Sadly, the British children’s comic, The DFC, published its final issue last week. The DFC was critically well-received, for innovation in both its content - the comic featured a wide variety of strips by many of Britain’s best cartoonists - and for its ad-free, subscription-based format. However, David Fickling Books (an imprint of Random House), which published The DFC, called time on the comic less than a year after its launch.However, far from a demoralising defeat, comics creators blame the demise of The DFC merely on bad timing and and see it as an inspiration for British comics.
There was a short-lived campaign for a subscriber buy-out of the comic. That was always going to be a difficult sell, given the youth of the publication, but it shows the devotion that the comic engendered and the appetite for a high-quality comic magazine.
On the creative front, former-DFC contributors have rallied together to keep the spirit of the publication alive and (one hopes) to raise the profile of British comics. They have begun a new web-comic Huzzah! (a comic version of exquisite corpse), which showcases their talents.
On other fronts, the number of British comics conventions around the country, the recent anthology of British indie comics from Polish publisher, Polygo Books, and the continued success of acclaimed British comics magazine Crikey!, show the general rude health of British comics.
Huzzah, indeed!
