but do look at it occassionaly and bought the Dennis Anniversary issue) and I think its looking better than it has in decades - poor DCT can't do right for doing wrong

[swirlythingy]

Quality is relative. Back in the dark days of Dandy Xtreme, the Beano was easily the best by a mile. Then the Dandy relaunched, and now the Beano is easily the worst by a mile, in spite of the fact it's barely changed (and, when the Dandy is taken out of the equation, is something of an improvement on its state six months ago).

It's the same as what happens when you view the same shade of grey against a black as opposed to a white background.

Those who complain simply complain about the weakest target, not particularly caring what it is. There's a good reason that the 'Dandy is doomed' talk suddenly stopped when Xtreme was shown the door - it was because it wasn't doomed any more.

WRT distribution... I've always pretty much chanced it during my time buying the Beano, and within those years I have noticed a definite narrowing of availability. The Dandy is even worse - a few shops stock the Beano but not the Dandy, but I've never seen the reverse. I think it's going to take some time to recover from the damage inflicted by Xtreme. However, hopefully I've now managed to persuade a newsagent to buy both comics every week and keep one copy of each aside. This Wednesday should be the first week of this arrangement... watch this space!

Oh, and they hadn't previously been buying the Dandy, so with any luck I just pushed the distribution figures up a little.

[big bad bri]

when the dandy relaunched all the local newsagents carried it for the first few weeks in my area and now not one of those shops have it anymore and my local whs only seem to get in 3 every week,so im thinking sales cant have picked up that much since extreme

[Jonny Whizz]

Quite simply, people can't complain about the Dandy now so they've started complaining about the Beano instead!

In some ways this is good for the Dandy, as it's been feeling the draught for way too long now, but the relaunch last October has definitely been for the better. Even not being a Dandy reader, I was impressed with the strips that were recently printed in the Beano - I thought they were funny and creative.

Despite all the criticism directed towards it, I think the Beano has generally improved in recent months - in particular, I'm happy that Dennis is becoming more of a menace again instead of the more childlike, less anarchic character seen when the time the last TV series started.

[swirlythingy]

Agreed wholeheartedly - especially about Dennis shedding more of his big-hearted fun-loving kid brainwash every week.

The Beano has definitely got better - if I was to take a strip from this time last year I'd be able to pick out a real discernible improvement. After its all-time low point in mid 2009, it's travelled a long way up the recovery cycle.

Unfortunately the Dandy only went and had a whopping great revamp in the middle of it! The Beano was well and truly leapfrogged overnight, and it's beginning to look more and more like similarly drastic action may be necessary to catch up again. I firmly believe it can do it. They don't have to just copy the Dandy model - while it got more right than wrong, there's still a healthy amount of room for improvement and lessons to be learnt. Do it properly, and the turnaround could be even more spectacular.

[Digifiend]

Well Beano does have a new editor, so some changes are inevitable.

[Scoobie]

I love all the opinion being masqueraded as fact.

[Digifiend]

I hope that wasn't referring to my last comment. We already know of at least one change to the Beano. No more Ivy.

[Jonny Whizz]

The Beano has definitely got better - if I was to take a strip from this time last year I'd be able to pick out a real discernible improvement. After its all-time low point in mid 2009, it's travelled a long way up the recovery cycle.

Out of interest, why did you think the Beano reached its all-time low point in mid 2009?

[swirlythingy]

Oh, come on, I'm sure you can guess.

[Digifiend]

Anyone noticed something different about this weeks Beano and Dandy covers? The black box around the barcode is gone. Instead, the DC Thomson logo is there, and the cover date has been changed from Saturday to Tuesday (So they're issue dated 5th April instead of 2nd April).

[DandyEd]

The "revised" date is actually for the retail trade - it's the recall date. The date for that issue would be unchanged. We have the same on Dandy.

[Digifiend]

There is no other date on the cover. Saturday's date isn't mentioned anywhere in either comic.