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i*love*comics*247

11-10-2008, 10:17 PM

I have recently become interested in the British weekly tabloid comics from the early 1970's. I've managed to buy, through eBay, around 70 to 80 of these old black and white reprint comics. I find them interesting in that two or three comics are reprinted each issue with a letters page or two included. The stories will sometimes skip around so it's difficult to tell by the covers what old story is being reprinted in each issue.

I was wondering what some of you think of these comics. It's difficult to find a price on them in any price guide. Mile High Comics and Lone Star Comics have very few. The online Price guides make no destinction between issues as far as story or significance.

Here's a small gallery of some that I've picked up. Do you think any will ever show up in Overstreet? Do you think there will ever become a demand for them in the United States if more people knew about them?

Mighty World of Marvel #46 which reprints Avengers #1
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/mwom46.jpg

Mighty World of Marvel #104 which reprints second part of Fantastic Four #48 and 1st apperance of Silver Surfer
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/mwom104.jpg

Mighty World of Marvel #197 which reprints Incredible Hulk #180 with Wolverine first appearance
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/mwom197.jpg

Mighty World of Marvel #198 which reprints first half of story from Incredible Hulk #181
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/mwom198.jpg

Graham Vingoe

11-11-2008, 01:47 AM

T GUy

11-11-2008, 06:45 AM

The Confessor

11-11-2008, 07:58 AM

Yep, those look mighty familiar to me. I grew up reading these sort of black & white UK reprints but I have to say that once me and my childhood buddy discovered a newsagent shop near our home that sold original American comics...IN COLOUR!! :eek: there was no going back for me.

I have to disagree with what Graham Vingoe says though, as far as I can tell, these UK reprints are becoming more collectible all the time (especially amongst UK collectors – for obvious nostalgia reasons) and there's actually quite a burgeoning collectors market out there for these mags.

There are also quite a few of these comics around in pretty reasonable shape, I often see whole wads of them for sale on eBay.co.uk for pretty reasonable prices.

They're not something I would collect personally because, as Graham Vingoe rightly noted, they're printed on pretty poor, newsprint style paper and personally the original American comics hold much more allure for me.

Having said that, I do have a nice stash of 70’s “Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain” UK reprints that I picked for just a few pence at a jumble sale some years back.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7532/superspiderman242yc7.jpg

As an aside, if you're looking to pick up more of these type of comics i*love*comics*247, you might want to check out www.silveracre.com. These guys are probably the UK's biggest and most well established comic sellers (plus the guy who runs it is a genuinely nice bloke) and last time I checked, they had a reasonably good selection of these 70's UK reprints in their online catalogue.

Of course, they'll likely be more expensive from Silveracre than they are on eBay.co.uk but as a collector based in American, I would say that these were your two best avenues to explore.

i*love*comics*247

11-11-2008, 05:01 PM

Thank you for your responses so far. I've found that these magazines have very inexpensive prices from British sellers but the postal prices and the dollar to pound currency exchange does make a difference. The dollar has gone up recently so that does help me some.

I must be very fortunate as far as the paper quality for the books I've bought. I have no issues with the paper or the overall condition of most of the books. The exception to this is with the staples. I've noticed a moderate percent of the comics with rusty staples. Much more often it seems than with US comics. I'm not sure what the reason could be.

Besides the MWOM's, I've also bought some of the Spider-man Weekly, Savage Sword of Conan, Planet of the Apes, and Super-Heroes weeklies. I even have some of the Fantastic and Terrific comics from the 60's by Odhams. But what I'm proudest of so far in my British comic search are the annuals I've gotten. I really like the format of those old annuals what with the hardcovers. I have a really nice Fantastic Annual 1968 and a Marvel Comic Annual from 1970 that are in great condition. I also have a soft cover copy of Fantastic Four---A Colour Comic Album from 1969. It's very interesting in that the coloring is so off. The Thing is purple, the rest of the FF are wearing red costumes, the Black Panther has a red cape, Doctor Doom has a red hood with a yellow tunic, and the Silver Surfer is blue. Crazy!!! :smile:

Tell me more about McAlpine. Is this a British Comics price guide perhaps? Also, what do you think of some of the other British comics such as Beano, Rupert, Dandy, War Picture Library, and Valiant to name a few. I'm familar with Judge Dredd and of course with Miracleman. And what's up with with the Alan Class comics? Are these reprints of just about any comic no matter the company which originally printed them. I have one issue of Astounding Stories but have noticed Creepy Worlds, Uncanny Tales, Out of this World, Sinister Tales, and Secrets of the Unknown and am wondering if these would make for good reading.

I'll have to check out Silveracre.com and see what they have. Do you think they ship to the US?

Again, thanks for the responses I've gotten.

Loki

11-11-2008, 05:50 PM

Besides the MWOM's, I've also bought some of the Spider-man Weekly, Savage Sword of Conan, Planet of the Apes, and Super-Heroes weeklies. I even have some of the Fantastic and Terrific comics from the 60's by Odhams. But what I'm proudest of so far in my British comic search are the annuals I've gotten. I really like the format of those old annuals what with the hardcovers. I have a really nice Fantastic Annual 1968 and a Marvel Comic Annual from 1970 that are in great condition. I also have a soft cover copy of Fantastic Four---A Colour Comic Album from 1969. It's very interesting in that the coloring is so off. The Thing is purple, the rest of the FF are wearing red costumes, the Black Panther has a red cape, Doctor Doom has a red hood with a yellow tunic, and the Silver Surfer is blue. Crazy!!! :smile:

That wasn't uncommon in British annuals reprinting American titles. No one thought to give the artist colouring the covers (interior and exterior) so they would just go with their best guess.

