The Dandy Book, 1987

Britain’s longest running children’s comic, The Dandy, is facing closure after 75 years. The comic’s circulation has toppled from 2M to just 8,000.

The Dandy logo
The Dandy logo iterations

It was part of my childhood, and although the logo might’ve changed a bit over time, seeing it will always remind me of the days when a portion of my 50p pocket money was spent on comics.

The Dandy cover

Sometimes, if you were lucky, an issue would include a Desperate Dan bar.

Desperate Dan bar
Photo via A Quarter Of

More on The Guardian website.

Comments

Dandy, beano, Topper (Topper and Sparky as it became which was my personal favourite), Nutty and of course Eagle and Lion annuals were all part of my childhood and really awoke my imagination.

Sad to see it in trouble.

How flippen sad is that!
As a young boy in the 70’s I used to so look forward to popping by the local newsagent on a Tuesday after school to collect my weekly copy of the Dandy/Buster/Beano… I was always disappointed when I saw a ‘Free ______ in this issue’ banner across the top of the cover, as below there would be a rubber-stamped message, where the packet would be selotaped on, saying ‘Sorry, gift unavailable to overseas readers”.
I kept all my annuals (about 30) and now read them to my 9 and 6yr old kids… They love them.

What will be left – just the Beano and 2000ad?
Long live Desperate Dan and the clan!

A Dandy Fan, Durban | South Africa

I imagine it must be very difficult for comics to survive in today’s digital world… but it seems they are simply adapting.

According to dandy.com it’ll be online in 105 days… not quite the same as a printed copy – but that’s the way the world is going.

I wonder how they’ll make their money online?

My 11 year old is pretty sad about this but then he’s taken to reading back issues on the iPad so maybe it’ll continue in digital form.

Awesome post. I really miss the Dandy and Beano, and i’m gutted that my kids don’t have the pleasure of enjoying these like I did.

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