Stuff!

Monday 28 February 2011

The Beano - Issue 3574

Sorry it's a bit late, been busy lately, anyhoo, let's see what this week's issue was like!

PG 1: Front Cover - Barrie Appleby
PG 2: Whassup? With Dennis! and Contents
PG 3: Dennis and Gnasher - Barrie Appleby
PG 5: Billy Whizz - Nick Brennan
PG 6: Minnie the Minx - Laura Howell
PG 8: Britain's Funniest Gag (BFG)
PG 9: Competition: Masters of Mayhem: Dennis and Gnasher Puzzle
PG 10: Ball Boy - Dave Eastbury
PG 11: Advertisement: LEGO City - Diego Jourdan
PG 12: The Numskulls - Barry Glennard
PG 14: Meebo and Zuky - Laura Howell
PG 15: Beano Subscription Page
PG 16: The Bash Street Kids - David Sutherland
PG 18: Little Plum - Hunt Emerson
PG 20: Beano V.I.P. plus a surprise in the Beano Inbox!
PG 22: Fred's Bed - Tom Paterson
PG 24: Lego Hero Factory Puzzle Pages
PG 26: Retro Beano: The Bash Street Kids and Pup Parade (strangely titled 'The Bash Street Dogs')
PG 28: Roger the Dodger - Barrie Appleby
PG 30: Advertisement: The Dandy: Desperate Dan - Jamie Smart
PG 31: Ivy the Terrible - Diego Jourdan
PG 32: Back Page: Gimme, Gimme! and WWE Kids Advertisement

Amazing issue, Dennis used his beloved, much missed catapult, pea shooter and water pistol! Hooray! The Menace is back in town!
Minnie the Minx was very funny, Laura's style looking amazing once more and really suiting the story, wouldn't of been as good if it was by Ken Harrison...
Ball Boy and Meebo and Zuky were both 100% funny, fantastic artwork with laugh out loud stories!
Other great stories this week included Fred's Bed, Ivy the Terrible and Billy Whizz...
And now over to the part which was a great surprise, me featuring in the Beano V.I.P.! It was my review from the issue about two or three weeks ago, they featured Roger the Dodger, Meebo and Zuky and Billy Whizz, the only thing that annoyed me was that they changed my comments slightly, cutting off parts, nothing *too* major but still a tad annoying...
LEGO City annoyed me, not only was it a reprint of the story the issue before, but they also got rid of Diego's signature, altered the strip removing the backgrounds, stars and the 'E!' from 'RELEASE!' for some odd reason...

Dennis and Gnasher - 10/10
Billy Whizz - 9/10
Minnie the Minx - 10/10
Ball Boy - 10/10
LEGO City - 9/10 (story-wise)
The Numskulls - 7/10
Meebo and Zuky - 10/10
The Bash Street Kids - 5/10
Little Plum - 8/10
Fred's Bed - 9.5/10
Roger the Dodger - 8/10
Ivy the Terrible - 10/10

Retro Beano:
The Bash Street Kids - 9/10
Pup Parade - 10/10

Great issue, best in a while!

Wednesday 23 February 2011

The Dandy - Issue 3523

New week, new issue, at £2.50, let's see if it's worth it:

