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.

Adventures in time and space, 500 and counting!

Doctor Who Magazine has just published its five hundredth issue with all the magnificence the Guiness World Record-breaking magazine deserves, in not one but two 116-page magazines, a boxed giant party. Current editor Tom Spilsbury asked readers to showcase their collections, which set Twitter alight with comic stacked high in piles, shelves bulging and floors paved with covers. Why not? From October 1979 to June 2016 is a fantastic run, for many people it's not a collection but part of your life, from a childhood love to an adult obsession. DWM welcomed everyone, whether you dipped in and out or proudly own all 500. There is never any fan snobbery, which is how it should be. So I decided to join in too. I counted up my copies and lay out my reasonably size collection of 182 issues, together with 16 Specials, 26 Doctor Who Classic Comics and 8 Doctor Who Poster Magazines, plus one very special Doctor Who Weekly souvenir issue.

A nostalgic way to look back at my life with images of where and when I read the magazine. This got me thinking just how important it was and still is to the comic and magazine industry and its fans. I found myself arguing that the world of comics wouldn't be the same, nor would the magazines we see on supermarket shelves. Now don't laugh but there are unquestionable points to back this up. Let's start at the beginning with the Fantastic First Issue. 11th of October 1979 the start of an adventure of a lifetime. 

Dez Skinn was shaping MarvelUK into a brand that he felt would survive the coming decade with his Marvel Revolution, monthlies where promoted for more mature readers, with The Savage Sword of Conan, Ramage Magazine, Marvel Superheroes and his own Starburst magazine. The weeklies where strengthen with Spider-man getting the cream of superhero action, The Mighty World of Marvel becoming simply Marvel comic, the boys own style action/adventure package, the Hulk got his own weekly with British artists and writers given a platform to show off and Star Wars Weekly left to blossom in glorious sci fi gloss. The Star War Weekly, Hulk Weekly and Starburst productions lead the way for a new fan favourite to be born. A weekly comic with fantastic tales from our TV hero. Now even though I was the perfect age to get this comic, being a comic mad nine year old, but my local distribution was poor. A problem that's marred many a magazine. I wish I had a TARDIS so that I could go back in time and tell my young self to try harder. Whenever I'd get a chance to read those old stories, whether in reprints in specials/Doctor Who Classic Comics or buy back issues I jump at them with adolescent joy. The greatest British creators of the time, if not ever worked on those strips. Not just the lead Doctor Who adventure but the back up strips too. Pat Mill, John Wagner, Dave Gibbon on the Doctors stories and back ups from Paul Neary, David Lloyd, Steve Moore, Steve Dillon and Alan Moore, all worked magic in those weekly Doctorless "missions to the unknown." I know people will say that Skinn was using those creators in House of Hammer/Horror, Hulk comic, Star Wars weekly and Starburst, as and when he could. And that 2000AD and Skinn's own Warrior are better examples of the British comic revolution, but Doctor Who Weekly really pushed those talents into the view of not just comic fans but TV fans too. All that time and space shenanigans, plus articles on the TV series with behind the scenes and passed story reviews and comments. Early signs of a bright future.

In less than a year it went from a weekly to a monthly with September 1980 issue 44. Some may claim that this was a sign of decline, but it was a shrewd move that would save the comic and give birth to the magazine we know and love today. The strips stayed the same wonderfully high standard, with Steve Parkhouse, Alan McKenzie, John Ridgway, Mick McMahan and Mick Austin joining an already stellar cast of creators. The articles got better too. Early signs to a publication growing up with its readership.

Now I wasn't a collector of the mag in those early days, mores the pity, but I would dip in when the chance occurred, I was probably more a superhero comic fan but I've always extremely enjoyed the TV series, so it was alway a pleasure to read the mag when I fancied a change. More so when the TV series left our screens in those wilderness years. 

Many TV production talents worked on the magazine with Gareth Roberts, Paul Cornell, Andrew Cartnel, Gary Russell producing comic strip scripts, TV story board artist Mike Collins always showing fantastic artwork and even the Doctor himself, Colin Baker writing a brilliant script that made its was into a DWM special, The Age of Chaos.

Other great British talent who worked on the strip are worth naming, Alan Abnett, Grant Morrison, Jamie Delamo, Alan Barnes, Simon Furman, John Freeman, Arthur Ransom, Lee Sullivan and Adrian Salmon amongst many more.

 But another reason why the magazine is so important is that it kept going while the parent program was off air. Not just ticking over but loud and proud about how great the show was. It never slagged off the production when it was on TV, so when it rested the magazine took hold up the reins and steered it through the storm. Together with those Virgin novels, the comic strip was the only place to get your fix of the Doctors adventures. It was the video age so I would pay and watch all the tapes I could buy, but the strip was very important to me. In many ways more important than the articles in the magazine, at least to me at the time. My fix of Doctor Whoness. Although those articles told us just how good the show was and soon others would try to show us too.

 The magazines patience payed off when Philip Segal brought the good Doctor back, with a good intentioned TV movie. I really loved it, I really loved how the magazine embraced it. It was a good time to be a DWM reader, cracking articles, great coverage and a brilliant strip. The Paul McGann Doctor strip has always been one of my favourites. If only the TV version had been as much a success. The TV Doctor disappeared once more, but not for long, maybe it wasn't a unsuccessful as many though. A man called Russell had thought it was marvellous too.

 Like the Doctor the Magazine has always Regenerated. New life was given to the fandom with the strong return of the Doctor. Russell T Davies latest reboot exploded onto the TV screen with action, adventure and a lot of heart! The patience of the fans lead by the Magazine had really payed off this time. It wasn't just Cult TV fans or comic strip fans that got the best from this NuWho, but the every day viewer. You didn't have to be a fanatic to be a fan, you just had to enjoy the show. A new love was born, a new fan. What better place to explore this new world, to some at least was the new Magazine, where everybody was welcomed. This glossy, slick publication became the standard that every other sci fi magazine followed. Always fair, always fun, just the right amount of sucking up and the right amount of critic. Always a great read, that's why it's so important to the British comic/magazine industry. And maybe to the world.

It's never rested on its laurels, MarvelUK or Panini spun off some brilliant companions, with seasonal Summer, Autumn and Winter Specials, the spectacular Doctor Who Poster Magazine, Doctor Who Classic Comics with old Doctor tales from pre DWM and their own archives, plus the coffee table gloss of Doctor Who Magazine Special Editions. My summer holidays could never be the same without a thick bound edition to read while I relax.

 Thanks to all those editors Dez Skinn, Paul Neary, Alan McKenzie, Cefi Ridout, Stella Cronna, John Freeman, Gary Russell, Marcus Hearn, Gary Gillatt, Alan Barnes, Clayton Hickman and Tom Spilsbury. Happy 500 Doctor Who Magazine, Splendid mags, every issue. 

"Doctor? Doctor who?"