137-496: Spider-Man Comics Weekly was a Marvel UK publication which primarily published black-and-white reprints of American Marvel four-color Spider-Man stories. Marvel UK's second-ever title, Spider-Man Comics Weekly debuted in 1973, initially publishing "classic" 1960s Spider-Man stories (as well as Thor backup stories). The title proved to be a great success. Along with Marvel UK's flagship title, The Mighty World of Marvel , Spider-Man Comics Weekly helped Marvel gain
274-591: A 1950s superhero, a grenadier guardsman who worked for a secret organisation run by the Queen Mother . The launch never took place. Eventually, Nocturne and ClanDestine saw print in America, while Wild Angels (a Dark Angel /Wild Thing team-up) was published in Italy in black-and-white format. Loose Cannons , a canceled Warheads spin-off about the all-female Virago Troop, and painted by Mark Harrison ,
411-429: A British former staffer at Odhams who was familiar with the adjustments needed to transform stories from the monthly American comics to the weekly British ones, was employed on a six-month contract to help set the whole thing up. Marvel UK started with The Mighty World of Marvel , which featured mainly black-and-white art with spot colouring (except for the front and back pages which were in full colour). Originally
548-404: A comic in the current run, whilst being priced at a reasonable level. In addition to this Panini continued Doctor Who Magazine . In addition to reprinting the mainstream US comics, Panini started publishing a monthly (later every three weeks) oversized comic, entitled The Spectacular Spider-Man , for younger readers to accompany Spider-Man: The Animated Series , which began broadcasting in
685-627: A conclusive failure for Marvel. As a result they realised that they needed to recruit from the British comic scene, and in August 1978 Stan Lee headhunted Dez Skinn . In what the specialist press called "the Marvel Revolution", Skinn insisted on funds being made available to make homegrown material. Among his efforts was Hulk Comic , a weekly styled like Marvel UK's rivals boys' comics. The title mixed reprints with new material, including
822-556: A couple of days to draw. The designer of the character's patriotic costume, complete with Heraldic lion rampant , is unknown; Trimpe has speculated it was John Romita . The Captain Britain title launched with some fanfare, even garnering reviews (albeit negative ones) in The Financial Times and The Daily Record . Captain Britain #8 would introduce Brian's twin sister, model Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock , who
959-576: A fantasy strip starring the Black Knight . The serial was written by Steve Parkhouse , who was deeply interested in Celtic and Arthurian myths, also drawing on the works of Ursula K. Le Guin , Larry Niven and J. R. R. Tolkien . This gave a perfect opportunity to reintroduce Captain Britain, now under a British-based creative team, with veteran John Stokes on art duties, later joined by Paul Neary . Skinn quit Marvel UK, with Neary taking over as
1096-588: A foothold in the (at the time) vast UK weekly comic market, allowing the company to cross-market and later introduce non-superhero UK-reprint titles such as Planet of the Apes and Star Wars . Although it changed its title name several times over the years (mostly due to other less successful Marvel UK comics merging with it), the Spider-Man weekly comic eventually became the longest-running Marvel UK publication, publishing 666 issues from 1973 to 1985. During
1233-408: A four-title relaunch of their US format line, including Nocturne (an updated Night Raven), The Golden Grenadier , and new titles for Captain Britain and Death's Head. (David Leach's proposal for Death's Head started as a Third Doctor joke, "that we should completely overhaul him, reduce his power, lose the time travel aspect and set it in present-day England".) The Golden Grenadier would have been
1370-399: A front paw raised) while that on the chest of Captain Britain is a "lion rampant" (rearing on the hind legs and pawing the air). In a 1986 article for Amazing Heroes , N.A. Collins named Captain Britain's first costume among the six worst male superhero looks in comic history up to that point, noting the "weird sunroof mask" and the "tacky Avon jewellery". After 39 issues Captain Britain
1507-518: A gap in the popular weekly comics market of the UK , Marvel Comics formed their own British publishing arm, Marvel UK (under the corporate name of Magazine Management London Ltd. ). Though publishing comics in the UK for a British audience, Marvel UK was under the editorial direction of Marvel's New York offices, overseen by the then 21-year-old American writer/editor Tony Isabella . Pippa Melling (née King),
SECTION 10
#17327932957311644-412: A marked difference to others titles when almost all UK comics were still black and white except for their covers and perhaps the centre spread. The colour pages were printed on a glossier paper. Only the Spider-Man strip ran during these issues. With issue #500, the title changed its name again, to just Spider-Man , with the page count now increased to 36. Back-up stories returned, as well; initially this
1781-505: A market which was already swamped by the early 1990s comics boom. In late 1993, Marvel UK would be devastated by the comics market glut and subsequent crash; on September 29, their new Director of Sales, Lou Bank, reported that they were being hurt by "inadequate display of product" at retail "[that] has hindered sale through" and that it was failed there was "simply no room to display" all the comics being made. Dark Guard , Cyberspace 3000 , Wild Thing , Black Axe , Super Soldiers , and
1918-625: A marketing strategy to portray the new Marvel UK as a lean, hungry company that could hold its own against the larger (and implicitly duller) competition. In 1994, Marvel UK had ceased publishing in the US market and was now only printing a handful of titles — mostly reprints — for the UK market, as well as licensed titles like the long-running Doctor Who Magazine . Death's Head II was canceled at #16, of which distributor Capital only sold 7,400 copies. Various creators began looking elsewhere for work and Lou Banks left for Dark Horse Comics . Neary planned
2055-671: A new Spider-Man reprint weekly comic, called Spider-Man and Zoids , with new numbering. In a link with Spider-Man Comics Weekly , Spider-Man and Zoids was described as "volume 2". The only original material featured the Zoids, a tie-in with the toys of the same name . Spider-Man and Zoids was notable for featuring early work by Grant Morrison , including the epic and apocalyptic Black Zoid storyline. The new title lasted only 51 issues until February 16, 1987. Marvel UK tried other vehicles for Spider-Man, including 1990's The Complete Spider-Man (a US-comic-sized monthly reprinting material from
2192-548: A new hero called Red Squirrel Man. An entire sub-imprint called Frontier Comics was created in 1993, patterning itself after DC's Vertigo Comics and Marvel UK even showed up at the Lord Mayor's Show in 1993, with staff members dressed as superheroes and Death's Head II. Despite a lineup that included Liam Sharp , Simon Coleby , Bryan Hitch , Carlos Pacheco , Graham Marks, Salvador Larroca , Dan Abnett , and many others, too many titles were launched too quickly in
2329-472: A new look, more similar to the outward appearance of "traditional" British weekly comics. Although original US artwork was reprinted, as in previous publications, panels were often chopped up, re-arranged, removed or reduced in size to both meet the lower page count and look more like existing British comics. In addition to Spider-Man, the title featured five backup strips, starring the Fantastic Four,