PG 1: Front Cover
PG 2: Jokes (with Desperate Dan) - Jamie Smart
PG 3: Contents (with Desperate Dan) - Jamie Smart
PG 4: Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land - Nigel Parkinson
PG 8: The Mighty Bork - Wayne Thompson
PG 9: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Professor Dandy's World of Facts - Nigel Auchterlounie, Terror Byte - David Banks
PG 10: Bear Thrills - Phil Corbett
PG 11: Madvertisement: Gee-odorant - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 12: Bananaman - Wayne Thompson
PG 14: Puzzle Page: Professor Popalop - Lorenzo Etherington
PG 15: The Bogies (starring Johnny Snottsville) - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 16: Yore - The Etherington Brothers
PG 17: Advertisement D:
PG 18: Puzzle Page: Nit-wits - Phil Corbett
PG 19: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Off the Vine - The Kick-Ass Koalas artist, What's in a Name? - Garry Davies
PG 20: Graeme Reaper - David Banks
PG 21: Dandy Subscription Page
PG 22: The Arena of Awesome (Alien VS Ghost) - Jamie Smart
PG 24: Advertisement D:
PG 25: Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher - Wilbur Dawbarn
PG 26: Stan Helsing - Nik Holmes
PG 27: Korky the Cat - Phil Corbett (Strangely titled just 'Korky')
PG 28: Little Harry Hill - Nigel Parkinson
PG 29: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, The Grown Up Way VS The Right Way - Karl Dixon, Twit-ter - Nigel Parkinson
PG 30: Puzzle Page: Attack of the Pig-Ugly Monsters - Duncan Scott
PG 32: Postman Prat - Lew Stringer
PG 33: The 2011 Dandy OddCars Awards - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 34: Thingummyblob - Jamie Smart
PG 35: Recipes for Disaster - David Mostyn
PG 36: Disaster Chef - David Mostyn
PG 37: Mailbag
PG 38: Board Game: The Impossible Game - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 39: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?,
Nibbles - Unknown, Newsblast (with Rocky O'Flair) - Wayne Thompson
PG 40: Inside a Motor Car - David Mostyn
PG 42: Boo - Andy Fanton
PG 43: Next Time (featuring the 4 contestants for the Strictly Come Laughing contest - Tag-Team Tastic, Phil's Finger, Daredevil Dad and Harry and his Hippo! Oh and that bald idiot Harry Hill, let's not talk about him...)
PG 44: Back Page: Desperate Dan - Jamie Smart

Wednesday 16 February 2011

The Dandy - Issue 3522

44 pages, £2.50, new week. new issue, let's see what's inside:

PG 1: Front Cover - Nigel Parkinson
PG 2: Jokes - Jamie Smart
PG 3: Contents (starring Bananaman) - Wayne Thompson
PG 4: Bananaman - Wayne Thompson
PG 6: Postman Prat - Lew Stringer
PG 7: Little Gary Lineker - Nigel Parkinson
PG 8: Madvertisement: Clown Wars - Attack of the Clowns - Nik Holmes
PG 9: Shorts: Clown Wars - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Professor Dandy's World of Facts - Nigel Auchterlounie, Terror Byte - David Banks
PG 10: The Arena of Awesome - Jamie Smart (Yeti VS Vampire)
PG 12: Puzzle Page: A-MAZE-ing Skatepark - Hunt Emerson
PG 13: Harry Hill's Real-Life Adventures in TV Land PART 1 - Nigel Parkinson
PG 19: Shorts: Clown Wars - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Off the Vine - The artist who draws Kick Ass Koalas, What's in a Name - Garry Davies
PG 20: Advertisement D:
PG 21: Bear Thrills - Phil Corbett
PG 22: Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher - Wilbur Dawbarn
PG 23: The Bogies (starring Cowbogie) - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 24: Disaster Chef - Dave Mostyn
PG 25: The Mighty Bork - Wayne Thompson
PG 26: Yore - The Etherington Brothers
PG 27: Harry Hill's Real-Life Adventures in TV Land PART 2 - Nigel Parkinson
PG 33: Thingummyblob - Jamie Smart NEW!
PG 36: Graeme Reaper - David Banks
PG 37: Shorts: Clown Wars - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, The Grown Up Way VS The Right Way: Pretty Snow Scenes - Karl Dixon, Korky the Cat - Phil Corbett
PG 38: Dandy Subscription Page
PG 39: Stan Helsing - Nik Holmes
PG 40: Mailbag
PG 41: Shorts: Clown Wars - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Nibbles - Unknown, Newsblast with Rocky O'Flair - Wayne Thompson
PG 42: Boo - Andy Fanton
PG 43: Next Time (featuring the free gift, Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land, Yore and Bear Thrills)
PG 44: Back Page: Desperate Dan - Jamie Smart

Not a bad issue, not amazing either, best this week were easily Boo, Bananaman, Desperate Dan, The Mighty Bork and the Arena of Awesome, Postman Prat was also great!
Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land easily being the worst...

