Murder on the high street!

 

It's Late Summer Bank Holiday and it feels like summer is over, where are those school holiday summer breaks? They always signalled British beach holidays with a Summer Special comic treat bought from the local newsagent or seaside shop. Do today's generation have the same thrill as the 70's and 80's kids did? Let's find out. I'll not look at those junior toys that come with a comic, you can get them at any supermarket, they're well catered for. 

Back in the day you had Menzies and WH Smiths newsagent chains as well as independent shops. But the landscape on today's high street is so different these day's with internet shopping, online content, multi-media platforms and a million other distractions that keep the average youngster occupied. For those who still want to fill their imaginations with the inside of a comic or mag WH Smiths is heaven. But is there something not quite right in heaven? The problem is no two Smiths are the same. Take a look at the top picture, it's the comic/mag section at Smiths Chester. I love shopping in Chester, it's a beautiful city and Smiths is one of my favourite shops to pop in. They have a really good selection of mags, my only problem is that they are on the very top shelf behind the motoring mags! OK some mags might have fairly adult content like the Judge Dread Megazine and Shaft Presents, but the Panini range don't. The picture under it is from Preston's Deepdale Smiths, where a similar range of comics can be found but this time at floor level. Worth noting that this store doesn't have any 2000AD, the Megazine or Shaft Presents at all! I also went to Southport and the Trafford Centre Smiths this summer, with Southport probably the best for range and accessibility, I forgot to take a picture but I can tell you it had a large amount of Marvel comics, Bookzines and Doctor Who related magazines (Panini), 2000AD, Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion) and independents (Shift Presents and Time Bombs Quantum). 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to call out those shops. They're all doing a fantastic job with limited shelf space in a very packed magazine market. We need to support them or like so many shops on the high street they'll be gone in a flash! By "support" and "we" I mean the retailers who by making space for the terrific mags we want to buy, also taking risks on what will sell, the publishers, by making great looking comics that fans want to read and taking risks on what will sell and you dear reader, call in and use those shops, take the risk on something you think you might like. You never know you might just love it.

Marvel UK (Panini)

Marvel comics range is served by the Amazing Spider-man, Miles Morales:Spider-man and the Deadpool and Wolverine comic. All three are 48 pages for £2.99 which is good value when compared to their American counterparts. Panini's range has shrunk a little from the glory days of their Marvel Collector Editions that at one time had printed editions for Spider-man, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men, Wolverine, Marvel Legends and the Mighty World of Marvel. Personally I'm not as interested in Marvel US's latest output, that comes from being an old head Marvel fan but I have started buying Panini's The Amazing Spider-man just as a monthly cheap thrill.

Panini has a growing range of Marvel square bound "Bookzines" and graphic novels available on the high street that plunder Marvel's back catalogue with specials that link to what ever Disney release at the cinema or on Disney+. Not cheap buys but if you are interested there's something for you. This Star Wars Mandalorian graphic novel caught my eye at the Deepdale Smiths  in Preston so I splashes the cash. I'm a fan of the Disney+ series so I'm glad I did.

Panini produce the Doctor Who Magazine which is alway available in you local Smiths. I used to pick it up monthly normally at Morrisons or Tescos, but as you can see I have the subscription copies. I used to buy it every four weeks so it made more sense to have it delivered to my door, as it worked out cheaper. I get the latest news right on the day or sometimes the day before. If not for that I would still nip to the shops and pick it up. These subscription covers look great without the high street version's text, but sometimes I miss that text because it instantly told me all about the mags contents. I guess I want both worlds. 

The range of DWM Special editions is vast, they're great but can be expensive so I tend to pick up the ones that I find worth it. This volume two of the Daleks the ultimate comic strip collection is the last one I bought. It's a weird example of my thought processes. I have all the original stories from DWM any way and at £19.99 it's not cheap, then again it is 172 pages and has a commentary section about the creation of the strips so as I'm a fan or sucker as some might say I couldn't resist. With this year being the sixtieth anniversary I expect Panini will be tempting me with more treats.

