Toxic in a box

As most of us know, kids comics and magazines these days usually come in a polybag with a bunch of gifts. They're bulky and make the shelves look untidy, but it's what the retail giants want so publishers comply.

Now, Egmont have chosen a different approach for their latest issue of Toxic, as it comes in a cardboard box instead! The reason being that one of the gifts is a chunky hardback Minecraft book that would probably tear open a puny plastic bag. Other gifts are also flat. No toys, so the whole package looks very smart and neat.

Unfortunately my local Smiths and Asda have both chosen to hide Toxic at the back of the shelves in the shadows, which made it very hard to find, and makes it impossible to attract the eye of new readers (which is the whole point of the exercise). Hopefully other shops will display it more prominently.

Admittedly I have a vested interest in this because Toxic is my biggest earner every month, as I contribute Team Toxic to every issue. Here's a preview of the latest one...

It saddens me a bit that most of you will never see Team Toxic because, understandably, you're not the target audience and you're not going to buy it just for a few pages of strip. But thousands of kids do buy it every issue and that's the main thing. 

Toxic No.313, out now, £5.99.