1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN ISSUE 5 (IPC)

From 1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN bows out with its final offering... You Are Ronald Reagan! Yes indeed.

As I've said before, I put DICEMAN's failure down to the whopping cover price (way above the weekly or IPC's holiday specials), sporadic scheduling (although the issues were given hefty promotion in 2000AD itself which did at least alert readers thst the new issue was due) and some random racking by newsagents which saw it flip-flop between the bottom shelf and buried with the hobby magazines. These were the days before comics would legitimately make a land grab for space on the upper shelves.

Nevertheless, it was a bold experiment which did - at the very least - explore the different ways Tharg's growing stash of intellectual property could be deployed in different creative ways.

Anyone for You Are Donald Trump?

1986: 2000AD'S DICE MAN ISSUE 4 (IPC)

From 1986: the fourth issue of IPC's comics/ Fighting Fantasy hybrid 2000AD'S DICEMAN.

This time the line-up was Slaine and the eponymous Dice Man, both scripted by Pat Mills.

Cover by Brendan McCarthy.

1986: 2000AD'S DICEMAN ISSUE 3 (IPC)

From 1986: the third issue of the glossy spin-off 2000AD'S DICEMAN, Pat Mill's bold experiment to meld Tharg's inventory of established characters (and new creations like Diceman himself, on the left) with the Fighting Fantasy boom.

1986: 2000AD'S DICEMAN ISSUE 2 (IPC)

From 1986: the second issue of 2000AD's DICEMAN, Tharg's short-lived  venture into the world(s) of Choose Your Own Adventure books and Role Playing Games.

This issue actually gets around to including the eponymous hero, created by Pat Mills and Graham Manley. Rick Fortune is a 1930s Private Detective with psionic powers.

Slaine (Mills and Williams) and the ABC Warriors (Mills and Dillon) also appear.

1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN ISSUE 1 (IPC)

From 1986: the first of five issues (all of which I'll post in the upcoming days) of 2000AD's DICEMAN from IPC.

This was an attempt by comics innovator Pat Mills to fuse 2000AD's bankable roster of characters with the burgeoning worlds of Fighting Fantasy/ Choose Your Own Adventure and Role Playing Games.

Creatively the concept worked (although it must have been a brain strainer to plot and plan everything) but some odd decisions hampered its chances of success. The cover price, compared with that of a normal weekly, was whopping and it bought you heavy paper stock and more pages but still didn't drag IPC into the age of colour interiors.

Newsagents also seemed unsure ahst to do with these periodically published specials. It was a bit pricy for a comic which meant some didn't rack it in its natural home next to the weekly. Some placed it next to WARLOCK and the games/ hobbies mags... but Tharg's loyal and lapsed readers may not have thought to adjust their eye line to a different part of the display.

And this cover is stunning... but doesn't do much to attract the Tharg followers. Maybe that was the idea. Maybe IPC figured the extensive advertising in the weeklies (which I've posted before) would ensure buy-in from that crowd and the more ambiguous design was intended to capture the attention of older would-be readers. Even so, I think Judge Dress or Slaine might have drummed up a bit more interest.

1986: DICEMAN ISSUE 3 HOUSE AD (IPC)

Once again, EAGLE had to surrender the centre pages of the issue cover-dated 7 June 1986 in deference to the greater good of the IPC Youth Group.  This time: another four-page plug for the third issue of glossy 2000AD Role Playing spin-off DICEMAN.

The line-up this time was - again - the mix of the familiar (Rogue Trooper and Torquemada) and the new (the not-at-all inspired by Indiana Jones Rick Fortune).

Roll your dice....

1986: 2000AD'S DICEMAN ISSUE 2 HOUSE AD (IPC)

Early April 1986 also saw the second issue of Tharg's glossy (and pricy!) Role Playing/ Fighting Fantasy-inspired spin-off DICEMAN hit newsagents.

IPC made the most of their size and synergy to give it the biggest plug possible (short of spending money externally) by devoting the four centre-pages of EAGLE (and - presumably - other weeklies, although I've not checked) to an extended plug for the second "special".

This appeared in the issue cover-dated 5 April 1986.

1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN LAUNCH AD (IPC)

New year: New launch.  And, to give IPC their dues, they were really pushing the boat out to make sure new additions to the line had the best possible chance of success amongst their existing readership.

2000AD's DICEMAN was an innovative attempt to capitalise on the success of Fighting Fantasy stylee Choose-Your-Own-Adventure fare and Role Playing Games by transferring the format to comic strips.

It was a nice idea and nicely executed, although some of the pencil-paper-dice shenanigans were probably overly complicated for thrill seekers who just wanted something to read on the loo.

This four-page centre-spread advert, published in IPC's weeklies dated 25 January 1986, billed it as a "fantasy game special" but the magazine was actually ongoing, albeit dependent on the sales of the last issue before the next would formally be announced.  Five issues appeared, roughly bi-monthly, between January and October before the idea was quietly dropped.

The titular Diceman, created by Pat Mills, didn't surface until the second issue.  Other featured characters throughout the run included Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Slaine, the A.B.C Warriors, Torquemada (of Nemesis fame) and - errr - President Reagan.

What killed Diceman?  Possibly the concept - and its fan base - wasn't sustainable.  The erratic publication schedule almost certainly didn't help build much loyalty with readers or the news trade.  But I think it was the cover price that killed it.  £1.45 was a hefty bit of coinage compared with 24p for an IPC weekly or 30p for a (full colour) Marvel UK comic.  OK, the format was much slicker (glossy paper throughout, albeit with b&w interiors), it boasted an increased page count and it took longer to read (and - no doubt - longer to plan and produce) but it cost more than a Summer special.  I remember getting a copy of the first issue but I didn't make it a regular buy because - even if I could find it - it wasn't impulse-purchase friendly.