Comics UK

Raven wrote:Yes, but we're talking mostly about situations where getting the gags *depends* on getting the references, Phoenix, like the Fawlty Towers example; humour often depends on shared reference points. How was lunch?

OK, but I wouldn't know that, given that I no longer read the comics you are referring to. I would, of course, if I could still have the experience I referred to earlier, that of entering the frames to experience vicariously the fun that the characters were having, and to share it with them. I lost the ability to do so round about the age of nine or ten, but at least I was able to move seamlessly into Adventure, The Hotspur, The Rover and The Wizard, and immerse myself in a similar way in the text accounts of the lives of Alf Tupper, Baldy Hogan, Pickford, Nick Smith, Cannonball Kidd and Wilson. I still do, regularly! Incidentally, I am not convinced that there weren't reference points in the strips in Film Fun and Radio Fun that children at the time didn't get. I won a bound volume of file copies of Radio Fun for 1950 (Jan. to Jun.) in the last Compal auction. When I get a spare moment I will have a look for such reference points, but don't expect too much too soon. Raven knows all too well how good I am at putting things off!!!!!

The lunch was fine by the way, cheese and salad on a 12'' Italian. No jokes, please.

Well some good news and bad news this week I see. The good news is the cover actually has the issue number on it. It should never have been missing. The bad news is, another page of reprints has crept in... but the good news is, it's actually from the Beano (an untitled Gnasher's Bite), so both comics are now promoting each other.

Cheryl's Mole is just Phil's Finger in disguise.

Digifiend wrote:Well some good news and bad news this week I see. The good news is the cover actually has the issue number on it. It should never have been missing. The bad news is, another page of reprints has crept in... but the good news is, it's actually from the Beano (an untitled Gnasher's Bite), so both comics are now promoting each other.

Cheryl's Mole is just Phil's Finger in disguise.

Wait what? So the Dandy now have a Beano full page ad like the Beano's? What comic strip misses out because of it?

Also Cheryl's Mole, is it about a living mole on Cheryl by chance? What do we see next, The Wrestling Losers (TTT) and Son of a Stuntman (About a boy who's Dad is a stuntman, not at all like Daredevil Dad! )

-MikeD- wrote:I...um...kept a copy of Swirly's reply (I knew it would be deleted) I could send you a copy if you want to restore the integrity of the board or something..

Yeah, I'd like to see it. Especially as whatever he wrote totally changed everbody's tune and this thread has been restored to normality.

I didn't like Cheryls mole as you say..Phil Finger.. maybe I'm not drawn to that art style..

The kids drawing there favourite Dandy characters show what they like in the Dandy Postman prat..Arena of Awesome..Kids Cops..Bananaman..Thingummy Blob..George and the dragon and Korky appears a lot ..also Desperate Dan..

I hope Daredevil Dad does come back..
otherwise get him drawing Beryl the peril another Dandy character and not a celeb..

I don't mind celebs in Harry Hill or Little celebs...But the other pages devoted to it don't do much for me personally..the ones I mentioned above do..

If we are going to have reprints lets have a page..it could only be one..to classic Dandy..

WizzKid97 wrote:Wait what? So the Dandy now have a Beano full page ad like the Beano's? What comic strip misses out because of it?

Also Cheryl's Mole, is it about a living mole on Cheryl by chance?

Yep - it took George vs Dragon's slot.

And yes, that's exactly what it is.

Yep, it was confirmed by Andy Fanton (A.K.A. Little Squelchy Thing) on his blog here

I haven't got the Dandy yet, haven't had it in stock in the usual place I go, off to Chichester today, I hope it's somewhere there!

I really DO NOT like the front covers at the moment, the thing I dislike most is the use of celebrities. Arrggghh! I can't stand 'em! I wish one day they'll just DISAPPEAR from the comic! The covers themselves are okay I suppose. I'd like to see some actual, original Dandy characters on the front though other than silly celebrities.

WizzKid97 wrote: I really DO NOT like the front covers at the moment, the thing I dislike most is the use of celebrities. Arrggghh! I can't stand 'em! I wish one day they'll just DISAPPEAR from the comic! The covers themselves are okay I suppose. I'd like to see some actual, original Dandy characters on the front though other than silly celebrities.

Hmmm…look at the celebrity angle this way. Cheap, nasty, smut peddling celeb rag NOW circulates 338 thousand copies a week for IPC. The cynical idiocy of Heat Magazine sells even more for Bauer.

Different readers, different market. But it's often the mums/dads who buy the comic for the kids. And kids want to grow up - they want to be like their parents at the age we're talking about.

(I'm making the assumption that a significant percentage of the people who read celebrity magazines are parents. I have no research to back this up.)

