Did nineties editorial really get it so wrong?

[Frank]

Most people don't read comics as adults; that was always the case, but in the late eighties the supply of new kid readers dried up. What happened to 2000ad happened to every original UK title (and US comics too).

*1987-1994: Burton/McKenzie (100k readers, down to 50k readers)
  1994-2001: Tomlinson/Bishop/Diggle  (50k readers, down to 25k readers)
  2001-2013: Matt Smith (25k readers, down to 15k readers)

Irrespective of swearing/nudity/violence, I think some of you are overestimating the robustness of the newsstand in 2016 ... Total magazine sales across the board have dropped, year on year.

According to John 'Crying' Freeman, 2017 was no better. All those wishing Tharg would take a serious crack at the kiddie market can get an idea of what that entails below*. Lego Dredd would be great, obviously:

http://downthetubes.net/?p=39706


* Licensed toy based strips and more puzzle/feature content than story pages. Everyone who has assiduously held on to their space spinners and 2000ad pencils would have to set aside the spare room to house their collection of Westinghouse water pistols and tubs of The Mess luminous goo.