Tell me more about McAlpine. Is this a British Comics price guide perhaps? Also, what do you think of some of the other British comics such as Beano, Rupert, Dandy, War Picture Library, and Valiant to name a few. I'm familar with Judge Dredd and of course with Miracleman.
Not heard of McAlpine - I seem to recall their being a British edition of the Overstreet Price Guide at one time, but it got discontinued as far as I know.

As for info on British comics, it's probably easier to point you to some of the excellent sites about them:

http://www.26pigs.com/ - this is a British comic selling site, so it serves doubly, but if you click on the links to the "Comics Libraries" at the right hand side, it takes you to some nice but brief guides on individual titles.

http://www.toonhound.com/fleetway.htm

www.comicsuk.co.uk

http://www.britishcomics.com/

And what's up with with the Alan Class comics? Are these reprints of just about any comic no matter the company which originally printed them. I have one issue of Astounding Stories but have noticed Creepy Worlds, Uncanny Tales, Out of this World, Sinister Tales, and Secrets of the Unknown and am wondering if these would make for good reading.[/quotes]
Alan Class are reprints, as you surmise.

[quote] I'll have to check out Silveracre.com and see what they have. Do you think they ship to the US?
Pretty sure they do. But also try

http://www.bookpalace.com/
http://www.purenostalgia.co.uk/
http://www.thirtiethcentury.free-online.co.uk/

and for some reprint collections of UK comic strips
http://www.superherostore.co.uk/

pauwoo

11-12-2008, 07:12 AM

You could try www.silveracre.com

They have loads of mighty world of marvels, captain britain, Spiderman & the superheroes, which if memory serves was the silver surfer and the x-men.

There was also an Avengers weekly

Loki

11-12-2008, 08:52 AM

Prior to the formation of Marvel's British branch, there were some titles which carried reprints of American Marvel stories. The first of these was Smash!, published by Odhams. It launched on 5th February 1966, but it wasn't until #16 (21st May 1966) that the Marvel reprints began, with the Incredible Hulk. The second U.S. reprinted strip in Smash! wasn't a Marvel one, but Batman, from his syndicated newspaper strip. In #27 (6th August 66) the Hulk was joined by the FF - but only for two weeks.

Simultaneous with appearing in Smash!, the FF also started up in her elder sister title, Wham! (#112, 6th August 66) - during the two weeks that the FF was appearing in both titles, each title carried the same reprinted story, after which the FF story continued on in Wham! (until #183). Of more significance was the appearance of an original Hulk strip, "The Monster and the Matador", in Smash! #38 (22nd October 1966). In January 1967 Pow! was launched, followed a month later by Fantastic. The percentage of Marvel reprint content grew with each new title in the line. In April Terrific was launched, bringing the line to five. Together these five titles were collectively known as "The Power Pack", and each gained the sub-title "A Power Comic".

It wasn't to last. In November Wham! dropped it's sole Marvel story, the Fantastic Four, reverting purely to original UK strips. In January 1968 Wham! gave up the ghost and merged into Pow!, becoming Pow! and Wham! and continuing the numbering from the younger title. A month later Fantastic and Terrific merged to become Fantastic and Terrific (numbering carried on from Fantastic), the first UK title to be composed entirely of Marvel reprints. In September Smash! and Pow! (having dropped Wham! from the title) combined, becoming Smash! and Pow! (with both exclamation marks in the title), and only two months later, in November, this new title amalgamated again, to become the awkwardly named "Smash! and Pow! incorporating Fantastic." From five titles at the start of the year, the Power Pack collapsed into one. On 8th March 1969, issue #162 of S&PiF prints the last of its Marvel reprints. The title went on for another few years, but effectively (Annuals notwithstanding) this is the last time another company published Marvel stories in the UK for over two decades.

In the early 1970's, Marvel started printing it's own titles, rather than licensing their characters out to other companies. Initially these titles were weekly titles, like most UK comics (and anthologies, unlike their US counterparts). More importantly, they were reprints of the ever growing US back-catalogue. With very few British specialist comic shops, US titles were generally available in larger newsagents such as W.H.Smiths and (in Scotland) John Menzies, but such titles arrived in the UK several months after their US publication, and there was no guarantee each month that a given title would be available. So at this point, black-and-white reprints in a UK title were a viable alternative for comic fans.
The first was launched in 1972, The Mighty World of Marvel. It featured reprints of Spider-Man, the Hulk and the Fantastic Four. Around the end of the year Marvel Annual became the first British published Marvel Comics Annual.

On the 17th February 1973 Spider-Man was spun off into his own title, Spider-Man Comics Weekly, which he initially shared with Thor. The third Marvel U.K. title was The Avengers, launched on the 22nd of September. Avengers became Avengers and Shang-Chi from #28. October 1974 saw launch of Planet of the Apes, while 26th November saw the debut of Dracula Lives!. Having started to catch up with the US title and thus running out of reprint material, Planet of the Apes carried the Apeslayer strip between #24 and #30, taking Killraven stories and revising the text and art to replace Martians with Apes. Though not a genuine original story, it marks Marvel UK's first foray into not just reprinting US material.

