British comics

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Cover to 27 December 1884 edition of Ally Sloper's Half Holiday

A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom which contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper. British comics are typically aimed at children, and are published weekly, although some are also published on a fortnightly or monthly schedule.

Overview

British comics now typically differ from the American comic book in a variety of respects. Although historically they shared the same format size, based on a sheet of imperial paper folded in half, British comics have moved away from this size, with the Beano and The Dandy the last to adopt a standard magazine size in the late 1980s. Until this point, the British comic was also usually printed on newsprint, with black or a dark red used as the dark colour and the four colour process used on the cover. The Beano and The Dandy both switched to an all colour format in 1993.

File:BeanoJan6-1940.jpg

Cover to The Beano, January 6 1940 edition

Although originally aimed at the semi-literate, working class, the comic eventually came to be seen as childish, and hence were marketed towards children. In today's market in Britain comics intended for teenagers or adults are considered to be more or less stretching the medium beyond its primary audience.

Historically, stories were of one or two pages in length, although they can now last longer and continue over a number of issues and period of time.

Whilst some comics contain only strips, other publications have had a slightly different focus, providing readers with articles about, and photographs of, pop stars and television/film actors, plus more general articles about teenage life, whilst throwing in a few comic strips for good measure.

Since the 1950s, it has been traditional that the most popular comics have annuals, usually published just in time for Christmas, and summer special editions.

In British comics history there are some extremely long-running publications such as The Beano and The Dandy published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, a newspaper company based in Dundee, Scotland. The Dandy began in 1937 and The Beano in 1938. They are both still going today. The Boys' Own Paper lasted from 1879 to 1967.

The intellectual span of British comics over the years has stretched all the way from the cheerfully moronic obscenities of Viz (adult) to the political awareness of Crisis (adolescent to adult) and the sound educational values of Look and Learn (children's).

There has also been a continuous tradition of black and white comics, published in a smaller page size format, many of them war titles like Air Ace inspiring youngsters with tales of the exploits of the army, navy and RAF mainly in the two world wars, also some romance titles and some westerns in this format.

History

19th Century

In the 19th century, story papers, also known as "penny dreadfuls", served as entertainment for British children. Comic strips began to emerge slowly. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday, (1884), is reputed to be the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character, and the first British comic as would be recognised today.

In 1890 two more comic magazines debuted to the British public, Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips, both published by Amalgamated Press. These magazines notoriously republished British and American material, previously published in newspapers and magazine, without permission. The success of these comics was such that Amalgamated's owner Alfred Harmsworth was able to launch both The Daily Mirror and The Daily Mail newspapers with the profits.

20th century

Over the next thirty years or so comic publishers saw the juvenile market as the most profitable, and thus geared their publications accordingly, so that by 1914 most comics were aimed at eight to twelve year olds.

The period between the two wars is notable mainly for the publication of annuals by Amalgamated Press, and also the emergence of DC Thomson, launching both The Beano and The Dandy in the late 1930s, as previously noted. It is these two titles, more than any other, that have come to define a comic in the British public's mind. Their successful mix of irreverence and slapstick led to many imitators, notably Topper and Beezer. However the originators of this format have outlasted all rivals, and are still published today.

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Cover of The Eagle, 12 October 1963

During the 1950s and 1960s the most popular comic magazine for older age-group boys was The Eagle published by Hulton Press. The Eagle was published in a more expensive format, and was a gravure-printed weekly. This format was one used originally by Mickey Mouse Weekly during the 1930s. The Eagle's success saw a number of comics launched in a similar format, TV Century 21, Look & Learn & TV Comic being notable examples. Comics published in this format were known as "slicks". At the end of the 1960s these comics moved away from gravure printing, preferring offset litho for cost considerations due to decreasing readership.

The late 1960s and 1970s saw the underground comics movement inspiring two new comics in Britain. Oz and Nasty Tales were launched with the Underground premise of counter culture rebellion, and Oz notably featured the character Rupert the Bear performing sexual acts. The content of both magazines saw them tried at the Old Bailey under the Obscene Publications Act, with the Oz defendants convicted, a conviction overturned on appeal, and the Nasty Tales defendants cautioned. However, both these comics ceased publication soon after their trials, as much due to the social changes which saw the end of the counter culture as any effect of the court cases.

In the 1970s, few comics in the "slick" format were launched, Countdown was one, a publication similar in content to TV 21 and TV Comic. Vulcan, a reprint title, was another. Girl's titles which launched in the "slick" format in the 1960's, continued in that format, but others changed such as Diana and Judy continued into the 1970's as slicks but found themselves competing with titles such as Boyfriend and Blue Jeans, which had changed content and now featured mainly product related articles and photo-strips.

Cover of the first issue of 2000 AD, 26 February 1977

It was at this time that comics began to source artists from Spain, mainly for financial considerations. This trend was initially confined to the slicks, but continued through to the launch of 2000AD. Carlos Ezquerra is the most notable Spanish artist to have worked in British comics, having worked on both Battle and 2000 AD, and credited with the creation of the look of Judge Dredd.

