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The DANDY first appeared 80 years ago in 1937 and ended its run 5 years ago in 2012. There's no arguing with the fact that a 75 year life-span is a great achievement for a comic, but why did it die? Forget what you read elsewhere from people determined to rewrite history - The Dandy finally came to an end because it eventually failed to appeal to a large enough readership to sustain itself. Simple as that. But there's more to the story.
Immediately after its 2010 relaunch, it actually increased its circulation for a short time before dissatisfied readers simply lost interest and stopped buying, leaving newsagents with no option but to reduce their orders accordingly. Sales had been in general decline for years, but what killed the comic at that specific point in time was that it failed to deliver the goods. A few exceptions aside, bad artwork and poor stories meant that readers old and new abandoned the comic in droves. You can dismiss talk about all those who enjoyed the new Dandy as proof that it was great. Remember, they were in the minority - the majority voted with their feet (and their wallets) and walked away.
Yet still a few deluded former contributors persist in trying to perpetuate the myth that the relaunched Dandy was absolutely brilliant in every way and deserved to succeed, and that other factors were mainly responsible for the comic's cancellation. (Being hard to find on the shelves apparently. Well, not in any WHS I was ever in.) The facts speak for themselves. The 'great save' designed to rescue the comic from oblivion failed. That's the important thing to remember here - the relaunch ultimately proved to be inadequate and completely the wrong direction in which to go. DCT themselves have never denied that the comic lost around half its readers - only some disgruntled contributors and fans have tried to put a different spin on the facts.
If you're a singer and only manage to sell a fraction of the available tickets - and then half the audience walks out during the show, to deny that the songs you sing and the way you sing them is more than likely the primary reason for such a sorry situation is totally ludicrous. Yet that's what the determined apologists for The Dandy's failure claim - it wasn't the content, it was everything else but, they say.
Anyway, you can safely ignore their deluded witterings, secure in the knowledge of the actual facts. However, let's not dwell on The Dandy's demise - let's take a look at some pages from its very first issue from 80 years ago. It was still to achieve the greatness for which it became acclaimed in its heyday, but it's interesting to see it take its first steps on that journey into legend.
I can cross that one off the list now.
ReplyDeleteNo - not saying anything bad about The Dandy. After all, i haven't read the revival issues. I was referring to that push we discussed previously to catch all those anniversaries before 2017 was over.
I don't have any of The Dandy from this century, but i much enjoy the old issues. It's hard to recollect with certainty, but i believe it was the first of the old magazines that started the comics on the front in lieu of a cover. I remember that at-the-time oddness drawing me in to read it instead of the other books nestled in the box with it. That one issue was enough to make younger me start looking for more of those old anthology titles. I wonder what issue it was?
Funny how much more i like Smarty Grandpa these days.
But, let me tell you - I was terribly disappointed when i went to see the movie Magic Mike.
But the Dandy annual survives - the 2018 annual is on sale in my local Tesco.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that took my interest in the Dandy was The Umbrella Men in 1966 . After something like 30 episodes it disappeared..
ReplyDeleteA fascinating look back. Thanks Kid. A shame about the relaunch.
ReplyDeleteSaaay... Smarty Grandpa looks kind of familiar.
Telling lies as usual.
ReplyDeleteIf you're ever going to start collecting issues of The Dandy, 3, you can safely give the 2010 relaunch a miss (and the Dandy Extreme one before that). It was painful to see its sad decline. You should check out Kazoop on my bloglist - Irmantas covers scores of old UK comics.
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They need to keep the Annual going, CJ, to exploit the merchandise potential, but it probably sells well enough to ensure its yearly appearance. So much for that great new life on the Internet, eh?
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I never really bought The Dandy or The Beano regularly when I was a kid, LH, and when I did, it was usually because they had a free gift (back when the word 'free' meant free), or because I had only enough pocket money left to afford a cheaper DCT title. They were nice little comics though.
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He does, doesn't he, JWB?! And if you gave the boy a pair of dungarees...
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'Anon', name one. You're being a d*ck as usual.
Once Corporal Clott stopped, that was it for me.
ReplyDeleteThey were clotts for stopping it, that's for sure, CN.
ReplyDeleteThey should have kept it going as a monthly or quarterly. It was stupid to stop it.
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, if not enough people are buying it and the comic is losing money, then, from their point of view, it's not worth keeping it going. At least there's still the Annual every year (and the occasional Special) - that's some consolation.
ReplyDeleteOops, I meant WJB, not JWB in one of my above responses.
ReplyDeleteI admire a man (or kid) who goes out of his way to admit his errors and correct them where he can. Even if it takes a while.
ReplyDeleteWell, I feel obliged to correct my mistakes, 3 - especially where a person's name (or initials in this instance) is concerned. Just a shame it took me so long to notice. How are things with you these days?
ReplyDeleteAs i said, i find that to be highly admirable - especially these days when the combination of strength, honesty, and morality required is seemingly so rare.
ReplyDeleteGenerally pretty good, i'm happy to report. Still off living in my own little world as i build it around me. (The Third Colony game & site) I've produced literally thousands of images for it over the past few years. It keeps me pretty engaged so my aging brain doesn't rust up.
I keep meaning to do an update/keep-alive post to my blog, but i cringe thinking about how much worse blogger must have gotten in the past year since my last post.
I was losing my eyesight, but had cataract surgeries earlier this year and doing fine there now. Strange, but fine. I had no clue that when they cut out the cataracts, they basically install internal contact lenses. So now my distance vision is fine without glasses. But i've got 3 different pairs for up close vision - reading (hand-held), working (desktop notepads), and computer. Very Odd, but i see well so not going to complain.
Other than foraging for supplies and medical necessities, i don't spend much time out there in the "real world" - every time i look out there i see evil people weaponizing stupidity and do my groundhog impression, ducking back down to retreat from those shadows.
My game world is a pretty dark and twisted place, but quite a bit nicer than what others have been building outside my door.
How about you? How are things in Gordon Grove?
Good to hear that you're doing fine at the moment, 3. Yeah, the world is a scary place and I suppose I'm a bit of a hermit myself these days. A few health problems, but I won't bore you with them, apart from saying that mobility is a bit difficult for me and I can see myself having to use a Zimmer or mobility scooter before too long, though I'm hoping it won't come to that. Energy levels are also getting worse, but I just go to my bed for a sleep when I'm knackered, which seems to be most of the time. Anyway, now that I've cheered both of us up, bed's exactly where I'm headed. I only hope that Salma isn't hogging my side again. Cheers.
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