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Crikey 16

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Post by alanultron5 Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:12 pm

Just to ask please - have I missed it? Or maybe its not out yet! I am looking foreward to Rab Smith's article very much!

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Post by tony ingram Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:41 pm

alanultron5 wrote:Just to ask please - have I missed it? Or maybe its not out yet! I am looking foreward to Rab Smith's article very much!
Not out yet Alan, an announcement will be made here as soon as it is. Won't be long now, though!
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Post by MLP* Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:31 pm

I'm waiting impatiently. Cool
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Post by GBF Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:34 pm

I'm checking the proofs for Crikey! 16 on Monday - so it should be with everyone the week after. Believe me - it's WELL worth waiting for!!!
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Post by Spiff_B Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:37 pm

Huzzah!

It's like a little birthday each time I get a new Crikey!
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Post by Hourglass Fri Aug 13, 2010 11:29 am

Really looking forward to it.
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Post by MLP* Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:41 pm

OMG the final issue ! Totally gutted ! What a Face

You kept that quiet.

I can only hope that "Maybe we'll see each other…sooner than you think!! " is a hint that a new title from the same team may be on the cards ?

Is it still possible to order issue # 16 from the website ? The ordering info seems to have gone with the subs link being disabled.
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Post by tony ingram Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:49 pm

MLP* wrote:OMG the final issue ! Totally gutted ! What a Face

You kept that quiet.

I can only hope that "Maybe we'll see each other…sooner than you think!! " is a hint that a new title from the same team may be on the cards ?

Is it still possible to order issue # 16 from the website ? The ordering info seems to have gone with the subs link being disabled.
Yes, it's still orderable-that shouldn't have happened.

No announcement was made because talks were still ongoing about the possibility of the mag being saved, right up till it was due to go to press. Unfortunately, nothing concrete materialized in time, but talks are continuing so the end of this volume may not necessarily mean the end of everything. It's too soon to say, really. But Glenn felt, quite rightly, that with the whole thing kind of in limbo at the moment, it was important to put out a proper final issue and refund the outstanding subs, rather than risk tailing off into oblivion with no explanation like a certain other Comics related mag with International distribution did...

In the meantime, the website and this forum will continue and you'll be notified of any developments as and if they, er, develop.
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Post by MLP* Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:18 pm

Fair enough. Hopefully Crikey can rise from the ashes again one day.

In the meantime my order for the final issue is in. Cool
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Post by tony ingram Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:43 pm

I don't think you'll be disappointed... Very Happy
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Post by alanultron5 Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:10 am

Yes! MPL, I too hope Crikey will be a `Phoenix` to enjoy again in the future! The news reminded me of those "Great News Chums" headlines you used to get in your favourite comic! Stating ithat was `merging`but in fact really that it was ending! Ah well!

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Post by tony ingram Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:24 am

alanultron5 wrote:Yes! MPL, I too hope Crikey will be a `Phoenix` to enjoy again in the future! The news reminded me of those "Great News Chums" headlines you used to get in your favourite comic! Stating ithat was `merging`but in fact really that it was ending! Ah well!
I'd really like to see a Best of...collection, at least, but someone else will need to fund it-unless that lottery win comes up!
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Post by Spiff_B Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:18 pm

Just heard about the end of Crikey. A very sad day.
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Post by MLP* Sat Aug 28, 2010 7:57 am

Enjoyed the Rogue Trooper article. I gave up on 2000ad for a while in the 90s so I missed most of the Friday era. Based on the article it seems I didn't miss much ! They rebooted the whole thing (not very well in my opinion, The War Machine was nowhere near as much fun as the original Rogue) before trying to retrofit elements from the original version that had been dropped (eg the biochips) before finally trying to retcon both versions into a single continuity. What a Face

I really enjoyed the back to basics version of Rogue they did a few years back. Wonderful black and white artwork and good stories by Rennie (IIRC). Wish they had carried on with it as I really enjoyed it, much more so than the various Rogue spin off like the 86ers, which always seem to miss the appeal of the original for me.

