Comics UK

Thanks for your memories. I also remember these collection boxes, not this Desperate Dan one though. I also remember fondly the much larger ones which you put a coin in and it spun round in a spiral, before falling into a hole in the centre. A charity shop down my way still has one and by sheer coincidence it is Minnie The Minx themed! I desperately want it for my collection but they are still actively using it, despite it being 20 years old! So making an offer for it is off limits unfortunately.

I wonder why collection boxes like these are not seen so much anymore. I think they were a great idea, encouraging children and adults alike to spare some change with familiar characters, and also you usually got the treat of watching your donation follow a track or make something pop up, etc...

McDonald's used to have something like that, which of course had their mascot Ronald McDonald on it.

Yesterday I got the 1909 volume of The Girl's Realm, which is published by Cassell and is unrelated to the Amalgamated Press Boys' Realm. It's also smaller, the size of The Captain, though it's nearly twice as thick as a volume of that. It's also printed on high-quality paper, with profuse illustrations. It's an officially-sold volume, so there's no real indication where one issue ends and the next starts.
Also, Viz. The next issue, or maybe the one after, ought to be fantastic after the Jimmy Carr thing

Beezer Book 1971 (£6), Topper Book 1973 (£8) and Topper and Sparky no. 1295 (26/11/77, a mere £3!)

Great comic day today! All from the same charity shop:

Bash Street Kids Book 1990
Beezer Book 1979
Buster Book 1985
Cheeky Annual 1979
Cheeky Annual 1982
Knockout Annual 1982
Knockout Annual 1985
Shiver And Shake Annual 1980
Whizzer And Chips Annual 1983
Whizzer And Chips Annual 1985

At 95p each!!

Picked up the new Batman the Dark Knight weekly from Titan not in the usual US sized format (more UK size) the larger size makes it (imho) look pretty cool but I think Titan are overusing Batman at bit as another Batman comic is out soon in the larger format (unless they are moving the US formats to this) £2.99 not a bad read

McSCOTTYS GHOST wrote:Picked up the new Batman the Dark Knight weekly from Titan not in the usual US sized format (more UK size) the larger size makes it (imho) look pretty cool but I think Titan are overusing Batman at bit as another Batman comic is out soon in the larger format (unless they are moving the US formats to this) £2.99 not a bad read

Weekly? Are you sure? They'll catch up with the US material in less than three months.

I saw two new Titan comics today, - Batman (76 pages, US size, continuing from the canceled Batman Legends), and Batman The Dark Knight (52 pages, A4, monthly). And they're bringing out another one? Definitely overkill.

The only comic I bought was the latest Mad magazine from a newsagent.

Sorry Lew it's a monthly (I meant to say "weekly format style" at that point) - the back page of new " Dark Knight..." comic has an advert for a" Batman" number 1 so looks like a new title to me (unless they're moving to the A4 format for the superhero titles) Not seen Mad in a newsagents in years

McSCOTTYS GHOST wrote:Sorry Lew it's a monthly (I meant to say "weekly format style" at that point) - the back page of new " Dark Knight..." comic has an advert for a" Batman" number 1 so looks like a new title to me (unless they're moving to the A4 format for the superhero titles) Not seen Mad in a newsagents in years

That Batman No.1 is the one I saw today. It came out the same day as the 52 page A4 Dark Knight one you bought. As I said, Batman replaces Batman Legends and is in that former comic's format, - 76 pages, US comic size, like the Panini UK Marvel ones.

The Mad magazine I bought is a US import. Comag price stickered at £3.25. Any newsagent who deals with Comag could order it, but few do.

I bought the new Mad too. Bit disapoointed there isn't a "traditional" Mad-style spoof of The Amazing Spider-Man. There's one of Breaking Bad but I don't want to read it for fear of spoilers! Nice to see some Evan Dorkin art in the mag, always a treat.

Tutzy's Newsagents at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester stock Mad, which is delightful. Wonder how many newsagents across the UK bother to stock it? Double figures?

Other than the new 2000 AD, I'm afraid all my purchases were from across the pond today (though many with UK talent behind them):

• Amazing Spider-Man #689
  Animal Man #12
  Avengers v X-Men #7 (dumb as a box of rocks, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless)
  Fatale #6 (ace noir/crime/horror, with art by Sean Phillips)
  Mind Mgmt #2 (on the fence about this - art and design lovely, story yet to such me in)
  The Muppets #1 (energetic all-ages fun, with Roger Langridge on both words and pictures. Recommended.)
  The New Deadwardians #4 (London-set period zombie/vampire/detective sheanigans from Dan Abnett)
  Popeye #3 (Recommended! Old-school larks written by Roger Langridge.)
  Uncanny X-Men #15 (delighted to see Brit Kieron Gillen find great success with Marvel. It helps that he's a fantastic writer, too.)

One comic I didn't buy today was this week's Dandy - because I couldn't find it anywhere. Mancunians - is there anywhere in the city centre that regularly stocks The Dandy? WH Smith can be hit and miss - think they only get a few copies in, and it had sold out today.

Lew Stringer wrote:

McSCOTTYS GHOST wrote:Sorry Lew it's a monthly (I meant to say "weekly format style" at that point) - the back page of new " Dark Knight..." comic has an advert for a" Batman" number 1 so looks like a new title to me (unless they're moving to the A4 format for the superhero titles)

That Batman No.1 is the one I saw today. It came out the same day as the 52 page A4 Dark Knight one you bought. As I said, Batman replaces Batman Legends and is in that former comic's format, - 76 pages, US comic size, like the Panini UK Marvel ones.

I assume the change was because of the DC Comics New 52?

Digifiend wrote:I assume the change was because of the DC Comics New 52?

Sort of. The Batman Legends title had already been running New 52 material. Four of the five reprinted stories are from early New 52 issues (Detective Comics #1, Batman: The Dark Knight #1 and Batman & Robin #1 and 2), but the reprints of the main Batman title are already up to #7.

PaulTwist wrote:

Digifiend wrote:I assume the change was because of the DC Comics New 52?

Sort of. The Batman Legends title had already been running New 52 material. Four of the five reprinted stories are from early New 52 issues (Detective Comics #1, Batman: The Dark Knight #1 and Batman & Robin #1 and 2), but the reprints of the main Batman title are already up to #7.

I think the UK relaunches are more to do with trying to take advantage of the publicity around The Dark Knight Rises movie.

Yes, I meant to point that out too. Oops! Thanks Lew.

Hope they both do well, but can the UK comics market sustain TWO Batman titles? And why are they in different formats? (It's things like this that keep me up at night.)

PaulTwist wrote:Yes, I meant to point that out too. Oops! Thanks Lew.

Hope they both do well, but can the UK comics market sustain TWO Batman titles? And why are they in different formats? (It's things like this that keep me up at night.)

Perhaps it's just an experiment to see if they can get away with selling 52 pages for the same price as 76? (If it works, perhaps future Titan DC comics will switch to that format?)

Or perhaps supermarkets are more likely to stock the A4 format (which, perhaps, is why Titan's Simpsons comics have always been in that format).