Monday 24 September 2012

THE AMERICANS ARE COMING! (TOO LATE, THEY'RE HERE!)

Images copyright respective owners

BARRY PEARL, author of The ESSENTIAL MARVEL AGE REFERENCE PROJECT and blogger of BARRY'S PEARLS Of COMIC BOOK WISDOM (here), recently asked me for my personal reminiscences as to how I first discovered comicbooks.  (Just like STAN LEE, I prefer to render it as one word.) 

First of all though, let me relate what I can recall of the earliest comics I encountered when I was but a few years old.  It would be impossible to list them in the sequential order I first experienced them, as my memories of that particular period of my life tend to run into one another and it's nigh-impossible to separate them at this late stage.  However, I remember being aware of SUPERMAN from about three or four years of age, and even reading one of his comics, doubtless bought by my older brother.  Whether it was a U.S. original or U.K. reprint is beyond my ability to recollect - not that I'd have known the difference at that young age anyway.

Back in the early and mid-'60s, which is the time I first became aware of them, Britain still had a decent comics industry, with myriad publications vying for the pocket-money of post-war 'baby-boomer' children.  Titles such as BEANO, DANDY, BEEZER, TOPPER, SPARKY, VICTOR, HOTSPURVALIANT, LION, TIGER, EAGLE, BUSTER, TV COMIC, TV CENTURY 21, and a whole host more - the majority of which were aimed mainly at boys.  Girls had their own 'pictorial papers' to amuse and entertain them.  Unlike American comics, their British counterparts were published weekly, so U.K. kids were spoilt for choice when it came to having something to read.

I probably first became aware of American comicbooks (as American comicbooks) around 1964 or '65, while visiting (with my mother and brother) a former nearby neighbour whose son bought them.  Sometimes he would even let us take some of them home - to keep.  More often than not, they were all from the same stable of NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS (DC COMICS nowadays), and included such full-colour titles as SUPERMAN, BATMANThe FLASH, etc.  As most readers will know, U.S. comics came to Britain as ballast in ships, and were usually displayed on spinner-racks along with other monthly magazines in a shop corner, whereas U.K. comics were normally given space on the newsagent's counter.  This perhaps accounts for why I didn't discover 'yankee' superhero mags sooner.


I first became acquainted with MARVEL COMICS heroes in 1966, in the pages of a British title called SMASH!, published by ODHAMS PRESS.  First The HULK and then The FANTASTIC FOUR (the foursome's origin being reprinted in two comics simultaneously), followed soon after by the rest of the mighty Marvel powerhouse pantheon in sister-publications such as WHAM!, POW!FANTASTIC and TERRIFIC.  Three of these weekly comic papers (Wham! Smash!, and Pow!) ran the Marvel reprints alongside home-grown humour, adventure, war, and sports strips, typical of what British comics had been producing from the '50s onwards.  Of course, British comics go back much further than that, and Glasgow comics historian JOHN McSHANE has unearthed evidence that appears to suggest that comics first originated in Scotland - the real 'home of the brave and the land of the free'.

As for comicbooks from before my time, I first became aware of them through reprints in 80 page GIANTS and, later, when DC COMICS upped their price to 25 cents an issue in the early '70s and included 'Golden Age' bonus tales in the extra pages.  Classics from the '40s, such as The BOY COMMANDOS, The NEWSBOY LEGION, The SANDMAN, etc., re-presented for a (then) modern audience, added to my growing knowledge of (and appreciation for) what had gone before.  I learned about early U.K. comics from books by collector and historian, the late DENIS GIFFORD, whose collection contained periodicals unknown to even the British Museum.

So, that's how it all happened in my case, and I'm pretty sure it's not too different for those U.K. readers of a similar age and background to myself. I'd like to thank Barry for allowing me to indulge in my favourite pastimes - comicbooks and reminiscing about the past.  (Or 'talking about myself', as some cynics might prefer to describe it.)

Do you recall when you first became interested in comics, and at what point you became a dedicated collector?  Then don't be selfish - share your reflective recollections with your fellow Crivs and enjoy reliving your far-away youth.  The comments section awaits your esteemed presence. 

8 comments:

moonmando said...

Good to see you back Kid!
I really cannot imagine a life growing up without that unique and endlessley fascinating genre of literature, which is of course the "comic".Simple as its name suggests yet totally sublime in its scope and ability to inspire,exhilarate and transcend the mundane,taking kids such as myself then, with poor education and limited aspirations on a journey way beyond that which other forms of media could only begin to grasp at.
Yes,long live the Comic!

Kid said...

And long live Moonmando. (And me.)

Chris Sobieniak said...

Pretty interesting to read it right now. At least they found their way to the UK at all.

Kid said...

And thank goodness they did, Chris. They brightened up many a childhood.

Chris Sobieniak said...

I only simply recall in the 80's noticing both Marvel and DC putting UK prices on their books and not being sure why they did that (I guess it made sense when they were pricing them to Canada as usual).

Kid said...

In the '60s, DC and Marvel comics also sometimes had U.K. prices on them - 10d and 1/-. What they did was remove the plates after the U.S. print run, change the price to British currency, and then print a fresh batch for U.K. distribution. In the case of Marvel, they removed the date from the small cover box which also contained the issue number, and added 'Distributed by Thorpe & Porter' to the indicia. However, issues also made their way over here simply rubber-stamped with the U.K. price on the cover.

As for the '80s, with the advent of comic speciality shops and an established U.K. readership, it made sense to include the price on the cover. Previously, U.S. comics were mainly used as ballast on ships - in the late '70s and early/mid-'80s, they were now a genuine American export in their own right.

Unknown said...

I remember reading about American comics being on sale in Woolies in Liverpool during WW2 with some even having slight water damage. Amazing to think that these comics had survived the U-boats and all the other hazards to land in some kid'a lap. I expect the GIs here may well have passed on a few here indirectly if stationed here pre D-Day. Imagine getting a Superman comic and a Hershey Bar as a child during those dark days!

Ken.

Kid said...

I don't think I've ever tasted a Hershey Bar, Ken. Heard of them 'though.



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