Comics UK

The Dandy 7,489 (7,448) UP
The Beano 38,333 (37,145) UP
BeanoMax 22,094 (24,438) Down
Dr Who ADV 48,470 (50,013) Down
Dr Who Mag 30,614 (30,682) Down
Toxic 41,521 (40,503) Up
Simpsons 64,078 (64,882) Down

Sorry, I'm not too good with statistics but does UP mean good - in which case, why is a smaller number than before?

Sorry, I must look like a right idiot by asking that but I admit I don't know why so if someone could explain that'd be great.

Looks to me like Dandy sales have increased but by an almost negligible amount (less than a hundred) at least its not going down.

Wizzkid97, the first sales figure represents the circulation figures for June 2011-December 2011, the second (in brackets) represents those for the previous six months. The Dandy's circulation is higher now than in the last six month period recorded, so its circulation has gone up, whereas BeanoMax's circulation is now lower, so its circulation has gone down. Hope this helps.

These figures are good overall, certainly much better than last time, as both the Dandy and the Beano have gone up. I know a lot of attention has been paid to the Dandy's circulation recently, but I'm actually really pleased that the Beano's has gone up - in all the last few sets of circulation figures I've seen, it's gone down, in some cases by a few thousand, so I'm glad that the slump has been ended, for now at least. It's a decent increase two, by over 1,000, and more than the increase for Toxic. The Dandy's increase was not that significant, but I'm still relieved that they haven't gone down again.

Another source of encouragement is that these circulation figures pre-date Bananaman joining the Beano, a move which ought to bring more of the Beano's readers to the Dandy and may even tempt a few Dandy readers to buy the Beano (though I suspect the former is more likely, given the Beano's far higher circulation).

Ah right, thanks!
Duh! Silly me!

I spoke to DC Thomson about it on Twitter and they said they're overjoyed to see the Dandy sales have gone up - they said it's going to be a long, long time until that comic ends because they love making it!

Would be very interesting to see how 2000AD, Judge Dredd Megazine, Clint and Strip Magazine are selling (along with all the other Britsh Comics of course, I just listed the ones I get).

It also predates the mini-revamp the Bongo comics just got. Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson Comics, and Futurama Comics all got revamps a few weeks ago and no longer use the TV show logos. I wonder if they knew they were losing readers and that was their response.

OK, here's the Press Gazette article:
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp ... =48769&c=1

And let's take a look at those year on year percentages (that's compared to this time last year, not six months ago - and I'm listing all the comics and children's magazines - there's 500 publications listed on the article itself)...

Ben 10 ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 64,671 ; -9.0%
Viz Comic ( Dennis Publishing Limited ) : 64,233 ; -5.3%
The Simpsons Comics ( Titan Publishing Group Ltd ) : 64,078 ; -17.4%
Disney's Princess ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 63,907 ; 10.2%
Cbeebies Art ( Immediate Media Company ) : 63,679 ; 23.4%
Cbeebies Special ( Immediate Media Company ) : 61,967 ; 22.9%
CBeebies Weekly ( Immediate Media Company ) : 55,516 ; 2.2%
In The Night Garden ( Immediate Media Company ) : 54,229 ; -7.6%
Barbie ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 53,049 ; 6.1%
Doctor Who Adventures Magazine ( Immediate Media Company ) : 48,470 ; -14.4%
Ni4Kids ( Ni4Kids Ltd ) : 46,252 ; 3.8%
Jacqueline Wilson ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 45,569 ; 10.8%
Disney and Me ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 41,788 ; 5.8%
Toxic ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 41,521 ; 2.2%
Simpsons Comics Presents ( Titan Publishing Group Ltd ) : 41,080 ; -28.4%
Toybox ( Immediate Media Company ) : 40,244 ; 24.0%
The Beano ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 38,333 ; -4.4%
Bob The Builder ( Immediate Media Company ) : 37,505 ; -16.9%
Charlie & Lola ( Immediate Media Company ) : 37,391 ; -6.2%
Toy Story ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 35,008 ; -27.9%
ZingZillas ( Immediate Media Company ) : 33,349 ; -35.9%
Animals and You ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 32,376 ; 8.0%
Doctor Who Magazine ( Panini UK ) : 30,614 ; -8.8%
Cbeebies Animals ( Immediate Media Company ) : 30,337 ; -1.6%
Disney Fairies Tinkerbell ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 30,002 ; -3.2%
Thomas and Friends ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 28,003 ; -11.2%
Fireman Sam ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 27,577 ; -3.4%
Dora The Explorer ( Egmont Magazines UK ) : 27,123 ; -23.7%
Spectacular Spiderman ( Panini UK ) : 26,804 ; -3.6%
WWE Kids ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 25,269 ; -17.1%
Waybuloo ( Immediate Media Company ) : 24,809 ; -23.1%
Spongebob Squarepants ( Titan Publishing Group Ltd ) : 23,413 ; -26.2%
The BeanoMAX ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 22,094 ; -26.8%
The Dandy ( D C Thomson & Co Ltd ) : 7,489 ; -50.1%

Anyway, the vast majority have lost sales.