2466-543: A pathway to Krakoa, bringing an army of Krakoan mutants to fight against Merlyn and Arthur, with Betsy finally executing Merlyn and decreeing that the Corps will not be bound by any one ruler and will instead defend the multiverse on their own terms. During this ordeal, Betsy also cemented her romantic relationship with Rachel Summers, sharing a kiss as Rachel helps the knights overcome the Siege Perilious. Throughout
2603-512: A returning Stokes. Positive reader response saw a second appearance the following year in Spectacular Spider-Man #133. During the 2019 X-Men franchise relaunch Dawn of X , following Brian's corruption by Morgan le Fey , Betsy Braddock claimed the mantle of Captain Britain in a new volume of Excalibur written by Tini Howard . Leading a new Excalibur roster including Gambit , Rogue , Jubilee , Rictor and Apocalypse ,
2740-516: A stern doctor holding out a handful of pills and saying, "Boredom is a sickness... and there's only one cure. More Hulk action!!!"). Arguably Skinn's most important decision was to launch Doctor Who Weekly in 1979. Based on the BBC TV series (which at that point had already been running for 16 years), Doctor Who Weekly featured original comics stories by John Wagner , Pat Mills , and Dave Gibbons , among many others, plus articles and features on
2877-508: A success in terms of sales: Hulk , Conan , The Titans , Marvel Classics Comics , and Young Romance were cancelled after 13 issues, while Star Heroes (which had replaced The Micronauts with the original X-Men from issue #10) was re-launched as X-Men Pocket Book from #14. All other Pocket Books were cancelled after issue 28 in July/August 1982. The Hulk strips continued in a newly launched The Incredible Hulk Weekly and similarly
SECTION 20
#17327932957313014-514: A year and a half later, from late November 1970 to late September 1971, reprints of Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer appeared in TV21 , published by City Magazines (a company closely associated with IPC). From that point, no Marvel titles were being regularly reprinted in the UK (although IPC released a Marvel Annual , featuring Marvel superhero reprints, in autumn 1972). In 1972, seeing
3151-663: Is apparently killed in a duel with Isca the Unbeaten, shattering along with the Starlight Sword. Saturnyne reconstitutes the shards to revive the Captain Britain Corps, but is distraught when the new Captains Britain are variants of Betsy rather than of Brian. After the tournament, Betsy's consciousness becomes lost in the multiverse, returning with the assistance of Kwannon , during which the two begin to come to peace with their complicated relationship. After
3288-632: The Spider-Man Comic was to be the flagship superhero comic (with Thor, Iron Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Nova ), The Mighty World of Marvel was re-launched as Marvel Comic , in the tradition of UK boys' adventure titles. Dracula , Conan the Barbarian , and Skull the Slayer joined (or re-joined) established strips Daredevil and Hulk (although the Hulk was replaced three issues after
3425-730: The X-Men: Die by the Sword limited series . Following the Secret Invasion crossover, Brian headlined the 2008 series Captain Britain and MI: 13 , written by Paul Cornell , which included some characters from New Excalibur , as well as members of MI: 13 who appeared in Cornell's Wisdom limited series. The character later appeared as a regular character in the 2010-2013 Secret Avengers series, from issue #22 (April 2012) through its final issue #37 (March 2013), reappearing with
3562-488: The Rachel Summers incarnation of Phoenix . The group initially came together in the lavish Excalibur Special Edition in 1987, and soon became the stars of a regular series, with Captain Britain playing a major role. The success also led to Marvel printing a trade paperback compiling the material Davis had produced for the character after Moore's departure, which was coloured by several artists. Davis would redesign
3699-616: The Sub-Mariner , the Inhumans , and Nick Fury . The Super-Heroes lasted fifty issues before being canceled in early 1976, at which point it was merged into Spider-Man Comics Weekly (which changed its title to Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes ). At this point, the book also changed orientation to become a landscape-format comic like The Titans . The aforementioned Titans title ran 58 issues until late 1976, when it too
3836-464: The Tales of Asgard . From #50, Spider-Man stories would be split, usually running over two consecutive weekly issues. Iron Man stories from Tales of Suspense were added from issue #50, with occasional filler strips from Amazing Adult Fantasy , World of Suspense , Mystic and Not Brand Echh . The first issue also promoted the UK branch of Marvel's new in-house fan club, FOOM . In early 1976
3973-453: The Thing , which had been running in later issues of the comic before the merger (as well as Spider-Man stories from Marvel Team-Up ). In late 1976, the Spider-Man weekly comic absorbed another cancelled Marvel UK title into its pages: The Titans . Following the precedent of the earlier merger with The Super-Heroes , with issue #199 the book changed its title again, to Super Spider-Man and
4110-505: The X-Men — began to be published in the UK in Odhams' Power Comics line of titles. Titles such as Wham! , Smash! , and Pow! featured a mix of Marvel reprints and original UK comics; while the titles Fantastic and Terrific were dominated by Marvel superhero stories. This arrangement lasted till March 1969, when the last Marvel strip was removed from Smash! . Beginning about
4247-878: The "Marvel Revolution," Skinn launched the Marvel Pocket Books line with four 52-page titles. The line began with Spider-Man , the Fantastic Four , Star Heroes (featuring TV tie-in Battlestar Galactica and the toy-based strip the Micronauts continued from their previous run in Star Wars Weekly ), and Chiller (starring Dracula and the Man-Thing with occasional appearance from other horror-related characters). Following Skinn's belief that much of Marvel's strongest material
Spider-Man Comics Weekly - Misplaced Pages Continue
4384-510: The American color versions. The UK comics also reprinted several other supporting strips in each issue from other Marvel properties (such as The Micronauts , Tales of the Watcher , Star-Lord , etc.). While the comic was in a weekly format, the supporting strips often made up the bulk of each issue. By the late 1970s, sales of Marvel UK titles had begun to fall and it was on a visit to
4521-511: The American material. Initially the title reprinted Spider-Man stories from give-away issues in US newspapers — starting with the 1983 Spider-Man, Firestar and Iceman comic from the Denver Post — but shortly after these stories were replaced with tales for younger readers from the pages of the American title Spidey Super Stories , backed up by strips such as Wally the Wizard — renamed Willy
4658-556: The American monthlies running at the time: Spider-Man , Amazing Spider-Man , Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man ). The Complete Spider-Man was launched shortly after the first issue of Todd McFarlane 's adjectiveless Spider-Man title in the US. The Exploits of Spider-Man was a UK-comic-sized monthly featuring current Spider-Man stories, classic Spider-Man stories, Spider-Man 2099 and Motormouth reprints. As from issue six of The Astonishing Spider-Man , all of Marvel UK's titles were produced by Panini UK . At
4795-663: The Avengers as a part of the Time Runs Out storyline. Around the same time the character made his first appearance in a British-made comic since the end of Knights of Pendragon when Panini Comics , who had taken over Marvel UK following the latter's mid-1990s collapse following an ill-advised rapid expansion under Neary, began producing small indigenous strips for the young reader-orientated Spectacular Spider-Man . Captain Britain guest-starred in #114, dated March 2005, and written by Jim Alexander with art by John Haward and
