Guardian article: The Dandy Faces Closure

[AndyB]

That is exactly why they could get away with reprinting strips from 2004. New generation.

[Raven]

Charlie Brooker:

"Reports of the Dandy's death are greatly exaggerated

Going all-digital is the best thing that could happen to Britain's longest-running comic":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... sfeed=true

[Digifiend]

Because it's a magazine for children, and today's children don't seem to want magazines any more than I wanted a 1920s whirligig when I was their age. Kids today have Moshi Monsters

...which has a very popular magazine. Kids do want magazines. They just seem to prefer franchise tie-ins to original material.

And one of the commenters can't have seen a Dandy in, ooh, 30 years?

The Dandy should have been scrapped years ago and all the resources, and the best characters, transferred to the Beano. Then again, maybe the online version will allow more original talent to get exposure, rather than keeping afloat all the tired, dated characters from the 30s.

After 1940s character Black Bob was finally removed in the 80s, the only remaining characters from the early years were Dan and Korky, although Keyhole Kate got revived not long after. By the mid 90s, she was gone, and by 2004, Winker Watson and The Smasher too (also Bully Beef and Chips, but they later returned). Korky also became very sporadic in the 2000s. They certainly haven't been "keeping afloat tired 30s characters" as this person seems to think. And of course, for the last two years, they've been doing plenty to allow original talent to get exposure. Ironically, since the online version looks like it'll be a retro affair, going digital will actually result in LESS of that.

Also, some characters will never appear in the Beano, no matter how popular they've been in the past. Beryl the Peril for example, is too much like Dennis and Minnie, and Owen Goal is a Ball Boy clone. Puss and Boots also, as that's the same concept as Meebo and Zuky.

[SID]

Read the Guardian article - certainly not very complimentary to us non-kids though I do agree with some of the advantages of going digital.

True enough about some of the characters being very similar in both comics. However, you could do a "Cuddles and Dimples" and merge them into a single comic strip - e.g. "Minnie and Beryl".

As I have said earlier, as far as collecting purposes is concerned, the Dandy's last printed issue will be the last. However, I am intrigued to see what the e-Dandy will look like. Will they continue the numbering? Will it keep the style/strips of the weekly or will it go more retro?

[Digifiend]

Considering this is the logo on the website:


Probably retro.

EDIT: Hmm, a TV Troper apparently happens to be a DCT employee (although they got the company name wrong!), they said some people cried at the announcement.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?di ... 000&page=0

[Raven]

However, I am intrigued to see what the e-Dandy will look like. Will they continue the numbering? Will it keep the style/strips of the weekly or will it go more retro?

Or will it contain strips at all, rather than being, say, more game/interactivity based? "It's what comes online then that will set the tone for the next 75 years", "some tremendously exciting things" and going "into lockdown" so people can't find out the plans don't sound like just more of the same - i.e. transferring comic strips to the website. My suspicion is that we're not really talking comic strips.

Though if they were going to make The Dandy an online entertainment centre aimed at kids, would it be wise to use the Dandy name for such a project when most kids are no longer familiar with it, rather than the Beano moniker?

EDIT: I typed "when most kids are no familiar with it" rather than "no longer familiar with it."

[dishes]

However, I am intrigued to see what the e-Dandy will look like. Will they continue the numbering? Will it keep the style/strips of the weekly or will it go more retro?

Or will it contain strips at all, rather than being, say, more game/interactivity based? "It's what comes online then that will set the tone for the next 75 years", "some tremendously exciting things" and going "into lockdown" so people can't find out the plans don't sound like just more of the same - i.e. transferring comic strips to the website. My suspicion is that we're not really talking comic strips.

Though if they were going to make The Dandy an online entertainment centre aimed at kids, would it be wise to use the Dandy name for such a project when most kids are no familiar with it, rather than the Beano moniker?

They might if they wanted to use the Dandy as a guinea pig before taking the plunge with a Beano one.

An aside: As this is my first post since the announcement was made, may I sympathise with Dandy artists and staff who read this, and congratulate everyone concerned with their part in one of the world's most successful ever comics (and my personal favourite British kids' comic).

[Raven]

They might if they wanted to use the Dandy as a guinea pig before taking the plunge with a Beano one.

I did wonder if it might be an experimental try out in that way, but commissioning and creating decent games is expensive, so it'd be a costly experiment, and it might have made more financial sense to go straight ahead with a Beano one if that's the title with the readership and the public awareness.

[starscape]

Or will it contain strips at all, rather than being, say, more game/interactivity based? "It's what comes online then that will set the tone for the next 75 years", "some tremendously exciting things" and going "into lockdown" so people can't find out the plans don't sound like just more of the same - i.e. transferring comic strips to the website. My suspicion is that we're not really talking comic strips.

Though if they were going to make The Dandy an online entertainment centre aimed at kids, would it be wise to use the Dandy name for such a project when most kids are no familiar with it, rather than the Beano moniker?

That's my view too. There'll be comic strips, both old and new, but I suspect in short supply. I doubt it'll be anything for comic fans to fall in love with. My hopes are low.

[paw broon]

This in Saturday's Scotsman centre pages:-
http://www.scotsman.com/news/stephen-mc ... -1-2474782

[Digifiend]

The first half was funny, but there was some sloppy research in the second half.

When first published in December 1937, the Dandy was the first children’s comic, with only DC Comics (no relation) Detective Comics, home of Batman, and Il Giomalino in Italy as older titles.

Idiots. The Dandy is the third oldest surviving comic, not the third one ever released!

In August, 2007 they launched Dandy Extreme

One too many Es. Tsk.

During the past 75 years, a number of great comic artists have worked on the Dandy, most notably Dudley D Watkins, who drew Desperate Dan as well as Our Wullie and the Broons and died, fittingly, with pen in hand at his drawing board. Then there is Leo Baxendale, who drew Dinah-Mite for the Dandy and created the Bash Street Kids for the Beano.

No mention of Sunday Post, thus implying that Wullie and the Broons are Dandy characters when they're not. And Leo only drew Dinah Mite for an annual, he never worked for the weekly Dandy at all. A better name to mention would be Eric Roberts, who drew Podge, Dirty Dick, and Winker Watson, or Allen Morley, Keyhole Kate's original artist.

[big bad bri]

]No mention of Sunday Post, thus implying that Wullie and the Broons are Dandy characters when they're not. .

I cant help thinking maybe they should put wullie & the broons in the dandy as one last throw of the dice either as reprints or get jamie or someone to draw new adventures more suited to the current art style seeing as they are not really in any comics only newspaper strips.

[paw broon]

"The first half was funny, but there was some sloppy research in the second half"
Digifiend.

Yes indeed and McGinty should know better. He's an old comics fan who has connections in Scottish fandom and has written a couple of sloppily researched articles on other subjects. Typical though of much of the press and broadcast media and their attitude to comics.

[dandy mad]

]No mention of Sunday Post, thus implying that Wullie and the Broons are Dandy characters when they're not. .

I cant help thinking maybe they should put wullie & the broons in the dandy as one last throw of the dice either as reprints or get jamie or someone to draw new adventures more suited to the current art style seeing as they are not really in any comics only newspaper strips.

Grandpa Broon has already featured in the Dandy back in its earliest days under the name Smarty Grandpa from issue 1 (4/12/1937) to issue 125 (20/08/1940) and his last ever appearance was on page 126 of the 1941 Dandy Monster Comic published in September the previous year (1940)

[dandy mad]

Grandpa Broon/Smarty Grandpa's last ever appearance in the Dandy from the 1941 Monster Comic