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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Back in print?

Cover by John Cooper.
The news a few months ago that 2000AD's publisher Rebellion had bought the post-1970 IPC comics back catalogue sent a wave of excitement through British comics fandom. While it's very unlikely the acquisition will mean that the actual old comics will return as ongoing periodicals, we do know that graphic novels (or collected albums) of selected stories will be appearing. One Eyed Jack from Valiant being one compilation that we'll see this year. Others will follow.

Which classic strips would you like to see collected in book format? Remember, it's only IPC material after 1970 we're talking about, so characters created before then, such as The Steel Claw or Odhams' Legend Testers or The Nervs or even Weary Willie and Tired Tim are not part of the deal. 

That still leaves many, many characters who might be collected. Characters from Action, Misty, Battle Picture Weekly, Whizzer and Chips, Cheeky, Cor!!, Thunder, Jet, Speed, Jinty, Tammy, Monster Fun, Scream!, Whoopee!, Jackpot, Tornado, and post-1970 Buster and others.

Post your thoughts in the comments section below. Remember, we're talking about the stories, not the comic titles...

22 comments:

RGC said...

I don't remember when or where exactly it was published, but I was fascinated by the strip The Iron Eaters, about an infestation of alien pink spongy fungus with anti-ferric properties. Would that be part of the IPC haul?

SLOW ROBOT said...

Funnily enough Lew, I purchased some old British fanzines at the weekend which included some quite scathing comments from you regarding the photo-stories in the 1982 EAGLE relaunch. But - regardless - I'd love to see the DOOMLORD photo strips cleaned up and reissued. And the long-running Dan Dare story Return of the Mekon (and the occasional fill-in stories which interrupted the ongoing plot) really deserves a really nice collection which showcases the stunning art.

I'd like to see the Action Force strips from BATTLE ACTION FORCE reissued but - presumably - they are trapped in rights hell because of the closure of Palitoy and the transfer of the toyline to Hasbro.

Peter Gray said...

Love to see any Reg Parlett character pages collected like Creepy Car for example..
Mastermind and Cliff Hanger by Jack

Ian Knox Robot Gran.

Cheeky by Frank..there is too many...

Tom Thug ;)

Flint Lockjaw said...

One Eyed jack is the perfect start.

Flint Lockjaw said...

'One-Eyed Jack' is the perfect start.

Lew Stringer said...

A Jack Oliver Cliff Hanger book would be great for children to get into reading comics, Peter.

RGC, The Iron Eaters was a Beezer strip, so not available.

SR, I still think the Eagle photo strips were a bad idea but my caustic comments when I was 23 don't necessarily reflect how I'd feel about those comics now I'm 57. I said some ridiculously gobby nonsense back when I was young that makes me cringe today.

Lew Stringer said...

It certainly is, Flint, and there's more great stuff to be announced later this year!

Narlaquin said...

Simply for completeness, because I missed the first and last episodes: "March of the Mighty Ones" (about Robot Dinosaurs escaping and going wild, [and only two 12yr olds can stop them!]), from either Monster Fun or Cheeky.
The Mike Nelson (Day of the Eagle) stories are online (somewhere) but I loved them anyway. So, I'd ask for reprints of D-Day Dawson, and Danny Budd, the Bootneck Boy, from Battle Picture Weekly (as nobody called it)

Lew Stringer said...

You're right. People only referred to it as Battle from day one. (They did at my school anyway.) I never liked the 'Picture Weekly' part of the title but now I find it quite distinctive. I suppose at the time, IPC were trying to attract readers of their 'Picture Libraries'.

I think we may be seeing some material turn up bagged with Judge Dredd Megazine soon.

Narlaquin said...

>>I think we may be seeing some material turn up bagged with Judge Dredd Megazine soon.

Please, do tell more (unless you're just merely hoping and praying along with me). And / or linkies to subscription info to the JD Megazine.

Arnaud said...

Badtime Bedtime Books !

Lew Stringer said...

I can't reveal any details yet, Narlaquin, but I show previews of upcoming 2000AD and Judge Dredd Megazines here regularly. As for links, click on the 2000AD logo on the sidebar to the right of this blog post.

Robin said...

Hi Lew,

Was Janus Stark part of the Rebellion deal? If so he's an obvious contender. Black Max and Adam Eterno, of course.
Danny Doom was short lived, but great Eric Bradbury art. The Trial to Nowhere? A Western, surprisingly mature for its time and place ( early 70's Valiant) and wonderful Mike Western art. Scream Inn: the best horror/humour strip of the day, with, again, great art (and well written ) and full of echoes of other British media comedies of the time.
I only hope Rebellion can reprint these properly, at the correct size and with decent printing. None of those horribly shrunken reprints on glossy paper.

Lew Stringer said...

Strips from SMASH! aren't included so no Janus Stsrk I'm afraid. I think most Valiant strips might be off limits too. One-Eyed Jack may have been an exception.

Yes, Scream Inn would be good. Great Brian Walker art.

As for the format, I presume they'll be the same size as the recent MISTY reprint, which was a bit smaller than the original comics but still looked good.

John Kerry said...

Pity if none of the Valiant material is unavailable as there were a couple of strips I would like to see collected, Raven on the Wing and Kid Pharoah. Other stuff that would interest me are Planet of the Damned, Timequake (both from Starlord) and Operation Shark (from Battle Action). Probably some others but I can't think of them.

Lew Stringer said...

Raven started pre-1970 so not available.

Basically Rebellion own the comics that started after 1970, but there are a few exceptions such as Whizzer and Chips (1969) and several strips from Buster that started after 1970.

Remember that this is the same deal that Egmont had. Rebellion bought the characters from Egmont, so they only have the ones that Egmont got from IPC years ago. (Although that still means hundreds of characters so it's still good.)

SLOW ROBOT said...

ONE EYED JACK was reprinted in the EAGLE revival between 1983-84 (and looked suspiciously dated even to 10 year old me) so maybe it sneaks under the wire that way.

BATTLE ACTION FORCE had a nifty strip called Nightmare about a kid in London during the blitz being stalked by a mysterious killer. It had a weird reboot mid-run which found the boy in Germany and inducted into the Hitler Youth for reasons that now escape me.

And don't forget... Star Rider and Golden Boy.

Lew Stringer said...

EAGLE isn't part of the package I'm afraid, as that was sold off to the Dan Dare Corporation years ago. It could be that Rebellion own O.E.J. because it continued into Battle. Whatever the reason, I'm glad it's being collected. From what I know so far, I think the archive is in good hands now at last!

John Kerry said...

Got me wondering now, who owns Roy of the Rovers both strp and the comic named for him?

Lew Stringer said...

Rebellion own him now. RotR was part of the deal. News story here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-37177877

SID said...

Adam Eterno. I loved his stories and since he was created in the seventies for Thunder, he must be one of characters that Rebellion obtained.

Lew Stringer said...

Adam Eterno should be part of Rebellion's deal, although there was some doubt at one point when Egmont acquired the characters from IPC. If Egmont owned him, Rebellion do now. Time will tell.

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