4932-529: The Avengers, Thor, the Sub-Mariner , and Nova . The Avengers went on to become the longest-running backup series in the weekly Spider-Man comic. The summer of 1979 saw the demise of the weekly comic formerly known as The Mighty World of Marvel (changed since the Skinn era to Marvel Comic ), and the cancelled weekly was merged into Spider-Man Comic . The new title was called The Spectacular Spider-Man Weekly and Marvel Comic for three issues, and then reverted to
5069-608: The British Isles in unusual quantity and proximity; members are tasked with safeguarding the gateways between dimensions and being the highest champion of each earth's respective morality codes. In addition to the Captains themselves, the organization has included administrators such as Merlyn, Roma, and Saturnyne. Merlyn and Roma had arranged for each chosen member of the Corps to gain superpowers, often using unscrupulous means. Following Merlyn's funeral, Roma took control over
5206-644: The British superhero Captain Britain . Captain Britain Weekly lasted 39 issues, to July 6, 1977. With Super Spider-Man' s July 13, 1977, issue, #231, it absorbed the lead strip of Captain Britain Weekly and changed its title again, to Super Spider-Man & Captain Britain . The title's main features were now black-and-white reprints of stories from the American The Amazing Spider-Man comic, with new eight-page black-and-white Captain Britain stories. The last six issues under
5343-529: The Captain Britain feature was dropped and the Captain America stories continued; the book's title became simply Super Spider-Man , retaining that name until issue #310. In 1978, British editor Dez Skinn was hired by Stan Lee to take over the now ailing Marvel UK. Skinn revamped all of Marvel UK's titles, including Super Spider-Man . He changed the title to Spider-Man Comic and gave it
5480-638: The Conqueror , Duggary meets with the other members of the Council and suggests that they should divide the North American Union among themselves, redistributing it. When Iron Lad leads Doom , Thor , and Sif to Latveria to raid the Maker's repository, he attacks them, wounding Thor with a magic blade before being hit in the left eye by Iron Lad. Henri informs the rest of Council, bitter as
5617-678: The Corps take up refuge with Merlyn's daughter and former magistrix Roma , rescuing mutants facing danger in Otherworld. Refusing Betsy's request for an army, Roma instead sends her on a quest for the Siege Perilous alongside Gambit, Rachel Summers , Bei the Blood Moon, Gloriana , Kylun, Rictor, Shatterstar , Shogo Lee, and Arthur's mutant son Mordred . After being tested by the Siege Perilous, Betsy and her knights forge
Spider-Man Comics Weekly - Misplaced Pages Continue
5754-612: The Dawn of X and subsequent stories, Betsy had been contending with an increasingly-fraught political situation at home, with forces within the British government and populace opposing the legitimacy of a mutant holding the role of their champion. This conflict worsens in Howard's series Captain Britain: Betsy Braddock , which features Betsy's further conflicts with Morgan le Fey as the villain attempts to conquer Britain with
5891-421: The Spider-Man weekly published its last issue, #666. Even after the demise of Spider-Man Comics Weekly , Spider-Man annuals continued to appear on a yearly basis, continuing from their 1974 debut through 1986, and then from 1990–1992, with a Spider-Man and Hulk Omnibus annual in 1983. Spider-Man Summer Specials were published from 1979–1987, and Winter Specials from 1979-1985. A Spider-Man Poster Collection
6028-663: The Starlight Citadel, destroying the entire Corps. Saturnyne is able to teleport Brian Braddock to safety, leaving him as the Corps' only survivor. The Captain Britain Corps spans the multiverse; the exact number of members is unclear. Many members are simply named Captain Britain, while some others use names such as Captain U.K. or Lady London or names reflective of the specific characteristics of their respective universes (such as Hauptmann Englande or The Violet Swan) or individual circumstances (such as Spider-UK). Of
6165-723: The Thing). Issues #607–#610 featured original Spider-Man stories by Mike Collins , Barry Kitson and Mark Farmer . The stories took place in London and featured Spider-Man battling Assassin-8. At the time, in late 1984, the British audience for the comic was skewing younger, just as the readers of the American Spider-Man comics were skewing older. With issue #631, the series began reprinting stories featuring Spider-Man's controversial black costume, and fearful of losing readers, Marvel shortly thereafter stopped running reprints of
6302-574: The Titans . A line-up of Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Invaders, Captain America , and the Avengers meant that some weeks Captain America appeared in three different strips. The book continued using the landscape orientation until the penultimate edition of Super Spider-Man and the Titans (#229), when it reverted to the traditional "portrait" format — just in time for the next merger. In 1976 Marvel UK had debuted its first original weekly series, starring
6439-404: The UK by Panini from the mid-1990s. They continued printing two existing Marvel UK titles Astonishing Spider-Man and Essential X-Men and followed the continuity of the US comics, however it was approximately two–three years behind the current run in America. Each book contained approximately two or three Marvel US strips in one issue with possibly a "classic" comic printed as a substitute for
6576-465: The UK editions. Although based in the United States, Tony Isabella oversaw the establishment of Marvel UK. He was succeeded by UK-based editors Peter L. Skingley (a.k.a. Peter Allan) and then Matt Softly – both of whom were women who adopted male pen names for the job (in reality, they were Petra Skingley and Maureen Softly). They were then replaced by Neil Tennant , who later found fame with
6713-540: The UK in the mid-1990s. Initially, the stories were simply reprints of the US comics based on the series, but eventually the title moved to all-new UK-originated stories, marking the first Marvel UK material featuring classic Marvel characters to be produced since early 1994. Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics , commonly in association with Excalibur . The moniker
6850-420: The UK that Stan Lee headhunted Dez Skinn to revamp the ailing company. Knowing Skinn had significant experience in British comic publishing, Lee gave him the freedom to do what he felt best. Skinn had his own catchphrase in "Dez Sez," which was inspired by Lee's catchphrases from the 1960s. Skinn set out to change Marvel UK as he saw fit, dubbing the changes "The Marvel Revolution". Taking over in late 1978,
6987-477: The UK. The weekly issues split the stories from the US monthly issues into smaller installments, and it usually took three weekly issues to complete a US monthly issue. In May 1980 the title became known as The Empire Strikes Back Weekly , and in November 1980 it transformed into a monthly publication. Marvel UK's Star Wars comic also published original Star Wars stories by British creators as well as reprinting
SECTION 50
#17327932957317124-605: The US The Amazing Spider-Man to be reprinted every week in the UK publication. Both of these initial series were huge successes and became the mainstays of the Marvel UK lineup; The Mighty World Of Marvel , in one form or another, was published continuously until 1984, while the Spider-Man weekly comic (under many different name changes) would continue until 1985. In 1973, the US-based editor Isabella
