Nostalgia and Comics regenerates

As from today, the UK's longest running comic shop, Nostalgia and Comics, is no more... but don't panic! It's had a complete refit and a name change to Worlds Apart. Yes, they still sell comics, - although you'll find them upstairs now, with the ground floor being used for Funko Pops and other merchandise.

Nostalgia and Comics opened in late 1976, founded by Phil Clarke, who had previously played a huge part in the history of comics fandom by organising Britain's first comic convention in 1968. The original Nostalgia and Comics store was a tiny shop on the corner of Hurst Street in Birmingham, which opened in November 1976 as announced in Comic Media News No.28...

...and advertised fully in the following issue...

Art by Mike Higgs.

Shortly after, a second branch was opened to cater for back issues, a few seconds walk away in the subway of Smallbrook Queensway...

Art by Mike Higgs.

By 1979, a new larger premises were opened on the other side of the road at 14/16 Smallbrook Queensway, replacing the previous shops. (The subway shop was sold to Readers World who traded there for a while. The subway no longer exists, having been filled in as part of a redevelopment in Birmingham several years ago.)

With two floors, the new shop at 14/16 Smallbrook Queensway was brighter and more comfortable for customers. They are the same premises still in use today.

Years ago, Phil Clarke gave up ownership of Nostalgia and Comics when it was bought out by the Forbidden Planet International company, although they retained the name Nostalgia and Comics... until today. Now, with a complete refit, the name has been changed to Worlds Apart, which is also the name of a comics shop in Liverpool owned by FPI.

(If you're wondering why they didn't simply call it Forbidden Planet International when they took over, it's because they can't if there's a rival Forbidden Planet in the same town. Yes, there are two companies with similar names. It's complicated. Basically, the owners fell out years ago and both claimed the name for their rival shops. Forbidden Planet International with the black/gold/white branding is one company, whilst Forbidden Planet with the white/red/black rocket logo is a different company.)

I guess it makes sense for the sake of unity and branding to use the Worlds Apart name for their shops, but for many of us it's a sad loss to see the name Nostalgia and Comics go after more than 40 years. I was one of the original customers back in the 1970s and was a regular for many years, meeting up with other customers on a Saturday or Thursday before heading off for our weekly pie and a pint or whatever. Admittedly I don't visit as often as I used to but I'm sure it's still a great community spot for readers and will continue to be so under its new name.

Goodbye then, Nostalgia and Comics, but here's wishing Worlds Apart a bright and prosperous future! 

More info on the changes here:
http://www.comicon.com/2019/04/12/uks-oldest-comic-shop-nostalgia-and-comics-relaunches-this-saturday-with-a-new-name/


...and a video of the refit, at the Geeky Brummie YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekkN-lKEDf4

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of UK fandom with FANSCENE!

Comics fandom in the UK is just over half a century old, and this year is the 50th anniversary of the very first comic con in Britain. With this in mind, a few months ago David Hathaway-Price set himself the enormous task of producing a fanzine to celebrate the occasion. The result is what can only be described as the ultimate in fanzines; a massive 324 page digital publication! 

Titled Fanscene, the contents include contributions from Alan Moore (who was there back at the beginnings of fandom), Nigel Kitching, Dave Hornsby, Dave Windett, Steve Noble, Dez Skinn, Nick Neocleous, John Freeman, Martin Forrest, Rob Kirby, Geoff Lamprey, John Jackson, Mike Teague and many, many more. There's an interview with the late Leo Baxendale, Mike Conroy interviews Phil Clarke, there's tributes to Steve Whittaker, Alan Austin, Steve Moore and Jim Baikie, and lots of other great stuff. An amazing tribute to the early days of the UK comics community. How it's grown since!

David Hathaway-Price has accomplished an incredible job with Fanscene which is not only a tribute to the glory days of fanzines that will spark many memories but it's also an education for those who weren't there. And best of all, it's free! You can download it from the first link in the following list, or read it online in three parts, or use the last link to download a higher resolution file to have it printed.

FANSCENE Download and read
https://drive.google.com/…/1v4htUqh7voJY4pNB7z7LrPLNZ…/view…

FANSCENE Part 1
https://drive.google.com/…/1yWMNKgZ1JRUZIcOwHP3atz8qR…/view…

FANSCENE Part 2
https://drive.google.com/…/1kabtbEb8lSXQYmOgOyC10LfdL…/view…

FANSCENE Part 3
https://drive.google.com/…/1XylwKSbYbeNnpCQU80oMVdThm…/view…

FANSCENE PRINT VERSION (1.8 Gigs. Zip file)
http://sendanywhe.re/686GJTJL

Congratulations to David and all concerned for such a marvellous mag! And the celebrations will continue this year with some events being worked out to commemorate 50 years of UK conventions. More news as it happens!

