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Y'know, the dreaded Poll Tax wasn't the only thing visited upon Scotland before the rest of the country. More welcome however, was VULCAN, which appeared on February 22nd 1975 (cover-dated the week ahead), nearly 7 months before the National edition debuted on September 20th (cover-dated 27th). More like an American comicbook in size, it sadly managed to survive for only 58 weekly issues (30 Scottish and 28 National), but it was great periodical while it lasted.
Comprised of reprints of classic U.K. strips like KELLY'S EYE, The STEEL CLAW, The TRIGAN EMPIRE, The SPIDER, MYTEK The MIGHTY, ROBOT ARCHIE (taken and translated from Dutch comic SJORS), etc., the title merged into VALIANT on April 3rd 1976 (cover-dated 10th). Sadly, Valiant ended after only another 6 months, though Vulcan's name had vanished from the masthead the previous issue.
Was Vulcan one of your favourite comics? Then tell your fellow Criv-ites why in our comments section.
BONUS: Below, the covers of the Holiday Special and Annual.
I forgot all about this,I now remember owning the first few issues and the annual.
ReplyDeleteAll those classics.
I had every issue at one time. Wish I'd kept them. I damaged some issues back in the day and sent to IPC for replacements. I got a snotty letter from some receptionist, saying that my letter didn't make any sense as the dates were wrong. It wasn't until many, many years later that I realized I had given her the dates of the Scottish issues, and she was looking at the dates on the National issues, hence her confusion. Silly moo.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this reprint comic, and used to pick it up to read on the train journey when I attended Liverpool Poly on day release. I've still got my original (English) editions, plus a fair amount of the Scottish ones which I picked up a few years ago at a memorabilia fair in Glasgow.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those comics I really regret not buying at the time.
ReplyDeleteHang on to 'em, Scoop, they're worth a small fortune now. Although if you ever want to sell them for next-to-nothing (as if), then let me know.
ReplyDelete******
This is one of those comics I really regret not keeping at the time, JP.
Hi Kid,
ReplyDeleteThis was the first non- humour title that I collected and can probably be blamed for making me a life-time fan of comics.
I was fortunate to start from the first Scottish issue, with the Trigan Empire tale being the story that really grabbed me and kept me coming back each week with stunning art by Don Lawrence.
I also loved Mytek the Mighty which usually ended on great cliff hangers most weeks.
Throw in The Spider, The Steel Claw Kelly's Eye and it was a rollicking great read.
I remember the great disappointment when it merged with Valiant, although I then became a fan & collected that comic until it's eventual demise.
I was very fortunate to re-purchase all of the Scottish editions many years ago from Arthur's Comics off Byres Road - a great wee shop & a gem of a guy to chat away with.
Cheers,
Duncan
Was that the same Arthur who eventually ran Obelist Books in the Virginia Galleries? Incidentally, a few years back I bought a 48 issue set of Look & Learn, a new series that reprinted the best of L&L, plus The Trigan Empire from the very beginning - excellent stuff. There's a link to their site in my blog list, but for some reason it isn't working at the moment. However, if you type http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/ into your search box, you'll be able to access it and buy the set, which comes with a facsimile edition of the original first issue of L&L, along with the free gift. In regard to the new series, it's amazing to see the early Trigan Empire episodes in their original 'Ranger' format.
ReplyDeleteThe National edition actually managed to find its way to Australia, where I was happy to grab every new issue I could, initially for the Trigan Empire strips, but then for others as well (The House Of Dolmann was a particular favourite) - I was somehow aware that they were all reprints, but didn't mind as I'd seen none of them before.
ReplyDeleteWish someone would collect and reprint the Zarga stories out of the old Buster comic.
Hi Gordie , It was a guy called Russell ( now sadly passed away )who had Obelist Books . Not Arthur.
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish edition started The Trigan Empire from the beginning, so those only exposed to the National edition actually lost out on seeing the strip from the start, BS. Shame, eh?
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of a crime that so many old British strips are gathering dust somewhere, instead of entertaining a new audience.
******
Gah, of course it was! How did I mix the two names up? Arthur was in DeCourcey's Arcade, Russell looked like Merlin. The ol' memory's going, sure enough.
I stupidly threw out my old "Vulcans" as well (UK and Scottish versions) years ago and it's one of the comics I wish I still had - back issues seem to be scarce and or expensive. It was a really good format / idea as well so it was a pity it didn't catch on - I recall the comic when it merged as a centre pull out in the Valiant (it didn’t work IMHO). Still, I have a “Vulcan” annual thanks to the kind Mr Robson.
ReplyDeleteI miss Arthurs shop in Hillhead it was excellent with good comics at reasonable prices.
Who's this kind Mr. Robson you speak of, PM? Give me his contact details so that I can see if he's got any Vulcan Annuals left. (Did I mention my memory problems?)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a new version of Vulcan with the following stories, either reprints or new material: Johnny Future, Cursitor Doom, The Spider, Steel Claw, Adam Eterno, Janus Stark, Robot Archie, etc. Wouldn't that be a great comic?