Also enjoyed the Stingray article. I've been collecting the Century 21 reprint books and they are terrific. The description of some of the stories as being "missing" or "incomplete" is a touch confusing. Although some of the original artwork is missing the reprints have used scans from the comic itself, something which is common in reprints of archive comics material.

The Action Force article brought back memories. It's a world away from the original Battle isn't it ? My memories are of the Marvel version which was basically a different toy line with different characters (ie GI Joe rebranded !)

Regarding the Metal Mickey article, the owner of the robot might have been a bit pernickety but actually looking at the page of reprinted artwork I don't think we missed anything too special. It's not that great.

The New Adventures of Hitler. Never heard of this one before. I always like Yeowell's artwork. I suspect they wouldn't have run into such problems if they hadn't picked such a glib title for it.

Poor Keyhole Kate on page 35. The old lady encouraging her to look through the keyhole and then laughing as she's punched in the face !
Shocked Almost as bad as an old lady putting a cat in the bin !
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Post by tony ingram Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:15 am

I'm generally in agreement about Friday, but I do wish they'd at least conclude the storyline. Did he ever get out of that black hole,I wonder?
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Post by alanultron5 Sat Aug 28, 2010 10:49 am

Even in 1965 I could never understand the `Keyhole Kate` strip as on our estate it was `Yale` locks all around! How could the character work these days? Sometimes a character ./ Subject is too defined by the time it first appeared and can't be truly `updated` E.G the "Nigger Chimney Sweeps" from the first Dandy Moster comic! You could never bring them back, I feel!

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Post by tony ingram Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:39 am

Or indeed Sparky (the title character himself, not the title) or Captain Bungle.
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Post by MLP* Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:03 pm

alanultron5 wrote: E.G the "Nigger Chimney Sweeps" from the first Dandy Moster comic! You could never bring them back, I feel!

ISTR a minor tabloid scandal over racism when that Annual got reprinted a few years back.

I don't think they reprinted any more Annuals after that so it obviously didn't go down very well.
Indeed I noticed that in the new Oor Wullie / The Broons vintage collection that's just come out there's a disclaimer stating that some of the strips have had to be edited. So possibly someone at DCT has been stung by the criticism ?

tony ingram wrote:Or indeed Sparky (the title character himself, not the title) or Captain Bungle.

The Sparky People has been one of my least favourite things in Classics From The Comics.
I imagine it worked OK in the original title but taken out of context now it just seems a bit odd.
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Post by tony ingram Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:06 pm

Ridiculous, if you ask me. DCT should have stuck to their guns-those books are presented as effectively 'historical documents', aimed at the collector market rather than at kids, so why try to airbrush out the bits of history you don't like?
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Post by alanultron5 Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:24 pm

If DCT had put a note with books stating `sensitive` material to todays audience-maybe less bother! But as Ron Atkinson can testify- today; the "N" word does cause reaction in some circles!

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Post by alanultron5 Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:25 pm

I will do a little review of No 16 on Tuesday. Have to dash off now-though!

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Post by shaqui Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:38 pm

Still no sign of my copy yet! Sad
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Post by tony ingram Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:48 pm

shaqui wrote:Still no sign of my copy yet! Sad
I there's something going on with our post, here (as in, here where I am). Things seem to be going missing, and I double checked your address. I'll see if Glenn can send you one direct from his end.
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Post by shaqui Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:58 pm

tony ingram wrote:
shaqui wrote:Still no sign of my copy yet! Sad
I there's something going on with our post, here (as in, here where I am). Things seem to be going missing, and I double checked your address. I'll see if Glenn can send you one direct from his end.

Is anyone else not getting their copies? A magazine I ordered from eBay last week, after I confirmed my address to you, turned up this morning so I'm still getting post...
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Post by tony ingram Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:07 pm

shaqui wrote:
tony ingram wrote:
shaqui wrote:Still no sign of my copy yet! Sad
I there's something going on with our post, here (as in, here where I am). Things seem to be going missing, and I double checked your address. I'll see if Glenn can send you one direct from his end.