7261-671: The US comics material. Many, but not all, of these original British stories were reprinted in the 1990s by Dark Horse Comics . The format changed back to a weekly in June 1983 with the adaptation of Return of the Jedi (which also became the new name of the publication), and remained so until its last issue in 1986. Prior to the Return of the Jedi comic, the strips in the UK Star Wars comics were printed in black and white, even those taken from
7398-470: The US on publishing three-part miniseries, which the company would have preferred") that would try out new characters. Freeman and Dan Abnett first wanted to revive Death's Head , give a miniseries to Strip character Rourke of the Radlands , and spin-off Doctor Who Magazine 's Abslom Daak as an original character. This last one was dropped as Marvel felt Doctor Who was "a 'dead' franchise and there
7535-640: The Wizard for the UK — and Fraggle Rock from the Marvel US children's imprint Star Comics . These were supplemented by short comedy strips by Lew Stringer , such as Snail-Man. Later issues also featured reprints of the two-page The Dukes of Hazard strip from TV Comic coinciding with repeats of the TV series being aired in the UK. With the August 1985 name change to Spidey Comic , the title solidified its targeting of younger children. Finally, in December 1985,
7672-576: The assistance of Doctor Doom . Betsy is assisted in this series by Rachel, Brian, and Meggan (now going by the monikers of Askani, Captain Avalon, and Gloriana, respectively), as well as revived members of Pete Wisdom and the S.T.R.I.K.E. PSI Division, together defeating le Fey by forging a true respectful connection between le Fey and the land. As Brian reconstitutes the Braddock Academy, Betsy continues on with her responsibilities to Britain and
7809-453: The back-up strips were an adaption of the first episode of the cartoon (co-starring Iceman and Firestar ) and the continuing Fantastic Four strips. Later these were replaced by Thor, and the X-Men from issue #567 (Jan. 1984). With issue #578, the title again reverted to Spider-Man and eventually began continuing stories from the short-lived Marvel UK title The Thing is Big Ben (referring to
7946-474: The battle saw Roma dead, along with most of the Corps along with her. Saturnyne appointed Albion the new leader as they rebuilt the corps once again. Later, the Captain Britain Corps investigate universal Incursions which are causing the destruction of various realities, and the deaths of twenty Corpsmen. After the members of the Corps capture a Mapmaker, the Ivory Kings send their entire forces to overrun
8083-502: The blow with another free gift - Captain Britain's lesser-spotted 'Superjet'. Alan Davis would also recall that - unknown to the American creative team - the 'lion mark' had previously been used by the Egg Marketing Board to denote the quality of eggs, leading to many jokes at the character's expense (which is likely a bit of nonsense on Davis' part, as the lion on the eggs was an Heraldic "lion passant" (on three legs with
8220-447: The brawl disfigured his face. He gets some sympathy from Hulk as the group takes advantage of the situation, making use of a Stark/Stane satellite to attack Stark Tower in a false flag attack, causing thousands of casualties. Months later, Henri Duggary is in charge of the East Coast and meets with the appointed Shadow Governor of New York, Wilson Fisk , who informs him about Spider-Man and Green Goblin . Henri advises Fisk to use
8357-399: The champions of their own respective versions of the British Isles, which act as a nexus point between dimensions via Otherworld . Marvel UK , the British wing of Marvel Comics, had been established in 1972. In order to fit in with the style of British weeklies, titles such as The Mighty World of Marvel consisted of reprinted Marvel material in an anthology magazine format, with much of
SECTION 60
#17327932957318494-450: The character's costume again for Excalibur #13; previously it had largely been depicted in black-and-white, with Davis himself colouring the colour cover appearances. However, he found the American colourists were frequently making mistakes and so simplified it. Parallel to these storylines the character also appeared in new British material, featuring as a supporting character in Marvel UK's Knights of Pendragon series. Captain Britain
8631-431: The character. Sales were falling and the title was cancelled in 1998, ending with Brian returning to marry Meggan. Captain Britain then spent several years without a regular title, though in 2001 Raab wrote the four-issue Excalibur limited series that involved the Captain Britain Corps and ended with Braddock as King of Otherworld. Brian was later featured as the team leader of New Excalibur in 2005, culminating with
8768-712: The classic Fantastic Four strips resurfaced in a weekly title in October 1982. Both of these eventually folded into Spider-Man , where the strips continued on and off until it changed into The Spider-Man Comic , aimed at younger readers. The classic Spider-Man material continued in the first few issues of The Daredevils . In September 1981 Captain Britain got his own strip in the pages of Marvel Superheroes (the by-then then firmly established monthly version of The Mighty World Of Marvel / Marvel Comic ), as written by Dave Thorpe and drawn by Alan Davis . (Thorpe left in 1982, to be replaced by Alan Moore in one of Moore's first major ongoing strips.) In October 1981, inspired by
8905-480: The colour removed. However, these failed to make a major impression on the market, which was dominated by titles of original British material from Fleetway Publications and DC Thomson . In response, Marvel decided the line needed a British character as a flagship title. As Marvel UK itself was effectively a packaging operation at the time with no experienced creative staff the character was devised at Marvel's American headquarters. London -born Chris Claremont - at
9042-428: The corps first appeared in The Daredevils #6 (June 1983). Founded by Merlyn , his daughter Roma and Sir James Braddock, the organization is tasked with defending the multiverse. The power wielded by members of the corps is derived from absorbing and metabolizing energy generated by the matrix of "exotic particles" naturally occurring at weak points between dimensions, which are present at each dimension's equivalent of
9179-417: The corps members depicted in publication, most, but not all, have been alternate versions of Brian or Betsy Braddock . A number of individuals are known in-story to have been members of the Captain Britain Corps at some point in their fictional portrayals. In the unified Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, an unidentified Captain Britain appears as a member of the 2099 version of the New Avengers . In
9316-418: The corps, making Saturnyne her subordinate and bringing Corps members to the Starlight Citadel for training. Roma also tasked Corps members to take turns in defending Otherworld. Corps members would continue to gather in for important occasions. The corps rarely fought as a unit in these stories, with an exception occurring when Roma dispatched them against Franklin Richards and the Fantastic Four . The Corps
9453-415: The course of its run, the book was successively known in the indicia as: Due to the character's popularity in Marvel UK's first title, The Mighty World of Marvel , Spider-Man was made the star of his own weekly comic in early 1973. A full story from the monthly The Amazing Spider-Man was published each week. The backup strip featured Thor reprints, from Journey into Mystery , including some of
