Sunday, 22 January 2012
Sunday Supplements?
Just out of hospital where I had to go for tests - nothing major, just a few ulcers but it wasn't a pleasant experience. I took a few days off - well sort of - to recuperate although I have to go back in tomorrow for a few more tests to make sure that things are working o.k. It was not an experience I'd care to repeat. Just before I went in last week I was rushing around like a mad thing trying to get a lot of things cleared up. Consequently I haven't had a chance to see what has been happening in the comic world but I guess not a lot. All my friends in the US state that the comics scene there is completely stagnant and there's nothing worth having. I've spoken to a couple of people over here who tell me that they've cancelled all their comics at the comic stores as there's really nothing they want. And thanks to those of you who contacted me telling me that 2000 AD was still on sale but that it's pathetic and they don't buy it any more. I haven't seen a copy either here or even in Belfast for a long time - so much for the UK's leading weekly comic! Is it still weekly? Rob told me that it'll probably fold very soon as nobody buys it now. Not like the great old days when it was gone every Friday morning. There was one short-lived spot of light. I happened to lift the Times and there was a free comic in it. Great, I hought, maybe some of the newspapers are taking comics seriously - the way they used to. It was all syndicated stuffbut it was a start. But I haven't seen it since. I take it that the Times has ditched the idea. I hadthought that a nice Sunday supplement might be the way forward but it doesn't look like it. Oh well. Still thinking about 1949 and I have a meeting with Adrian hopefully this coming Tuesday in Belfast and we'll see what we can come up with. He thinks digitial comics may be the way forward and I would guess he's right. We'll see and I'll keep you posted. I'm supposed to be taking things easy for a while but there's some chance! I'll go on but let me know what you think of a Sunday supplement for comics - now that would be back to basics but it might be worth it. And would there be a newspaper that would be interested. Who knows?
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If you want to buy 2000AD you can get it in Easons and WH Smiths in Belfast city centre, but none of the smaller newsagents carry it any more. There's still good in it - I'm fond of Nikolai Dante particularly.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is The Phoenix ( https://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/ ), which is a subscription only weekly for 8-12s - I bought a subscription as a Christmas present for my niece and nephew and reports are they love it. It's by a lot of the same people who worked on The DFC a couple of years ago, so the quality will be excellent, but like The DFC the difficulty will be getting word out to the target audience when it's only available on subscription.
The revamp of the Dandy doesn't seem to have been successful - Jamie Smart's making Desperate Dan funny for the first time in decades, but the rest of the comic is all TV tie-ins and that doesn't seem to be going down well.