2000AD/Judge Dredd Megazine (Rebellion)

I used to get 2000AD and Judge Dredd the Megazine regularly in the 80's and 90's but I went through a period when commitments meant that I had to slow down or stop buying comics. I think it's called adulthood. With 2000AD you used to get three or four great strips and one or two OK ones. Towards the end of my Prog days I was only buying it for Dredd. The Megazine also seemed to drop into a juvenile bitchfest. So I stopped. Of late the Prog has been tempting me but I'd much rather collect the older edition to fill out my collection. 

Seeing Judge Dredd Megazine (now missing the "the",) on the shelves this summer's too much for my will power to resist. Boy am I glad my will power is weak. It's £6.99 and worth every penny. The strips are amazing, adult like but without any unnecessary juvenile sex, nudity and swearing. OK they're maybe a little sex, nudity and swearing but it's only in keeping with the stories. It's also got some great interviews and articles with and about comic creators and their work, who may or may not work for Rebellion. The Megazine has really grown up and I think I might stick with it for a while.

I heard Garth Ennis talking about Battle Action on the MegaCity Book Club podcast a while ago, his passion for the project peaked my interest. War comics have never been my thing but I picked up issue three of Battle Action to see what all the fuss is about. I now wish I'd picked up issues one and two from the newsagents when they came out. It's the new old fashioned style of comics, that I think I quite like the look of. Might splash the cash for issue four. 

Quantum (Time Bomb Comics)

If you've read my review on Quantum #1 you'll already know that I absolutely love Quantum. The first issue was Fantastic, the second was Sensational and let me tell you the third issue was absolutely Thrilling! It's like a grown up version of 2000AD by comic fans for comic fans. The editor Steve Tanner together with Dave West and David Morris have taken a risk that fans will love it, a risk that fans will buy it and that the retailers will stock it. Having it mainly available for purchase in WH Smiths shows that they want the high street to be that great place where you can pick up that thrilling treat. It's only bi-monthly at the minute but if they can keep up with deadlines and quality I can see them following up with their hope that it could go monthly. I think it will. I think the shops will stock it, I'm damn sure I'll be picking it up for the foreseeable future because I have totally fallen in love with it.

Time Bomb Comics also have a range of comics and graphic novels that they started by Kickstarter and convention interest. One of their range is called Brawler, an anthology comic in the style of Dez Skinn's Warrior. Warrior is one of my all time favourite comics and I would love to see this 2023 homage on the high street. So come on Mr's Tanner, West and Morris have a think about it. Quantum and Brawler side by side with 2000AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, living the dream.

Shift Presents...   The 77

Now here's a great idea produce a magazine that features some of the greatest independent comics from the UK and use it as a launch pad for interested readers to latch on to right here on the high street. Here it is Shift Presents. A magazine that reissues some of the greatest current indie comics. You can buy back issues from Get my comics or The Shift Store if you wanted. This year's issue, I say year I'm not sure how often it is published, its cover date says December 2022 but it's still on sale in late summer 2023, presents The 77. The 77 is an independent comic company responsible for The 77, Blazer, Pandora and This Comic is Haunted, who's thought process is "A brand new, retro anthology – A love letter to the comics that made us. With new talent and creators from your childhood." Those comics all started on Kickstarter and I love that you can buy this version on the high street. I'd like to see more independent comics on the high street but I understand that the cost of doing that would be high and it's quite a risk in these financial hard times. I know the internet is the cheapest way to advertise and sell but I'm surprised that some comic shop chains don't stock more independent comics. They can be just stacked to the rafters with American imports and Manga. Please make room for the British independents. Yeah I'm talking to you Forbidden Planet and Forbidden Planet International. 

I'll get round to specialist comic shops in a future blog, but Forbidden Planet and Forbidden Planet International I love you all so don't bar me. They too need comic buyers support in these hard times. But not every town and city has one so if you fancy some good old fashioned comic strip fun, action and adventure support your local WH Smiths or newsagent. 

And keep reading comics it keeps you young.