This weeks Dandy

[PaulTwist]

As an occasional purchaser of The Dandy, and one who is about 25 years above its target audience, I won't be buying the current issue. And yes, I do think £3.99 is a little bit steep - a quid more than I'd expect for a gift issue.

That said, surely the reason DC Thomson are doing this is because they want the comic to stay afloat? We might love it, but don't forget that the comic just isn't selling. If newsagents are more likely to stock comics bagged with plastic tat at a higher price level, and it it works out that DC Thomson make more from the high-priced issues, then they can't NOT do them.

I really want The Dandy to succeed. I think it's at its best and at its most creative since I can remember. I've bought more issues of the post-Xtreme Dandy as an adult than I ever bought as a child. If it's a choice between running issues with dodgy free gifts or having no Dandy at all, I know which option is the lesser of two evils.

[Ginger]

I agree with you, Paul. And the answer for the consumer is obvious: subscription.
You get it delivered to you're door (albeit somewhat erratically), you get each issue about half price, and the issues with extras aren't any extra cost.

[NP]

I think Celeb School's absence is probably Dennis and Gnasher's fault. The Beano job must've been higher priority.

Celeb School was just a seven week filler, not my idea. I drew it some time ago, a long time before the Wembley stuff.

[Digifiend]

I think I know at least one person who'll be glad about that, I'm afraid. Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, my copy of this week's issue contains a pretty serious printing error. Pages 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, 32 and 34 have black ink which isn't aligned to the colour. That's one side of every sheet of paper in the comic except the covers. If the comic hadn't been bagged up, I could've avoided that. Did anyone else have the same problem?

[swirlythingy]

Unfortunately, my copy of this week's issue contains a pretty serious printing error. Pages 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, 32 and 34 have black ink which isn't aligned to the colour. That's one side of every sheet of paper in the comic except the covers. If the comic hadn't been bagged up, I could've avoided that. Did anyone else have the same problem?

Not here, but I do have one 2004-era or so Beano in which a large amount of the black computer-generated text - but not, strangely, all of it or any other areas of black - had both red and blue ink slightly off-register, producing a distinctly disco-like effect (as well as making it nearly impossible to read!).

And we'll lightly gloss over the tricks DC Thomson's printers used to frequently get up to with the Beano in their final two years before that operation was euthanised...

[WizzKid97]

Not for me either - but mine does have an ugly fold through the entire thing. And there's a strange blur on some of the text in Mega-Lo Maniacs...

[swirlythingy]

If you slice it up in value-for-money terms, then you're paying (4 pounds / 3 weeks = £1.33) for (23 non-reprint/advert pages / 3 weeks = 7.66 pages) per week, or 17p per page. This compares unfavourably with the Beano, publishing weekly at £2.50 (assuming it maintains that price for three weeks in a row - traditionally, it only did two outside the summer) with 17 pages in each issue (assuming it does actually have 17 pages in each issue, which, for the last eleven weeks, it didn't), or 15p per page. And, of course, you get 51 real comic pages instead of just 23.

In the event, my predictions for the Beano, made before this or last week's issues came out, turned out to be rather wide of the mark. Here's the correct calculation:

They didn't publish three issues at £2.50 in the space of the Dandy's one, they only published two and reverted to £1.50 for this week. With much less precedent, the very next week after I wrote the above, the new comic page count increased (seemingly permanently) to 18. Therefore, we have ended up paying £6.50 to get 53 pages, or 12p per page. That makes the Dandy look even worse value!

Meanwhile, the fans who are actually paying money to the comic and keeping it afloat get crosser and crosser.

On this subject, while it's not strictly on-topic, the Beano Forum saw another post the other day from a parent annoyed at DC Thomson's pricing habits. DC Thomson simply can't ignore public opinion for much longer. Even those who defend the pricing and scheduling irregularities do so only on the basis that it placates the newsagents and helps the comic to survive. If that's the way they want it, let's see how well the Dandy survives when nobody wants to buy it any more...

[Lew Stringer]

On this subject, while it's not strictly on-topic, the Beano Forum saw another post the other day from a parent annoyed at DC Thomson's pricing habits. DC Thomson simply can't ignore public opinion for much longer. Even those who defend the pricing and scheduling irregularities do so only on the basis that it placates the newsagents and helps the comic to survive. If that's the way they want it, let's see how well the Dandy survives when nobody wants to buy it any more...

There have always been parents who complain that comics aren't as cheap as they used to be. In this instance the person was comparing The Beano to the price of her regular gossip mag. It's an unrealistic comparison as those gossip/celeb mags sell far more copies than comics so the production cost of each issue is lower. (The higher the print run, the lower the unit cost.)

No one is happy about the situation but publishers are doing what they can in a hostile and competitive market. The occasional more expensive issue (bagged with a toy) is more likely to encourage retailers to order more copies than if it were priced lower with no "gift".

