Another Panini / Marvel relaunch

Essential X-Men is the latest Marvel Collectors' Edition to begin a new volume from No.1. Published by Panini UK, the first issue of the new series is on sale now, as a 100 page bumper edition, going to its usual 76 page format with issue 2. 

The relaunch also switches to the squarebound format that's gradually being introduced across the whole line, and a 51p price rise to £4.50. We're now living in an age where prices like that, and higher, are the norm for UK comics/mags. Sad, but inevitable, and out of the publisher's control. (The cheapest British comics are now Beano and 2000AD at £2.75 each.)

Anyway, the new Essential X-Men No.1 is a perfect jumping-on point for new or lapsed readers, so let's see what's in this issue...

ESSENTIAL X-MEN #1. On sale 3rd May! 
100-page special! A new volume begins! £4.50!
A new era for the X-Men unfolds! The X-Men’s Gold Team tackles Terrax the Tamer! By Marc Guggenheim and Ardian Syaf!
The X-men’s Blue Team battle tow old enemies: Black Tom and Juggernaut return! Cullen Bunn and Jorge Molina!

Featuring material first published in X-Men: Gold #1 and X-Men: Blue #1-3.

The age of Power Comics!

The line of comics published by Odhams in the 1960s that became collectively known as "Power Comics" helped to make that decade so much fun. They weren't around for long (mid-1964 to early 1969), although it seemed much longer when we were living it, as childhood often does. They could be a bit rough around the edges at times in terms of editorial design, but that was part of their charm. On the other hand they also featured some of the best comics creators of the day, allowing people like Leo Baxendale, Ken Reid, Mike Higgs, Brian Lewis, Jordi Bernet, Louis Berjemo and many more to produce some of the best work of their careers. Plus they included Marvel reprints, bringing British kids a rush of Marvel at its best on a weekly basis. Now that was Thrill-Power!

I've posted about them numerous times on this blog, which you'll find with a simple search, so today I'd just like to re-post the covers of their first issues, all scanned from my collection. Funny, exciting, inspiring. Great days. I'm glad I was the right age to fully appreciate them!

Blackpool 1967, eating shrimps and wearing my Iron Man transfer.

What's this?

All will be revealed this weekend. 

Preview: TOXIC No.305

Here's a preview of the opening panels to my latest Team Toxic story, entitled Eye Robot, which appears in Toxic magazine No.305, in the shops today. 

This edition of the long-running boys' magazine includes features on Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Iron Man, Adventure Time, and more. Available from newsagents and supermarkets across the UK. 
http://www.toxicmag.co.uk

Here's the package to look out for, as it comes bagged with gifts...

Classic Free Gifts

Someone mentioned free gifts in old comics and it reminded me that several years ago I wrote a number of blog posts about some of those gifts. These might bring back memories, or, might be a revelation to find out that, back then, comic gifts were designed specifically for each comic, rather than the interchangeable plastic 'blasters' etc of modern comics...

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/free-inside-part-1.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/free-inside-part-2.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/free-inside-part-3.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/free-inside-part-4.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/free-inside-part-5.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/free-inside-part-6.html

https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/free-inside-part-7.html