Is anyone else not getting their copies? A magazine I ordered from eBay last week, after I confirmed my address to you, turned up this morning so I'm still getting post...
It's at my end-stuff I've ordered isn't turning up, either. And Alanultron's copy reached him about a week and a half after I sent it.
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Post by shaqui Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:13 pm

MLP* wrote:Regarding the Metal Mickey article, the owner of the robot might have been a bit pernickety but actually looking at the page of reprinted artwork I don't think we missed anything too special. It's not that great.

It depends if you're a fan of Bill Titcombe's art or not. Most, even fans of 'Look-in', don't really appreciate his style. I'm not a big fan of the 'traditional' comic style manifest in titles like 'Beano' or 'Dandy' but it's all part of the mix.

I can appreciate Bill Titcombe did get likenesses pretty well, and have a fondness for his 'Look-in' material. His colour work for it's usurper 'Fast Forward' was in colour and even better.

As for the 'Metal Mickey' strip, I tried to present both sides of the story, for good or bad - the show was popular (though that doesn't always equal good) and would no doubt have continued 'Look-in's policy of what was top of the trends...

Cool
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Post by alanultron5 Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:54 pm

Best thing for me in No 16 was Rab Smith's "Legend of I. Spy" I had seen Rab's early draft of it, but nice to see it `proper` so to speak!

I did wonder why so many captions were from the 1975 Sparky book-re Brian Walkers art when Rab was only covering the Les Barton period of which is is such a fan of!?

Rab told me he didn't realise the article would run six pages in Crikey (My stuff would fill three volumes!!) and hadn't provided enough photo-copies, hence Tony & Glenn having to resort to Sparky book 1975! Still, lovely to see the article!

The one thing in No 16 I didn't rwad much of was the "Bojangles" (I think I got that wrong) article! Just not for me!

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Post by tony ingram Wed Sep 01, 2010 1:58 pm

Bojeffries, perchance? You weren't a Warrior fan as I recall, Alan, were you? Very Happy
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Post by GBF Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:35 pm

Don't worry - the tide will turn. All this PC crap is just that - Crap. But look at our recent history...didn't Blair apologise because we bombed Dresden? Sure, no-one should go around bombing anybody, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that a certain 'dictator' bombed the shit out of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield, London and other places before we got anywhere near Dresden. And, before Lucy reminds me that "two wrongs don't make a right" - I don't hear the German government apolgise for all those atrocities...but then, we fought the NAZIS not Germans didn't we... Hmmm- where's Captain Hurricane when you need him??!! What a Face
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Post by GBF Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:36 pm

The Post Master General has just been on the phone and asked me "Where the f*ck is Ipswich?". Does that answer your question Tony?? Evil or Very Mad
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Post by tony ingram Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:06 pm

GBF wrote:The Post Master General has just been on the phone and asked me "Where the f*ck is Ipswich?". Does that answer your question Tony?? Evil or Very Mad
Unfortunately, he's not alone in this. Most of the country seems a bit baffled as to the precise location of East Anglia...
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Post by GBF Wed Sep 01, 2010 6:19 pm

That's because

1): We don't even know where Anglia is never mind 'east'.

and

2): We don't care... Razz
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Post by shaqui Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:51 am

Still hasn't arrived... Sad
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Post by GBF Sat Sep 04, 2010 11:32 am

Posted yesterday - if its not arrived today or Monday you'll need need to contact your PO - that's three issues sent to you now...
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Post by alanultron5 Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:37 pm

Can I ask Tony? Did Issue 15 suffer a big downturn in sales?