The 1970s also saw comics became more action oriented. The first such title to launch was Warlord, in 1974. Published by DC Thomson, it proved to be a success, and led to its then rival comics publisher IPC Magazines Ltd producing Battle Picture Weekly, a comic noted to be grimmer in style than its competitor. Battle's success led to IPC launching another, similarly styled title, Action. Action became a success, but also became controversial due to its content. Complaints about the comics tone eventually led to questions being asked in the House of Commons. Whilst an extremely popular title, its publishers IPC decided nonetheless to change the content, neutering the books appeal, and the title was eventually merged with Battle.

Action's position of popularity was eventually taken over by 2000 AD, launched in 1977. Created as a comic for older boys and girls, it also held appeal for teenage or even grown-up readers, and was again published by IPC.

The mid to late 1970s also saw Marvel set up a publishing arm in the UK, which mixed reprinted strips with new material. The Daredevils and Captain Britain are the two most notable names, although the licensed material proved to be the more successful, with the Star Wars magazine lasting into the late 1980s, although changing its name in line with the latest movie release.

In 1982 The Eagle was relaunched, this time including photo-strips, but still with Dan Dare as the lead story, although the comic moved him from the front page to the centre pages to allow a more magazine styled cover.

Dez Skinn also launched Warrior, possibly the most notable comic of the period, as it contained both the Marvelman and V for Vendetta strips, by Alan Moore. Warrior was a sort of British equivalent of Heavy Metal magazine. Marvelman was a Captain Marvel clone that Skinn acquired, although the legality of that acquisition has been questioned. In Moore's hands the strip became an "adult" style superhero, and was later reprinted, with the story continued, in an American full-colour comic, with the name changed from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman" to avoid any lawsuits which Marvel Comics may have considered.

The cover of Escape Magazine issue 3. Art by Chris Long

Adult comics also witnessed a slight resurgence first with psst!, an attempt to market a French style monthly bande dessinée, and then with Escape Magazine, published by Paul Gravett, former psst! promotions man. Escape is the other notable comic from this period, featuring early work from Eddie Campbell and Paul Grist, amongst others. Sadly, neither comic managed to survive the vagaries of the comics market, Warrior beset by copyright issues and Escape by lack of publisher interest.

Most titles were eventually merged into each other through the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics waned, and although new titles were launched in this period, none seemed to find any sustainable audience. Notable comics from this period include Viz, Deadline, Toxic!, Crisis and Revolver.

Cover of Viz issue number 57

Viz began life in 1979 as a fanzine style publication, before, in 1989, becoming the biggest selling magazine in the country. Based upon crude parodying of strips from The Dandy, amongst them Black Bag - the Fearless Border Collie Bin Liner, a parody of The Dandy's Black Bob text story series about a Border Collie, Viz's popularity inspired similar themed titles, amongst them Oink!, Smut and Zit, although they failed to achieve Viz's longevity and have subsequently folded. Whilst Viz no longer sells as well as it did at the height of its popularity, it is still one of the United Kingdom's top selling magazines.

Deadline was conceived by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins, and mixed original strips with reprints of U.S. strips, notably Love & Rockets and articles and interviews on the British independent music scene of the time. Tank Girl was the most notable strip. Crisis was published by Fleetway Publications, the company formed from IPC's comics holdings, and then owned by Robert Maxwell. The comic was aimed at readers who had outgrown 2000 AD. It featured first works by Garth Ennis and Sean Phillips amongst others.

21st century

Since the year 2000, the British market appears to have arrested its slow decline. However, there is no sign of any great growth in circulation for the few remaining titles, and certainly no sign of any new launches from mainstream publishers into the comics arena (see Life on the Island, Ninth Art article). An ever-increasing number of small press and fanzine titles are being produced, such as Solar Wind or FutureQuake, aided by the cheapness and increasingly professional appearance of desk top publishing programs. It is from this scene that the UK's new talents now tend to emerge (e.g. Al Ewing, Henry Flint or Simon Spurrier).

The Reprint Market

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Cover of Young Marvelman Annual, 1960

The comics reading public in Britain were not always able to get reliable supplies of American comic books and yet have always enjoyed the different approach to comics writing from the other side of the Atlantic. So the lack of reliable supplies was supplemented by a variety of black and white reprints of Marvel's 1950s monster comics, Fawcett's Captain Marvel, and some other characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom etc. Several reprint companies were involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter.

Thorpe & Porter published similar formatted titles under various names. They were also re-publishing Dell's Four Color series and Classics Illustrated in the UK. Their material also included some work never before published in the US. They were eventually purchased by DC Comics, via their distributing arm American News Corp, in 1964, going on to publish an official Superman/Batman reprint book, DC Special.

Alan Class is another notable name in this market, his company Alan Class & Co. Ltd purchasing L. Miller & Son's holdings in the early 1960s and continuing to produce black & white reprints until the late 1980s.

