This weeks Dandy

[Digifiend]

Mistake surely? The Beano had a Thursday recall date last time there was a bank holiday, but there was no Dandy out that week (due to a three week Easter special). I would expect them either both to be delayed, or neither.

[Gilly]

Annoyingly Digi it seems you are right, there's no sign of this weeks Dandy or Beano in Rotherham. In fact one shop still had last weeks Dandy on the shelves even though the recall date was today.

[swirlythingy]

Well, I just successfully picked up both comics from my local newsagent. That same newsagent didn't manage to get the Beano until the Thursday after the bank holiday, so I don't think it's the same problem.

I've just noticed that, although the Dandy's recall date is on a Thursday this week, all the Beano's recent recall dates have been on a Wednesday. Surely it was Tuesday when they started printing it on the barcode? When did that change?

[Gilly]

Maybe it's just certain area's that has been affected as I've been all over Rotherham today and not been able to find either comic.

As for the barcode I'd have thought the recall date being Tuesday would have made more sense as they go on sale the Wednesday but it has been like that for ages now.

[Digifiend]

Ditto Hull I'm afraid. My local newsagent still had last week's issues of both comics.

[-MikeD-]

Ditto Hull I'm afraid. My local newsagent still had last week's issues of both comics.

...and mine. I asked the bloke on the til if he had the new Dandy and he looked at me blankly...'dandelions?' he muttered. Surreal and awkward.

[Gilly]

Thats terrible you would expect most newsagents to have heard of The Dandy, it's not as if it's been going for the past 75 years is it.

Anyway things have got weirder here in Rotherham I managed to get the Dandy today but not the Beano.

[Peter Gray]

I've finally got the older Dandy and loved the Colonal Blink in Nuke Noodle..wonderful to see and made me smile..

Heres a surprise..Spoiler ahead..highlight to see if you want to know what is in next weeks issue early..


Beryl the Peril by Steve Bright and new stories in the Davy Law style..great Steve is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!so not just Bully Beef and Chips coming back..
Dreadlock Holmes is reprinted..not a fav..

[Digifiend]

^So, she did a Fred's Bed then.

[WizzKid97]

It seems that The Dandy is about to face a classic tidal wave as of next week then, thanks for the heads up, Peter!

I'm actually really excited about it, Wayne seems like a good artist for Bully Beef and Chips as he's proved in the past, personally, I would have preferred to see Laura take on the two though seeing as she drew them in the 2012 annual (and in the 2013!). I'm glad to see Wayne is going for Beefy and his bowl cut with it covering his eyes, I always felt the second version of Beefy never felt as good when thy began showing his eyes. Although it did make for some good expressions.

Beryl is a good one to hear about, I quite enjoyed the short run of Dallas reprints in the comic but I did feel it stood out like a sore thumb and was a waste of a page where something new could have been. I wonder if they had this planned for a while and ran the reprint series in advance, or did the reprint series prove popular? If so then Beryl has done a Fred's Bed (or Pup Parade)!

Dreadlock Holmes is so dull - I never really liked either incarnations, although Stephen White did seem like a sensible choice for artist and managed to make the character fit in well. Hopefully this suggests a reprint rotor now we've seen Sneaker and Blinky appear, who next I wonder? My bet's on Ollie Fliptrik.

[Digifiend]

We really need a spoiler tag. Using coloured text works fine on Absolution, Hestia, and bo2soft, but not on some of the other skins.

About your last point, Harry, yeah, seeing Ollie again wouldn't surprise me.

[WizzKid97]

Surely just writing 'SPOILER' in a large font size would work? I don't know if there could be a way of possibly having a box which you can open/hide which can contain spoilers? Maybe one to bring up with the moderators?

[WizzKid97]

Apologies about the double post but I felt these two matters weren't at all similar and this one actually relates to this week's Dandy, if you want to merge them then feel free.

REVIEW:

THE DANDY - ISSUE 3581

This week's Dandy was on a whole a decent one in my opinion, starting with a Wayne Thompson Bananaman front cover, the comic is already looking promising, this week's cover image is fairly simple yet effective, I like how the covers don't look so cluttered now, this issue is a good example of what a cover should look like - not something like the over-cluttered Blundercats cover from six weeks back...