ABSENT THIS ISSUE:
Kid Cops, Robot on the Run, Clive 5, George VS Dragon, Pre-Skool Prime Minister, Doctor Loo, Pepperoni Pig, Shao Lin Punks, Jibber and Steve, Factoids.com and The Sheriff of Dottingham

RATINGS:

Bananaman: 9/10
Postman Prat: 8.5/10
Little Gary Lineker: 8.5/10
The Arena of Awesome: 10/10
Harry Hill's Real-Life Adventures in TV Land: 5/10
Bear Thrills: 6/10
Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher: 7/10
The Bogies: 7/10
Disaster Chef: 8/10
The Mighty Bork: 10/10
Yore: 8/10
Thingummyblob: 9/10
Graeme Reaper: 7/10
Stan Helsing: 8/10
Boo: 10/10
Desperate Dan: 10/10

Wednesday 9 February 2011

The Dandy - Issue 3521

New week, new issue!

PG 1: Front Cover
PG 2: Jokes - Jamie Smart
PG 3: Contents (starring Desperate Dan) - Jamie Smart
PG 4: Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land - Nigel Parkinson
PG 6: Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher - Wilbur Dawbarn
PG 8: Madvertisement - Valentine's Day Repellent Kit
PG 9: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, The Grown Up Way VS The Right Way: Valentines Day - Karl Dixon, Terror Byte - David Banks
PG 10: Bear Thrills - Phil Corbett
PG 11: Puzzle Page: Dragon Slayer - Phil Corbett
PG 12: The Bogies (starring Glub the Bogarian) - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 13: Bananaman - Wayne Thompson
PG 14: Advertisement D:
PG 15: Yore! - The Etherington Brothers NEW!
PG 16: Arena of Awesome (Dennis the Menace VS Desperate Dan!) - Jamie Smart
PG 18: The Mighty Bork - Wayne Thompson
PG 19: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Off the Vine - The artist who draws Kick Ass Koalas, What's in a Name? - Garry Davies
PG 20: Graeme Reaper - David Banks
PG 21: It's your Comic! (Dandy Questionnaire)
PG 23: Postman Prat - Lew Stringer
PG 24: Where's Crouchy? - Mark Bennington (Classic artist! :D)
PG 25: Disaster Chef - David Mostyn
PG 26: Stan Helsing - Nik Holmes
PG 27: Korky the Cat - Phil Corbett
PG 28: Mailbag
PG 29: Shorts: Doctor Huh? - Nik Holmes, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Nibbles - Unknown, Newsblast (with Rocky O'Flair) - Wayne Thompson
PG 30: Boo - Andy Fanton
PG 31: Next Time (featuring the Free Gift! (NO! PLEASE!), Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land (12 PAGES! O: NOOO!), Arena of Awesome (Yeti VS Vampire), Attack of the Clown Wars and finally new character Thingummyblob by Jamie Smart)
PG 32: Back Page: Desperate Dan - Jamie Smart

Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land
ARTWORK: 8.5/10
STORYLINE: 9/10
It was okay... The story was alright the only reason why I liked it was because there were proper Dandy characters in it...
Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher
ARTWORK: 7/10
STORYLINE: 9.5/10
Bear Thrills
ARTWORK: 7/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
The Bogies
ARTWORK: 7/10
STORYLINE: 8.5/10

I'll finish this later :)

Tuesday 8 February 2011

The Wizzo - Issue 3 (Finally!)

