BEANO SUMMER SPECIAL 2015...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Strictly speaking, this new magazine does exactly as it says on the tin.  The BEANO Summer Activity Special contains puzzles & activity pages, as well as various comic strips throughout the mag.  However, one can't help wishing that it was almost wall-to-wall strips in the age-old tradition, with only a few puzzle pages at occasional intervals.

In trying to appeal to both camps (lovers of comics, and puzzle enthusiasts), DCT may find themselves with only half the audience they're looking for as opposed to double.  Kids who like puzzles might be deterred by the strips - and vice versa - and may instead plump for some other publication that fully caters to their specific interest.  Perhaps I'm being too picky, but if I plucked this off the shelf expecting a typical Special, I'd be disappointed when I got home.

However, for those who know what they're buying, this is sure to tick all the right boxes, and I can't really fault it in any major way.  I probably won't be adding it to my collection as I prefer my comics to contain mostly comic strips, and this particular mag doesn't have quite enough of them to induce me to part with £4.99.

Anyone remember when Summer Specials were only 2/6?  Whatever happened to those days?

IT'S DEAD, JIM! REALLY, IT'S DEAD...

Copyright relevant owner

What is?  The British comics industry, that's what!  Remember all the comics that newsagents counters used to strain under, week by week, the product of IPC and DCT?  I'm talking about real comics, not puzzle or activity mags with a smattering of comic strip content - actual comics that were filled to the gills with strip after strip, for only a few pence, published by mighty empires devoted to producing weekly periodicals for kids all over the country (and abroad).  Companies who were in competition with each other, vying for whatever pocket money wasn't spent on sweets and toys.

That doesn't exist any more.  It has expired, turned up its tootsies, fallen off the twig, shuffled off this mortal coil, is pushing up the daisies - dead!  What remains today is nothing more than the equivalent of a craft fayre or car boot sale, where anaemic and emaciated survivors cling on by their fingertips, trying to be all things to all kids, but sadly ignored by the majority of them.  Circulation figures today are generally so poor that, in the industry's heyday, a comic would have suffered cancellation long before it ever sank so low.

Don't be misled by those who say otherwise; those whose self-interests lie in talking up the current situation.  We're talking about comics - weekly, published paper comics, devoted mainly to humour and adventure strips for the entertainment of kids and teenagers, at a reasonable price.  We're not talking about on-line cartoons, or collected editions in book form.  Comic strips can be published in a variety of mediums, but a book is a book and a website is a website, which - although they might feature comic strips - are not in themselves 'comics' in the traditional sense.

So, to reiterate - the industry of traditional, weekly, published paper periodicals called comics is, sadly, dead.  The BEANO and 2000 A.D. do not constitute an 'industry'.  No amount of wishful-thinking, or reinterpretation of the facts can change that.  However, whether it's an immutable condition is by no means certain.  Perhaps, some day, that once-mighty industry can be resurrected, and, if so, those of us who love comics - real comics - printed paper comics - will welcome their return.  What else can I say?

Roll on that day, eh?   

The WORST Of The DANDY...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

I see that The DANDY Summer Special is currently on sale in my local WHS. Back by popular demand?  I very much doubt it! It's extremely unlikely that D.C. THOMSON's were inundated with appeals, but perhaps enough readers bought the previous one to make it worthwhile issuing another this year.  Back by lukewarm request is probably a more accurate description.

Anyway, I looked through a copy and, too few pages aside, it's a mess - a collection of the very worst that the comic had to offer in the lead-up to its last gasp in 2012.  I usually purchase publications such as this to support the remnants of a once-thriving industry, but I won't be buying this one.  Those who read The Dandy in its heyday, looking to wallow in nostalgia and expecting to see again the much-loved characters of their youth are bound to be disappointed.

The characters are there, sure enough, but not in a form anyone who isn't a teenager will recognize.  Trust me, overall, this Special is in no way special at all, and is immense in its awfulness.  Unless you have the previous two and are a completist, save yourself £5.99 and buy yourself a Dandy back-number from eBay.  It's a shame that, cover aside, Thomson's seem to have abandoned the nostalgia factor in the marketing of the title - let's hope it's a one-off, eh?   

  

Verdict: A wasted opportunity so don't waste your money.

The INCREDIBLE HULK Versus SUPERMAN - It's STERN And RUDE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS & DC COMICS

Hard to believe this mag came out 16 years ago, in 1999 - it seems as if it were only 4 or 5 years ago at most.  Regardless of that, however, it's an absolute cracker of a tale, which, nowadays would probably require a 12 issue maxi-series, have far more talking head panels, and be lucky to contain only half the action and excitement.  But why witter on about it when I can show you some of the interior pages?  They capture the MARVEL feel of the '60s down to a 'tee', while still managing to do full justice to DC's main hero as well.  A brilliant tale, well-told - and drawn, with STEVE RUDE emulating JACK KIRBY most effectively!

The INCREDIBLE HULK Versus SUPERMAN - if you don't already have this in your collection, you're missing out.  Straight on to eBay with you before it's too late.