BBC News Article

[brisey]

Article about 2000AD on BBC News-maybe of interest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6390731.stm

brian

[Lew Stringer]

I'm having internet problems at present and couldn't access that page, but if it's about 2000 AD being 30 years old today, it's wrong. 26th Feb was the cover date of the first issue. It actually launched on Feb 19th, so all the official celebrations are a week late!

Lew

[brisey]

Not about the birthday-more about 2000AD's future predictions and how many came to pass

brian

[stevezodiac]

I think Lew is being a bit pedantic. We celebrate the date on the cover just like we do with The Beano and Dandy. If you look in The Times "on this day" section in the 4th December 2007 issue it will commemorate the first Dandy as 4th December 1937 (cover date) rather than a few days earlier when it actually went on sale. (I always look out for it each December 4th - is that sad or am i just a true comic fan?) Not sure if they do the same for The Beano. No disrespect meant, Lew - just admit i'm right.

[Lew Stringer]

I think Lew is being a bit pedantic. We celebrate the date on the cover just like we do with The Beano and Dandy. If you look in The Times "on this day" section in the 4th December 2007 issue it will commemorate the first Dandy as 4th December 1937 (cover date) rather than a few days earlier when it actually went on sale. (I always look out for it each December 4th - is that sad or am i just a true comic fan?) Not sure if they do the same for The Beano. No disrespect meant, Lew - just admit i'm right.

Sorry, but this is something that's always niggled me a bit. I admit it's pedantic but as we celebrate any other anniversary on the correct day why should comics be any different? Particularly as the cover date was often the day the issues were taken off the shelves!

This started with Denis Gifford, whose books all claim the cover date of comics as their publication date. (Which is where The Times got it from I expect.) Not wishing to disrespect his memory as the value of his research has been immeasurable, but on this matter he was wrong. I suspect that as he had so many comics to catalogue it was quicker to record them by cover date than to work out the true day of publication.

(Incidentally, a few years back 2000 AD changed its system and the cover date is now the day it goes on sale.)

In the small irrelevant world of comic appreciation what's the point of deliberately getting it wrong when it's just as easy to get it right?

Lew

[philcom55]

Of course precise dating is even more important with American comicbooks which were regularly published months before the cover date to give them a longer shelf life!

Incidentally I was at college in Manchester when 2000AD no.1 came out and for some reason there were always certain shops in the city centre where you could buy any comics at least a day before W H Smiths delivered them to other retailers.

- Phil Rushton

[Lew Stringer]

Of course precise dating is even more important with American comicbooks which were regularly published months before the cover date to give them a longer shelf life!

Incidentally I was at college in Manchester when 2000AD no.1 came out and for some reason there were always certain shops in the city centre where you could buy any comics at least a day before W H Smiths delivered them to other retailers.

- Phil Rushton

Yes we had a local independent newsagent in town in the early 1980s who used to go to the warehouse himself on Friday afternoon and collect the comics a day early. Just to spite WH Smith! Imagine a newsagent bothering to do that with comics today. (He did the same on Tuesday, to get the Wednesday comics a day early!)

In fact that newsagent was very pro-comics, and allowed me to sell my early fanzines there at a reasonable s.o.r. rate. Again, something the chain stores wouldn't allow.

Lew

[Captain Storm]

If I remember rightly and I used to deliver these comics in their thousands for a local newsagents,the cover date was often at least a few days after the delivery date(i.e. me pushing them through letter boxes)and very often a week later.....So there And that's not even being pedantic or cosmetic Just the facts Jack p.s. I DO remember rightly.

[Lew Stringer]

If I remember rightly and I used to deliver these comics in their thousands for a local newsagents,the cover date was often at least a few days after the delivery date(i.e. me pushing them through letter boxes)and very often a week later.....So there And that's not even being pedantic or cosmetic Just the facts Jack p.s. I DO remember rightly.

I don't think anyone was disputing that. Just whether it mattered or not. Personally I think as celebration issues are so important to collectors we may as well get it right than waste time deliberately getting it wrong.

Just as long as we don't get started on why comics that said "Every Monday" came out on Saturday and "Every Thursday" meant every Wednesday etc.

Lew

[Brendan McGuire]

As a kid I could never understand why the cover date never matched the day of appearance in the shops. I thought the comic people were a bit confused.
For a brief while I had TV Century 21 delivered (until we couldn't afford it - boo!). It always came on a Tueday. A mixed blessing this. Tuesdays meant that I was invariably late for school because I just HAD to sneak a look at a few pages. This led to me being shouted at by my dad (boo!). Great comic (yay!). Recorder lessons on a Tuesday with a FEROCIOUS teacher (boo!). Still had a great comic though (yay!). And with this particular comic, the comic people got the date incredibly wrong!

And I could never play the recorder. This was mainly due to the acute embarrassment of owning a cheap, bright orange plastic one bought by my parents. All the other kids had those brown bakelite looking ones. The Really posh kids had wooden ones. A busker's life has always been denied to me.

[Lew Stringer]

And with this particular comic, the comic people got the date incredibly wrong!

And I could never play the recorder. This was mainly due to the acute embarrassment of owning a cheap, bright orange plastic one bought by my parents. All the other kids had those brown bakelite looking ones. The Really posh kids had wooden ones. A busker's life has always been denied to me.

Recorders! I'd forgotten about them. Why on Earth were sixties kids forced to learn the recorder? What a racket! I'd forgotten I'd even tried, never mind what usefulness it never served. Did they think that we'd all be mad keen 'cos Patrick Troughton had one in Doctor Who?

I'm sure our school provided them. Can't remember owning one.

My favourite junior school memories were Wet Day Comics! The big box of comics teacher would give us to read if it was raining at playtime. Fascinating to see the titles you'd missed or didn't usually read.

Jumpers for goalposts,
Lew

[Peter Gray]

On a rainy comic box day...I discovered for the first time Jackpot especially liked the Gremlins, Laser Eraser and Plug comic...which were great and got me interested in comics of the past.