Futurama comics (uk) go monthly

[on:]

Now futurama is coming out monthly and will be dropping to £1.75 which is great news for any comic lovers of futurama.
I myself have sent an email to the company that publish the uk edition of futurama and i asked them

why is it that the uk editons aren't the same release numbers as they are in America

I also sent in one of my pictures of Fry with a cold so that they will be allowed to print it.

Issue 14 is now out in the u.k, it was released on thursday 18th of november.
I read issue 14 and i thought that it was even better than 13 because it was vrey exciting and well it was just great to read and it came with a free poster and the good news that i just told you of, basically Fry and Zoidberg are forced to join a circus where Fry meets a girlfriend who has a beard and Bender becomes the unhuman cannanball star.

I won't give anything away because it would spoil the ending but i really liked this issue because of it's bright cover and it's story.

Any thoughts

[Reply #1 on:]

Yes!!! Thanks for that.

Cheaper comics, monthly comics, this shows they are selling well.

Also, didn't the simpsons comics get made more frequently when they became very popular in the UK?

I know why the release numbers are different, the UK marketing team knows its stuff and fits in the comics with popular events, like when they released the bendernator comic on the same week when 'rise of the machines' hit the cinemas.

[Reply #2 on:]

oh i get it now, but they put it back becasue they got a lot of mail saying that they should release it monthly.
i can't wait till they release #15 because my fan stuff will be in it maybe and i will open a new thread for the new issue which by the way is being released on thursday the 13th of january and after that release they will drop in price and come monthly

[Reply #3 on:]

Another reason for the Issue numbers being wrong here is because here they included the Futurama/Simpsons Crossover's as part of the Futurama Comics run. As where in the US they were seperate issues, sideprojects which didn't contribute the overall Issue totals...

[Reply #4 on:]

 

Originally posted by Zmithy:
Cheaper comics, monthly comics, this shows they are selling well.

While the change to monthly comics are an indication the sale numbers are good, the price drop might not be. Usually pricecuts are an indication of one of two things: a) the sale isn't as good as predicted and a change of price will help this or b) something new and better be released soon.

As a fellow PEELer, I'm happy about the pricecuts for our fellow UKians. As Danish fan I don't care, since Danish prices aren't connected with British prices, even though they're imports from UK (go figure!).

[Reply #5 on:]

i also sent the publishers the address of peel

[Reply #6 on:]

Would be a good idea... however, lately, I've been finding it hard to get the Futurama Comics now... There are tons of Simpsons Comics and Best of Simpsons... and Bart Simpson Comics when they are in however no Futurama Comics...

[Reply #7 on:]

that's why i have to subscribe to receive them

[Reply #8 on:]

I got the UK Issue #14 today, and at the back it also says Countdown to the Futurama/Simpsons Crossover sequals! Hmmm, I wonder if that means they'll publish them here in Synchronization with the US...

[Reply #9 on:]

it would be qiute a while away though, i saw that to and i wasn't to excited because
a) i haven't read the first crossover but i want to
b) We'll have to wait until it says when it will be released

[Reply #10 on:]

Whilst this is good news, there is something that does concern me.

So far the UK have had 14 issues, which are US issues 1-12 and the 2-part crossover. There are currently 7 US comics (13-19) that have not been published as UK comics.

Those 7 comics will be able to take us to July 2005. Assume that 4 US comics will be published in 2005 as well, and that will take us to November 2005.

Then what? If the US comics continue being published every 3 months or so as they are now, will the UK comics then have to go every 3 months then because they will have "caught up" with the US?

Hopefully though this move will make Bongo publish the comics more often, like they did with Simpsons Comics when that went monthly in the UK.

[Reply #11 on:]

That's a good point, and I must admit it crossed my mind too. If the Comics in the US don't come out any faster again, it hardly seems worth bothering to release them faster over here...