1975. 8th March, The Super-Heroes is launched, with Silver Surfer and X-Men reprints. 8th April sees the launch of Savage Sword of Conan Weekly. Avengers merged with Savage Sword of Conan Weekly as of #95 of the former title and #18 (I think) of the latter. The Titans was launched on 25 October. 1976, February. The Super-Heroes is merged into Spider-Man, adopting the latter's numbering, and becoming Spider-Man and the Super-Heroes. At some point this year, Planet of the Apes merges with Dracula Lives, then later Planet of the Apes merges into Mighty World of Marvel Weekly, as does Avengers. However the most notable event of 1976 was the launch of Captain Britain Weekly on October 13th. It includes the first brand new material produced specifically for the UK market, although it is produced using US talent. Around December The Titans is merged with Spider-Man Weekly, taking numbering from the latter, and becoming Super Spider-Man and the Titans. The last issue of Titans is #59, the first of the merged title is circa #199.

Fury launched on 16th March 1979, and later that year Captain Britain merges with Spider-Man. The CB strip runs in the new Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain Weekly between #231 and #247 - CB finishes with reprints of the US Marvel Team-Up story between Spidey and CB, though it's worth noting that John Byrne provided some new bridging art not used in the US title. Around September Fury is cancelled. The Complete Fantastic Four launched on 28th September, and Rampage Weekly launched on October 19th, followed by Savage Sword of Conan Monthly on 1st November.

Star Wars launched on 8th February 1978, while Rampage Weekly merged with Marvel Super-Heroes after 34 issues. The Complete Fantastic Four cancels with #37, the last issue dated 7th June 1978. Rampage Monthly begins in July. Around 1979 Dez Skinn was asked to look at the failing Marvel UK line, and provide a report on how to fix the problems it was experiencing. He observed that part of the problem was that Marvel had used up a lot of their best stuff, swiftly reprinted in titles with weekly schedules, and as a result was now regurgitating less saleable products. After a meeting with Stan Lee (during a UK visit), Dez became the new editor of the entire Marvel UK line, cutting costs, making their weekly titles more closely resemble those of Britain's DC Thomson to encourage readers of those comics to try the Marvel ones, and commisioning an increasing amount of home grown material.

Loki

11-12-2008, 08:53 AM

Dez launched Hulk Comic on 7th March. It features the return of Captain Britain in a new Black Knight strip, as well as UK-original Fury, Agent of SHIELD strips, and Night Raven - the highest content of original material yet. Though the UK-originated material lessens as the run continues, the Black Knight carries on to the end of the title's run. Meanwhile Mighty World of Marvel Weekly goes monthly and becomes Marvel Super-Heroes as of September and #353. Dr.Who Weekly was launched on October 17th. It contains brand new strips produced in the U.K., and continues (as the monthly Dr. Who Magazine, and now published by Panini) to this day. At some point this year Superhero Fun and Games is also launched; it later cancels with #18.

During 1980 a number of short lived titles are launched, including Frantic Monthly in March, and the "Pocket book" titles Chiller Pocket Book, Spider-Man Pocket Book, Conan Pocket Book, Hulk Pocket Book, Star Heroes Pocket Book, X-Men Pocket Book,Titans Pocket Book, Young Romance Pocket Book and Fantastic Four Pocket Book. Hulk Comic (aka Hulk Weekly) ends with #63 on 15th May. A week later it merges with Spider-Man to become Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly. Two characters from the new strips in Hulk Weekly will continue later in other titles - Captain Britain got his own strip back as a result of his successful supporting role in the Black Knight strip, returning in Marvel Super-Heroes Monthly; and Night Raven would return in a series of text stories across a number of titles, beginning with Savage Action. The same time that Hulk Comic cancelled, 15th May, a new title, Forces in Combat, was launched. By 19th June and #121 (possibly earlier), Star Wars Weekly has become Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. September, and Doctor Who Weekly becomes Dr.Who Monthly as of #44. 18th September sees the launch of Marvel Team-Up. November sees several new titles, all reprint volumes - Future Tense, Valour, and the aforementioned Savage Action Monthly.

In February 1981 Captain America Weekly launches, while in March Marvel Team Up is merged into Spider-Man. On 1st April, Marvel Action is launched. At some point, with many of the other Pocket Book titles now cancelled, Marvel Classics Comics Pocket Book is launched. Blakes' Seven Monthly is also launched. Valour ends with #19, and a week later merges with Future Tense, while Forces in Combat ends with #37. A week later it merges with Future Tense. Also this year, Rampage Monthly publishes a number of UK originated strips around #40. In May Marvel Super-Adventure is launched, followed by Blockbuster Monthly and Marvel Madhouse in June. In July Marvel Action finishes with #15. A week later it merges with Captain America Weekly. September 1981, and Marvel Super-Heroes Monthly begins a brand new Captain Britain strip, while Frantic cancels after 18 issues, September, and Future Tense becomes a monthly with #39, only to cancel a few months later with #41. In November Marvel Super-Adventure merges into Captain America Weekly after 26 issues. At a date unknown to me, Worzel Gummidge launches, based on a British TV show and aimed at younger readers.

