Wow. This all seems awfully out-dated now and it was only posted in 2010 (17th November)!
the Britcomics Yahoo group is now full of a lot of covers covering this subject and until I can find a French comic historian who does not look down his/her (WHY are comic historians -Wendy Siuyi Wong excluded but she is not a full time historian of Manhua) nose at these "dregs" and who can provide some idea of publication dates, etc., I thought "add more covers!"
So, original post AND more covers!!!
Over the last few years both myself and Captain Storm,creator of two great Adam Eterno sites,have by accident and hard searching,found that a great many characters from British weekly comics appeared under various names in Finland,Germany,France,Spain and further afield. The reason we came to a stop is that we really needed comic fans in other countries who could identify the reprints in their own language.
That quintessential British action hero,Battler Britton featured in the Petits BD -I guess we’d say pocket picture library- and was published between July 1958 and June 1986 (n°471). Not a bad run at all!
It might take a book to eventually record which character was published in which country and under what name. Captain Storm via his groups and I via Britcomics and Eurocomics have catalogued quite a few so far.
I think the good Captain,like myself,were surprised at what we uncovered but I’ve no doubt there are more discoveries to make.
CAN YOU HELP?
the Britcomics Yahoo group is now full of a lot of covers covering this subject and until I can find a French comic historian who does not look down his/her (WHY are comic historians -Wendy Siuyi Wong excluded but she is not a full time historian of Manhua) nose at these "dregs" and who can provide some idea of publication dates, etc., I thought "add more covers!"
So, original post AND more covers!!!
Over the last few years both myself and Captain Storm,creator of two great Adam Eterno sites,have by accident and hard searching,found that a great many characters from British weekly comics appeared under various names in Finland,Germany,France,Spain and further afield. The reason we came to a stop is that we really needed comic fans in other countries who could identify the reprints in their own language.
I mentioned this reprinting to Mike Western,John Cooper and others and most seemed very surprised. They had been paid and that was it. Even into the late 1980s,despite Creators Rights,UK companies were selling off foreign rights -the last with OINK! which got three issues in German -none of the creators were told about this.
Don Lawrence,of course,realised the money being made and asked for a fair share. We all know what happened after that!
All those artists who were kicked out could have done with that revenue. One more reason why IPC ought to watch what
Don Lawrence,of course,realised the money being made and asked for a fair share. We all know what happened after that!
All those artists who were kicked out could have done with that revenue. One more reason why IPC ought to watch what
it claims to own.
That quintessential British action hero,Battler Britton featured in the Petits BD -I guess we’d say pocket picture library- and was published between July 1958 and June 1986 (n°471). Not a bad run at all!
Britton seems to still be quite popular considering all the sites discussing his French incarnation.
King Kong anyone? Or,as we knew it in the UK -Mytek The Mighty. Yes,that giant robot gorilla got into
French editions.
And that famous escapologist Janus Stark? Well,he appeared in Mon Journal as..Janus Stark! There was a special
and even a continuation of the series featuring his son.
And Adam Eterno,that eternally cursed wanderer through time and space. Yup,he appeared in a French edition also.
Lets not forget about wrestler Johnny Cougar or House of Dollman...
Edmund Blake from Death Wish -the terribly scarred race driver with a,uh,death wish? Oh,yeah. He appeared in French editions -another 1980s export to Europe that creators were not paid for.
How about Antares -this one featuring Fish Boy by Joe Colquhoun.
How about Antares -this one featuring Fish Boy by Joe Colquhoun.
And lastly,for now,The Leopard From Lime Street drawn by the late great Mike Western! Yes.
Another export to France.
Representatives from all the old companies would meet at all the European book fairs and just as Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC picked up strips such as Asterix and met with European artists who worked for less money than British creators but still gave us some incredible strips,so it seems that European company reps met with British reps and purchased rights to UK characters.
It might take a book to eventually record which character was published in which country and under what name. Captain Storm via his groups and I via Britcomics and Eurocomics have catalogued quite a few so far.
I think the good Captain,like myself,were surprised at what we uncovered but I’ve no doubt there are more discoveries to make.
CAN YOU HELP?
Brilliant article Terry. I was aware that UK comics were printed overseas (think I had a few back in the day from holidays to France, Italy etc) but I wasn't aware they published so many title - and they all look great. House of Dollman and Janus Stark were big favourites of mine as a kid (heck I still love them) so good to see they got an extended life in Europe - I still think there is a market for these characters in Some form, in the UK - really sad that characters like Adam Eterno etc are in comic book limbo, even worse to read how bad writers and artists were treated )although from reading previous post form you that seems to still be happening).
ReplyDeleteHere is a French site with lots of these: http://www.bd-pf.fr/
ReplyDeleteAt comics.org you'll find some reprint references from the IPC libraries to in particular Norway, I recently added quite a few for the Cowboy Picture Library. https://www.comics.org/series/34845/
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteTerry, here you have a french board specialized in small-formats and magazines !! I'm sure you can find lots of things there, if you don't speak french it's ok, you can post in English, you'll have answers, no problem !!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forumpimpf.net/