We were on a Comic every 2 months, whilst the US was every 3 months, so we would have caught them up anyway. With a Comic per month here now, we'll just catch up faster, then have 3 months gaps like the US. Basically now we'll have fast release followed by slow release, instead of constant steady release like we had before...

[Reply #12 on:]

They are doing another sequel.. it was said on a site somewhere... this'll be realeased over here as part of two or maybe more of the issues. So it sould takes us through to January/Febuary 2006.

[Reply #13 on:]

OK, I just had a flick through the new comic in WH Smith, it looks like they're doing some weird shit with the comics over here in the UK.

The latest issue, 'the bender you say?' is split over 2 issues, with the first part out now, and the concluding part out next month.

The comic is still the same size, its just padded out with extra adverts, and a huge letters section.

Now for the best news... Because there are 2 seperate issues, there is new* cover art for the second part! Its previewed in the back, and looks great.

*Unless its been ripped from an old calendar, I haven't seen inside those. I'll get a scan of it up soon.

[Reply #14 on:]

This is weird indeed, Hmmm. So that's why it's cheaper now, and that's how they can do them monthly without running out of US Comics to print, those cheaky bastards...

[Reply #15 on:]

I must admit, it's quite a good idea! It allows you Americans more time to print more comics so we don't catch up as quickly, plus it will give us exclusive covers! :-D

I'm glad the Letters page etc are now extended, they are my favourite parts of the UK comics since they are the "exclusive to the UK" bit of the comic (don't get me wrong, I love the strips too, but having already read them in the US comics, I usually read the "new" bits of the UK comics first!).

Of course in an ideal world Bongo would publish the comics monthly like with Simpsons Comics and each comic would be published in the US and UK at the same time. But a man can dream..... :-)

[Reply #16 on:]

(I searched for UK Comics, this was the most relevant thread)

Annoyingly, they've sliced Six Characters In Search Of A Story in half - I'd read in another thread that this should all be read together. And, according to Simpsons Comics (who has a Futurama character bio every issue, the latest was Cubert), #22 will feature a saga featuring Cubert, so the Time Bender Trilogy will probably start in #22.

The cover of the next issue is Leela naked in a tube (with metal rings covering her), whilst Farnsy stands by a control panel and Fry, Bender, Amy, Hermes, Zoidberg and Scruffy wait impatiently.

So ...
UK #18 is the first half of US #14
UK #19 is the second hald of US #14
UK #20 will probably be the first half of US #15
UK #21 will probably be the second half of US #15
UK #22 will be the first of four Time Bender Trilogy comics.

I hope the Trilogy isn't cut in half, otherwise it would take 8 issues to get through.

[Reply #17 on:]

bump


This is the cover I was speaking about, they really made the comic really short in this part, part one ended on the page spread of all the disaster. Part two has 9 pages of comic, which is really, really annoying.

[Reply #18 on:]

Dear lord I wish they'd stop ripping off Calendar images...

[Reply #19 on:]

What the hell is going *on* in that image, anyway? o_o

[Reply #20 on:]

Issue 20 out today, Space Boy The Movie, split in two again. Issue 21's cover I suppose is another calendar image, it's an X-Men parody, kind of like the comic (UK 10, US 8). Destructor holds Amy and Leela, who is shooting a laser from her eye. Benderine scratches Destructor, Momneto flies besides Prof's head, the real Prof is in a force field bubble with Fry. Hermes just hovers there and Zoidberg is in a transport tube taking a photo. Sorry for the long droning description.

[Reply #21 on:]

Nothing wrong with ripping off old Calendar images IMO - a lot of fans might not have seen them before (I haven't, for example) and they do give the comics some individuality compared to the US ones, sort of "British exclusive covers"! 

I quite like them. 

[Reply #22 on:]

why the hell dont they just release the full comics?
I see no reason at all splitting a normal comic into two...weird
is that how its done in UK? cause its fucking nuts for the US.

[Reply #23 on:]

As someone from the UK, I can only agree it's nuts...

