Comics UK

Peter Gray wrote:It would be great to see hte comic that nearly was...

1991 one of the saddest day in the history of comics...loads of comic artists lost work...

Well, we lost potential work, but thankfully there were still quite a few comics around then to contribute to. But, yeah, a very sad day when it was decided the comic wasn't going to happen.

http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... =1991+1992

But as you say some comic artists went to DC Thomson and others...

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Raven
Post subject: Re: What happened to Buster in 1992? a bad year for artists..PostPosted: Sat May 09, 2009 3:35 pm

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:58 pm
Posts: 2345
Location: Highboro'
Also, as I recall, around 1991 the Fleetway division that published the comics were taken over by Egmont, formerly Gutenberghus, who, despite their associations with Disney comics abroad, had no interest in carrying on with the UK comics line.

Quite a few new comics - humour and apparently adventure- were in the planning/development stages at that time but I think Gutenberghus/Egmont put an immediate stop to it all, so it clearly wasn't going to continue much longer if they had no interest in investing in the comic line.

I think the takeover in 1991 had a lot to do with the changes you notice from 1992, Peter.


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Raven
Post subject: Re: What happened to Buster in 1992? a bad year for artists..PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2009 9:36 am

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:58 pm
Posts: 2345
Location: Highboro'
I suppose the Gutenberghus/Egmont takeover is the great understated fact when people talk about what happened to British comics - probably because people don't really know the behind the scenes details.

When it's pondered why the grand 'IPC' empire of comics ended, people will say "well, children found other distractions - there were computers and multi-channel TV" etc. but isn't it really just because Gutenberghus/Egmont took over, weren't interested and cancelled everything?

There's no reason to believe that some of the new line of comics that were being developed to appeal to a new generation of kids wouldn't have been a success and the line may still have been around today in some form. But once the whole structure's been demolished you can't get it back.

And it became quite a common thing for one corporation to take over another and for things to change. For example, if I remember rightly, Sooty (the "Sooty brand" as the ubiquitous marketing speak of today would have it) was bought by Gullane, then Gullane was bought by HIT entertainment; HIT entertainment thought Sooty didn't have enough international appeal, then after 50 years of great success with British children, no more Sooty.

Thanks Peter. Yes, you're right. Work was becoming thin on the ground at that time. It picked up later, when Egmont launched Sonic the Comic, Tellytots, Lego Adventures, Toxic and other titles. Sadly no more traditional comics though, and today we're only left with the part-reprint part-new Toxic from Egmont's stable.

Peter Gray wrote:1991 one of the saddest day in the history of comics...loads of comic artists lost work...

There were two massive, widespread sackings within Fleetway/IPC titles - costing many, many writers and artists their livelihoods* - which completely obliterate that, but... Yeah. It would have been nice to see that title.

*The 1953(?) cull of "old-fahioned" artists, then the dismissal of writers attempting to unionize back in... I think, though I don't have the information to hand, the late fifties or early sixties. Either of those events would take that title.

Peter Gray wrote:And it became quite a common thing for one corporation to take over another and for things to change. For example, if I remember rightly, Sooty (the "Sooty brand" as the ubiquitous marketing speak of today would have it) was bought by Gullane, then Gullane was bought by HIT entertainment; HIT entertainment thought Sooty didn't have enough international appeal, then after 50 years of great success with British children, no more Sooty.

You can't lay the blame on company mergers and acquisitions - that has been going on (and ending comics, story papers and newspaper strips) since the 1890s. Arguably, Fleetway/IPC's purchase of competitors throughout the middle of the last century was a negative in the long term.

"Who screwed up comics" is a discussion which properly deserves its own thread though...

There should be a list of the unpublished titles for ease of reference. I'll add that to the list of things to do.

Hi everyone,
I will scan the comic and post it tomorrow for you all to have a look!


Alfie