And that's odd.

The Phoenix ( Penfield Enterprises Ltd ) : 15,878 ; -4.4%

So there was another publication called The Phoenix before the comic launched? I hope Penfield don't sue Fickling.

Thread from last year: http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtop ... f=1&t=4410

Jonny Whizz wrote: These figures are good overall, certainly much better than last time, as both the Dandy and the Beano have gone up.

The Dandy's have only gone up by 41 copies though, after that 50% drop, so it really is a trifling increase. Still, fans were probably dreading another big drop.

Digifiend wrote: The Phoenix ( Penfield Enterprises Ltd ) : 15,878 ; -4.4% So there was another publication called The Phoenix before the comic launched? I hope Penfield don't sue Fickling.

The Phoenix is an Irish satirical current affairs magazine.

I am surprised Jacqueline Wilson magazine is currently the best selling of DC Thomson's comics/children's magazines as i've never heard of it.

I still cannot understand the massive and continuing difference between The Beano and Dandy figures...the Dandy is at least on a par with it's sister publication, quality-wise.

Is a lot of it just down to the lack of recognisable 'brand' characters? Would the return of a more traditional, nostalgia-friendly Korky help? Maybe the Dandy could half-inch a character from The Beano in exchange for Bananaman. My vote is for Biffo...

-MikeD- wrote:Is a lot of it just down to the lack of recognisable 'brand' characters? Would the return of a more traditional, nostalgia-friendly Korky help? Maybe the Dandy could half-inch a character from The Beano in exchange for Bananaman. My vote is for Biffo...

To be honest, that's what I like about the Dandy - it's up to date and works well.

However I do have a few problems with Korky. I find the artwork and stories lazy - I'd prefer to see someone else draw Korky - maybe Andy Fanton, Paul Palmer or Chris McGhie?

Or you!

I honestly always thought Little Plum would work well in the Dandy - not too sure why but I always liked Little Plum!

I still cannot understand the massive and continuing difference between The Beano and Dandy figures...the Dandy is at least on a par with it's sister publication, quality-wise.

I agree wholeheartedly with MikeD's comments above, and that's not just coming from a 42-year old UK comics fanatic. My boys (13 and 11) told me they don't want The Beano any more but they cannot get enough of The Dandy. They laugh out loud at some of the strips - current favourites: ANYTHING by Jamie Smart ("he's completely bonkers" I think is a great compliment from a 13 year old!); Clown Wars, Jibber & Steve, Nuke Noodle, The Bogies. They seem to like Noshi Monsters and Celeb School too although both are quite new. They were pleased to see Cuddles and Dimples back although they did remember the strips from when The Dandy first re-launched prior to the dark days of Xtreme.

I have to say, they miss Harry Hill and they do seem to be enjoying Celeb School - I think the key here is that, for the kids, it appears that if the script is funny, they will like it regardless of celeb content or not!

The Dandy is a fantastic comic, I think once kids GET a copy or two, they will see that for themselves but how do we get it in their hands? I buy The Dandy, The Phoenix and Strip Magazine for my two and their favourite by far is The Dandy (then Strip then Phoenix)

When my kids have parties etc, as well as party bags, I try to get them all a copy of The Dandy as well (when I can find enough of them to buy that is!). All we can do is try to ensure anyone in our friends and family group of the 'right' age, gets the chance to read a copy or two.

It's the kids that are missing out!!!

I have to agree with you, Spencer.

I'm shocked The Dandy is scraping only a few buyers compared to the Beano - the Dandy is far funnier and experimental - that's why I like it. The Beano isn't as funny - it's more old-fashioned.

I buy The Dandy, The Beano, The BeanoMAX and The Phoenix and my favourite is actually The Phoenix followed by The Dandy, then The Beano and finally The BeanoMAX.

-MikeD- wrote:I still cannot understand the massive and continuing difference between The Beano and Dandy figures...the Dandy is at least on a par with it's sister publication, quality-wise.

Is a lot of it just down to the lack of recognisable 'brand' characters? Would the return of a more traditional, nostalgia-friendly Korky help? Maybe the Dandy could half-inch a character from The Beano in exchange for Bananaman. My vote is for Biffo...

Nostalgia doesnt really sell though Classics from the Comics used Korky and Biffo on the covers alot and it still didnt sell, they may also be too old to relate to today's parents of Beano/Dandy readers who grew up in the 80s when neither of these two were very popular. Also reader polls have shown before that both those two characters arent very popular with readers (although with a good script this could change easily) thats why Biffo was dropped and Korky had that infamous no votes liking the strip or disliking it incident.

The Beano appears to be going quite retro, though. I think the idea is that parents will see the familiar masthead and go "oh yeah!"

I'd view these six months as very much "steady as she goes" with the exception of Beano Max. A "little" more original content in Beano Max wouldn't go amiss, but it has its budget constraints... such a pity though.