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Random House has confirmed that the children's comic, The DFC, will close with the last issue published this week on 27th March, despite a subscriber group wanting to buy the magazine.
A spokeswoman for the publisher pointed to "some interest" from potential buyers and did not rule out a future for the comic but said this week's copy would be the last one supported by Random House. It said it had not had a firm offer from the subscriber group.
The DFC launched in May last year and news of its likely closure sparked disappointed responses from users at The Bookseller website. M Ashmole, eight years, wrote: "I think that the DFC shouldn't be cancelled because it's a brilliant comic and its the only one I get." A website, http://savethedfc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="savethedfc.blogspot.com">savethedfc.blogspot.com, was launched a week ago with the aim of raising funds to stage a 'subscriber' buy-out of the magazine.
The comic has also been gaining support in the libraries and schools market. Heather Noble in Wales commented on the website: "This is a great shame. I have bought subscriptions for all our 16 full time libraries and we've been using it to promote the Read a Million Words in Wales initiative to encourage boys' reading."
The Random House spokeswoman added: "There can be no successes without taking risks but the economic conditions in 2008 / 09 were too tough for a slow build."