1982, February sees the last issue of Blockbuster Monthly (#9), which merges into Rampage Monthly. April and Savage Action cancels with #15. Night Raven strips transfer to Marvel Super-Heroes. April. Captain America Weekly cancels with #59. Kim, Scooby Doo and his TV Friends and Rupert Weekly are launched at some point Around this time Dracula Summer Special released. After 15 issues Worzel Gummidge merges into Rupert Weekly to form Rupert Weekly with Worzel Gummidge. Incredible Hulk Weekly is launched (not the same as the previous Hulk Weekly), and lasts 27 issues. Monster Monthly is launched. It lasted 8 issues. August, and Marvel Super-Heroes' Captain Britain strip ends, in preparation for his transfer to the upcoming The Daredevils title. October. Marvel Madhouse is cancelled after 17 issues. 6th October. Fantastic Four is launched.

1983. The Daredevils Monthly is launched in January, while Rampage Monthly merges with Marvel Superheroes Monthly, keeping the latter's higher numbering. Issue #54 is the last, pre-merger, issue. March and #395 of Marvel Super-Heroes Monthly sees the last of the Night Raven text stories. He will appear next in Daredevils. 20th April. Fantastic Four is cancelled, after #29 issues, while Thor is launched. Marvel Super-Heroes ends with #397, the May issue.
Mighty World of Marvel launches, continuing the New X-Men strip from Marvel Super-Heroes. Blakes Seven Monthly is cancelled after 23 issues, Kim cancels after 59 issues, Scooby Doo cancels after 68 issues. Top Cat TV Comic is launched, as is The Original X-Men, which lasts 17 issues. Star Wars comic cancels with #171. It relaunches as Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, renumbering from #1, as of 22nd June. In November, after 11 issues, The Daredevils Monthly merges into Mighty World of Marvel Monthly.

1984. Thor cancels after 39 issues. Dr.Who Monthly retitles to Dr.Who Magazine as of February and #85. Rupert Comic is cancelled after 100 issues, while Top Cat TV Comic cancels after 33 issues. Indiana Jones launches, as does The Thing is Big Ben, which runs for 18 issues. Mighty World of Marvel Monthly cancels. Captain Britain will move on to his own title, while Night Raven transfers to Savage Sword of Conan Monthly. Towards end of year, a new Spider-Man story runs in Spider-Man #608-610 (this is the story which introduced Thunderclap, recently seen during Civil War). On 20th September Transformers Weekly launches.

1985, January. Captain Britain Monthly launches. At some point this year Indiana Jones cancels after 11 issues, while Acorn Green and Care Bears are launched, as is Secret Wars, which lasts 80 issues. Spidey Comics (the most recent name change for the Spider-Man weekly comic) comes to an end with #666, the longest running Marvel UK title. Savage Sword of Conan Monthly #85 to #92 carry new Night Raven text stories, before the title cancels with #93.

1986. Captain Britain Monthly cancels after 14 issues, Spider-Man and Zoids is launched (it will carry some early Grant Morrison work), Death's Head make his first appearance proper in Transformers #113, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi ends in June with #155. Doctor Who Adventure Comics free giveaways are produced. 6 issues are printed, reprinting stories from Doctor Who Magazine. Muppet Babies is launched, lasting 56 issues.

1987. Spider-Man and Zoids (now called Zoids Collected Comics) is cancelled, after 51 weekly issues and 4 monthly ones. Action Force is laucnhed - after 50 issues it is relaunched as Action Force (Vol.2), for a further 15 issues. Madballs (lasts 8 issues) and Thundercats are also launched.

1988. Alf, Droids, Flintstones and Friends, Galaxy Rangers, Real Ghostbusters and Visionaries are launched. Not based on TV shows, Marvel Bumper Comics is launched, lasting for 31 issues, as is Punisher Magazine, lasting for 30 issues.

Meanwhile Marvel UK is trying out printing it's new material closer to the American format. Dragon's Claws is launched, the first Marvel UK title to use the American comic size and format, soon followed by Death's Head, and in 1989 the Sleeze Brothers mini-series, running for 6 issues. Back in the old format, on October 7th 1989, Incredible Hulk Presents launches. Other new titles include Popeye, Slimer and Wicked, as well as the more adult Strip.

1990. January. Incredible Hulk Presents ends after 12 issues, Real Ghostbusters cancels after 128 issues, Strip cancels after 20 issues, while Fantastic Max and The Complete Spider-Man are launched. Meanwhile the success of Dragon's Claws and Death's Head sees the launch of Knights of Pendragon.

1991. Thundercats ends after 129 issues, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Police Academy, Rupert and Friends are all launched, as is Havok (lasting 9 issues), and Meltdown. In December Knights of Pendragon finishes after 18 issues.

1992 January. Meltdown cancels after 6 issues. Transformers is cancelled on 18th January, having lasted 332 issues. In March the arrival of the Death's Head II mini-series signals the start of the new Marvel UK push. Knights of Pendragon Volume 2 and Overkill are launched, followed soon after by Warheads, Motormouth, Hell's Angel. The Complete Spider-Man cancels after 24 issues, to be replaced by The Exploits of Spider-Man. Star Trek: The Next Generation ends after 24 issues. Doctor Who Classic Comics is launched.

1993. Codename Genetix, Incomplete Death's Head, Mys-Tech Wars all start. Overkill ends in April after 52 issues. I won't continue to list the new US-format Marvel UK titles, as they are already fairly familiar to the US audience.