Blast from the past

Cover by Paul Ward.

Over on David Hathaway-Price's superb website of Classic Uk Comics Zines, he's recently uploaded the complete issue of No.3 of my old After Image fanzine from November 1979.

Looking back at it now, it's a bit of a creaky publication as fanzines were in those days, and my writing was littered with spelling mistakes and naive opinions about comics and life. I hope you'll be forgiving and appreciate that I was only 20 at the time. 

It features some superb artwork by Martin Forrest though, and Paul Ward did an excellent job illustrating my far too verbose War-Bot script. On the back page, there's the very first appearance of Brickman (or Brick-Person as I called him then). It also features a 1979 convention report I wrote (the first comics event I attended).

This was to be the final issue of After Image, although it doesn't say that in this issue. (A second printing did have amendments to make that clear.) 

Anyway, to see the full 'zine, go to this site and click on the link:
http://classicukcomicszines.weebly.com/after-image--metamorph--fantasy-express.html

New site for classic fanzines

For months now, David Hathaway-Price has been scanning covers and pages from old UK fanzines, contacting those of us who published them, and planning his website. Today, it's gone live, with Classic U.K. Comics Zines celebrating the British fanzines of the past.

This is the start of a marvelous repository of old fanzines, some long-forgotten, many fondly remembered. It's a fantastic opportunity for older fans to revisit those 'zines, and for younger fans to discover the sort of publications that existed long before the Internet took over with blogs and forums.

© Lew Stringer 1978

Many of us working in the comics industry today started out publishing our own fanzines, and my very first fanzine, After Image No.1 is available in its entirety on David's site as a free PDF download with my permission. I was 19 years old when I produced it back in 1978, and the artwork is crude, the production of the 'zine is rough around the edges, but it was great experience and one of the early steps on the road to my career so I have a great affection for it. 

© Lew Stringer 1978

Take a journey into history by visiting the Classic U.K. Comics Zines website today:
http://classicukcomicszines.weebly.com/  

© Lew Stringer 1978

All bids welcome

I'm selling a few items on eBay again this week. Something that may interest fans of Alan Moore is a copy of Fantasy Express No.5, a fanzine I published in 1983. This issue features one of the first (if not the first) interviews published with Alan, and runs to 12 pages. Plus Alan Davis drew an exclusive cover for the issue. The 'zine itself has 36 pages in total and is unread and in excellent condition.

I'm also selling a few pages of my original artwork from Viz and Oink! For more info see my eBay page here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

All bids are very much appreciated. The auction ends on Sunday 1st March. Good luck!

Fanzine cover collection

Comics fanzines are pretty much a thing of the past now, replaced by websites and blogs like this. That's fine for news, comment, and articles, but you can't beat a good fanzine cover. And the 1970s and early 1980s had some crackers. Many of us started out in fanzines and some pros were still happy to contribute the occasional cover when asked. Above is the cover to Fantasy Advertiser International No.55, April 1975. The images surrounding Stan Lee's grinning mug shot are by Bryan Talbot in his early days. 

Let's take a look at several more. Today, Graham Bleathman is renowned for his fantastic cutaway paintings of Gerry Anderson vehicles and suchlike, but back in 1978 he was making his debut with his self-published fanzine Magazine of Tomorrow. Graham's art improved rapidly in subsequent issues...

Comic Media News was edited by Richard Burton who'd later go on to be an editor at IPC/Fleetway/Egmont on comics from Tiger and 2000AD to Sonic the Comic. This cover to issue 29 (Jan-Feb 1977) is by Brian Bolland...

Comic Media News No.33 (Nov-Dec 1977) with a nice 'jam' cover by Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, and Mick McMahon...

Comic Media News No.34 (Jan-Feb 1978) with a wraparound cover by Mike Higgs...

Comic Media News No.38 (Oct-Nov 1978) with art by Garry Leach...

BEM (formerly Bemusing Magazine) was published my Martin Lock who later set up Harrier Comics. This cover to No.22 (January 1979) is by the ever-brilliant Hunt Emerson...

BEM No.23 (April 1979) cover by Brian Bolland...

BEM no.25 (September 1979) cover by Bryan Talbot...

BEM No.27 (March 1980) cover by Dave Gibbons showing a very 1970s Dez Skinn...

BEM No.28 (May 1980) another cover by Brian Bolland...

BEM No.29 (August 1980) cover by Mick McMahon...

BEM No.35 (Spring 1982) cover by Kevin O'Neill...

Masters of Infinity was a smart fanzine published my Mike Taylor. The cover to No.7 (1980) was by Mick McMahon...