After over a year, Issue 3 of the Wizzo has finally been finished!
Since November 2010 , we have been working on Issue 3, well, we started way back in January 2010 but we weren't getting anywhere so in November we had a massive revamp! Here's the contents:

PG 1: Front Cover - Harry Rickard
PG 2: Contents - Harry Rickard and Hannes Smit
PG 3: Blong - Harry Rickard
PG 5: End of Blong and Rover - Harry Rickard
PG 6: Zappy - Harry Rickard
PG 8: End of Zappy and The Game - Kieren Gillespie
PG 9: i-Wish - Harry Rickard
PG 10: Tiny Tim - Kieren Gillespie
PG 11: Shorts: Robert Robot - Harry Rickard, Tall and Small - Hannes Smit, Joust Joking - Harry Rickard, The Weather Man - Jonathan Barham
PG 12: Jumbo Jet - Hannes Smit
PG 14: Advertisement for Letter Lives and Jungle Jeopardy - Harry Rickard
PG 15: Magic Buns - Sue Nicholls
PG 16: Stupid Steve - Sam Jones
PG 18: Arty's Know How - Harry Rickard
PG 20: Tornado Tommy - Jonathan Barham
PG 21: Crash Test Dummies - Kieren Gillespie
PG 22: Get a Job Bob - Hannes Smit
PG 24: Frank's Footie Team - Harry Rickard
PG 25: WizzKids (puzzle page) - Kieren Gillespie
PG 26: James Pond - Harry Rickard
PG 27: Shorts: How the Dinosaurs Died Out - Hannes Smit, Crazy Cartoons - Kieren Gillespie, Frankie - Hannes Smit, Bill the Buyer - Jonathan Barham
PG 28: Patrick the Prankster - Harry Rickard
PG 30: Chav and Jim - Hannes Smit
PG 31: Next Time
PG 32: Back Page: Wizzo Chibis - Harry Rickard

Saturday 5 February 2011

I like the Dandy, but I also like the Beano, but which one's better?

There's only one way to find out... FIGHT!

(Excuse the Harry Hill's TV Burp inspired title, I hate the guy but the title has a good tie in with what this blog post is about...)

But really which one's better?

First of all you've got the Beano, despite being the Dandy's sister comic and coming a year later or so, the Beano is more well known... With characters like the world famous Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger and Biffo the Bear; the Beano will always be known... but recently the comic has began to have a downfall, more reprints appearing (at the moment: Calamity James, The 3 Bears, Little Plum (I think), Robbie Rebel and Stripz), more adverts (taking up more pages as well) and most importantly, the humour. The Beano has some funny moments but since the 'new' Dennis and Gnasher TV series aired the Beano has gotten worse and worse... Maybe it's because characters like Lord Snooty and Biffo the Bear have gone... Who knows? But even though the comic is getting worse, at least we've still got some great new characters (since revamp) like Meebo and Zuky and Beano Manga...


Then you've got the Dandy, the comic which in my opinion is better... What I find admirable about the Dandy is their new revamp... It's fantastic, just when we thought it was all going to end on the more magazine based Dandy Xtreme, BAM! We get the brand new Dandy! Sure it has characters like who are celebrities and Harry Hill's become the main character... I guess this is what's keeping the comic going but we must be pleased that Harry Hill is now only 2 pages and the only celebrity comic strip in there! I don't care what people say, the 'new' Desperate Dan is great (he's not actually new, Jamie's been drawing him since 2008), Jamie's adopted the style well and it's a great treat to see his Desperate Dan in there! There are still problems with the comic... For instance, Korky the Cat becoming a shorts character... But recently he's been getting quite a few 1 page comic strips! Hooray! Sure, Cuddles and Dimples have gone, Winker Watson and Bully Beef and Chips have long since gone and other stars like Brassneck, Beryl the Peril and Blinky have all faced the axe but instead we've got new characters that are even more funny like George VS Dragon, Pre-Skool Prime Minister, Robot on the Run and Postman Prat... Also old classics have been kept in there like Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat and Bananaman as well as Dandy Xtreme characters The Bogies and Doctor Loo...

So the Dandy wins the fight for me... I'll draw a picture for this soon...

Post who you think should win below please! :)

Wednesday 2 February 2011

The Dandy - Issue 3520

New week, new issue...