1994 Doctor Who Classic Comics folds after 27 issues. Conan the Adventurer launches, and lasts 3 issues. Marvel Action Hour launches, and lasts 4 issues.

Loki

11-12-2008, 08:54 AM

In 1995 Marvel stopped publishing it's own comics in the UK, and handed over a license to Panini, who have followed with monthly colour anthologies. Exploits of Spider-Man ends after 40 issues. Essential X-Men is launched. After 5 issues Panini takes it over. Astonishing Spider-Man is launched. After 6 issues Panini takes it over. Spectacular Adventures of Spider-Man is launched. This is still ongoing, and now produces new material.

I haven't put together proper accounts of subsequent Panini/Marvel UK titles yet.

T GUy

11-12-2008, 10:15 AM

A couple of quick corrections/comments on Loki's posts:

Avengers became Avengers and Shang-Chi from #28.

Avengers starring Master of Kung-Fu or somesuch similar title, reprinting half a MoKF story each issue, along with ten pages each of The Avengers and Dr Strange. The first 27 issues featured a complete Avengers story as the lead feature (starting with Cap's debut in No. 1 - the first three Avengers stories had fronted Mighty World of Marvel 46 to 48).

October 1974 saw launch of Planet of the Apes, while 26th November saw the debut of Dracula Lives!.

I recall these two titles launched the same day.

Having started to catch up with the US title and thus running out of reprint material, Planet of the Apes carried the Apeslayer strip between #24 and #30, taking Killraven stories and revising the text and art to replace Martians with Apes.

One of mighty Marvel's more mirthsome moments.

Loki

11-12-2008, 11:10 AM

A couple of quick corrections/comments on Loki's posts:
Entirely possible that I have a few dates off by a bit - it's a work in progress trying to reconstruct the publication history of British Marvel titles.

Avengers starring Master of Kung-Fu or somesuch similar title, reprinting half a MoKF story each issue, along with ten pages each of The Avengers and Dr Strange. The first 27 issues featured a complete Avengers story as the lead feature (starting with Cap's debut in No. 1 - the first three Avengers stories had fronted Mighty World of Marvel 46 to 48).
Avengers starring Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, to give it the full title.

I recall these two titles launched the same day.
Double checking, you are correct - both debuted October 26th (not December as I originally stated).

i*love*comics*247

11-12-2008, 11:59 AM

Simultaneous with appearing in Smash!, the FF also started up in her elder sister title, Wham! (#112, 6th August 66) - during the two weeks that the FF was appearing in both titles, each title carried the same reprinted story, after which the FF story continued on in Wham! (until #183). Of more significance was the appearance of an original Hulk strip, "The Monster and the Matador", in Smash! #38 (22nd October 1966). In January 1967 Pow! was launched, followed a month later by Fantastic. The percentage of Marvel reprint content grew with each new title in the line. In April Terrific was launched, bringing the line to five. Together these five titles were collectively known as "The Power Pack", and each gained the sub-title "A Power Comic".

It wasn't to last. In November Wham! dropped it's sole Marvel story, the Fantastic Four, reverting purely to original UK strips. In January 1968 Wham! gave up the ghost and merged into Pow!, becoming Pow! and Wham! and continuing the numbering from the younger title. A month later Fantastic and Terrific merged to become Fantastic and Terrific (numbering carried on from Fantastic), the first UK title to be composed entirely of Marvel reprints. In September Smash! and Pow! (having dropped Wham! from the title) combined, becoming Smash! and Pow! (with both exclamation marks in the title), and only two months later, in November, this new title amalgamated again, to become the awkwardly named "Smash! and Pow! incorporating Fantastic." From five titles at the start of the year, the Power Pack collapsed into one. On 8th March 1969, issue #162 of S&PiF prints the last of its Marvel reprints. The title went on for another few years, but effectively (Annuals notwithstanding) this is the last time another company published Marvel stories in the UK for over two decades.

Thanks for the information on the Odhams line. I didn't realize there had been five different titles. I've been curious about the "Power Comics" logo. Was the material in these magazines that was not Marvel new material? Two of the back up stories I've seen from Fantastic are comic stories titled "Johnny Future" and "The Missing Link". Were these stories that had been running from before the Marvel reprints started or were these reprints from older British comics?

Cover from Fantastic #14
http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/fantastic14.jpg

Backup from 14

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/fantastic14Link.jpg
The art style looks very familar but I can't place the artist. Three issues later (I'm missing #15 and 16) we have Johnny Future. Is this the same character as the Link?

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/fantastic17Future.jpg

I think my favorite cover so far from Fantastic has to be #70. The story inside reprints the first part of Hulk's origin from Hulk #1 but the cover has Hulk looking like he's just landed on his rear end and looking a bit embarassed as he rises. It wasn't until your post that I noticed the Terrific part of the title of the comic. It was sort of hidden and blended in with the purple stripe on the cover.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/fantastic70.jpg

Loki

11-12-2008, 12:47 PM

[B]Thanks for the information on the Odhams line. I didn't realize there had been five different titles. I've been curious about the "Power Comics" logo. Was the material in these magazines that was not Marvel new material?
There was loads of non-Marvel, UK-originated material in the Power Comics, running alongside the Marvel reprints.

