Comics UK

Wasn't sure what to call this topic but this was in yesterday's Daily Mail Answers To Correspondents section. I include the other questions just in case they are also of interest:

For a decent - if very brief - overview of available European comics, I suggest The Essential Guide To World Comics. It is hit and miss with certain countries, and misses a lot of great comics, but it highlights titles which have been largely ignored in the UK.

Fancy a look at what comics are available in France and Belgium? Have a look at this site:-
http://bdcomics.izneo.com/tous-G0#catalogue
There is also the chance to read a few pages of most of the albums. So much stuff and nary a superhero in sight.
Re. the article. When I'm asking for comics in Italy, or chatting about comics, I use, and always hear, "Fumetti". Fumetto is a singular and as there are many balloons in a comic, and loads of comics, the plural fumetti sems to be the norm. Phoenix could probably help with this as in Spain, I think, fans refer to "Tebeos" which I think is a plural, tebeo being for a single comic (derived from a classic old Spanish comic, TBO, as explained somewhere on the site by Phoenix) and I hear dealers referring to "Tebeos" I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong.

paw broon wrote:Fumetto is a singular and as there are many balloons in a comic, and loads of comics, the plural fumetti sems to be the norm. Phoenix could probably help with this as in Spain, I think, fans refer to "Tebeos" which I think is a plural, tebeo being for a single comic (derived from a classic old Spanish comic, TBO, as explained somewhere on the site by Phoenix) and I hear dealers referring to "Tebeos" I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong.

You will not be corrected, paw, as you are absolutely on the button. There are so many different titles that Spanish children are spoilt for choice. And a fair number of the second-hand book dealers on the Cuesta de Moyano behind the Botanical Gardens in Madrid sell second-hand comics as well. It's perhaps worth mentioning that many comics are bought by Spanish adults for their own amusement, and the publishers quite often produce compilation volumes of previously-published adventures of a popular character.

I have this very-work-in-progress page...

http://blog.crystal-knights.co.uk/comics-of-the-world/

Looks like I need to do some addin'!

felneymike wrote:I have this very-work-in-progress page...http://blog.crystal-knights.co.uk/comics-of-the-world/ Looks like I need to do some addin'!

I have just had a look at a very small portion of your blog, Mike, and I hope you don't mind my pointing out a mistake. In your section on V for Vengeance you say that the first series was in 1951, repeated in 1959. In one sense you are right, but the 1951 series was itself a repeat from 1942/43, when the activities of the Deathless Men were totally contemporary, and presented to British children as an aspect of hope that the British people sorely needed in those very dark days.

That's a great idea but the amount of research and time needed could easily swamp you. There is so much and while, currently, there are nowhere near as many comics published as, say 30, 40, 50 years ago, the attempt to list important, fallen flag titles, will bump up the work hugely. Some of us on CB+ have done some work on the history of non-American comics and recently there have been postings of many Italian covers with (very) rough translations of the history of the industry in Italy. Before that, there was a stab at Indonesian comics. Currently there is a look at Australian comics. I know it's a lot to wade through but it might be of some help, or give you some leads:-
http://comicbookplus.com/forum/index.ph ... 183.0.html
Bear in mind that when you get to Scandinavia, Australia and India, they share a huge, current and historical interest in The Phantom, and that's one of the not locally created titles that's, arguably, more popular abroad than in the USA.
I can point you to covers of old comics that were very popular decades ago in a few countries. Please let me know if I can be of any help.
As an example, here's El Encapuchado, an incredibly popular "pulp" in Spain, which later was a comic:-
http://www.todocoleccion.net/el-encapuc ... ~x26622555

That's a great idea but the amount of research and time needed could easily swamp you. There is so much and while, currently, there are nowhere near as many comics published as, say 30, 40, 50 years ago, the attempt to list important, fallen flag titles, will bump up the work hugely.

Well I do hope to focus on only the most important ones, for instance I consider the British section nearly complete (though it will also need Sweeney Todd, Varney the Vampyre and maybe Warrior, though I may list the V for Vendetta graphic novel under USA, as that's the form most people have seen it in, and the form in which it was actually completed!). For some countries (like Sweden and North Korea) I've just listed random finds because they were all I could find. But that's why it's a work in progress!

n your section on V for Vengeance you say that the first series was in 1951, repeated in 1959. In one sense you are right, but the 1951 series was itself a repeat from 1942/43, when the activities of the Deathless Men were totally contemporary, and presented to British children as an aspect of hope that the British people sorely needed in those very dark days.

Ooops! I knew I'd read that it was a wartime series somewhere, but I could never rediscover where! The history article needs a huge overhaul anyway, as I have now heard about some 'proto-storypapers' aimed at children dating right back into the 1730's!

Edit: Oh and also the British section of my "comics of the world" page needs some girls comics! I think Bunty, Misty, Girl and Girl's Crystal are the "big" ones... though Misty mainly for the reputation it got afterwards!

felneymike wrote: Edit: Oh and also the British section of my "comics of the world" page needs some girls comics! I think Bunty, Misty, Girl and Girl's Crystal are the "big" ones... though Misty mainly for the reputation it got afterwards!

You might include Tammy there, since it was massively popular in the 70s, outselling 2000ad and swallowing up a goodly number of other titles (including Misty).

Hmm, that's probably a better idea, actually. Also thinking about including "The Big Four" as one entry, as they were all pretty similar (apart from The Hotspur being school themed). But first I wanna finish off the next issue of my own comic, and so some more actual blog entries!

felneymike wrote:Also thinking about including "The Big Four" as one entry, as they were all pretty similar (apart from The Hotspur being school themed).

In my opinion, that is really not a good idea. I can say with certainty that the children who read The Big Four were well able to see the differences. After all, their choice of title(s) on which to spend their pocket money had to be based on their opinions. An useful alternative approach might be to try to determine why they succumbed when they did, The Hotspur in 1959, Adventure and The Rover in 1961 and The Wizard in 1963, and why it was considered worthwhile amalgamating Adventure and The Rover, which together, it could be argued, had a further thirteen years of life, at the same time as picture story papers like The Victor and The Hornet were becoming dominant players.