When Captain Marvel ceased publication in the United States because of a lawsuit the British reprint company, L. Miller & Son, just copied the entire Captain Marvel idea in every detail and began publishing their own knock-off under the names Marvelman and Young Marvelman, taking advantage of different copyright laws. These clone versions continued for a few years and, as seen above, were revived years later Warrior.

An oddity of the trans-atlantic comics trade is Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. This female version of Tarzan (with an element of H. Rider Haggard's "She who must be obeyed" - She... Na!) was licensed from Will Eisner's Eisner-Iger studio for a British and Australasian tabloid, Wags in 1937. The success of this character led to the WAGS artwork being repackaged for publication by Fiction House magazines in the United States, thus exporting the character back to her country of origin.

Currently Panini Comics reprint many modern American comics. They reprint Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man (originally holding two issues of either Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, now existing as a double feature with Ultimate X-Men) and also produce a Collector's Edition line of comics, featuring a cardboard cover, three stories and a letter's page on the inside cover. Titles printed include many Marvel comics, for example The Mighty World of Marvel Starring Daredevil and The Incredible Hulk (contaning, for example, a Daredevil comic, an Incredible Hulk comic and a Captain Britain comic), and one DC comic (Batman Legends, reprinting various Batman adventures e.g. two parts of a multi-title crossover and an issue of Batman: Year One).

List of British Comics

There have been hundreds of comics in Britain over the years, including:

• 2000 AD (1977-current)
• Action (1976-1977)
• Adventure (1921-1961)
• Air Ace Picture Library (1960-1970)
• Battle Picture Weekly (1975-1988)
• The Beano (1938-current)
• The Beezer (1956-1993)
• The Big One (1964-1965)
• The Boy's Own Paper (1879-1967)
• Boys' World (1963-1964)
• Bullet (1976-1978)
• Bunty (1958-2001)
• Buster (1960-2000)
• Buster Classics (1996)
• Buzz (1973-1975)
• BVC (1995)
• The Chatterbox
• Cheeky (1977-1980)
• Classics from the Comics (1996-current)
• Comic Cuts (1890-1953)
• Commando Comics (1961-current)
• Cor!! (1970-1974)
• Countdown (1971-1972)
• Cracker (1975-1976)
• Crisis (1988-1991)
• The Dandy (1937-current)
• The Eagle (1950-1969) and (1982-1994)
• Fantastic (1967-1968)
• Film Fun (1920-1962)
• Funny (1989-early 1990s)
• Giggle (1967-1968)
• Hoot (1985-1986)
• Hornet (1963-1976)
• Hotspur (1933-1981)
• Illustrated Chips (1890-1953)
• Jackpot (1979-1982)
• Jack and Jill (1885-1887) and (1954-1985)
• Jackie (1964-1993)
• Jinty (1974-1981)
• The Judge Dredd Megazine (1990-current)
• Judy
• Knockout (1939-1963) and (1971-1973)
• Krazy (1976-1978)
• Lion (1952-1974)
• Look and Learn (1962-1982)
• Mandy (1967-1991)
• Mickey Mouse Weekly (1936-1955)
• Mirabelle (1956-1977)
• Misty (1978-1980)
• Monster Fun (1975-1976)
• Nipper (1987)
• Nutty (1980-1985)
• Oink! (1986-1988)
• Picture Politics (1894-1914)
• Picture Fun (1909-1920)
• Pippin (1966-1986)
• Plug (1977-1979)
• Pow! (1967-1968)
• Puck (1904-1940)
• Radio Fun (1938-1961)
• Rainbow (1914-1956)
• Robin (1953-1969)
• Romeo (1957-1974)
• Roy of the Rovers (1976-1993)
• School Fun (1983-1984)
• Scream! (1984)
• Shiver and Shake (1973-1974)
• Smash (1966-1971)
• Sonic the Comic (1993-2002)
• Sparky (1965-1977)
• Starlord (1978)
• Star Wars (Weekly) (1978-1986)
• The Swift (1954-1963)
• Terrific (1967-1968)
• Thunder (1970-1971) and (to 1974 with Lion)
• Tiger (1954-1985 when merged into The Eagle)
• Tiger Tim's Weekly (1920-1940)
• The Topper (1953-1990) and (to 1993 with Beezer)
• Toxic! (1991)
• TV Action (1972-1973)
• TV Century 21 (1965-1971)
• TV Comic (1951-1984)
• Twinkle (1968-1999)
• Valentine (1957-1974)
• Valiant (1962-1976)
• Victor (1961-1992)
• Viz (1979-current)
• War Picture Library (1958-1984)
• Warlord (1974-1986)
• Wham! (1964-1968)
• Whizzer and Chips (1969-1990)
• Whoopee! (1974-1985)
• Wonder (1942-1953)
• Wow! (1982-1983)
• Zit (1991-2002)

See also: List of DC Thomson publications, List of comic creators

References

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External links:

• Comic collections in the British Library
• A British comics fanpage
• 26 Pigs - Comics auction and interest site
• Comics UK
• Oink! online
• British Juvenile Story Papers and Pocket Libraries Index
• Comics Picture Gallery at bookpalace.com
• BBC cult comics page