For example, when school holidays roll around and Toxic and other comics & mags are doing more expensive multi-gift issues DC Thomson have to compete or they could find their comics squeezed off the shelves (figuratively and literally). That said, on "ordinary" weeks, Dandy and Beano go against the standard practice of comics today and feature no gifts in order to keep the price down. If they were bagged with toys every week they'd be more expensive than they are (see BeanoMax for example).

I understand the frustration and annoyance of readers when they're suddenly faced with a price jump but what's the alternative? At least for most issues these days Dandy and Beano are still the cheapest comics on the stands. Remember that The Dandy is actually cheaper now than it was two years ago, when it was regularly £2.50. We should be grateful that Thomsons are trying to keep the price down by not having "gifts" in most issues, rather than complain about the half dozen or so issues a year that have a price hike.

[Peter Gray]

some very good points Lew..
it is good that The beano and Dandy don't have free gifts every week and keeps it prices down..
I'm glad I subscribed..direct debit..

[Lew Stringer]

some very good points Lew..

Thanks Peter.

I know some others here think I'm being a company apologist and speaking out of vested interest but frankly that's nonsense. I'm stating the facts purely to explain the situation to people who repeatedly complain about price hikes etc. No one likes price rises, but the reasons above are why they happen.

We'd all like comics to be like they used to be, when free gifts were free and skip weeks were not deemed necessary, but it's a business and they have to try what they can to survive. Remember, change happens because unfortunately the old ways don't work anymore. It's not a case of change for the sake of it, it's about trying new things to survive. At the moment it's bagged comics, price hikes for gift weeks, and occasional skip weeks. In a few years time all the publishers might be trying different tactics (or forced into new tactics by retailers) that make today's situation seem like a golden era. But they'll be doing it to try to survive. Let's hope things improve.

[Digifiend]

But surely selling three issues in three weeks instead of only one would've got the retailers more income? The three week Dandy didn't cost three times as much as a normal issue, it was a penny more than twice as much.

[Lew Stringer]

But surely selling three issues in three weeks instead of only one would've got the retailers more income? The three week Dandy didn't cost three times as much as a normal issue, it was a penny more than twice as much.

The idea is that the retailer would order more copies of that issue (as it's a "gift" issue) and as it'd be on the shelves longer there'd be more potential to sell the issue than if it'd just be out for 7 days. (Remember, a lot of kids don't buy the same comic every week now. That sort of loyalty isn't as prevalent as it used to be.)

By producing one issue in three weeks the publishers lower their overheads but potentially stand to sell the same, or more, copies over three weeks than they would with three individual issues. (ie: If it sells 8,000 in a week on average, it might sell many more of that issue if it's out longer as new readers might buy it for the "gift". Apparently last year's gift issues did sell higher than the average.)

Of course it only works if shops DO order more copies. Most of my local shops didn't unfortunately. What was the situation like elsewhere? More copies on the shelves or the same as usual?

[Gilly]

Since it has been an age since the last Dandy I thought I'd share a few thoughts on this weeks issue.

Firstly The Bananaman front and back covers have been brilliant and this weeks one is no exception. However the thing that buggs me a bit is although I have no problem with Bananaman seeming to be the main cover star these days (He's appeared on the most covers since Harry Hill's departure) it just makes it seem all the more strange that he also appears weekly in The Beano. I know this is to sell Bananaman merchandise as The Beano sells more copies than The Dandy but then to make him the Dandy's main man seems a bit weird. Can anyone answer is this to help The Dandy sell more copies by having a character that appears weekly in The Beano appearing regular on the cover of The Dandy?

Anyway I liked the small Chronic the Hedgehog strip as I am a massive fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and I would be intersted to see where they are gonna go next with this small strip. As usual I also enjoyed Nuke Noodle, Mr Meecher the Uncool Teacher, Bad Grandad and Desperate Dan even though it was strange to see a cowboy play football.

I can't post this thread without mentioning the return of an old favourite of mine. It's great to see Blinky return although he's probably a reprint and I hope to see more of 'The Short Sighted Nit' in the coming weeks.

[Digifiend]

I wonder what Chronic's two-tailed friend is called? He's clearly an expy of Sonic's fox sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower, but he went unnamed in the first strip.

I see we got the 99th and last Homework Excuse this week. That should've appeared last issue, but one of the earlier ones had been reprinted by mistake, putting them one behind where they should've been.

[Lew Stringer]

I can't post this thread without mentioning the return of an old favourite of mine. It's great to see Blinky return although he's probably a reprint and I hope to see more of 'The Short Sighted Nit' in the coming weeks.

I was pleased to see the word "nit" making a comeback as an insult. It was used regularly in The Dandy of the 1960s, usually in Ken Reid's Big Head and Thick Head strip.