Farewell Dandy

So its true. After a few days of rumour and conjecture, DC Thompson have confirmed that the Dandy will close on its 75th anniversary, the 4th of December 2012. With sales having fallen to an average of 8,000 copies during the final six months of 2011 (the figures for the first half of 2012 are yet to be released, but I suspect that too will make for grim reading) it seems the writing is on the wall for this iconic comic.

The biggest blow is to all the writers, artists and designers who work on the comic - and in particular to the freelance contributors (who are not tied to DCT so if the work dries up - well that's one less client to work for). They may not number in the thousands or even the hundreds but its still a blow nonetheless to Britain's comic art community.

The greatest irony is that since it's 2010 relaunch, the publication has been one of the best things on the market with graphically brilliant strips, good gag writing and a real sense of anarchy - indeed it truly felt like a 2010's equivalent of the comic of the 1960s and 1970's, constantly pushing the boundaries of good taste and comic violence (which every children's comic should do in my view). It's a testament to the hard work that Editor, Craig Graham along with Jamie Smart and all the other writers, artists and designers, have put in to the comic to make it relevant and fresh for today's youth.

But sadly, it seems it's not to be. Low sales figures show that and despite what someone like me thinks, the vast majority of the public did not seem to agree and stopped buying the Dandy. It's not my nature to look for blame, it's likely a mixture of factors have combined over time from shop availability and presentation to the old evils of the TV, Computer Games and The Internet. It should be noted that the more conservative Beano still holds up with close to 40,000 copies sold every week, so perhaps kids prefer the older strips like Dennis The Menace after all.

The Dandy will move into a new realm in 2013, the digital domain. DCT promise some exciting things for the brand next year, but whether this translates into new strips and artwork or simply a Dandy portal with reprints and games, well we'll have to wait and see.

So for print at least, its Farewell Korky. Adios Dan, Goodbye Winker. Time to go to the great big press in the sky.