Dandy 75: Artists Signing At The ABC Show

The ABC Show section of the London Comic Mart on Sunday 2 December had a Dandy theme with a selection of original artwork for sale as well as plenty of back issues. The Cartoon Museum and Phil Comics both had sales tables while there were also a number of Dandy and Beano artists there to talk to and sign items for the punters.

 

Henry Davies (above centre) talks to two fans while Gary Northfield (left), Lew Stringer (right) and Nigel Parkinson (with back to the camera) compare notes.

Henry had a good selection of his artwork on display and for sale.

Nigel Parkinson (above) was feeling somewhat under the weather but still managed to sign items. You can find out more about Nigel's work on his blog, Nigel Parkinson's Cartoons.

 

Lew Stringer (above right) signs a copy of The Art And History Of The Dandy as Nigel looks on. You can find out more about Lew's work on his website while his blog Blimey! remains indispensable reading for fans of old British comics.

All photos by Richard Sheaf.

The last print issue of The Dandy, a 100 page special including a reprint of the first issue from 1937, goes on sale on Tuesday 4 December with a cover price of £3.99. 

Anyone concerned that they will not be able to find a copy of the issue, which has a print run of 50,000, can order it directly from the DC Thomson on-line shop. The on-line shop also has a special offer of a Dandy Collectors Pack of a copy of the last issue as well as a copy of the hardback book The Art And History Of The Dandy signed by the last two editors of the comic, Morris Heggie and Craig Graham.

New Dandy and Beano out today

(With thanks to Lew Stringer): New issues of the revamped The Dandy and the latest Beano are on sale today.

The new Dandy - which is provoking ongoing debate on the downthetubes forum and has just started its first poll about its strips on its Facebook page - some will go as the result of reader votes, others will stay - features Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land by Harry Hill and Nigel Parkinson, Kid Cops and Postman Prat by Lew Stringer, Robot on the Run by Alexander Matthews, Pre-Skool Prime Minister by Jamie Smart and much more. "Even Bruce Forsyth returns to comics," notes contributor Lew. "Shades of Film Fun!" For more on the issue, check out Lew's blog post.


The Beano (Number 2559) comes with a Dennis and Gnasher by Jimmy Hansen who also draws a two page Dennis strip. Also in the issue: Ken Harrison drawing Minnie the Minx, Hunt Emerson on Ratz and David Sutherland on The Bash Street Kids. Other contributors include new artist Diego Jourdan Pereira (drawing Ivy the Terrible) and Laura Howell (on Meebo and Zuky)

While some fans have raised concerns about the Dandy's announced poll about its strips, Lew Stringer reminds us the comic was never one to rely on characters with such longevity. "Each decade has brought in fresh new characters although Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, and Bananaman are still around albeit with modern new designs," he notes.

"The Dandy has always been the one to take more risks and, having had three revamps in six years, let's hope that it's third time lucky for the all-fun, all-new, back to basics Dandy of 2010."

Web Links

• Official Dandy web site: www.dandy.com
• The Dandy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dandy/121479097908918
• Follow The Dandy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DandyComic

The new Dandy: Who Did What, then?

Following up on yesterday's post about the new Dandy, editor Craig Graham has kindly taken time out of his busy schedule to give fans a run down of the creative team behind the brilliant revamp revealed in Issue 3508, which sees Harry Hill now fronting the back-to-weekly frequency comic along with a cover price drop to £1.50.

• Nigel Parkinson is drawing Harry Hill, The Phantom Pharter, Little Simon and chief Harry-knowing comics nut.He began working in comics back in 1980, and started working on The Dandy in 1982 and The Beano in 1997, on strips such as Bea and Ivy the Terrible. He's also occasionally drawn The Bash Street Kids.

"His contribution has been incalculable - and should be applauded to the hills," says Craig.