9590-527: The covers to resemble the non-glossy generic look of weekly anthology titles was one thing ... Having "splash" pages and then five or six frames a page just didn't stack up against Warlord , Action , Battle , and the rest with their nine to 12 a page." So the US artwork was re-sized to fit several pages onto one and emulate the look of the more established UK boys' weeklies. Skinn reasoned that Marvel superhero weeklies had been effectively competing with each other in an already crowded market. So while
9727-482: The credits). replaced Skingley as editor in late 1975. Marvel UK's fifth superhero title, also debuting in 1975 (October), was The Titans , which was notable for its use of a "landscape" orientation. Although this format allowed two pages of Marvel U.S. artwork to fit onto one (magazine-sized) Marvel UK page, reader reaction was mixed, as it made the text small and often difficult to read. The Titans featured well-known characters like Captain America, Captain Marvel ,
9864-513: The direct importation of American periodicals, including comic books; that ban was lifted in 1959. The British company Thorpe & Porter became the sole UK distributor of both DC and Marvel comics. Thus it was that in the early 1960s brand-new American-printed copies of Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, and countless others appeared in the UK. Alan Class Comics also reprinted select Marvel superhero stories during this period. Thorpe & Porter, however, went bankrupt in 1966 and
10001-597: The direction of editor-in-chief Neil Tennant (later one of the Pet Shop Boys ). Tennant was responsible for anglicising the dialogue of the comics to suit British readers, and for indicating where women needed to be redrawn "more decently" for the British editions. However, with the exception of some new covers drawn by Marvel Comics' American staff, no original material had yet been produced by Marvel UK. This changed in 1976 when Captain Britain Weekly
10138-425: The entire Frontier imprint were cancelled. A large number of projects in the works, from those just proposed to some that had been solicited, were also canceled. The Red Mist 20:20 crossover was killed so late that Roid Rage #1, a Super Soldiers spinoff, was canceled while at the printers. Mark Harrison's Loose Cannons was canceled shortly before it was meant to run (January 1994), despite being almost complete;
10275-447: The existing Marvel Universe but with more of a focus on cyberpunky science fiction and magic than the traditional superhero fare. Titles such as Warheads ( wormhole -hopping mercenaries), Motormouth (later Motormouth and Killpower , a streetwise girl and escaped genetically modified super-assassin hop around the universe having adventures) and a second volume of Knights of Pendragon . These were all linked by plots featuring
10412-707: The final months as a co-feature with the Hulk , in MWOM from issue #231. The non-superhero launches continued in early 1975 as Savage Sword of Conan was added as a weekly title. In March 1975, Marvel UK launched a new weekly title called The Super-Heroes (simultaneously with Savage Sword of Conan ). Although it originally starred popular characters like the Silver Surfer and the X-Men , The Super-Heroes eventually began reprinting stories starring such obscure characters as Doc Savage , Ant-Man , The Cat , Scarecrow , and Bloodstone . Maureen Softly (using her son's name Matt in
10549-524: The first issue of Captain Britain Monthly appeared with its titular strip written by Jamie Delano and drawn by Alan Davis. This title lasted 14 issues before cancellation and would prove to be Marvel UK's last major new title for several years. New material was still being produced, such as the Zoids stories (written by Grant Morrison ) for Secret Wars and Spider-Man and Zoids , but not on
10686-468: The first major change he brought was to have original material produced by British creators. Many of these creators had already worked with Skinn on his title The House of Hammer a few years earlier, plus some new young talent. Skinn wrote: "[T]raditional British comics were at the time selling 150,000+ a week, firm sale, no returns. If Marvel and Spider-Man could look British enough for some of that to rub off, everybody would be happy ... But fixing
10823-539: The green-skinned behemoth as depicted on the TV. Skinn explained: "As with Marvel Comic , I was wanting an adventure anthology title more than a superhero one. Super-heroes had never been big sellers in the UK, we had plenty of legends of the past to spin fantasies about. So I went that route, picking existing Marvel characters who weren't really cut from the super-hero cloth." Originally produced stories were included, such as Nick Fury drawn by Steve Dillon, and Night Raven by Steve Parkhouse and David Lloyd . Also included
10960-530: The guest-star were run in Overkill . This policy was dropped after market research showed people expected to see superheroes in Marvel ("that included watching a group of teenagers rip Overkill apart from behind a two-way mirror", according to Freeman). Where US Marvel characters were featured, all the storylines were approved by the American editor in charge of that book. Some were more responsive than others to
11097-641: The idea of sending the character to a parallel Earth when Davis came onboard. Davis was tasked with redesigning the lead character's costume with the stipulation to lose the clumsy sceptre, with the artist taking a cues from military uniforms in the new look and bulk out his physique. His unused concepts for the character would later be used for some of the Captain Britain Corps. The new team debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes #377, in September 1981; it had initially been advertised as appearing in #375, but
11234-491: The latter was asked to stop producing new Marvel superhero material. Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US -produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore , John Wagner , Dave Gibbons , Steve Dillon , and Grant Morrison . There were a number of editors in charge of overseeing
11371-400: The launch of The Avengers .) In 1974 two new weeklies were added that departed from the usual superhero fare. These were Dracula Lives! and Planet of the Apes , the latter reprinting material from the American black & white Marvel Monster Group brand. In 1976 Dracula Lives! was canceled and merged with Planet of the Apes as of issue #88. The Apes adventures lasted until 1977,
11508-408: The money, writer Sean Howe would later be told that Bevin was livid about being called to London for a mere one million, asking "why are you wasting my time?" Neary instituted a deliberate policy to feature Marvel US guest-stars in the Marvel UK stories. However, they would only be featured on eleven pages, and these pages were designed to be able to cut from the main story; the eleven pages without
11645-486: The most important collection of Transformers fiction. As such, Transformers remains one of Marvel UK's most important historical titles. (The Marvel UK Transformers series was reprinted by Titan Books in the 2000s with some omissions, notably all of the UK exclusive stories prior to issue 45. Although these have now been reprinted by IDW Publishing along with the rest of the weekly and Annual stories as part of The Transformers Classics UK collections.) From 1988, it
11782-747: The multiverse as Captain Britain and leader of the Corps. In the main continuity of Marvel Comics , three characters have used the Captain Britain title in regular publication. Modred the Mystic briefly assumed the mantle of Captain Britain by syphoning off Braddock's energies in an effort to defeat Merlyn. The Captain Britain Corps is a fictional league of super-heroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The characters are all known as, or appear as an alternative version of, Captain Britain, each coming from an alternative reality . Created by writer Alan Moore and artist Alan Davis,
