FINE AND DANDY

On Tuesday 4^th December 2012, the very last issue of The Dandy was published, ending seventy-five years of continuous publication. How ironic that this staple of childhood entertainment should bite the dust when comics in general have never been more popular.

Movies based on comic book characters have a stranglehold on multiplexes world-wide (Avengers Assemble, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man this year alone) and TV has been quick to jump on the bandwagon with series such as Smallville, Arrow and The Human Target all based on comic book originals. 

The Dandy’s publisher D C Thompson assure us that this is not the end for Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat and friends. They are simply succumbing to the march of progress and entering the digital world. Inevitable I guess given that The Dandy sold 8,000,000 copies per week at the height of its popularity in the 1950’s and nowadays can manage only a paltry 175,000. But somehow it just won’t be the same.

I’m sure that when Stan Lee kick started the modern age of comic books in 1962 with the publication of Fantastic Four #1, he had no idea just how big a tidal wave of public perception he had instigated. The intervening decades have seen comic books progress from being the sole preserve of pre-teens to the ‘cool’ accoutrement of College students and now they are firmly ensconced at the top of every media moguls want list. They have even gate-crashed the literary establishment with two (not one, but two!) graphic works, Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart and Dotter of her Father’s Eyes by Mary and Bryan Talbot  shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards for the first time ever.

The fact that The Dandy has steadfastly stuck to its guns and changed its format hardly at all during its lifetime may well be both its greatest strength and its fatal flaw. As our American cousins tie themselves in knots trying to explain away impossible continuity glitches, (why Batman, who debuted in 1939, still swings a mean batrope even though he’s pushing a hundred has been a favourite question of fanboys since forever), The Dandy has blissfully ignored the laws of time and physics and carried on doing what its always done which is to provide innocent, silly, funny and comforting entertainment. But not any more.

The British comic book industry is largely overlooked in favour of the American product, despite the fact that many of the top selling titles in America are in the creative hands of British talent and have been for many years. Alan Moore, Andy Diggle and Grant Morrison to name but a few.

This wealth of home grown talent was not enough to save The Dandy, but it should be remembered that seventy-five years is a publishing feat pretty much unequalled in the annals of comic book publishing and is unlikely to ever be equalled again except possibly by The Dandy’s stablemate The Beano, another underrated and little acknowledged title.

So, as Desperate Dan marches into the sunset, let’s hold our heads up and salute a unique British publishing achievement. The Dandy may be gone, but it will not be forgotten.