So I guess these covers are worth a trial, if only for commercial reasons, even if it leads to much teeth gnashing among the purists. I guess many of us are sick of the vicious circle of prurience and voyeurism that makes the world of z-list celebrity so profitable, but it's a fact of modern life. I'd prefer, in an ideal world, to concentrate on developing, promoting and establishing the comic's IPs as superstars in their own right, but that costs serious cash and it isn't available right now.

I still think there's a pile of good stuff in The Dandy for the price. I'm off to buy this week's copy at lunch time.

On another note….unpopular strip gets celebrity make-over and rises from the dead? I know where I'm going wrong….

Finally got the Dandy in Chichester today, was reading it while walking around (probably not the best idea!)

REVIEW:

Overall I thought the comic was okay, certainly not the best but not the worst either.

PROS:
- There were a few good one or more page stories like Mr Meecher, Desperate Dan, My Own Genie, The Bogies, Tiny's Temper, Bananaman and Yore.
- There were also a few good mini strips like Jibber & Steve, Bear Behind, Not the Greatest Decorator, Dave the Squirrel and Go Compare all being both funny and well-drawn.
- I'd never read this week's My Own Genie. WIN!
- The Bogies was two pages again!
- Alexander Matthews' Nuke Noodle begins next week!

CONS:
Oh dear, where to start...
- Harry Hill is back on pages 4 and 5 after My Own Genie's two weeks of being the main story. At least Harry's still 2 pages, don't think I can live through another 12 page Mammoth story.
- Cheryl's Mole is horrible. A blatant Phil's Finger copy BY THE SAME ARTIST, and Phil was better.
- Too many celeb-based stories and pages: Harry Hill, Rooney's New 'Do is True Blue, Cheryl's Mole, Jamie's School Shark-Infested Custard/Dinner Lady Snogathon, Snoop Dawg, Celebrity Shopping, Top Trumps, The Bogies (Although this is acceptable), Hammond in my Pocket and the celeb filled Next Week page. It's all too much. It's killing the Dandy. Want my view, get rid of every stinkin' celebrity getting their own story (have them feature rarely in other strips, like Obama in D&G), have every Dandy story with all the characters being original, you don't need a big imagination to come up with celebs, their already there!
- No George VS Dragon. We knew Harry and his Hippo ended last week but why have GVD not feature in this week's as well?! Now the only story we had from Fanton was a three panel Dave the Squirrel story!
- Being 36 pages. Yep that's right, count yourself. 36 PAGES. We my friends were well and truly ripped off.
- The awful quality for the Beano Ad, also not naming the strip. A bit odd! Also the page looked very dull. It was just... white...
- The Top Trumps page should have been in the Toxic, it seemed like something childish they'll put in their comic/mag. Besides it was all stock art.
- Korky was back to a silly mini strip again after his brilliant two page story last week. What's more this week's story sucked.

You know what, I take it back, this could possibly be the Dandy's worst issue.

Agreed about the Beano ad. While it's good news that the Dandy is advertising the Beano, the story was pixellated, and they should've included the Gnasher's Bite title header. As for the background, they probably used white because that's what the Beano uses for that strip. But yeah, probably would've looked better in red.

Digifiend wrote:Agreed about the Beano ad. While it's good news that the Dandy is advertising the Beano, the story was pixellated, and they should've included the Gnasher's Bite title header. As for the background, they probably used white because that's what the Beano uses for that strip. But yeah, probably would've looked better in red.

And..there's no real reason to advertise The Beano in The Dandy, is there?

The Dandy may have less readers than the Beano, but that doesn't mean all Dandy readers also read the Beano. That's why they advertise it. They always did in the past, and I never understood why they hadn't since the Dandy's revamp last year. Works both ways actually, Beano wasn't advertising Dandy for the first few months either, despite regularly advertising Xtreme.

I liked Clown wars this week with the balloon bit

also xx factor was good...

Harry Hill should have more pages..
hope Jamie will get more new pages soon..

OK, that free gift is odd. It seems to use the German keyboard layout - QWERTZ instead of QWERTY. The Beta symbol and accented characters weren't needed either. However, while the external aesthetics were poor, the concept of this "Jokeberry" is a good one.

As for the comic itself, considering the page 2 paid ad, which was also in The Beano, the tall cover wasn't a good idea this week. They had to put a strap banner at the top of page 2 and the back cover. The page 2 one really looked out of place, no need to mention "3 Top Gifts" there.

The Beano advert was Gnasher's Bite again - and with no title again. If they plan to keep running these ads, that's a problem that needs fixing.

Meanwhile, The Beano's advert for The Dandy was three single line strips, with the new logo. Makes a change, and it promotes something which is definitely a unique selling point, as The Beano doesn't use single liners anywhere near as often.