11919-411: The offshoot's editor-in-chief. Neary paused commissioning covers to free up resources to make a new Captain Britain feature for flagship anthology Marvel Superheroes . Even then he was only able to hire newcomers and turned to editor Dave Thorpe , who had never written before, and Alan Davis , an acquaintance of Neary's who had only recently turned professional. Thorpe and Neary had already devised
12056-419: The organization Mys-Tech , a shadowy group of Faustians bent on world domination. Some of these titles were also reprinted in the UK anthology Overkill . At some point during Neary's run but before the market crash, Marvel UK was running low on money. They requested an emergency meeting with Marvel Entertainment executives Bill Bevin and Terry Stewart to approve a £1m last-ditch strategy. While they got
12193-565: The outlines, with editors such as Bobbie Chase offering useful feedback for Marvel UK's editors. Very few Marvel US comics referenced any of the original characters or major events that occurred within the Marvel UK comics, with an exception being The Incredible Hulk in August 1993. Nevertheless, in the US, these comics were initially immensely successful, with some issues being reprinted to keep up with demand. Marvel UK massively expanded, and trading cards were made of their characters. During this flush period, Tom DeFalco requested they make
12330-470: The pages of The Mighty World of Marvel , the Hulk was given his own weekly title, Hulk Comic , in 1979. However, with the May 1980 cancellation of Hulk Comic after 63 issues, it was merged into the Spider-Man title, which became Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly from issues #376–449. Backup stories featured the two main characters' female counterparts, Spider-Woman and She-Hulk , as well as The Defenders (which
12467-556: The pages of " Ultimate Invasion ", Maker traveled to Earth-6160 and remade it into his own image. A French nobleman named Henri Duggary is this world's Captain Britain, ruling over the European Coalition and being one of the members of the Maker's Council . It's implied he took the mantle by force and is keen on suppressing Britain's culture and its symbols. After the Maker was locked into The City with Iron Man and Kang
12604-437: The pop group the Pet Shop Boys . Nick Laing succeeded him, but with a turbulent market and falling sales, Laing was let go and Dez Skinn took over. Paul Neary was editor in chief in 1995, when Marvel UK was shut down. Panini Comics obtained the license to print Marvel material in 1995 and took over the UK office's remaining titles. After World War II , the UK was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned
12741-520: The re-launch by Godzilla , as the Hulk left for his own title). The Hulk was a popular character – Rampage Weekly which starred The Defenders had been added to Marvel's list of publications under Tennant's editorship as a second vehicle for the green giant – and now with his own TV series Skinn saw the Hulk as the lead feature of another adventure style comic. Hulk Comic started out with originally produced Hulk stories by Steve Dillon , Paul Neary , and John Stokes , among others, which reflected
12878-650: The resources that they gave him. When interrogated by Green Goblin, Bullseye states to him that the loyalty that he and his siblings share was enough that they tore out one of their eyes the day when Henri's eye was wounded. At the time when the Ultimates confront exterminators Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne , Henri Duggary attacks with his Black Crusade and an army of Giants. Wasp accepts her gifts and helps to fight Duggary's forces. After some convincing from Captain America, Hank Pym becomes Giant-Man and grows large enough to step on Dugarry's soldiers. Since Duggary's body
13015-405: The revival of Morgan le Fey, Betsy leads Excalibur against Merlyn and King Arthur. As Avalon falls to Merlyn and Arthur, the mutants escape to Earth, severing the connection to otherworld, while uses the Starlight Sword to return to the fight herself, knowing she will be trapped without the protection of Krakoan resurrection. In the follow-up series Knights of X , also written by Howard, Betsy and
13152-448: The scale or diversity previously seen. For the remainder of the 1980s the company published only a small handful of titles that appealed to superhero fans, but had considerable success on the UK newsstands with licensed titles such as Care Bears , Lady Lovely Locks , The Real Ghostbusters , ThunderCats , Transformers , and many others. These all featured original strips as well as some US reprints. Transformers , in particular,
13289-448: The short-lived Marvel UK title The Super-Heroes was merged into Spider-Man Comics Weekly , which at that point changed its title to Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes . The book also changed orientation to become a landscape-format comic, following the lead of another relatively new Marvel UK title, The Titans . Although this format allowed two pages of Marvel US artwork to fit onto one (magazine-sized) Marvel UK page, reader reaction
13426-404: The shorter Spectacular Spider-Man Weekly for the rest of its 41 issues. Backup stories now featured Daredevil and Godzilla (who moved over from the defunct Marvel Comic ), but no longer included the Avengers (who moved to the new Marvel UK monthly title, Marvel Superheroes Monthly ). The Hulk was another Marvel character with great popularity in the UK. After co-starring for many years in
13563-423: The show itself. It proved a huge success, and by now Skinn had transformed Marvel UK back to being a major publisher of not just weekly comics but monthly titles such as Starburst . Starburst had been created by Skinn before he joined Marvel UK, but was purchased by Marvel when he joined the company. Skinn left Marvel UK in 1980 (eventually forming Quality Communications in 1982). In March 1980, as part of
13700-682: The success of its Doctor Who title, Marvel UK began publishing a monthly Blake's 7 title, initially edited by Stewart Wales. However, as the television series itself went off the air in late 1981, the magazine itself lasted less than two years. Despite a flurry of new weeklies post-Skinn ( Forces in Combat , Marvel Team-Up , Future Tense and Valour ), by 1983 Marvel UK moved mainly to monthly titles such as The Daredevils (featuring Moore and Davis's Captain Britain ). Many of Marvel UK's titles wouldn't last long, however, before being combined or cancelled outright due to poor sales. In January 1985
13837-613: The superhero genre and was also finding his own time to be taken up by a lucrative role as artist for Captain Britain meanwhile would appear as a guest character in Captain America #305-306, with art from Neary. When Claremont read the reinvigorated Captain Britain stories he was impressed with the development of the characters The result was Claremont and Davis creating the super-team Excalibur, picking up Captain Britain and Meggan from where Captain Britain had left them and adding X-Men refugees Nightcrawler , Shadowcat and
13974-409: The team comes into conflict with Morgan le Fey and the anti-mutant Coven Akkaba, as well as Saturnyne , who had usurped the role of omniversal magisitrix and refuses to accept Betsy as Captain Britain. During X of Swords , in which Apocalypse's secret plans of reuniting Krakoa with Arakko come to fruition, leading Saturnyne to arrange a tournament between both sides to avoid a war in Otherworld, Betsy
14111-467: The time Marvel had acquired Panini which absorbed all European reprints. Marvel later divested Panini but it retained the license to publish comics under the Marvel brand in the UK. Panini UK added several biweekly and monthly titles, including The Spectacular Spider-Man (for younger readers), Ultimate Spider-Man (later Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men after a merger), and Spider-Man and Friends (for very young readers). The Spectacular Spider-Man ,