• Jamie Smart draws Desperate Dan, Pre-Skool Prime Minister, and created the new comic's the Style Guide. "Jamie's been a part of The Dandy for six years now, and when we came to set up the style guide, Jamie's name was first on our list. He was also author of a remarkable email to me which coincided, in emotion and timing, with the initial proposal for these changes."

• Wayne Thompson draws The Mighty Bork, Pepperoni Pig, Shao Lin Punks, Bananaman and Noel or No Noel -- "a remarkable artist and friend." Wayne also drew Billy Whizz for The Beano (now drawn by Nick Brennan). Wayne had been drawing Agent Dog 2-Zero for Dandy Xtreme as well as Jak.

• Lew Stringer draws Postman Prat and Kid Cops. "Lew's a long-time champion of comics, artist and one of the first names on the list of new artists we hoped to get on board," notes Craig. downthetubes fans will know him for his work on TOXIC and as creator of Combat Colin for Marvel UK.

• Nigel Auchterlounie draws The Bogies (which were created by Mark Greenbaum and Paul Kell) and Professor Dandy. "He's a great writer, artist and ideas man. Look out for much much more from Nigel in The Dandy. He's also an early morning Sky TV superstar!"

• Duncan Scott draws Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat, Count Snotula and What's In Cheryl's Hair Today?. "There really will be 101 Meerkat episodes!" Craig assures us, "but not so many of Cheryl's Hair. He's a top guy and great artist." Duncan has also worked for Hallmark Cards and The Beano (drawing strips such as The Neds) and TV Times.

• David Mostyn who has been drawing comics for 40 years and says he likes cats and red wine, draws Dr. Doctor. "David is supremely talented as a children's book illustrator and also a past Dandy artist," Craig notes. "It's a huge pleasure to have him onboard again, and you can all look forward to some absolutely top-notch work from him in the near future." (You can follow David on Twitter)

• Chris McGhie draws iDad. "Chris is very busy with things far more important than comics, but he always finds the time to help us out," says Craig. He previously drew Bananaman for the comic.

• Alexander Matthews draws Robot on the Run. "Alexander is well-known in more grown-up cartooning circles, but new, I believe, to kids' comics," Craig reveals. Robot on the Run is, in fact, a serial, and it's a good 'un!" Alexander has drawn cartoons for The Guardian, Private Eye and many more magazines.

• Andy Fanton draws George vs. Dragon. "Andy's a friend of Jamie's, recommended by him, and one of the first new artists we found for The Dandy. He's doing more stuff as we speak.

• Phil Corbett draws longtime Dandy favourite Korky the Cat, who Craig admits wasn't coming back until Phil and staff artist Chris combined their energies to fight his corner. "It turns out it was good enough to make the cover, so what do I know?!"

"Drawing Korky means a lot to me as I grew up on comics," says Phil in a blog post. "Korky was always one of my favourites and who would ever have thought I would get to be working with him.

"It's a real treat to be bringing back a character with such a history after his couple of years off - I believe he was away travelling - and hats of to the Dandy people for letting me change him so much."

• Garry Davies draws TV Teaser. "Gary's a great guy. It's a simple idea and kids love it. What more do you want?"

Behind the scenes, Craig also gives a tip off the hat to Dandy office staff Michelle, Ally, Katy, Mark and Chris. "Their efforts have been unstinting," he enthuses, "even when putting together Dandy Xtreme and working on this project."

Initial reaction to the revamp is very positive, Criag revealed over on ComicsUK yesterday. "A lot of research, experience and plain hard work has gone into it since we kicked the project off," he says, "and its success as a comic is all down to its contributors, whether freelance or DCT-employed."

• The first issue of the new look weekly Dandy is officially on sale on now

Web Links

• Official Dandy web site: www.dandy.com
• The Dandy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dandy/121479097908918
• Follow The Dandy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DandyComic

• DC Thomson Artists on Kelly's Comics

Dandy relaunches - and returns to comics format

(Updated 27/10/10) The Dandy - the real, comic strip driven Dandy - is back this week with a vengeance, ditching the magazine-style, TOXIC-inspired magazine format of Dandy Xtreme in favour of a weekly title with a £1.50 cover price.