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Post by tony ingram Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:43 pm

alanultron5 wrote:Can I ask Tony? Did Issue 15 suffer a big downturn in sales?
It was more a cumulative thing rather than a sudden downward spike.
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Post by alanultron5 Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:55 pm

I asked, as I have to admit finding the cover rather off-putting! I'm probably miles out, but I pondered if `casual` buyers who would take a chance at other Crikey! issues-who I thought -mostly-had very appealing covers- might have found No 15's a but `much` Only speculation from me! I can only speak for myself-maybe no one else was bothered by it in the least!

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Post by tony ingram Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:58 pm

alanultron5 wrote:I asked, as I have to admit finding the cover rather off-putting! I'm probably miles out, but I pondered if `casual` buyers who would take a chance at other Crikey! issues-who I thought -mostly-had very appealing covers- might have found No 15's a but `much` Only speculation from me! I can only speak for myself-maybe no one else was bothered by it in the least!
I don't think we got a single negative comment about the cover, in fact, though it was very different to the previous ones.
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Post by GBF Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:02 pm

Indeed - as Tony says we didn't get one negative response for the cover of Crikey! 15. In fact - it was one of the best received and had nothing to do with the untimely demise of the The Great British Comics Magazine.
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Post by tony ingram Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:05 pm

GBF wrote:Indeed - as Tony says we didn't get one negative response for the cover of Crikey! 15. In fact - it was one of the best received and had nothing to do with the untimely demise of the The Great British Comics Magazine.
I rather liked it-even though it didn't have the background montage which I always loved.... Very Happy
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Post by MLP* Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:28 pm

alanultron5 wrote:I asked, as I have to admit finding the cover rather off-putting! I'm probably miles out, but I pondered if `casual` buyers who would take a chance at other Crikey! issues-who I thought -mostly-had very appealing covers- might have found No 15's a but `much` Only speculation from me! I can only speak for myself-maybe no one else was bothered by it in the least!

John Hicklenton 's art was always a bit "Marmite".
I wasn't a fan of it myself but I can see why a tribute issue was appropriate.

Maybe the Dalek cover would have picked up a few casual purchasers what with Doctor Who's high profile at the moment.
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Post by tony ingram Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:54 pm

MLP* wrote:
alanultron5 wrote:I asked, as I have to admit finding the cover rather off-putting! I'm probably miles out, but I pondered if `casual` buyers who would take a chance at other Crikey! issues-who I thought -mostly-had very appealing covers- might have found No 15's a but `much` Only speculation from me! I can only speak for myself-maybe no one else was bothered by it in the least!

John Hicklenton 's art was always a bit "Marmite".
I wasn't a fan of it myself but I can see why a tribute issue was appropriate.

Maybe the Dalek cover would have picked up a few casual purchasers what with Doctor Who's high profile at the moment.
It probably would, but the Dalek article would still have been squeezed out by the two tributes, which would have made it pointless anyway.
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Post by GBF Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:16 pm

Crikey!'s demise had nothing to do with covers, Daleks or anything else. Most people 'out there' either don't see or understand the bigger picture. It had to do with sales and business. Crikey!, for all its following, didn't sell enough copies and was beginning to cost me money. If I could have continued I would have - but I'm not going to lose money over it - especially when I can't afford to!
Simple as that.
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Post by shaqui Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:39 pm

GBF wrote:Posted yesterday - if its not arrived today or Monday you'll need need to contact your PO - that's three issues sent to you now...

The one posted Friday has now arrived.
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Post by alanultron5 Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:49 pm

It looks then as if there will always be an uphill struggle for any magazines devoted to the Memory of UK comics! Even the regular Beano & Dandy are struggling these days!

While afficionados of this site and Comics UK will buy such, there needs to be inroads into what I suppose you'd call the "Average Punter" territory! It does seem like an unsurmountable problem to me! Crikey did very well to reach 16 issues with this in mind.

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Post by kembel Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:38 pm

Ahh, but how to reach the average punter???

I thought Crikey was, if I'm honest, quite a brilliant little mag but it was 'invisible' to a lot of people. Indeed, the first I heard about it was issue three and it didn't really grab my attention until issue nine, which is when i started actually buying the thing. I'm really sad to see it go.