[Reply #24 on:]

I actually liked the cover of #19, when I see it as a Calender Art. Also the same with #17, the one with Fry with one eye etc... meh they really are running out of hope on the whole Futurama Comics.

I can't remember if I posted this in the past, but the shop who used to sell the Futurama Comics, WHSmiths, stopped getting them in after #11 - 12. Which was really annoying, I managed to find a little shop in Romford that sell them but still... meh WHSmiths is closing down now anyways.

[Reply #25 on:]

Is this a calendar art or not? I looked on Collectorama (is it called that) at the back of calendars and couldn't find it...

[Reply #26 on:]

WHY DO THEY ALL HAVE TO BE IN 2 PARTS!   

[Reply #27 on:]

Because otherwise we'd run out of comics!   

The problem is the US comics are published so infrequently now (only 4 per year) that if we stopped splitting them in half we'd soon catch up. By splitting them it means that the UK comics will have a bit more time before catching up, and allows the US series to publish a few more.

It also allows more letters etc per month, and new covers for the Part 2s (I know they are calendar images, but still, I quite like them). In an ideal world, Bongo would publish 12/13 comics per year, one per month/4 weeks, in both US and UK, but sadly I doubt that's gonna happen.   

[Reply #28 on:]

 

Originally posted by TheMutantLeela:


Is this a calendar art or not? I looked on Collectorama (is it called that) at the back of calendars and couldn't find it...

Yes, that is calendar art.  I do not believe any new artwork is being done for the split comics.  I believe Titan is trying to up the profile of Futurama Comics by having it run on a monthly basis rather than the bi-monthly shcedule it has been on.
RM

[Reply #29 on:]

 

Originally posted by MartyMcFly:
Because otherwise we'd run out of comics!   

The problem is the US comics are published so infrequently now (only 4 per year) that if we stopped splitting them in half we'd soon catch up. By splitting them it means that the UK comics will have a bit more time before catching up, and allows the US series to publish a few more.

The actual problem is they went monthly. If they'd have stuck to bi-monthly then they wouldn't have to resort to chopping issues in half. They lost my custom that's for sure...

[Reply #30 on:]

I got my issue #21 today (english version). I can't wait to read through it!

[Reply #31 on:]

Have you subscribed? Cos I have and I havent got my Issue 21 yet

[Reply #32 on:]

 

Originally posted by Otis P Jivefunk:
 The actual problem is they went monthly. If they'd have stuck to bi-monthly then they wouldn't have to resort to chopping issues in half. They lost my custom that's for sure...

Making the comic monthly and splitting the strips in half doesn't bother me.  I know it's not particularly good value for money, but I hated those two month waits.

What DOES piss me off is this business of having Simpsons/Futurama crossovers where you also have to get an issue of Simpsons comics to have the full comic/poster/whatever.

[Reply #33 on:]

 

Originally posted by PCC Fred:
  I know it's not particularly good value for money.

Too right. It's a con. Only the die-hard fans who post on internet messageboards know that which is why it works. Everyone else gets ripped off thinking they're getting more and more often, when really they're paying more for something which is chopped in half and recycles old Calendar artwork. I'm not having it...

[Reply #34 on:]

 

Originally posted by Davey:
Have you subscribed? Cos I have and I havent got my Issue 21 yet

Phone up, see what happens

[Reply #35 on:]

No I got it but my dad hidden it

[Reply #36 on:]

Why?

[Reply #37 on:]

Kickin' It Old School is split into two parts - really hope Time Bender Trilogy doesn't become a Hexilogy or whatever you would call a six-parter.

Issue 23's cover is ...

[Reply #38 on:]

I was wondering when they'd start using the calender images in the style of a comic book front cover as actual comic book front covers...

Looks really neat, I might start buying them again since I don't have the 2003 calendar.

[Reply #39 on:]

It's not actually in that style completely - the "Amy and Leela's Summer Spectacle' is gone, as has the price, date, Bender logo, issue number and the "Artsy series" box, so it is just the picture and speech.