As well as a price drop, the new, 32-page comic, which has also dropped cover mounted gifts, aims straight for the jugular by spoofing popular culture, with material from comedian Harry Hill (who now fronts the comic), a celebrity who is perfect match for the look of the new Dandy. He'll appear alongside old favourites such as Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat, plus new strips from cartoonists such as Nigel Parkinson (who draws Harry Hill), Andy Fanton and Lew Stringer.

"it's almost entirely comic strips," enthuses Nigel Parkinson of the new-look Dandy on his blog, which he also says will be heavily promoted – and publisher DC Thomson's use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter is just the start of that. "The strips are mostly brand-new. There are pages by people new to the Dandy and by people new to comics."

The new strips include Pepperoni Pig, Clive 5, Bill Oddie-Watch, The ZZZ-Team, The Y-Factor and Bear Thrills.

Another major change for the title will see readers be given more control, allowing them to vote on The Dandy website to decide which characters stay and while will go to make way for new characters.

 "The Dandy was the first comic I read as a child," says Lew Stringer of his involvement.  "It helped teach me to read, so I'm very pleased and honoured to have been asked to contribute."

He's revealed he's drawing two of the strips: Kid Cops and Postman Prat, both created inhouse, with scripts on Postman Prat from Dandy editor Craig Graham and Ally Bernard. (Lew is writing and drawing Kid Cops).

Andy Fanton is to contribute George vs Dragon, which reworks the Saint George and the Dragon tale as a slapstick, Wile E. Coyote-esque farce. "I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to work for the comic, as not only is it a very well-known and prestigious title, but it’s also one of the (many) comics I read loads when growing up," he says. "... to be one of the guys now doing the comics is pretty much a dream come true, and I feel very lucky indeed. And excited. And nervous."

While some may scorn the use of celebrities to help push sales, DC Thomson are well aware how media-savvy their target audience is, and say the celebrity input is to make it more topical! "So far we’ve immortalised Cheryl Cole, Noel Edmonds, Jeremy Clarkson and we’ve even added the ultimate X-factor, Simon Cowell…," one of the team notes on their Facebook page. "You never know who’ll be next!"

“The Dandy has constantly evolved over its 73-year history, but the brand new Dandy is the best and funniest it’s ever been," claims Craig Graham, editor-in-chief. "We’re providing something quite different to our competitors in terms of content, format and price-point that’s based on the unique Dandy heritage, exceptional British cartooning talent and that’s all backed up by compelling reader insight and market research.

“The icing on the cake is having Harry Hill join the team. With a renewed focus on comedy characters, it’s a real thrill to be working with one of the nation’s favourite family comedians. As he writes the strip himself, I’m not always exactly sure what’s going to be appearing each week so I’m as eager as everyone else to find out.

“With subscribers living all across the world there’s a huge affection for The Dandy and readers can be reassured they’ll still find lots of our much loved characters like Desperate Dan and Bananaman inside.  But, it was important for us to reinvigorate The Dandy and so there’s lots of new, exciting stuff to attract and delight a new generation of readers.”

First published on 4th December 1937, The Dandy is the world's longest continuously published comic and holds the record for the largest sale ever of a comic in UK history - May 1950 saw over 2 million copies of The Dandy sold.

While these days it's unlikely any British comic will ever reach that level of sale, the new look is a welcome revamp for a title some have feared was on its last legs and shows just how much faith DC Thomson has in its popular characters. We wish everyone involved the very best of luck with this new direction.

The first issue of the new look weekly Dandy is officially on sale on Wednesday 27th October 2010 and will cost £1.50.

Web Links

• Official Dandy web site: www.dandy.com
• The Dandy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dandy/121479097908918
• Follow The Dandy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DandyComic

Just some of The Dandy creators...

• Andy Fanton
• Nigel Parkinson
• Jamie Smart
• Lew Stringer