I still think there is a market for a UK comics nostalga mag aimed at kids who grew up in the 60's/70's/80's. But it would have to 'bring in' more of these 'average punters', at least at the beginning.

I wonder what the initial outlay and procedure is for starting up a mag like this?
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Post by GBF Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:29 pm

Crikey! was, indeed, invisible (except for the few hard core fans and subscribers) - that's why I took the decision to put it into Borders. Pay attention to this and you'll understand why I stopped the mag:

It cost me £2000 - TWO THOUSAND POUNDS - just to have Borders put it on their shelves. Then, it had to be in colour. And then it needed to be doubled in size (we went to EIGHTY FOUR pages). This meant me producing MORE pages for printing (never mind Tony et al writing articles and sourcing scans for articles, sending them over the wire to me, me designing the pages blah, blah...). Then it had be at least bi-monthly. Then, the distributor wanted a certain guaranteed print run to distribute it - so we went to the minimum we could: 5000. The cost of printing 5000 was £3000 PER issue. So - issue #11 cost me £5000 before ONE was sold. Initial feedback was reasonable, but full sales for #11 wouldn't be in until #12 was on the shelf - and paid for (each issue knocks the other one off the shelf and sales are not counted until this happens, or the mag is canceled). Sales of #12 we better than #11. The mag was going somewhere (although we STILL couldn't get advertising because it was perceived as a 'fan-zine'. FP have never touched it and Diamond wouldn't put it into the US either. The distributor I used WOULD put it into the US...but, guess what? They would want more money before they did!). Then, after all the work, meetings (I had to go to Lincoln THREE times to secure the deal and get my results. Manchester to Lincoln takes me three hours each way), phone calls, time and money spent, Borders pulled the plug and the lot went down the tubes - the distributor got his money, the printer got his money, Borders got their money. I lost most of my money.
Please understand that while you're all lamenting Crikey!'s demise and think I've mistreated you by stopping publication, NONE of you have felt it the way I have...apart from the heartache of Crikey! actually going, it cost me £8000 to put it into the mainstream. And that has all gone now. Gone. Think of this when you lot out there decide to produce a magazine like Crikey!. It takes a LOT of time, MONEY and EFFORT to produce.
Yes - the market IS there (which is why we did it) but I can only wish you good luck!
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Post by tony ingram Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:30 pm

And that, by the way, doesn't even include the cost of storing the unsold back issues. Nor does it reflect the man hours that went into producing each issue. Had sales continued to rise as they were when #12 came out, it could well have succeeded, but losing that high street distribution basically killed the magazine, and having lost money on the Borders fiasco, there was no chance of raising the cash to get it into another chain of stores. Producing a magazine is not the most expensive part-getting it onto shelves, however, is.
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Post by kembel Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:02 pm

I don't speak for anyone else, of course, but from a personal point of view I certainly don't feel 'mistreated' by the demise of the mag. No one, I'm sure doubts the effort, sweat and, yes as is now clear, the huge financial burden that went into the whole endevour during its lifetime. Again, personally, I do feel it's OK to lament the passing of this fine mag as for me, it was a pleasure to read it. But I admit the only investment I've made into it is an emotional one.

I find it a shame that a mag with the premise and then execution of Crikey can fold whereas more mainstream crap like 'Comic Heroes' although aimed at a 'slightly' different market, can make it onto the shelves of WHS with ease. Do you guys really think a market is there? I'm afraid the finances are beyond me, I admit, but a collective of like minded individuals sharing the (financial and otherwise) burdens could get something off the ground, surely?
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Post by tony ingram Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:13 pm

They undoubtedly could-if such a group existed and had the means to invest sufficient money to get the maazine off the ground and into somewhere like Smiths (which would cost a lot more than getting into Borders, by the way). Unfortunately, nobody came forward with any such investment. Personally, I do still feel the market could support a mag like Crikey!, but only if it had the right level of distribution. It would need to be in WH Smith.
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