The DFC
Word is out that Random House has ceased publication of The DFC, the weekly British kid's comics that appealed to all ages and both sexes. If you haven't heard of it, you may of heard of some of the names associated with it, Philip Pullman, Simone Lia, Nick Sharratt, Jamie Smart, John Aggs, Gary Northfield, Emma Vieceli, Sarah McIntyre, James Turner. Yeah an awful lot of talented folk. Random House are looking for a buyer, but in this "economic downturn" it doesn't look hopeful.
This is really gutting news. Anna and I both loved The DFC, though on my wage at least, I could never commit to putting forward such a lump sum for a subscription (it was only available through the post, and not in stores) Thing about The DFC is, even though it was a "kid's comic" it was hugely inspiring to say the least, I love the idea of making all ages comics as there's no need for it to be dumbed down or morally right, kids like whackiness, dark stories and they're not stupid - they know when they're getting a watered down version. Anyway, I've been working on a submission for it since about the time of last year's Brum con, I went through a series of ideas like big brother robots but for the past month I've been scribbling and colouring new, toned down, Polar Opposites and they seemed so right. Oh well, now I'll never know, but they're not gone, this new found energy for them has made me rethink the idea of putting a weekly webcomic for them together. See how it goes.
Here's a typically bitter panel...
That's another thing, there's suddenly a lot of unemployed comic artists (to go along with the already huge number of unemployed comic artists) with completed strips and some that still haven't been seen. I have no idea what the rights situation is but there's a great opportunity for a kid's webcomic collective to stem from this. The web is infinite and in many ways the perfect way to introduce kids to sequential art. We should embrace The DFC idea and use it as a platform and not a burial ground.
As a bookseller, The DFC team came up trumps when they sent me 50 free copies for a manga event I put together (staring Emma Vieceli!) at my store last year. They seemed so up for the idea of getting kids into comics but also comics into bookstores, which was a refreshing response. It's such a shame that I probably won't get to offer something similar to that again. But look! They're reading and asking questions - we really did get a great response, though I guess none of them subscribed. Ho-hum.
Tom at Team DFC even sent over a subscription as a prize on the night and one of our regulars Ezra won it. Great stuff! It wasn't wasted either as the times I've chatted to him he was really enjoying the mag.
Say what you will but it really was a great idea and every con they were at, they were working bloody hard to get the books into parent's hands and the like. It's a sad day (again!) for the UK comic scene. Sad day, indeed.
This is really gutting news. Anna and I both loved The DFC, though on my wage at least, I could never commit to putting forward such a lump sum for a subscription (it was only available through the post, and not in stores) Thing about The DFC is, even though it was a "kid's comic" it was hugely inspiring to say the least, I love the idea of making all ages comics as there's no need for it to be dumbed down or morally right, kids like whackiness, dark stories and they're not stupid - they know when they're getting a watered down version. Anyway, I've been working on a submission for it since about the time of last year's Brum con, I went through a series of ideas like big brother robots but for the past month I've been scribbling and colouring new, toned down, Polar Opposites and they seemed so right. Oh well, now I'll never know, but they're not gone, this new found energy for them has made me rethink the idea of putting a weekly webcomic for them together. See how it goes.
Here's a typically bitter panel...
That's another thing, there's suddenly a lot of unemployed comic artists (to go along with the already huge number of unemployed comic artists) with completed strips and some that still haven't been seen. I have no idea what the rights situation is but there's a great opportunity for a kid's webcomic collective to stem from this. The web is infinite and in many ways the perfect way to introduce kids to sequential art. We should embrace The DFC idea and use it as a platform and not a burial ground.
As a bookseller, The DFC team came up trumps when they sent me 50 free copies for a manga event I put together (staring Emma Vieceli!) at my store last year. They seemed so up for the idea of getting kids into comics but also comics into bookstores, which was a refreshing response. It's such a shame that I probably won't get to offer something similar to that again. But look! They're reading and asking questions - we really did get a great response, though I guess none of them subscribed. Ho-hum.
Tom at Team DFC even sent over a subscription as a prize on the night and one of our regulars Ezra won it. Great stuff! It wasn't wasted either as the times I've chatted to him he was really enjoying the mag.
Say what you will but it really was a great idea and every con they were at, they were working bloody hard to get the books into parent's hands and the like. It's a sad day (again!) for the UK comic scene. Sad day, indeed.