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| Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
Last year, D.C. THOMSON released what they called THE LAST-EVER DANDY SUMMER SPECIAL. Turns out that it seemingly sold so well there'll be another one this year (along with a BEANO Special also). On a comics forum at the time, someone expressed the desire that just such a thing would happen - that sales would be so good, the title of the Special would prove to be a 'fib'. (In other words, that it wouldn't be the last.)
The person was not implying that, in such a scenario, DCT would have been cynically lying - only that the description of the mag would prove not to be 'true' (which is a different thing). Turned out that a rather obnoxious DCT employee (who has a history of going off half-cocked) completely missed the point and took exception to what he saw as the suggestion that Thomson's would ever deceitfully advertise a publication as something it wasn't (which is not what had actually been said or implied).
However, cynic that I am, it seems to me unlikely that any publisher could be unaware of the potential sales that a mag advertised as the 'last-ever' might enjoy and that a rethink might be required at some future date if such proved to be the case. Therefore, when DCT labelled it as they did, they must've known there was at least a possibility it might not be. Does that mean they lied? Not necessarily, because if it didn't sell too well, then it certainly could've been the last.
It's worth remembering though, that DCT are well-practiced in advertising things that aren't actually as they seem: So-called 'free' gifts that the readers pay for via an increased cover price (though that hasn't happened for a while); 'two' great posters, when it's actually only one double-sided poster (meaning siblings can't have one each as they'd been led to believe). And let's not forget 'makeovers' for well-known characters that were never intended as permanent changes, but were mere publicity stunts, sneakily 'leaked to the press' to generate renewed interest in the weekly comics.
The tedious, 'missed the point' prattlings of a DCT freelancer in 'defence' of his Beano-buddy (who had completely the wrong end of the stick to begin with) do not change the facts, which are these: The forum member was not accusing D.C. Thomson of lying, he was merely expressing the hope that the last Dandy Summer Special would prove not to be, which is precisely what's now happened. It hasn't prevented Mr. "I'm not going to get involved" from becoming involved though, and from currently trying to browbeat others on that forum into accepting his and his (absent) buddy's take on things.
However, let's focus on the positive, eh? There are new Beano and Dandy Summer Specials this year, so keep a lookout for them in your local WH Smith's from July 2nd.