Inside we're welcomed by the tiresome jokes page, I do wonder if the supporting illustrations by Chris McGhie are new material or stock-art. The contents page is no different than usual with a fourth skit from The Dandy Editor's "Sekret (sic.) Diary". Sadly quite a dull skit this time around. Wednesday's entry made me chuckle though.

This week's episode of Mega-Lo Maniacs introduces us to the dreaded CRUSHINATOR. The story is action-packed, full of humour and cleverly done - couldn't help but notice the absence of Rory though - luckily Chief Constable Derek Dobbins made up for that! Sadly, the brilliance isn't to continue as we are punched in the face with yet another of the tiresome Boy Louts series, seriously, just end the Madverts now - the novelty wore off ages ago.

A new mini-strip greets us on the opposite page, Steve Beckett's Garth Vader! The story works well at the three-panel format (unlike Steve's other mini-strip also running at the moment, The Incredible Sulk) - the story is cleverly done and passes off the over-used Star Wars gag well - but I do feel a better name for the strip would have been Daft Vader. Crash Test Dummy doesn't fail to disappoint me with the series so far delivering the laughs we were missing in 99 Genius Homework Excuses. The story is cleverly devised and the lack of speech works well in this format - I'm glad The Dandy didn't choose to add stupid speech in it like "Ooh! That nips!". I really dislike that in Meebo and Zuky. Angry Nerds was good, luckily managing to get back on track after a series of disappointing storylines. There's something very appealing about Will's artwork in this strip which makes it different to Mr. Meecher. Guitar Zero was very funny - Alex's humour works really well in this format and th facial expressions on his characters are priceless!

Bananaman features no villain - not that that's a bad thing. In my honest opinion, the only villain that actually works really well is The Banker (and Fat Cat). The story is funny, witty and Wayne's artwork is on top form - not to mention the balloonist who makes this strip look even better with some lovely, new speech bubbles. Plus to tie off a perfect strip, Meech also features in it! Could the strip be any better? I don't think it could.

Stu's puzzle page 'The Huger Games' is clearly a spoof on The Hunger Games film that came out last month - luckily this puzzle page is far better than the film. Stu's detail is impressive and to even cameo Beryl the Peril made this page far better than I thought it would be! Opposite is Nigel Auchterlounie's Superball, sadly, I felt that the one-page format does not work for this strip and the strip worked far better at the two-pages it received last issue. The story is still done really well and it certainly reflects on Nigel's usual charm within his strips with a well-planned storyline.

Blundercats faces the end of its all-too-short run in my opinion and this immediately knocks it down from its usual top spot. While Steve's artwork may be just as impressive as always - and once again showing why Steve needs two pages - the storyline was far too rushed - a massive BLUNDER for The Dandy if you ask me, this strip deserved to have a longer run - a much longer run. Meech is opposite sporting the new font based off of Will's handwriting it appears, I personally feel it works really well - plus Will's on top form with his artwork this week - a definite improvement to the first Mr Meecher strip to feature way back in January 2011.

Alex Matthews' Nuke Noodle faces an awkward week in my opinion and certainly let's itself down when compared to the stories from the past few weeks. The artwork is there but sadly the story doesn't work for me - it does show that Alex's humour is either a hit or miss, very similar to Nigel Auchterlounie's.

On the second mini-strip page we're first welcomed by Paul Palmer's Thor Bum, the story plot is weak and I can't see this strip lasting more than six weeks to be perfectly honest - however, Paul's artwork is just as brilliant as always. My Sister's So Dumb is really quite boring but it works far better than Knock, Knock and any other awful joke strips. I like how it actually illustrates the joke rather than just telling it. Chronic the Hedgehog faces its weakest storyline so far but is still very good, I would like to know what Chronic's chum is called though. I'm betting it's Fails. Not So Wise Owl is as funny as always - seeing Laura's artwork in The Dandy really is great, it's amazing it's taken this long for her to actually get a proper series in the comic - although I am fairly certain she also drew 'What a Conundrum' last year.

