The news is out, and so is the comic, in shops tomorrow (Wedneday October 27th). After all the rumours and speculation the all-new relaunched Dandy is here!
Harry Hill, comedian, writer, and presenter of TV Burp is the new lead strip of the comic, with a regular story inside written by Harry and drawn by Nigel Parkinson. There are many other brand new strips in the comic too; fresh new characters for a new generation of Dandy readers.
Amongst the comics 32 full colour pages are two new strips I'm involved with. First up are the Kid Cops, created by the Dandy editorial but written and drawn by myself. Two kids, Sgt. Nick and officer Bobby, protecting the world from Political Correctness Gone Mad and helping out other kids against oppressive authority figures.
My other new strip is Postman Prat. Again, created in-house by the Dandy staff and drawn by me from scripts supplied by Dandy editor Craig Graham and Ally Bernard. Basically he's a postman who's, er, a bit of a prat. He comes up with harebrained schemes to make delivering the mail easier but it often backfires on him.
On a personal note I'm extremely pleased to be in the comic. The Dandy was the first comic I ever read on a regular basis. In fact it helped teach me to read and put me ahead of the other kids in class when I was four. (What happened since I don't know.) When I was trying to break into comics in the 1980s The Dandy editor of the time politely turned my work down. In retrospect he was right; I wasn't ready for the comic back then. I did some work for Dandy Fun-Size about ten years ago but never the weekly, until now.
Although I'm proud of all the comics I work for, freelancing for The Dandy was one ambition that had eluded me. Now it's a lifetime ambition fulfilled, and to start in the comic in the same week as a major relaunch is even better.Enough self-indulgence. What else is in the comic? Bananaman and Korky the Cat like you've never seen them before, Desperate Dan by Jamie Smart, and a host of brand new characters and funny features.
It's a whole new beginning for Britain's longest-running comic. A Dandy unlike any other previous incarnation of the title. Some traditionalists may hate it, but in truth The Dandy has always evolved and now this is a Dandy for the kids of 2010. Hopefully everyone who's said "Why can't comics just be comics instead of stuffed with magazine filler" will also enjoy it.
The all-new, no-reprint, all-fun Dandy. This week and Every Wednesday. £1.50
Buy one, or two, or more if you're feeling generous! Wednesday is D-Day!
The Dandy is now on Facebook.
More info will appear on Nigel Parkinson's blog: http://www.nigelparkinsoncartoons.blogspot.com/
Want to know how the new Dandy came about? There's no other person better than Nigel Parkinson to reveal the story...
http://nigelparkinsoncartoons.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-dandy-go-get-it.html
