New characters...The Dark Newt and Flatman and Ribbon

[Peter Gray]

Both are really good...
hope you get more work in The Dandy and Beano..glad its for 6 weeks,,,I also loke the colouring..good shading..

Flatman and Ribbon is very funny...just love the spoof of the 60's tv series...the punchline was brilliant..

As said before The Dandy is funny for kids and adults..

[Peter Gray]

I like the new Dandy's approach of spoofing films and tv rather than celebraties..it is a good move..

[Digifiend]

Yeah, and kids are far more likely to get what's being spoofed.

[swirlythingy]

I like the new Dandy's approach of spoofing films and tv rather than celebraties..it is a good move..

I think one of the major benefits of the Dandy's more experimental attitude is that it allows it to be short-termist - commission six episodes of a quick cash-in or a concept with very limited gag potential and then move onto the next thing before the joke gets old. Back when a strip had to be run into the ground before it was retired, it inherently limited the number of concepts which could be let through. There's nothing wrong with a one-trick pony or a repetition gag (I think that encompasses half the Dandy's mini-strips), but if you cancel it before everyone hates it, and don't feel obliged to scrape right through the bottom of the barrel and scratch the mud beneath for new twists, you can ensure it's remembered much more fondly.

(For an example of a repetition gag which was fairly funny at first but then was unwisely overstretched, see the Gleeks.)

I reckon all the new crop of Batman cash-ins are going this way. There's nothing wrong with being influenced by pop culture (let us never forget Dennis the Menace was inspired by a music-hall song), but in the good/bad (delete as appropriate) old days, a strip thought up on a whim after seeing the latest film/popular TV show/playground fad (e.g. the Addams Family spawned Number 13) could end up running for years, although sometimes the concept was solid enough to stand up on its own (Buster's original "Son of Andy Capp" gimmick was rapidly dropped). Sometimes, the name of the strip was even a pun on its original influence, ultimately rendered completely meaningless by the merciless tides of public attention span.

Not that I've seen any episodes of the Dark Newt yet. But I suspect it's better for being in the modern Dandy than it would have been in a lot of other comics. (Although I can't help but wonder whether it'll get resurrected in four years' time when the next Batman blockbuster inevitably arrives...)

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

some good points there, Swirly----I see nothing wrong with trying out off-the-wall material, in fact it's a healthy move. If it works, great, if not, it was a good try---testing the waters is always a forward-looking sign.

In my day, IPC comics launched entire titles on this basis!!

[Lew Stringer]

I like the new Dandy's approach of spoofing films and tv rather than celebraties..it is a good move..

In this instance it's more coincidence than a plan. I came up with The Dark Newt off my own bat, not knowing other Batman parodies would be in there. Should be all good fun though. Batman's always been a good target for parody. (http://www.lewstringer.com/USERIMAGES/B ... 282%29.jpg)

[felneymike]

but if you cancel it before everyone hates it, and don't feel obliged to scrape right through the bottom of the barrel and scratch the mud beneath for new twists, you can ensure it's remembered much more fondly.

See also: Fawlty Towers, there was only about 12 of them, wasn't there?