The Arena of Awesome sticks in its usual place and doesn't fail to deliver the usual laughs. This week's is cleverly done and I lihe the turnout - the story is perfect and Jamie's artwork is just as wacky and fun as always. Cuddles and Dimples appears to be facing the end of its run this week, getting another four pages - *sigh* - the story is just as unfunny as always and just goes to show why they cancelled the series in 2010. The Bogies luckily managed to cheer me up after an abysmal four pages of dullness. Nigel's humour is just as surreal as always - but the story did feel slightly *too* traditional for my liking. Traditional was never a bad thing though.

Tooth Hurty was probably at its funniest this issue - I like Paul#s facial expressions he gives his characters - the story is simple but effective - once again managing to show a story can work well without words. Putting Alan the Forgetful Goldfish underneath it was strange though - putting two Palmer strips next to each other doesn't work - especially as both are only one panel long. Alan continues to amazingly make me chuckle and works well - how this story has been so impressive really is - well - impressive! My Mum's a Brain-Eating Zombie was great and just goes to show not to jump to conclusions, the story was well done and has easily become one of my favourite mini-strips since October 2010, it will be a shame to see it go. The Incredible Sulk sadly lets the side down by delivering what is frankly a very weak storyline with no clear punchline - I personally feel putting Sulk as a mini-strip was a wrong choice as the story really is restricted.

Desperate Dan was very funny but to see it nowhere near the end seemed strange. This week's story works really well and just goes to show why hiring Jamie Smart was such a good decision - The Beano really are missing out... Noshy Monsters is sadly deteriorating - I found the alien abduction was far too rushed and would have worked better if it were longer. Blinky is back - again - this supports my prediction that The Dandy are doing a reprint rotor, especially with Dreadlock Holmes returning next week... The story itself wasn't as funny as the previous one but it was still nice to see Nick Brennan's work in the modern Dandy. Too bad they chose to use the terrible balloonist for it this time!

Finally, it's Andy Fanton's Bad Grandad - this strip is easily getting better and better with every week - Michelle has done a good job at adopting Andy's style of writing. I really liked the panels where Timmy sees Grandad's reflection on the shiny car body and then the spray from the hose as Grandad is busted - careful Timmy, there's a hosepipe ban at the moment! Nice to see another cameo of Dave the Squirrel as well, I can't remember the last time I saw that sneaky squirrel!

Next week sounds promising what with Bully Beef and Chips returning (and Beryl the Peril, shhhh!) - Andy's new mini-strip Al Kazam also looks promising! My only two concerns are: Britain's Uncoolest Teacher - hopefully The Dandy aren't doing a Beano with Britain's Funniest Gag and that Poets thing. *shudder* - Also, where is Mark McIlmail on the sign? Instead we have a Señora Watson - has Mark left? *gasp!*

[Digifiend]

He hasn't left Thomsons, I know that much. Heh, if he does leave, he'll need a new Twitter handle! https://twitter.com/#!/BeanoMark

No idea who this Senora Watson is though. Hard to look her up with just a surname (anyone got next week's issue already? It might have it in).

[swirlythingy]

I see my legacy to Comics UK will be "doing a Fred's Bed" entering the lexicon!

Also, where is Mark McIlmail on the sign? Instead we have a Señora Watson - has Mark left? *gasp!*

No idea who this Senora Watson is though. Hard to look her up with just a surname (anyone got next week's issue already? It might have it in).

How daft and untrue rumours start, lesson 1...

Mark McIlmail has not left the Dandy. Nor, in fact, has he left the Beano, where he still works, not having at any point moved to the Dandy.

Senora Watson is presumably layout artist Mark Watson (extreme right column), who is very difficult to find on the Internet (not helped by having such a generic name), but is indisputably male, unlike Senorita (Michelle) O'Donnell, referred to literally half a centimetre away in that same box.

No, I didn't know that either, but I remembered that the sign traditionally listed "Craig, Michelle and Mark", in that order, and made the assumption intended by the writer of those words, backed up by my pre-existing knowledge of the Dandy editor's surname, that "Graham, O'Donnell and Watson" were the previously unrevealed last names of Craig, Michelle and Mark respectively.

But these are the speculative fringes of the fanternet, so I'm sure the quite distinct Mark McIlmail will still be having to explain all this in six months' time...

Let this be a lesson to the Dandy: Never do anything unusual and experimental, never try to inject a bit of variety into the bland weekly routine, and never do something which requires your readers to stop and use their brains for five seconds.