Action strips in Wham! included Kelpie the Boy Wizard, Billy Binns and his Wonderful Specs, Johnny Straight (which was a reprint, albeit a particular type of British reprint - Johnny Straight was originally Wells Fargo in Zip, an old Odhams title. On the assumption that you got a whole new batch of readers every few years, it wasn't unusual for older strips to get reprinted four or five years later in a different title with a few changes made to names), Tornado Jones, while humour strips included General Nitt and his Barmy Army, The Wacks, The Tiddlers, Eagle-Eye Junior Spy, Danny Dare, Biff the Humbugs, Pest of the West, George's Germs, Footsie the Clown, Frankie Stein, Glugg, the Bouncers, Jasper the Grasper, The Good Sports, Sammy Shrink, School for Scoundrels, and Baby Whamster.

Smash! action strips included The Ghost Patrol, Brian's Brain, The Legend Testers, The Moon Madness, It's The Rubberman, Batman and the Boy Wonder, The Spectre, Destination Danger, Devil of the Deep, King of the Ring, Laird of the Apes, Sergeant Rock - Paratrooper (not sure if this was the DC character or a coincidentally similarly named UK character), Bunsen's Burner, and various others after the Marvel reprints stopped. Notable humour strips included Bad Penny, Grimly Fiendish and the Cloak.

Pow! action strips included The Python, Jack Magic, Experiment X, The Two Faces of Janus, while notable humour strips included The Cloak (began here before joining Smash! with the merge).

As for Fantastic, as mentioned it had the highest Marvel reprint content - the only non-Marvel action strip was the Missing Link, which did indeed change into Johnny Future.

Two of the back up stories I've seen from Fantastic are comic stories titled "Johnny Future" and "The Missing Link". Were these stories that had been running from before the Marvel reprints started or were these reprints from older British comics? The reprints started first in other Power comic titles, and Missing Link / Johnny Future was a brand new UK strip which ran alongside them from the first issue of Fantastic.

The art style looks very familar but I can't place the artist.
Spanish artist Luis Bermejo. In the US he is best remembered for drawing Warren Magazine's Creepy, most notably The Rook.
Three issues later (I'm missing #15 and 16) we have Johnny Future. Is this the same character as the Link?
Yes, Johnny Future is the Missing Link after exposure to radiation caused him to rapidly evolve.

The Confessor

11-12-2008, 01:24 PM

I must be very fortunate as far as the paper quality for the books I've bought. I have no issues with the paper or the overall condition of most of the books. The exception to this is with the staples. I've noticed a moderate percent of the comics with rusty staples. Much more often it seems than with US comics. I'm not sure what the reason could be.

It rains a lot more in Britain than it does in America. :frown:

But what I'm proudest of so far in my British comic search are the annuals I've gotten. I really like the format of those old annuals what with the hardcovers. I have a really nice Fantastic Annual 1968 and a Marvel Comic Annual from 1970 that are in great condition.

Yeah, those hardcover British annuals are really nice. They were pretty pricey, so you only used to get those bought for you at Christmas or Birthdays in my experience. I regularly used to wake up on Christmas morning with a nice chunky Marvel Annual amongst my presents.

Ahhh...happy times. :smile:

Also, what do you think of some of the other British comics such as Beano, Rupert, Dandy, War Picture Library, and Valiant to name a few.

Well, the Beano and Dandy were very different from the US superhero adventure comics that Marvel and DC were publishing; in as much as they are primarily humour publications aimed at the 5 - 12 year old age group. They are full of loveable characters, school boy toilet humour and were also totally merciless (in a quite subversive way) in their lack of respect for British adults who are usually the butt of the comic's gags. Which goes a long way to explaining why they were so popular amongst British children.

They're quintessentially English comics, so from a sociological point of view alone, they'd probably be quite interesting to an American reader. Both The Beano and The Dandy were immensely popular with British children from the 1940s through to the 1980s and several of the characters that appeared in those comics are nowadays extremely well known and beloved cultural icons here in the UK. I'm talking about characters like Dennis The Menace (the English version), Gnasher, Desperate Dan and The Bash Street Kids for example.

Both titles are a whole load of fun to read and still have legions of fans out there in the collector’s market but just be aware that they are quite different to US Superhero comics.

I may be wrong here, but I’m assuming that the “Rupert” comic you speak of was a vehicle for the Rupert The Bear comic strips. These strips are much more traditional in tone and less chaotic than The Beano or The Dandy were, although they aimed at much the same age range of children. They also differ from most comics in that the strips didn’t have speech bubbles…just a series of panels and under each one a rhyming couplet to describe what was going on.

Check out the wikipedia entry for Rupert The Bear here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Bear) for more info.

War Picture Library was one of the first pocket sized (digest sized as the Americans would call them) black & white comic books that appeared here in the UK. Each issue featured a complete wartime story (usually set during World War II). These comics were always a lot of fun to read as a kid (and they were pretty cheap to buy too) but these days, they’re really beginning to be taken seriously as uniquely British works of comic book art. Other similar pocket sized war comics from the UK were Commando and Air Ace.

Here's a good website about these British pocket war comics and I think the guy who runs this website also sells them...

http://www.comicsmagazines.com/pocketlibrary.htm

I'll have to check out Silveracre.com and see what they have. Do you think they ship to the US?

