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[Lew Stringer]

Mind you, Max the killer computer from Scream became "editor" of Eagle for several years, as well as appearing in an ongoing story there.

Death Wish was pretty grim at times too, didn't that start in the (kind of) motor racing-themed Speed?

There have been lots of UK strips with a supernatural / dark edge to them over the years, but the main publishers tended to shy away from doing an actual horror comic. (Except for Scream!, Misty, and Spellbound I guess.)

[SID]

If done right, it can work. Look at Walking Dead (not the TV series which I love but the comic strip). Absolutely brilliant.

I still believe that Scream! could have worked if given enough investment.

[Lew Stringer]

If done right, it can work. Look at Walking Dead (not the TV series which I love but the comic strip). Absolutely brilliant.

I still believe that Scream! could have worked if given enough investment.

Perhaps, but you're comparing it to an American horror comic aimed at adults. I thought we were talking about whether there's potential for a UK horror comic for kids?

Yes, there is a market for adult horror comics in the USA. Plenty are being published at the moment; Walking Dead, Crossed, Ferals, etc.

[starscape]

The problem every comic has had in the last 30 years is not growing. Besides the mature readers (which had it's own problems by being too aimed at one sector), Victor, Battle, Eagle etc etc didn't change to accommodate a more mature fanbase. Instead, they looked to get new boy readers in that just didn't come. 2000AD was the only one that moved with their readership. Yep, sales were falling but there was a loyal core that promoted longevity. The likes of Warlord and Scream could have followed that route but didn't.

Although I can't blame them as who knew?

[Lew Stringer]

The problem every comic has had in the last 30 years is not growing. Besides the mature readers (which had it's own problems by being too aimed at one sector), Victor, Battle, Eagle etc etc didn't change to accommodate a more mature fanbase. Instead, they looked to get new boy readers in that just didn't come. 2000AD was the only one that moved with their readership. Yep, sales were falling but there was a loyal core that promoted longevity. The likes of Warlord and Scream could have followed that route but didn't.

Although I can't blame them as who knew?

More mature comics didn't catch on either though. Blast, Revolver, Crisis, Heartbreak Hotel, Deadline, Warrior....

Fleetway did try to interest older readers with their revamped Roy of the Rovers but it didn't last.

Yes, 2000AD has survived by evolving, but that was an exceptional comic from the outset. Action may have captured that same excitement too, and evolved further, had it not been castrated.

I'm not sure a 'mature' direction would have helped kids' comics survive though, given the number of mature comics that failed. Perhaps continuing to aim at kids but being more experimental and dynamic would have been worthwhile but publishers often keep to formula. (It's their money they're risking after all.)

[starscape]

You are misunderstanding me there. As I said, mature comics were also too focussed. With 2000AD, it grew but not into ONLY mature readers. But they were not left behind either. Look at the Victor, the last of DCTs boys weekly. Once you get to an age, it becomes all a little simplistic. Little maturity, politics or more mature themes to go along with the action. So Victor has to get an entirely new set of schoolkids reading it every year. 2000AD had both children, and their more adult readers.

[felneymike]

Better to die with dignity than become a grim 'n gritty, "NNNNOOOO", Caeltyc faery earthe magyck lecture series, if you ask me.

[colcool007]

I must admit that I dropped reading 2000AD in 1997, just after it broke the 1000 barrier. I found, for me, that I was only reading one or two stories by then and found that it had passed me by. So, it has lost a few readers along the way.

As to Scream! It wasn't banned, it just never picked up a big enough readership to make it a profitable viability. There were some good ideas and some great art, but it just never made it into the public vision.

The other problem was that most mainstream comics were dying on their feet by the time Scream! came along. So it was struggling with falling sales and the rise of the mighty VCR.

My personal opinion was that Scream! was too focused on the horror genre for the time and that was why it struggled for sales. By the time it was published (1984), we were all post-punk and horror at the time was perhaps seen as passe. (Just done a quick google on 1984 Horror movies and only three stand out and two of those were mediocre sequels!)

[SID]

You are right, starscape. That's how 2000AD worked for me.

I first started getting it as a teenager and as I got older, 2000AD slowly matured as well. Hence keeping me hooked. As far as I am aware, no other comic has done this.

But please correct me if I am wrong.

[Marionette]

It took me a couple of minutes to realise that this thread is about Scream! - a comic of great potential cut short by PC idiots.

How did you possibly work that out? There's no indication in the title or the initial post what the subject is.

[SID]

It took me a couple of minutes to realise that this thread is about Scream! - a comic of great potential cut short by PC idiots.

How did you possibly work that out? There's no indication in the title or the initial post what the subject is.

From my previous Sidnny post. But I don't know how I knew as 'Sidnny'. Perhaps the thread has changed since it was started???

LOL! It may not be about Scream! at all.