British comics facts for kids

A British comic is a type of magazine published in the United Kingdom that is full of comic strips. People usually just call them "comics" or "comic magazines." Long ago, they were sometimes called "comic papers."

British comics are often collections of different stories, like an anthology. They are usually made for children and come out every week. Some are also published every two weeks or once a month. The two most famous British comics, The Beano and The Dandy, were first released by DC Thomson in the 1930s.

By 1950, over two million copies of The Beano and The Dandy were sold each week. Anita O’Brien, who works at London's Cartoon Museum, explained why comics were so popular back then. She said that in the 1930s to 1960s, comics like The Beano and The Dandy were almost the only fun entertainment for kids.

In 1954, Tiger comic introduced Roy of the Rovers. This was a super popular football story about a player named Roy Race and his team, Melchester Rovers. Even today, football fans often say "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff." This means something amazing or surprising happened in a game, just like in the exciting comic stories.

Other famous comics include Eagle, Valiant, Warrior, Viz, and 2000 AD. Some comics, like Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, were printed in a larger newspaper style. There were also "underground" comics and "small press" titles in the UK, like Oz. While British comics were the best sellers, American comic books and Japanese manga are also very popular in the UK.

What Makes British Comics Special?

The word "comics" came from early titles like Comic Cuts. This is because at first, all these magazines only had funny stories.

How British Comics Look Different

British comics are usually different from American comic books. In the past, they were often the same size. This size came from folding a large sheet of paper. But now, British comics are usually the size of a standard magazine.

Historically, British comics were printed on cheap paper, like newspaper. They often used black or dark red for dark colors. The covers usually had full color. The Beano and The Dandy started printing all their pages in color in 1993.

Who Reads British Comics?

Comics first started to replace text-only stories. This made them easier to read for people who didn't have much schooling. Over time, as public education got better, children became the main readers. By the mid-1900s, comics were made just for kids.

Story Length and Variety

In the past, comic strips were usually one or two pages long. A single comic magazine could have more than ten different stories, each with different characters. Nowadays, stories are often longer. They can continue over many issues and for a long time.

Some comics only had comic strips. But other magazines, like Jackie, had a different focus. They gave their girl readers articles and photos of pop stars and movie actors. They also had general articles about being a teenager, with some comic strips included.

For boys, there were similar magazines about football, like Shoot!. These had articles with pictures of famous footballers, teams, and football news. They also had a few football-themed comic strips.

Long-Running British Comics

Some British comics have been published for a very long time. The Beano and The Dandy are good examples. They are published by D. C. Thomson & Co., a newspaper company in Dundee, Scotland. The Dandy started in 1937, and The Beano in 1938. The Beano is still published today, but The Dandy stopped printing in 2012. Another long-running magazine, Boys' Own Paper, was for slightly older boys. It ran from 1879 to 1967.

Since the 1950s, there has been a tradition of black and white comics. These were printed in a smaller size. Many were war comics like Air Ace. They told exciting stories about the army, navy, and Royal Air Force, mostly from the two World Wars. There were also some romance and western titles in this smaller format.

On March 19, 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail, released a set of stamps. These stamps showed characters and series from famous British comics. The collection included The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

American Comics in the UK

After World War II, the UK wanted to support its own publishers. So, they stopped American magazines, including comics, from being directly imported. This meant that US comics often arrived in the UK as extra weight on ships. Even though it was hard to get American comics regularly, British readers always liked the different style of stories from across the Atlantic.

Early Reprints

In 1937, a character called Sheena, Queen of the Jungle was licensed for a British newspaper-style magazine called Wags. Sheena was like a female Tarzan. Her success led to her stories being sent back to the United States. There, they were published in Jumbo Comics.

Starting in the 1940s, more American comics became available through reprints. Companies like L. Miller & Son, Arnold Book Company, Alan Class Comics, and Thorpe & Porter reprinted American material for the British market. These reprints often featured characters like Captain Marvel, Sheena, Mandrake the Magician, and The Phantom.

Thorpe & Porter started by publishing Four Color and Classics Illustrated from Dell Comics in the UK. They also published other similar titles. Their Stratos imprint had a long-running Western comics series called Kid Colt, Outlaw. This series reprinted black-and-white stories from both Atlas Comics and DC Comics. Thorpe & Porter even published some material that had never been seen in the US.

When Captain Marvel stopped being published in the United States because of a lawsuit, L. Miller & Son created their own version. They called them Marvelman and Young Marvelman. These new versions, made by British writer/artist Mick Anglo, continued for several years. They were even brought back later in Warrior. British publishers reprinted many other American series too. This included early 1950s comics like Eerie and Black Magic in black-and-white. These usually had the American stories from the cover, plus extra stories to fill their 64 pages.

Direct Imports and New Publishers

In 1959, the UK lifted the ban on direct imports. Thorpe & Porter became the main UK distributor for both DC and Marvel comics. The comics were printed in America with a special cover showing the British price. Then, they were shipped across the Atlantic. This is how brand-new American comics like Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 arrived in the UK.

Thorpe & Porter went out of business in 1966. It was then bought by a part of DC Comics. After this, Thorpe & Porter mostly reprinted DC titles. Marvel Comics superhero reprints appeared in Odhams Press' Power Comics line from 1966 to 1969. They also overlapped with Alan Class Comics reprinting some Marvel superhero characters. Marvel reprints also showed up in City Magazines' TV21 from 1970 to 1971.

In 1972, Marvel launched Marvel UK. This company took over the market for Marvel reprints in the UK. Important titles included The Mighty World of Marvel and Spider-Man Comics Weekly. However, getting Marvel's American comics could still be tricky. This was because Marvel UK wanted to promote their own reprints. So, some titles, like The Amazing Spider-Man, were not always available.

Modern Reprints

The reprint market really grew in the 1980s. Titan Books started releasing collections of British comics. They also made deals with DC Comics to release DC titles in the UK. Igor Goldkind was a marketing consultant for Titan at the time. He helped make the term "graphic novel" popular for the collected editions they were selling. This got a lot of attention from the news.

Panini Comics took over in 1994. They reprinted many Marvel titles, as well as Marvel UK reprints. Panini's comics include Ultimate Spider-Man and a special "Collector's Edition" line. These have a strong cardboard cover, three stories, and a letters page. Other titles include Astonishing Spider-Man, Essential X-Men, and Mighty World of Marvel. These reprint a variety of Marvel Comics. From 2003, Panini also published one DC comic, Batman Legends. This reprinted different Batman adventures. This title is now published by Titan Magazines.

Reprints of Japanese and European Comics

Since 2005, a small number of popular Japanese comics have been reprinted in the UK. These were American translations. Major publishers like Random House and the Orion Publishing Group did this. However, both no longer publish British versions of Japanese comics. Random House stopped in 2009. Orion switched to publishing the original American versions.

At the same time, a very small publisher called Fanfare/Ponent Man published some UK-only English versions. These were of different Japanese manga and French bande dessinée (comic books).

Images for kids

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

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  Cover of Illustrated Chips in 1896 featuring the first appearance of the long-running comic strip of the tramps Weary Willie and Tired Tim.

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  Cover to The Beano, January 6, 1940 edition.

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  Cover of Eagle, 12 October 1963.

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

See also

In Spanish: Historieta en el Reino Unido para niños