Legendary comic The Dandy is ending its print run after sales fell to just 8,000 copies a week.
The final printed issue of The Dandy, the UK’s longest-running children’s comic will be released on its 75th birthday in December, its publishers have said.
The Dandy, best known for cartoon character Desperate Dan, is being pulled from shelves following a drop in circulation in recent years.
Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson said the comic will still be available online and they have “exciting plans in the pipeline” to take it in a “different direction”.
Ellis Watson, chief executive of the company’s newspaper and magazine publishing operations, said: “Dan has certainly not eaten his last cow pie.”
The decision comes after DC Thomson announced it was carrying out a review of all of its magazine titles due to “challenges” being faced by the publishing industry.
It was prompted by falling circulation numbers, with only about 8,000 copies of The Dandy being sold a week, down from more than two million during its peak in the 1950s.
Joe Gordon, of sci-fi and magazine store chain Forbidden Planet, which has a base in Birmingham, has spoken of his sadness following news the 75-year-old comic faces closure following a slump in sales.
And Joe, editor of the chain’s online blog, stressed the publication needs a total revamp to be more in touch with today’s children. They are interested in computer games, not comics.
“The news doesn’t come as a shock, it’s just worrying to see such a well-loved brand going under after 75 years,” he said.
“When we were children, we didn’t have video games and the internet – we had comics instead.
“A lot of these kids just aren’t seeing comics. But when they do, they love them, just as we did all those years ago.”
Joe stressed radical changes are needed to the format. “Something needs to be done. Really good British comics are failing and it’s perhaps time for some new thinking. The most popular characters will always live on, it’s just a shame the actual comic looks set to fall after all this time.”
The Dandy, which launched in 1937, has featured characters such as Bananaman, Korky the Cat, Cuddles and Dimples, and Beryl the Peril.
The last edition of the comic will include a reprint of the first edition of the The Dandy.
Mr Watson said: “On December 4, we’ll publish our 75th anniversary edition and I can confirm that this will be our last print edition.
“We’re counting down the days until the big 75th anniversary bash and we’re working on some tremendously exciting things.”
