Are weekly comics doomed?

[Kid Robson]

Surely we're way off-topic by now. Are weekly comics doomed?

We're currently on the related topic of misuse of statistics.

At which you excel -well done, m'boy. (One hoped one would be permitted to indulge in a bit of humorous banter in order to lighten the mood - apparently not.)

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Weekly comics ain't doomed---



-----only WEAKLY ones are.

[Phoenix]

The French philosopher and dramatist Jean-Paul Sartre once said, L'enfer, c'est les autres. As I don't know whether your schooling included French lessons, and to give you a handle to guide you towards the reason why I'm mentioning it in the first place, I will tell you that it means, Hell is other people. I was reminded of this as I was working my way through your latest rambling attempt at self-justification, the convoluted logic that will eventually prove that black is white, the increasingly-desperate need to get one over me that you even stoop to accusing me again of lying to you. I have told you before that I have never attempted to post any comments of any description on your blog, and that I don't do anonymous either. And as for knowing how to direct any message to somewhere other than your Spam file, well, you have made it abundantly clear that I am obviously not intelligent enough to figure it out. It must be that stalker you were so delighted to have acquired. And as for trying to give members the impression that I don't know the difference between the use of uninterested and disinterested suggests to me that you are being forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel in your urge to zap me, or you are becoming just a teensy bit unhinged. So to get back to the enfer issue, I'm beginning to realise that what Sartre had in mind was eternity arguing with people like you. I do hope that these experiences on this forum are not some kind of rehearsal or work experience period, but I'm sufficiently alarmed to promise to be a good boy from now on, and eat my greens.

P.S. Shouldn't the me in this quote be I?

so trying to assume that me, or anyone, has a reasoned, intellectual, logical, carefully thought out motivation

That's my pedantic point. I put it in so that you will not be disappointed when you search for some.

[Kid Robson]

If I'd wanted it to be 'I', I would have written 'I'. I used 'me' because I was writing in the colloquial sense. And there was no mention of you in connection with the anonymous comments I shared. Paranoia, perhaps?

[Lew Stringer]

Would a rise of 1p in 1973 be the price of one Mars Bar, Colin?

Rab, 5d was just over 2p.

Ah, I see what you're saying. Presumably the conversion chart just rounded it down to 2p = 5d to make things simpler?

[philcom55]

For those people who weren't around during 'decimalization' it's worth remembering that a pound stayed the same before and after. As there were 240 old pence to the pound compared to 100 new pence this meant that one new pence was equivalent to 2.4 old pence - and consequently 2p would have been exactly 4.8 old pence.

Naturally manufacturers all took this opportunity to round prices up to the nearest decimal equivalent (including the makers of Mars bars and comics!).

For what it's worth I remember that when Dandy and Beano were 3d each you could buy four 'black jacks' or 'fruit salads' for just one old pence: in those days only rich kids bought Mars bars while the rest of us had to make do with Milky Ways!

- Phil Rushton

[Phoenix]

If I'd wanted it to be 'I', I would have written 'I'. I used 'me' because I was writing in the colloquial sense.

Well if you're going to get all pedantic about it, who am I to argue?

And there was no mention of you in connection with the anonymous comments I shared. Paranoia, perhaps?

No, of course not. In the same way that I don't do anonymous, I don't do paranoia either. I'm very surprised that I'm surprised that you were able to discern something that wasn't there. If it had been, I would not have been at all surprised had you spotted it, seeing that you and yours go hand in glove, and you would immediately have recognised it as a bosom friend. Oh, and don't be naive. The fact that you didn't mention my name is irrelevant. Every member reading your comments would immediately realise that they were directed at me. They were, after all, in your answer to my post, and your inclusion of the word pedant will have been sufficient on its own. One further thing. As you are in touch with your earlier selves, can you delve back in time for me, and consult the relevant ones, because I really would like to know why you are so nasty.

[Kid Robson]

What? Still here? Odd that a couple of lines from me should prompt such an obsessively detailed, covering all the bases, desperately trying to convince response. Get out much?

[Lew Stringer]

However, I did a minor bit of research in WHS yesterday and will have more to say on the subject later.

That was posted Sunday. Did you follow it up with the results of your minor research yet? I've lost track.

[Kid Robson]

Nope, I got sidetracked by a curious turn of events. Incidentally, I don't offer this as proof of anything, but it's interesting to consider. Anyway, I was in WHS on Saturday (I think it was). Decided to give The Beano another look and try and get past the contents page. As I picked it up, two parents and their two kids approached the comics section. Seizing the opportunity, I quickly explained that I had a blog about (mainly) comics and had been involved in a discussion on various forums about the quality of some modern art in comics. I asked the parents what they thought of Roger the Dodger and showed them the pages. Cut a long story short, they hated it, but approved of NP's Dennis art. The mother was quite articulate as to why she didn't like JS's pages, saying, basically, that the pictures didn't tell the story well or clearly and were too much like bad cartoon art on the telly. (Nor did she like the lettering, making the same observations that I have in the past.) The father agreed. Did they buy it for their kids? £2? You must be joking! I asked what the boys, who were 6 and 12 (I think, as regards the older one). The 12 year old liked the traditional art, but not the more 'modern' stuff. Then I showed the 6 year old the Dennis pages - did he like them. Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Then the Roger pages, did he like them? Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Without a word of a lie, his mother said "Never mind him, he's only 6 - he can't tell the difference." So, hardly wide-ranging in scope, but an interesting snapshot nonetheless. I may try again if the opportunity ever presents itself, but obviously only if parents are around.