14248-476: The time a rising star in the company following his successful work on the revival of X-Men - was one of the few Anglophiles on staff, and was assigned to the title. He came up with the name, origin and cast for the new title, Captain Britain . Art duties went to experienced Incredible Hulk artist Herb Trimpe , who lived in Cornwall at the time and would recall the 8-page strips typically only took him
14385-465: The title Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain (issues #248-253) replaced the new Captain Britain strips with a reprinting of Marvel Team-Up #65 & #66. As well as Spider-Man and Captain Britain, Thor and the Avengers continued from Super Spider-Man and the Titans while the Fantastic Four joined from Captain Britain weekly, only to depart after a few months to headline their own comic, The Complete Fantastic Four . With issue #254 (Dec. 21, 1977),
14522-494: The title - originally created as to tie in with the 1980 Summer Olympics - held back until 1982. Davis would briefly take over writing the story himself until being joined by Jamie Delano , an up-and-coming writer recommended by Moore, and Meggan was incorporated as a major supporting character. In January 1985 the serial was transferred back to a new Captain Britain monthly series. Sales were initially respectable but began to fall, while Davis felt Delano wasn't interested in
14659-477: The unstoppable hero-killing cybiote The Fury . Jackdaw was killed off, and in Marvel Super-Heroes #388 Captain Britain seemed to join him. This allowed the strip to cover the character's resurrection and history in a new title, The Daredevils , in January 1983. Despite both the new title and the ongoing strip receiving good notices, including an Eagle Award , The Daredevils was a sales disappointment and
14796-493: The weekly comic was created by slicing up storylines from the monthly American versions of The Incredible Hulk , The Amazing Spider-Man , and the Fantastic Four . A few months later Spider-Man Comics Weekly was released. Again this carried on reprinted American Spider-Man material originally started in MWOM , with the adventures of Thor starting as a back-up feature. The new title allowed an entire issue of
14933-501: Was The Real Ghostbusters that became the top seller; it ran for 193 issues, four annuals, and a Slimer spinoff, and its characters were used to anchor several other titles like Wicked! and The Marvel Bumper Comic . In 1988, Marvel UK letterer/designer Richard Starkings pushed for the company to publish its own US-format comics , beginning with Dragon's Claws and Death's Head (a spin-off character from Marvel UK's Transformers title). The Sleeze Brothers (1989–1990)
15070-956: Was a creator-owned title by John Carnell and Andy Lanning . It was Steve White who launched the first critically acclaimed volume of Knights of Pendragon (1990–1991), written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson with art by Gary Erskine , which mixed superheroes and Arthurian myth. It also featured Captain Britain among many other Marvel Comics heroes, such as Iron Man. Strip was a short-lived comics anthology published by Marvel UK in 1990. It ran for 20 issues (February - November 1990) and featured work by many British comics creators, including Alan Grant , Ian Gibson , Pat Mills , Kevin O'Neill , Si Spencer and John Wagner . Strips include Marshal Law by Pat Mills and Kev O'Neill and Grimtoad by Grant, Wagner and Gibson. By 1990, Marvel had told its UK branch that long miniseries were too expensive and that it should produce four-issue minis ( John Freeman recalled "some legal or distribution restriction in
15207-429: Was a major seller for Marvel UK, selling 200,000 copies a week at its height. Its main writer, Simon Furman , would eventually take over the Marvel US version of the title as well, and continues to work on the franchise to this day, though it is no longer published by either branch of Marvel Comics. The Marvel UK Transformers series, running 332 issues, is, besides Bob Budiansky 's run on the American comic, regarded as
15344-451: Was canceled. Towards the end of its run, the Avengers were moved over from The Mighty World of Marvel to be The Titans ' lead strip. As with The Super-Heroes , with The Titans ' cancellation it was merged with the weekly Spider-Man comic (which changed its title again, to Super Spider-Man and the Titans ). Marvel UK began to establish itself as a major publisher of weekly comic titles (along with D.C Thomson and IPC ) under
15481-500: Was cancelled after 11 issues in November 1983, with Captain Britain transferring back to the relaunched Mighty World of Marvel . Following the conclusion of the "Jaspers' Warp" storyline in June 1984, Moore left the series. Meanwhile the character was also selected for a sizeable role in Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions , a crossover limited series published by Marvel UK's parent company. However, delays saw
15618-466: Was commissioned the concept of a war comic found fruition as Fury which ran from March to August 1977 before merging with MWOM . It reprinted Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders . Tenant left in 1977 and was replaced by Nick Laing. In early 1978, Laing oversaw the launch of Marvel UK's Star Wars Weekly title, soon after the film was released in
15755-474: Was continued from Hulk Comic ). Spider-Woman and The Defenders were later replaced by Spider-Man team-up stories and Showcase (a strip that spotlighted superheroes who had not had a solo strip before) after the Marvel Team-Up UK weekly merged with the Spider-Man weekly comic. The cover initially indicated the merger by being titled Spider-Man and Hulk Weekly Incorporating Marvel Team-Up , but this
15892-585: Was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in Captain Britain #1 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe , and is currently held by Brian's twin sister, Betsy Braddock . The designation of the publisher's primary continuity as Earth-616 originated in Dave Thorpe , Alan Davis and Alan Moore 's Marvel UK Captain Britain stories. The strip also established the multiversal Captain Britain Corps , members of which act as
16029-528: Was hit by delays. Thorpe would fall out with Davis and Marvel after only a few months when he wrote a story featuring Captain Britain resolving the Troubles in Northern Ireland . Neary backed the artist, leading to Thorpe leaving the strip. His replacement was Alan Moore . The new team moved the strip in a darker tone, reconfiguring Jaspers as a powerful reality-warping mutant and introducing
16166-439: Was issued as a Winter Special in 1991. A Spider-Man Holiday Special was published in 1992. Marvel UK published 28 issues of a digest-sized book titled Spider-Man Pocket Book between March 1980 and July 1982. Following that title's cancellation, the early Spider-Man stories it was then reprinting continued for a few months in the pages of the short-lived Marvel UK title The Daredevils . On March 8, 1986, Marvel UK launched
16303-480: Was later abbreviated to Spider-Man and Hulk Team-Up . The 1977–1979 The Amazing Spider-Man live-action television series inspired yet another title change, in October 1981; the Spider-Man weekly also changed to more of a magazine format, with photo essays, reader comments, contests, and the like (as well as the obligatory reprints of Marvel US material). The format also changed to 28 pages with 8 pages of colour -
16440-401: Was later put online by Harrison. Paul Neary told Comic World that this was a "trimming of fat" to allow Marvel UK to focus its marketing efforts on "our strongest characters" and claimed the canceled projects would see the light of day in 1994. Two titles that did still run were spinoffs of Death's Head II in November, with house ads brashly comparing them to other popular comics as part of
