Comics UK

A rarity is the D C Thomsons Super Comic from the 80's. The male version only managed one issue.

All three only lasted one issue. We had a thread about the Super Mags three years ago. http://comicsuk.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3419

Marvel uk and DC both had reprint comics in pocket size during the 80s , the marvel comics were in black and white while the DC issues were in full colour, I have a couple of boxes of them in my comic store. In the 60s a number of company's printed short runs of pocket library comics with all sorts of titles , sci fi, war, spies, tv shows some are now very rare . I fact I have cut down on collecting std size comics and tend to get the pocket size comics due to the fact I get more in a storage box.

There was also Conflict Picture Library, which was slightly thinner and taller than Commando. A columnist in the Independent dug up a few a couple of years ago, and wrote an article full of all the usual ranting nonsense about how such comics brainwashed people (but didn't affect him). The artwork in them is printed "harshly", ie very sharp black and white with little room for fine shading. It works better with some artists than others. One of the two I've got also features what looks like a very fat Grumman Hellcat (a single seat fighter) being used to drop parachutists. Unlike Commando, the artist just appears to have been told to draw "a plane", so just did whatever reference photo he had to hand!

In the 80's there was the short lived Eagle Picture Library, which reprinted serials from other adventure comics. As these were originally printed on larger pages, the Eagle Picture Library versions have very obvious "fill ins" to make the panels bigger.

Here's an example of AP's text-only Schoolgirls' Own Library which predated their comic-strip series in the same format.



I'm no expert on the old girls' story papers but it seems to me that science fiction concepts like this would have been much rarer than in the boys' titles prior to the 1950s. As a matter of interest can anyone think of any other examples?

- Phil Rushton

When TV Tornado was being published there was a series of small comic library publications featuring characters from the comic although I don't think they were connected. I remember the Man From UNCLE because it was my favourite tv series but I also think there was a Phantom series? They only lasted a few issues. Here's one I found in google images.

I believe World Adventure Library also had Batman and Superman stories!

I believe the Schoolgirl's Own Library was quite long-running too, actually. It began pre-war (my history article says 1922), but was kept going up to at least 1960.

It was "followed" (though there was probably a crossover period in the late 50's) by Schoolgirl's Picture Library. I don't have many of those, but there's an interesting contrast between early issues (in that 50's comic style where some panels are all text) and later ones (which look more like 'proper' Picture Libraries, and feature spy and space adventures).

Had a look and those World Adventure Libraries featured Batman and Superman in text stories with some illustrations just like in TV Tornado. There were also Phantom, Tarzan and Bonanza among others which all featured in TV Tornado - these were comic strips. I think they were slightly larger than the usual picture libraries.

Looking at these two covers one might assume that the progression from text-only stories to 'picture libraries' was a natural step to take as comic strips began to gain in popularity over the old story papers.





In the event it resulted from a chain of accidents, and may well have not happened at all if AP's 'Sexton Blake' presses hadn't been the only ones with spare capacity when Leonard Matthews and Ted Holmes were planning to reprint material from their Australian comic books for the home market. Even then, the first issue of the Cowboy Picture Library was launched with little enthusiasm and no fanfare in April 1950 - just one week before Hulton's heavily advertised Eagle. The runaway success of this new format took everyone by surprise and soon led to a proliferation of similar titles throughout the industry - notably AP's own Thriller and Super Detective.

In many ways the early issues of Thriller Comics Library were similar to the American Classics Illustrated series, but whereas many of the latter were drawn by poorly-paid hacks Matthews managed to attract some of Britain's most prestigious book illustrators for his own literary adaptations. To give some indication of their quality here's a three page sequence from Thriller Comics Library no 109, featuring HM Brock's wonderfully atmospheric version of 'A Christmas Carol'.







For anyone who wants to learn more about the history of AP/Fleetway's picture libraries I would highly recommend The Fleetway Picture Library Index Volumes 1 & 2 by Ashford and Holland.

- Phil Rushton

Your example of the quality of art in the libraries is well chosen and the art was generally of a high standard , especially in the earlier issues. Later, of course, in Super Detective Library, although styles varied substantially, readers were treated to Bill Lacey; Ron Turner and, despite some slightly curmudgeonly reviews, Oliver Passingham on Lesley Shane, among others. I threw that last name in as I'm a fan. Almost topping that lot was Alex Raymond on Rip Kirby - simply superb and there are vols of R.K. currently available.
I'd like to second Phil's recommendation for the index. Lots of invaluable information.
As a side note, Girls' Crystal in its storypaper format ran serials which were collected (abridged?) for Schoolgirls' Own Library but, were they later adapted as comic stories in the comic version? I think some of the stories appeared in Schoolgirls' Picture Library, so if anyone can shed some light on this, over to you.

Some of the good picture library titles were the Chiller pocket library, Nightmare, Gemini 2000 and s.a.t.a.n. I have also found some naff oddball titles from the 80s which where almost soft porn

Those S.A.T.A.N. books had Italian reprints but I'm not sure if all of them were.
The '80's comics you mention could also have been Italian reprints as the Italian bookstalls were full of soft and hard porn comics. 2 of the titles were Wallenstein and Snow White but that was mid '70's. If you have some, any chance of listing the titles here, please? If they're not too rude, that is.
Wallenstein etc. were published here by Top Sellers who had more mainstream war and adventure pocket library titles, incl. at least one featuring a Hugo Pratt story.

I have a small bundle of Girl's Crystals and School Friends and one contains a flyer for the first and second picture libraries. I've scanned it on here before but now is a good opportunity to show it again:





Also here is the ad as it appeared in Girl's Crystal 1136 dated 27 July 1957 which nicely gives us a date for the first appearance of the Schoolgirls' Picture Library.



And here are a couple of similar ads:

paw broon wrote:...The '80's comics you mention could also have been Italian reprints as the Italian bookstalls were full of soft and hard porn comics. 2 of the titles were Wallenstein and Snow White but that was mid '70's. If you have some, any chance of listing the titles here, please?

Here's another title from that Top Sellers series (suitably censored of course!).



...To be honest I doubt if Mozart would recognize this version of The Magic Flute at all!

And speaking of Gemini 2000, here's another fascinating example of dodgy gender politics (though I must admit I quite like this cover).



- Phil Rushton

The adult picket library's I got from the 80s were sexy spy story's , the sex was just Added to try and sell comic strips to adults , if I find them I will add a scan