Oh, I'm sure they do...although, how economical it'll be to get them shipped to you, I wouldn't like to say.

i*love*comics*247

11-12-2008, 02:09 PM

Loki

11-12-2008, 02:18 PM

I'm really happy to have started this thread. Lots of information on comics from your country with you folks sharing so much. As I said, I've been buying a few comics here and there on eBay but I had not realized the richness of the history of the British comics. Mostly I've been sticking to the ones I knew about such as the Marvel reprints. I will have to try out some of the humor magazines such as Beano and Dandy. Dennis the Menace looks like a similar character I've seen before in American comics (perhaps in Mad magazine).
The British Dennis the Menace dates from 1951, which makes him predate Mad Magazine (just). But there's plenty of imitators in British titles, and the character is archetypal, so it wouldn't surprise me to find similar characters in the US. And yes, British comics have a very long and rich history.

One question I have about the Spiderman Weekly and Spiderman/Super-Heroes comics. I have a few of the Spiderman Weekly comics but not the Super's. From pictures I've seen, these look like the cover sits side ways with the top of the comic on the left margin. Is the spine along the left margin or at the top and is the inside stories done the same?
There was at least one title, The Titans, that printed the latter way, but for the most part British titles are printed like US ones, with the spine along the left hand side.

T GUy

11-12-2008, 03:19 PM

Sergeant Rock - Paratrooper (not sure if this was the DC character or a coincidentally similarly named UK character) - Loki

Coincidence, a la Dennis the Menace, Archie Andrews and the Iron Man.

The English Rock must have continued in Smash! when the Odhams (Power Comics) line was bought by IPC (alias Fleetway?)- he turns up in a Lion Summer Special I had, er, a few years ago. When he was billed as 'Sgt. Rock - S. A. S.' I assume that Smash! merged into Lion and carried Rock over. British comics publishers buyouts and title mergers make EC's numbering systems look like sanity.

Loki

11-12-2008, 03:35 PM

- Loki

Coincidence, a la Dennis the Menace, Archie Andrews and the Iron Man.

The English Rock must have continued in Smash! when the Odhams (Power Comics) line was bought by IPC (alias Fleetway?)- he turns up in a Lion Summer Special I had, er, a few years ago. When he was billed as 'Sgt. Rock - S. A. S.' I assume that Smash! merged into Lion and carried Rock over. British comics publishers buyouts and title mergers make EC's numbering systems look like sanity.

Smash merged into Valiant, as did Lion a few years later. As far as I can tell, the Sergeant Rock strip from Smash! was a renamed reprint of Hurricane's Paratrooper and Tiger's Sergeant Rock. I don't think it became a regular strip in either Valiant or Lion, but obviously, based on the special you have, he made an appearance in a Special. That's not all that unusual - they bulked out early 2000 A.D. annuals with reprint strips from other comics.

The Confessor

11-12-2008, 05:14 PM

I have a few of the Spiderman Weekly comics but not the Super's. From pictures I've seen, these look like the cover sits side ways with the top of the comic on the left margin. Is the spine along the left margin or at the top and is the inside stories done the same?

The Super Spider-Man comics that you refer to, where the cover seems to sit the wrong way are actually printed in a "landscape" format, rather than the usual "portrait" format, like this...

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5971/superspiderman216ia6.jpg

So, that the spine and staples are on the short edge of the comic. Inside, the Marvel comic reprints are printed two pages to a page, if that makes any sense?? :confused:

What I mean is, that each page of the Super Spider-Man comic has two pages of the original U.S. issue on it, printed side by side. I have a few of these "landscape" Super Spider-Man comics myself and would scan you a page to better illustrate what I'm trying to say but they're up in the loft and not to hand I'm afraid. Hopefully you'll kinda get my drift about what I mean though.

Not all Super Spider-Man comics are like this though; it was just a format that Marvel UK used around 1976 and 1977 I believe. After that, Super Spider-Man reverted back to the more usual “portrait” format.

The Confessor

11-12-2008, 05:25 PM

I've been buying a few comics here and there on eBay but I had not realized the richness of the history of the British comics.

I don't know if you like horror comics but I can thoroughly recommend IPC's "Scream!" comic that ran in the mid-80s. I used to love that comic as a kid! I don't think it sold very well because it was cancelled after only 15 issues but if you can pick them up, you're in for a real treat! :smile:

They're printed on newsprint style paper like IPC's other comics of the era, 2000AD and Starlord, so finding copies in decent condition might be a little hard. Issue #1 of Scream! came with a free gift attached to the cover - a pair of glow in the dark vampire fangs! Good luck finding a copy with those still intact.

i*love*comics*247

11-12-2008, 06:27 PM

The Super Spider-Man comics that you refer to, where the cover seems to sit the wrong way are actually printed in a "landscape" format, rather than the usual "portrait" format

Yes, "Landscape" versus "Portrait" is what's called. I knew there was terminology for those to types of format. That's the terms used for when you change your format for printing on your computer. I couldn't think of what it was called earlier.

You mention the free gift of the fangs in Scream!. That's another thing I like about the British comics. Several I've seen mention free items such as posters and masks and such. There is a current magazine I believe which offers a pewter statue of Marvel characters with each issue (or does the magazine come with the purchase of the statue). I have a copy of Savage Sword of Conan #1 with a color poster of Conan still attached. The early MWOM's offered T-shirt transfers and stickers. There's offers on the tops of the covers of free mystery gifts. Were these inside the comics or did you have to send off for them? Sounds like it was a lot of just really fun stuff.