16577-407: Was launched to accompany Spider-Man: The Animated Series , which began broadcasting in the UK in the mid-90s. Initially, the stories were simply reprints of the US comics based on the series, but eventually the title moved to all-new UK-originated stories, marking the first Marvel UK material featuring classic Marvel characters to be produced since early 1994. Following Marvel's divestment of Panini,
16714-483: Was launched, featuring a hero created for the British market. Captain Britain Weekly featured new stories in colour as well as reprints of Nick Fury and Fantastic Four strips as backup. It was initially a success but eventually combined with Marvel UK's Spider-Man reprint title from #39. It was Neil Tennant's suggestion to create an original British Marvel war comic to compete with titles such as Warlord and Battle Picture Weekly . While no original material
16851-480: Was lost in the time-steam off-panel before Excalibur #68, and when he did return was rechristened Britannic , with a redesigned costume. Warren Ellis became writer for the title in 1994, and one of his storylines involved revitalising Brian, who reclaimed the identity and costume of Captain Britain in Excalibur #100. However, Ellis would leave the series soon afterwards and his successor Ben Raab swiftly wrote
16988-460: Was merged with Marvel UK's Spider-Man reprint title, at the time called Super Spider-Man . Meanwhile Captain Britain had already appeared alongside Spider-Man in America. Claremont was working on Marvel Team-Up with John Byrne and decided to use the format as an introduction for Braddock via the device of him briefly rooming with Peter Parker. The two-issue storyline also saw the debut of Arcade and his Murderworld . The character had been
17125-505: Was mixed, as it made the text small and often difficult to read. In addition to the continuing stories of Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man, Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes started out with X-Men backup stories. It soon, however, continued The Super-Heroes comic’s tradition of rotating less-popular characters like Doctor Strange , Tales of Asgard, and Moon Knight ; before settling with The Invaders . Also from The Super-Heroes came reprint stories from Marvel Two-in-One starring
17262-733: Was nearly wiped out by Mastermind, a villainous computer belonging to Brian Braddock, and a group of mutated children known as the Warpies , who were once the wards of Captain UK. Roma stepped down as omniversal guardian, giving the title to Brian Braddock, who became King of Otherworld and rebuilt the Corps. Another wave of destruction tore through Otherworld due to Wanda Maximoff 's alterations to reality in House of M , which nearly led to Roma and Saturnyne erasing that universe. It once again it came under attack, this time from Mad Jim Jaspers and Corps members which he began to turn into Furys . The end of
17399-467: Was no value to Marvel in seeking to extend a brand they did not themselves own." Paul Neary became Marvel UK editor-in-chief circa 1990, appointed to revamp the company and make another attempt at the US market. As a stop-gap, he had two short-lived reprint titles created: Havoc and Meltdown (which reprinted Akira ). The US-format titles began with Death's Head II , a recreation of Simon Furman 's cyborg bounty hunter. The titles were set in
17536-495: Was nowhere to be found among the corpses, the Ultimates assumed that he got away, leaving his wherabouts unknown. Later, Duggary meets with Wilson Fisk at a secure building, being briefed on Bullseye's disappearance as Fisk mentions that he never met the Maker. He admits Fisk was right about the vigilante problem and seems convinced that it has grown into a larger threat to the Maker's Council and their system since his defeat in
17673-440: Was purchased by Independent News Distributors (IND), the distribution arm of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). As a result, T & P's output became almost exclusively reprints of DC titles. At that point, in early 1966, Odhams Press (a division of IPC Magazines ) acquired the Marvel license, and reprints of American Marvel superhero material — including the Hulk , the Fantastic Four , Spider-Man , Thor , and
17810-482: Was released online in 2005 by its own creator. With the failure of its US titles the company was folded into Marvel's Panini Comics business, who at the time was part of Marvel Europe , and had already been reprinting American material across Europe for several years. Casualties of the merger included editor-in-chief Paul Neary and managing director Vincent Conran . Thanks to this licensing deal, reprints of American Marvel Comics material continued to be published in
17947-626: Was replaced by the UK-based Petra Skingley (credited in the comics as "Peter L. Skingley" and "Peter Allan.") That year, Marvel UK launched The Avengers — starting with material from issue #4 of the US series which reintroduced Captain America (issues #1-3 had been reprinted in The Mighty World of Marvel ). The new title introduced glossy covers around a smaller 36-page comic, down from the previous 40-page format of MWOM and Spider-Man Comics Weekly . Doctor Strange
18084-404: Was revealed to have psychic powers, with the following issue debuting Jamie Braddock , their playboy racing-car-driving older brother. However, Claremont left the title after the tenth issue. His replacement was Gary Friedrich , best known for his role in the creation of Ghost Rider . Sales were moribund, and Captain Britain went to black-and-white from #24 to cut costs, attempting to soften
18221-480: Was that published in the 1960s and early 70s, many of these titles showcased strips from that period. Skinn drew on the design of the traditional UK Picture Library titles (such as Thriller Picture Library and War Picture Library ), which boomed in the 1960s, to establish a definitive look for the Pocket Books. Skinn wrote that they "emulated the look in their Combat Picture Library covers ... that
18358-506: Was the Black Knight , a Marvel character revamped to take in Arthurian concepts, as well as feature the return of Captain Britain from comic book limbo. As well there was the usual US reprint material, such as Ant-Man and in later issues the Beast from Amazing Adventures , and even The Defenders were moved in from Rampage Monthly to increase the dose of Hulk action (a house ad showed
18495-454: Was the Hulk following the merger of the second volume of The Incredible Hulk Weekly into Spider-Man . Spider-Woman backup stories returned with issue #517 and the Fantastic Four returned in issue #529. The debut of the animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983) on BBC One inspired the latest title change in October 1983. The logo remained the same, but the words "and His Amazing Friends" were added around it. Initially
18632-445: Was the back-up feature. Glossy covers were to be a distinctive feature of Marvel UK weeklies until the "Marvel Revolution" in 1979. The other two titles also changed to this new format. In Spider-Man the decrease to 36 pages marked the reduction of Spider-Man material so that now only half a US issue was reproduced in the UK weekly, and Iron Man was added to the lineup. ( MWOM and SMCW had started at 40 pages but dropped to 32 before
18769-411: Was the look I wanted, to pull the line of pocket books together visually and make them different to any of our other titles ..." The first four titles were later joined by Hulk , The Titans (reprinting the 1960s stories of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man), Marvel Classics Comics (featuring comic book adaptations of classic literature), Conan , and Young Romance . Some titles were not
#730269