Workin Klass Super Hero was an A4 stripzine published by Jolly Martian Productions. This is issue 1 from 1979. Its cover (and some content) was by Glenn Fabry...

Fusion was an A5 fanzine edited by Hugh Campbell. The cover to No.6 (June 1985) was drawn by Grant Morrison, better known today for his writing of course...

Last but not least, we'll end as we began with a Bryan Talbot cover. This one for Short Fuse No.2 (1985) published by Graham Cousins, Paul Duncan and John Jackson.

I hope these covers have been of interest. I'll post more info about these old fanzines at a later date if enough of you are interested. For example, over on my other blog I've posted the first article I had published from 1979. You can see it here:
http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/the-folly-of-youth-my-first-fanzine.html

Blimey! blog is taking a break for a few days now, unless important news comes along, as I have a lot of work on this week. Please keep posting your comments though as I'll still be taking a few minutes to reply to those. 

FA the Comiczine

This will be old news to some of you, but for those of you who didn't already know, Britain's most enduring comics fanzine has a new life online these days. FA the Comiczine can be found here: 
http://comiczine-fa.com/ 

FA started out as the fanzine Fantasy Advertiser way back in 1965, created by Frank Dobson as a way to sell his comics via mail order. When Frank emigrated to Australia in 1970 the editorial reins were passed on to Dez Skinn and Paul McCartney (not the Beatle). You can read Dez' fascinating anecdotes about it on his website here:
http://dezskinn.com/quality-comms/

Although still heavy on the sales ads, Dez did include some great features too, such as in Fantasy Advertiser No.55 (April 1975) which carried an interview with Stan Lee by Charles Murray.

Cover art by Bryan Talbot.

By the time I first discovered the 'zine, in 1977, it was being edited by Colin Campbell and had a pretty even balance of features, strips, and ads. 

Cover by Trev Goring.

Cover by Jeff Anderson.

Martin Lock became the next editor/publisher in the early 1980s, giving the 'zine a good comics news section, and continuing the features and a lively letters column. 

Cover by Eddie Campbell.

Martin Skidmore took over in the mid-1980s, and abbreviated the title to FA because he felt 'Fantasy Advertiser' sounded a bit like a sex contact mag. It also allowed FA to cover material beyond the fantasy genre. 

Cover by George Perez.

FA was taken over by Trident Comics in 1988, retaining Martin Skidmore as editor, but unfortunately the mag closed when the company went bankrupt in 1991. However in 2010, Martin revived the title as an online 'zine with new material. 

Sadly, Martin Skidmore passed away a few years ago but his colleagues and friends have continued to keep FA the Comiczine going. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Fantasy Advertiser so hopefully there'll be something significant to mark the milestone on the website. It's the fanzine that seems indestructible. Check it out. There's some great articles by Nevs Coleman, Andrew Moreton and others, plus Martin Hand's bizarre strip World of Flimsy. 
http://comiczine-fa.com/

Auction Man

I'm a bit too busy to research and blog about old comics at present, but I hope to do so sometime this weekend. In the meantime, here's a quick plug for the items I have for on eBay this week. Auction ends on Sunday afternoon/early evening for most...

My early fanzines, Metamorph Nos.1 and 2 sold as one item. Very rare (I only printed 150 of each), featuring exclusive art by Mike McMahon, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Graham Bleathman, plus an interview with Chris Claremont and Steve Englehart (together), and the second and third Brickman strips! (Back when he was called Brick-Person.) Plus other features. Unread. Near-Mint.

Fantasy Express No.4, featuring an exclusive cover by Joe Colquhoun and the only interview ever published with him inside. Plus an exclusive Kev O'Neill back cover.

A page of Vampire Brats original artwork from Buster...

The pencil rough of a Cartoon Network ad I did several years ago.

Plus a couple of other bits that used to belong to my late mum.

Here's my eBay page if you're interested in bidding. All bids much appreciated. Good luck!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/graphite47/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Metamorph!

Back in 1981, when numerous fanzines were the forerunners to Internet blogs and forums, I published an A5 'zine entitled Metamorph. I only had around 150 printed, - proper litho printing though, not photocopied, - and I have an unread copy up on eBay at present. 

Exclusive cover by Mick McMahon, (with a logo I designed) plus sketches by Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland, exclusive interview with Chris Claremont and Steve Englehart, and the second episode of Brick-Person (who would later evolve into Brickman). 

Check it out if you're interested. Auction ends tomorrow and all bids are welcome:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/METAMORPH-1-1981-McMAHON-BOLLAND-GIBBONS-CLAREMONT-ENGLEHART-Excellent-cond-/201045838624?pt=UK_Books_comics_Magazines_UK_Comics_ET&hash=item2ecf440b20