Dandy 3508

STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN. AGAIN.

Veteran comedy weekly Dandy has been having a bad decade; It was completely revamped in 2004, ditching most of the long-running series, but, despite much publicity at the time, almost no-one noticed.

In 2007, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme, becoming a fortnightly magazine with minimal comics content, between eight and 16 pages of strips revolving mostly around lame fart, puke or bogie jokes, and the rest padded out with cheap filler from various TV or film studio’s publicity departments.

That revamp got noticed, and almost universally condemned; but the notoriety nevertheless gave it some momentum, carrying it over until October of this year, when plummeting sales neccessitated another brainstorm to prevent the almost 75-year-old title being absorbed into its more successful younger brother, Beano.

Interestingly, the new direction looks, on the surface, a bit nostalgic; the title is back to being a weekly, the logo hearkens back to earlier days, and, most crucially, you can actually see the front cover – for much of the past ten years, the comic’s been encased in a plastic bag, with so many crappy “free gifts” desperately enclosed that you frequently couldn’t even make out the logo!

But no, the new Dandy is out there on its own, naked, proud, and unpretentious.

So what’s in it?

Only three of the strips are known to my aged eyes, and they’re all but unrecognizable; Desperate Dan is still a page, but the affable bear-like man of the past has been replaced by a spoilt, pouting man-child tied to his Aunt’s apron strings. Similarly, Nutty-alumnus Bananaman, once an amusing and lively spoof of superhero themes, has deteriorated to the most plonking, obvious gags imaginable. Sadder still is the fate of former cover star (from the first issue in 1937) Korky the Cat, now a three-panel strip forced to share accommodations with the likes of 101 Ways To use A Meerkat and Noel Or Not Noel?, a cretinous series of puns that had worn out its welcome with me by its first outing.

But the new stuff’s quite a bit better – though you could argue that my perception’s skewed, as I’m coming to them without preconceptions, but several of the new series present genuine imagination and energy.

Lead series, and what the editors obviously hope will be the title’s selling point, is Harry Hill’s Real Life Adventures In TV Land, allegedly written by the big-collared TV comedian himself. I say ‘allegedly’ because this kind of stunt-writing announcement has been endemic since at least 1959, when Jackie Charlton supposedly wrote Roy of the Rovers for Tiger; didn’t believe it then (I was a cynical two-year-old..), and I have trouble with it now, not least because the new strip, with its cheerful cheap shots at Simon Cowell’s “High-Trouser Growing Machine” and “Ex-Boy-Band Slaves”, is actually mildly funny, which is a nicer thing than I’ve ever had to say about the rest of Mr Hill’s oeuvre.

Pre-Skool Prime Minister

Personal favourite is Pre-Skool Prime Minister, in which the newly-elected infant PM’s tantrums and demands bring the country into chaos; lively and inventive, it does cartoonist Jamie Smart great credit (and makes you wonder why his Desperate Dan is so dire, but I digress…).

Kid Cops and Postman Prat are from Lew Stringer, so you know you’re in a safe pair of hands; predictably – but in a good way – they’re goofy and appealing, with the postman marginally getting the nod over the cops for clever abuse of the concept.

Alexander Matthew’s Robot On The Run tells of a “primitive” (and mildly bipolar, judging by his dialogue) automaton being revived in the year 5173, and setting out to discover the strange new world; it’s slight but engaging.
Wrapping it up for the good stuff is George Vs. Dragon, by Andy Fanton, which proves that you don’t have to be especially original to be charming and entertaining.

That’s it for the highlights; stuff that could still go either way includes The Mighty Bork (invading alien who’s a bit rubbish), Pepperoni Pig (a pig who delivers pizza; no, that’s it), mad-science hi-jinx with Professor Dandy’s World of Facts and Shaolin Punks (Beavis & Butthead as Zen students). So far, they’ve yet to get beyond filler status.

Low points are The Bogies (The Numbskulls, except they’re snot), The Phantom Pharter (oh go on, have a guess…), and Count Snotula, which actually managed to turn my stomach, so I guess it achieved something. Crude and gross without being funny or novel, they’re definitely the lowbrow barrel-scrapings of the series.

So, will the putative “star power” of Harry Hill save the day? Will the comic’s substantial merits and nouveau-retro makeover win over a modern audience? Or will we, in the near future, see the dreaded announcement; “Great News, Chums!”, and face the prospect of Beano & Dandy Weekly?

Let’s review in six months and find out…