2000AD - Why Never a DCT equivalent?

[Lew Stringer]

I think Rab has a point on this. Starblazer fans are a niche within a niche. I'm not knocking the comic or its followers but even within the relatively small area of comics fandom, Starblazer has merited far less discussion over the years than, say 2000AD or Marvel Comics.

[starscape]

When I ran the comic shop, Starblazer was one of the most consistent back-issue sales. For me, that would be the comic that could work if it was brought back. Mind you, I think that whole format featuring reprints of old Victor/Hotspur etc. strips would work.

[Lew Stringer]

When I ran the comic shop, Starblazer was one of the most consistent back-issue sales. For me, that would be the comic that could work if it was brought back. Mind you, I think that whole format featuring reprints of old Victor/Hotspur etc. strips would work.

Like Red Dagger? It may be worth remembering though that Starblazer and Red Dagger did well originally but eventually folded because there wasn't enough interest to sustain them. Thomsons would have to be confident of a high enough readership to bring those titles back. The alternative would be to licence them out to an indie publisher (as Fleetway did for your Hook Jaw collection) but the only time I've known Thomsons to do that was for Phil's excellent Dandy/Beano Christmas covers book.

[koollectablz]

And even then it took him a hard effort to sell all the published run before the license ran out.

Whether we like it or not... the mainstream interest just isn't there!

[Phoenix]

It may be worth remembering though that Starblazer and Red Dagger did well originally but eventually folded because there wasn't enough interest to sustain them. Thomsons would have to be confident of a high enough readership to bring those titles back.

I don't think there is a valid comparison to be made between Red Dagger and Starblazer as they were completely different entities, not even the same size by a large margin, and basically aimed at different readerships. I do have a small number of issues of Starblazer that I bought out of curiosity a good few years ago and they are fine for what they are. As far as I'm aware, all their stories were new rather than reprints. I'm quite prepared to be shot down if it turns out that they weren't. The serials in Red Dagger on the other hand were all repeats from Thomsons' picture papers for boys, and the company produced a parallel series, selected from their serials for girls, called Lucky Charm. Both series had thirty titles so it was clearly never the intention to run those two series into the hundreds of issues unlike their plans for Starblazer. It can therefore be argued that neither Red Dagger nor Lucky Charm actually folded. They simply ceased to appear at the end of the company's plans for them.

[starscape]

Sorry, I raced ahead of myself and didn't mention half my post. I meant as part of Commando. Instead of just reprinting Commando stories, they could do, e.g. Union Jack Jackson from Warlord.

Bear Alley Books also reprinted Frontline UK (Bullet) and Arena (The Crunch). I did try with DCT in the past. My wife's been urging me to try again. I think I have a couple of sure-fire ideas to put back into print.

[Lew Stringer]

It may be worth remembering though that Starblazer and Red Dagger did well originally but eventually folded because there wasn't enough interest to sustain them. Thomsons would have to be confident of a high enough readership to bring those titles back.

I don't think there is a valid comparison to be made between Red Dagger and Starblazer as they were completely different entities, not even the same size by a large margin, and basically aimed at different readerships. I do have a small number of issues of Starblazer that I bought out of curiosity a good few years ago and they are fine for what they are. As far as I'm aware, all their stories were new rather than reprints. I'm quite prepared to be shot down if it turns out that they weren't. The serials in Red Dagger on the other hand were all repeats from Thomsons' picture papers for boys, and the company produced a parallel series, selected from their serials for girls, called Lucky Charm. Both series had thirty titles so it was clearly never the intention to run those two series into the hundreds of issues unlike their plans for Starblazer. It can therefore be argued that neither Red Dagger nor Lucky Charm actually folded. They simply ceased to appear at the end of the company's plans for them.

I only mentioned Red Dagger because Starscape suggested reprinting stories from Victor and Hotspur. A Starblazer format wouldn't be compatible.

Why is it "clear" that Red Dagger and Lucky Charm hadn't failed, just because they both ended at 30 issues? Had they been more successful, Thomsons would surely have kept them going? Perhaps it just wasn't economical to print one without the other.

[SID]

Like Red Dagger? It may be worth remembering though that Starblazer and Red Dagger did well originally but eventually folded because there wasn't enough interest to sustain them. Thomsons would have to be confident of a high enough readership to bring those titles back. The alternative would be to licence them out to an indie publisher (as Fleetway did for your Hook Jaw collection) but the only time I've known Thomsons to do that was for Phil's excellent Dandy/Beano Christmas covers book.

They also licensed out Hotspur's King Cobra to Strip. A pity we only saw one instalment.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

[img][/img]


All this talk of Starblazer has compelled me to dig out the old copies.

The artwork is very much of its' period: fussy and fanciful and quirky---and nowt wrong with that!

Here is an excerpt from issue 32 from 1980, 'the Machine Master' in which the artwork may even me by Bryan Talbot? It is pretty much like his style at any rate.

Starblazers' biggest value was surely its opportunity for artists and writers with a heavy personal style to find an outlet.

[SID]

I thought Starblazer was a great comic and couldn't see why it couldn't survive but Commando could. Especially considering how popular Sci-Fi fiction is.

[Lew Stringer]

I thought Starblazer was a great comic and could see why it couldn't survive but Commando could. Especially considering how popular Sci-Fi fiction is.

Commando has a lot of military and ex-military reading it. Perhaps Starblazer needed to aim at the astronaut readership.

[starscape]

Loved the Machine Master issue. Probably my favourite of the entire series.

[philcom55]

As I remember it Starblazer was a direct response to the phenomenal success of Star Wars rather than DC Thomson's answer to 2000AD. I seem to recall that they envisaged this as something of a departure from their customary subject matter (in spite of the many stories with fantastic themes they'd published over the years), necessitating a public appeal for applications from SF writers.

[Phoenix]

Why is it "clear" that Red Dagger and Lucky Charm hadn't failed, just because they both ended at 30 issues?

Well obviously it's because that's the way I see it. Furthermore, I'm sticking to my view until an official Thomson representative can prove me wrong.

[comixminx]

[img][/img]


All this talk of Starblazer has compelled me to dig out the old copies.

The artwork is very much of its' period: fussy and fanciful and quirky---and nowt wrong with that!

Here is an excerpt from issue 32 from 1980, 'the Machine Master' in which the artwork may even me by Bryan Talbot? It is pretty much like his style at any rate.

Starblazers' biggest value was surely its opportunity for artists and writers with a heavy personal style to find an outlet.

Doesn't look like Bryan's work to me - also his earlier work as per Luther Arkwright and Nemesis feels a lot 'busier' to me than this is. Mind you I usually rely on the way he draws feet and boots to give me a definite indication and this picture has neither...