[Shiner]

As a kid I was lucky to have 8 comics put by for me each week. Now as a well paid adult holding the money I baulk at any thought of buying more than one each for mine. It has become a guilty moment when I fork out £2.95 for a Marvel monthly (although the production is top grade).

Does anyone know roughly how the cover price is split between publisher, wholesaler and retailer? In particular does anyone know how that has changed since the 70s?

[Phoenix]

I was in WHS on Saturday (I think it was). Decided to give The Beano another look and try and get past the contents page. As I picked it up, two parents and their two kids approached the comics section. Seizing the opportunity, I quickly explained that I had a blog about (mainly) comics and had been involved in a discussion on various forums about the quality of some modern art in comics. I asked the parents what they thought of Roger the Dodger and showed them the pages. Cut a long story short, they hated it, but approved of NP's Dennis art. The mother was quite articulate as to why she didn't like JS's pages, saying, basically, that the pictures didn't tell the story well or clearly and were too much like bad cartoon art on the telly. (Nor did she like the lettering, making the same observations that I have in the past.) The father agreed. Did they buy it for their kids? £2? You must be joking! I asked what the boys, who were 6 and 12 (I think, as regards the older one). The 12 year old liked the traditional art, but not the more 'modern' stuff. Then I showed the 6 year old the Dennis pages - did he like them. Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Then the Roger pages, did he like them? Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Without a word of a lie, his mother said "Never mind him, he's only 6 - he can't tell the difference."

An articulate person shafting Jamie Smart's artwork, knowledgeable about the different ways that a story can be developed and presented, and the different kinds of lettering available to the artist, and dismissive of a person who doesn't know what he is talking about. How curious it is that two such like-minded people should choose to turn up at a WH Smiths at the same time as each other. How's that for a coincidence? If the poster didn't have such an impeccable reputation for honesty, I would be tempted to believe that this account was fantasy masquerading as fact, and that the post might have been better placed in the Dreams and Nightmares thread.

[AndyB]

Did the parents buy a different magazine for their kids instead? If so, what, and why?

Shiner, you're a lucky guy. My parents bought me the Beano and Whizzer and Chips every week over and above my pocket money - the price was that my Dad read them too. If I wanted more than that, I had to use my pocket money, so if I was also saving for Lego at the time, I got nothing.

I have no figures on the split between publisher, wholesaler and retailer, beyond a Beano subscription being £17 for 3 months (normal quarterly rate), or about £1.36 for the 50 issues a year (two missing over Christmas). This is slightly different, because each subscription copy is a guaranteed sale, even though postage and bank charges have to be covered within that, but it implies that a lot of the price is going into putting the comics on the shelf at all, with lesser amounts for wholesale and retail markup and covering the fixed costs of unsold copies.

[Lew Stringer]

Then I showed the 6 year old the Dennis pages - did he like them. Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Then the Roger pages, did he like them? Yes, was his enthusiastic response. Without a word of a lie, his mother said "Never mind him, he's only 6 - he can't tell the difference."

But he knew what he liked.

I feel sorry for that lad. I was 5 years old when my mum bought me my first Beano (in 1964). I was as enthusiastic about it as that lad sounds, and I stuck with the comic until I left school at 16. (Then started reading it again later, at 21, when I was hoping to break into comics.)

Six years old is an ideal age to start reading The Beano. But despite him showing an interest in a comic aimed at him, not them, his parents didn't buy it for him. As the boy's parents were put off by the price of the cheapest comic on the market, which title did they buy?

[Kid Robson]

An articulate person shafting Jamie Smart's artwork, knowledgeable about the different ways that a story can be developed and presented, and the different kinds of lettering available to the artist, and dismissive of a person who doesn't know what he is talking about. How curious it is that two such like-minded people should choose to turn up at a WH Smiths at the same time as each other. How's that for a coincidence? If the poster didn't have such an impeccable reputation for honesty, I would be tempted to believe that this account was fantasy masquerading as fact, and that the post might have been better placed in the Dreams and Nightmares thread.

Yes, funny that. That there should be two articulate people - and one of them a woman, too - in my town, did rather come as a surprise. And being able to discern whether a comic strip is clear and the lettering easy to read is hardly rocket-science. However, she was responding to my specific questions. Did she like the art? No ? Why not? What about the lettering, do you like that? No? Why not? Regarding your thinly-disguised comments calling me a liar, if you didn't have such an impeccable reputation for - er, for - h'mm, that's a tough one. Never mind, we can't all have impeccable reputations, can we?

Incidentally, as you've taken such an interest in my blog, perhaps you might like to see the latest 'anonymous' message.


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THE ONE AND ONLY MR VELVET...":

LOL!

Instead of deleting my posts unread, as you lyingly claim, you're now reproducing them to be read by others who have never seen them before!

Keep dancing, my sad loser puppet, not long now.


Two accusations of being a liar on the same day (One here, one on my blog.) Two accusations of being paranoid yesterday. (One here, one on my blog,) And by someone who is obviously aware of what's happening on the forum. How's that for a coincidence?