PG 1: Front Cover - (featuring Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land)
PG 2: Jokes - (featuring Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land) - Nigel Parkinson
PG 3: Contents - (featuring Rocky O'Flair) Wayne Thompson
PG 4: Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land - Nigel Parkinson
PG 6: Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher - Wilbur Dawbarn
PG 7: Disaster Chef - David Mostyn NEW!
PG 8: The Mighty Bork - Wayne Thompson
PG 9: Shorts: Newsblast (with Rocky O'Flair) - Wayne Thompson, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Dr. Doctor - David Mostyn (REPRINT! D:), Terror Byte - David Banks
PG 10: Bear Thrills - Phil Corbett
PG 11: Be the England Manager (Activity) - Chris McGhie
PG 12: The Bogies (featuring Snot Funny) - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 13: Bananaman - Wayne Thompson
PG 14: Advert D:
PG 15: Monsters 'r' Us (Puzzle page) - Nik Holmes
PG 16: Arena of Awesome (Superhero VS Nerd) - Jamie Smart
PG 18: Monster Wordsearch (Puzzle page (again)) - Nik Holmes
PG 19: Shorts: Newsblast (with Rocky O'Flair) - Wayne Thompson, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Twit-ter - Nigel Auchterlounie, What's in a Name? - Garry Davies
PG 20: Graeme Reaper - David Banks
PG 21: Dandy Subscription Page
PG 22: Pre-Skool Prime Minister - Jamie Smart
PG 23: Postman Prat - Lew Stringer
PG 24: Doctor Loo - Duncan Scott 
PG 26: Stan Helsing - Nik Holmes
PG 27: Korky the Cat - Phil Corbett
PG 28: Mailbag
PG 29: Shorts: Newsblast (with Rocky O'Flair) - Wayne Thompson, Simples! 101 Ways to Use a Meerkat - Duncan Scott?, Nibbles - Unknown, Professor Dandy's World of Facts - Nigel Auchterlounie
PG 30: Boo - Andy Fanton NEW!
PG 31: Next Week - (featuring Arena of Awesome (Desperate Dan VS Dennis the Menace!), Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land, Happy Valentine's Day Repellent Kit and The Etherington Brothers' Yore!)
PG 32: Back Page: Desperate Dan - Jamie Smart


I will now rate each story out of ten, one on the artwork and one on the storyline (minus Shorts):
Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land:
ARTWORK: 9/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Mr Meecher, the Uncool Teacher:
ARTWORK: 6/10
STORYLINE: 6/10
Disaster Chef:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 9/10
The Mighty Bork:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Bear Thrills:
ARTWORK: 8/10
STORYLINE: 9/10
The Bogies:
ARTWORK: 7/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Bananaman:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 9/10
Arena of Awesome:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Graeme Reaper:
ARTWORK: 8/10
STORYLINE: 6/10
Pre-Skool Prime Minister:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 10/10
Postman Prat: 
ARTWORK: 8/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Doctor Loo:
ARTWORK: 7/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Stan Helsing:
ARTWORK: 8/10
STORYLINE: 10/10
Korky the Cat:
ARTWORK: 8/10
STORYLINE: 8/10
Boo:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 9/10
Desperate Dan:
ARTWORK: 10/10
STORYLINE: 10/10


I'm a bit biased seeing as I love Jamie and Andy's artwork... :)



Characters absent this issue:
- George VS Dragon :(
- Kid Cops
- Robot on the Run
- Clive 5
- Pepperoni Pig
- Shao Lin Punks
- Little Celebs
- Noel or No Noel?
- No.1 Mum
- If the Dandy did the Cube
- Who Wants to be a Squillionaire?
- Falling with Style
- TV Teaser
- What's in Cheryl's Hair Today?
- The Phantom Pharter
If the Dandy did the Cube
- The Not-so-Secret Millionaire
- The Stynx Effect
- Davina McCaw
- The Last Windbender
- The Sheriff of Dottingham
- The Twiglet Saga
And obviously the one issue laster:
- Count Snotula (Where the hell did this guy go?!)