Simon Garth

11-13-2008, 01:47 AM

Brit comics have a long tradition of "special gifts" being included with the comic - usually tucked/stapled inside, or cellotaped to the cover.

From what I remember of the posters, they were usually twice the size of the comic (or a bit smaller), were folded in four inside the comic and usually stapled into the middle, thereby having the twin "benefits" of being heavily creased and having staple holes in them.

Other perennial special gits included:
- the "supersonic shock banger" (or similar hyperbolic description), which turns out to be a piece of folded cardboard (sometimes with vaguely relevant motif printed on it - Spider-Man's head, or shockwaves / deafened parents etc) with a piece of paper attached - vigorously snap this device downwards and you do indeed get a banging noise, to endless amuseness of child with new toy, rather less so of parents
- plastic boomerang / super spinner / spiderang / etc, often with relavent motif printed on.
- Cardboard mask - sometimes pre-cut, other times left as an exercise for the reader to cut out

The great advantage of both of these gifts is that (a) they're vaguely attractive to the 8-10 year old boys who comprise 99.9999% of the intended audience, (b) are flat.

Other things include a variety of miscellaneous small toys that fall into the generic castegory of "cheap plastic crap" - tiny water pistols, self-assembly plastic models with about 5 small parts etc. Common characteristics - they either break more or less instantly or some key part is lost (or swallowed!) more or less instantly. Or both

All in all, fine for the tinies who were expected to be the audience - bloody embarassing if you're a 14 year old Marvel fan, collecting your latest, greatest issue, only to find the pretty girl you fancy in the newsagent handing you your free gift of a "supersonic snapper whizbang copter" (or whatever POS it is included), with a snigger, and a look in the eye that says all her friends, and yours, will know all about it within minutes.

The Confessor

11-13-2008, 05:20 AM

There is a current magazine I believe which offers a pewter statue of Marvel characters with each issue (or does the magazine come with the purchase of the statue).

I think you must be talking about the Classic Marvel Figurine magazine's that Eaglemoss are currently putting out. These are a bit different in that the lead figure is what you're really buying and the magazine is a bit of a freebie that gives you the history of whatever character they’re doing that week. The magazines aren't comics in the traditional sense.

I think that Eaglemoss has begun releasing these in the USA now too.
There's a thread for this magazine in the Marvel Forum here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=77120).

I have to say that these figures are well worth picking up, if you’re into that type of thing. The sculpting is almost always excellent and they're all really well hand painted. Myself, I'm collecting all of the Spider-Man related figurines. I'd like to collect them all but I'm not that rich and besides, I simply don't have enough room for them all on my mantelpiece. :wink:

i*love*comics*247

11-26-2008, 10:08 AM

I think you must be talking about the Classic Marvel Figurine magazine's that Eaglemoss are currently putting out. These are a bit different in that the lead figure is what you're really buying and the magazine is a bit of a freebie that gives you the history of whatever character they’re doing that week. The magazines aren't comics in the traditional sense.

I think that Eaglemoss has begun releasing these in the USA now too.
There's a thread for this magazine in the Marvel Forum here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=77120).

I have to say that these figures are well worth picking up, if you’re into that type of thing. The sculpting is almost always excellent and they're all really well hand painted. Myself, I'm collecting all of the Spider-Man related figurines. I'd like to collect them all but I'm not that rich and besides, I simply don't have enough room for them all on my mantelpiece. :wink:

Yes, those are the ones. I was able to get a Captain America. Very nice figurine. I'm going to try and get some more of these. Maybe a Spider-man, a Thor, and a Thing.

In the last two weeks, I've also won some of the Super Spider-man and the Super-Heroes comics off of eBay. I should be receiving them shortly.

i*love*comics*247

11-29-2008, 08:59 PM

I wanted to present another quick gallery of the British reprints of Marvel comics which came out in the 70's. I picked these up on eBay today and these are the landscape Super Spider-man with the Super-Heroes mentioned earlier in this thread.

Doctor Strange guest stars from Amazing Spiderman #109.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/superspidey161.jpg

Aunt May catches Spidey beating up her boyfriend at the time, Doctor Octopus. Notice that in this version she is firing the gun but in the original version of Amazing Spiderman #115 she does not fire.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/superspidey164.jpg

The battle between Spiderman and Hulk from Amazing Spiderman #120.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/superspidey169.jpg

The next is the first Punisher appearance from Amazing Spiderman #129.

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo212/ilovecomics247/superspidey178.jpg

Each of these used the landscape format inside which meant that two pages from the original comic would be seen on each page. This allowed for more stories to be reprinted as the images were smaller. Issue #161, therefore, had a complete Spiderman story of 20 pages, a Dr Strange reprint of 8 pages, a letterspage, a two-page pinup poster spread, a ten page Thing story from Marvel 2-in-1, an eight page Iron Man versus Hulk story from Iron Man #9, and a ten page Thor story all in Black and White. Would seem that would have been a bargain for 9p. (I didn't get the free stickers, however.)

pauwoo

11-30-2008, 06:19 AM

The other thing about these comics as well, in most cases the original story would be spread over two issues, rather than one, so every other issue had a new piece of cover art created.

These are first things I ever bought back in the early seventies, the first issues of mighty world of marvel, weren't black or white, they all sorts of interesting colouring going on such as red's and green's.