 The decision, in 1969, to discontinue the American superhero strips was the real cause of the comic's demise.Other problems would contribute to the difficulties it subsequently faced – including strikes at its Printers – but the root cause of those problems was the falling circulation it suffered, which was a consequence of not having any unique elements to distinguish it from other IPC comics such as "Lion" and "Valiant".The key to understanding the situation is that the superheroes were the only element which genuinely had the necessary popularity to halt the decline in weekly sales caused by the competition from television.