Comics UK

Audiate wrote:Hello all, I'm new to the board, and I'm writing an article on Judy comics.

In which magazine are you aiming to get this article published, Audiate, and what sort of timescale are you working to? Are you a journalist by profession or simply an enthusiast like most of us on this website?

Audiate wrote: I later lived in the UK, for many years, but by then I'd passed the comic age. I'm back in Canada now, which is why I can't pop down to the newsagents to see what comics are still on sale... er, what ones *are* still going?
(And still I'm reeling in shock that there are no girl comics! Even when I was a kid, they seemed dated, but we still READ them!)

sadly, with the exception of a few comics based on TV shows, US reprints or nursery titles, the only British comics still around are Beano, Dandy Xtreme, the 2000AD franchise and the seemingly immortal Commando. But I believe Egmont are testing the waters to see if comics will sell again.

I'm curious to know how the blokes on this forum got into the girl comics! Were they sisters' comics, lying around the house, and you started reading them out of boredom but then got hooked...? Do tell!

I was addicted to Misty because my cousin used to give me her copies when she'd read them...

Audiate wrote: I'm curious to know how the blokes on this forum got into the girl comics! Were they sisters' comics, lying around the house, and you started reading them out of boredom but then got hooked...? Do tell!

I used to glance at my sisters Mandy, never bought any until like the last few years at carboot sales mainly becuase they're part of UK comics that you can't buy in the shops anymore and you don't see them about that often.

I'd never read girl's comics at all until this year when I bought a load of Diana weeklies on eBay! Tried a few other titles since, but not too impressed with Bunty, June, etc. Diana seemed to offer the most interest art-wise to collectors, - judging from the few dozen I bought at any rate.

Lew

Lew Stringer wrote:I'd never read girl's comics at all until this year when I bought a load of Diana weeklies on eBay! Tried a few other titles since, but not too impressed with Bunty, June, etc. Diana seemed to offer the most interest art-wise to collectors, - judging from the few dozen I bought at any rate.

Lew

Try Misty, Spellbound, Mandy, Judy or Romeo. I think Bunty and June aimed specifically for a certain type of reader-and their house style was basically bland and a bit twee as a result.

tony ingram wrote: Try Misty, Spellbound, Mandy, Judy or Romeo. I think Bunty and June aimed specifically for a certain type of reader-and their house style was basically bland and a bit twee as a result.

Thanks but I have tried some of those. I just wanted to buy a few to sample what girls comics were like but I'm not really interested in collecting them beyond that initial curiosity. I'm more interested in old comics as socio-historical documents rather than pursuing particular stories. The few I have give me a flavour of how they reflected the times, so that'll do for me. Besides, I already have way too many comics to start collecting another section of the genre. These days I'm looking more towards cutting back rather than adding to the collection.

Lew

Lew Stringer wrote: These days I'm looking more towards cutting back rather than adding to the collection.

Lew

......

cutting...back? As in...less comics?

.........
*DOES-NOT-COMPUTE*

er, no, sorry...not quite with you, there...

tony ingram wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote: These days I'm looking more towards cutting back rather than adding to the collection.

Lew

......

cutting...back? As in...less comics?

.........
*DOES-NOT-COMPUTE*

er, no, sorry...not quite with you, there...

Yep, after nearly 50 years of buying the things I need to clear some space. Plus I've reached the harsh realisation point that we all have to face one day, - that there are less years ahead than behind, and with more time consuming responsibilities than when I was younger, I'll never get around to re-reading all the comics I already have! Not to mention the piles of books yet to read. Gulp!

So, with the exception of a few odds and ends, I'm no longer buying back issues and have also cut back on current comics.

Lew

Lew Stringer wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote: These days I'm looking more towards cutting back rather than adding to the collection.

Lew

......

cutting...back? As in...less comics?

.........
*DOES-NOT-COMPUTE*

er, no, sorry...not quite with you, there...

Yep, after nearly 50 years of buying the things I need to clear some space. Plus I've reached the harsh realisation point that we all have to face one day, - that there are less years ahead than behind, and with more time consuming responsibilities than when I was younger, I'll never get around to re-reading all the comics I already have! Not to mention the piles of books yet to read. Gulp!

So, with the exception of a few odds and ends, I'm no longer buying back issues and have also cut back on current comics.

Lew

My wife told me last year that I needed to either get rid of the comics or build an extension.

I'm still looking for a reasonable quote for the extension.

Lew Stringer wrote:

Yep, after nearly 50 years of buying the things I need to clear some space.

Get rid of less essential things, like furniture, Lew.

Raven wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote:

Yep, after nearly 50 years of buying the things I need to clear some space.

Get rid of less essential things, like furniture, Lew.

I second this. My study currently contains 69 comic and magazine boxes, some of which are doubling as tables and a desk, plus a computer, a phone and a chair. The computer is perched atop a box labeled 'Roy of the Rovers box 1', which I don't often need to open. An economical use of space, I think. I do have a hatstand in the corner, though.

tony ingram wrote:

Raven wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote:

Yep, after nearly 50 years of buying the things I need to clear some space.

Get rid of less essential things, like furniture, Lew.

I second this. My study currently contains 69 comic and magazine boxes, some of which are doubling as tables and a desk, plus a computer, a phone and a chair. The computer is perched atop a box labeled 'Roy of the Rovers box 1', which I don't often need to open. An economical use of space, I think. I do have a hatstand in the corner, though.

As I said in the bulk of my comment, it's not just finding space. It's finding time. A personal realisation that everyone here will reach at some point or another.

Apologies for taking the topic off at a tangent.

Lew

I'll go for extension over getting rid of comics any day. Any decent quotes yet Tony? I have only read a sampling of girls comics over the years and the only one that I can speak about with any authority is Misty (bought most for the wife's birthday pressie), but now looking at also getting Spellbound as it is more the big sister to Misty than any other comic that we can find. Mrs colcool is also a fan, so she has no problems with the innumerable comics that I buy and keep buying. Every so often, once I manage to get a decent run together, I will dig out a year's worth and have a run through that comic.

I must admit that I will probably be buying comics until the day I die. Which reminds me, where did that link for the Commando subscription go?

phoenix4ever wrote:In which magazine are you aiming to get this article published, Audiate, and what sort of timescale are you working to? Are you a journalist by profession or simply an enthusiast like most of us on this website?

Well, I won’t answer the first question yet, in case I never get the article done! – it’s proving harder for me than I expected to get my hands on the material I need. Buying from Canada is EXPENSIVE: postage costs as much as the material, and on top of that we get hammered by exchange rate, so basically I pay quadruple for everything (!!!)
Yes, I’m an enthusiast rather than journalist, but also write novels, so have lots of writing experience. I’m enjoying my (possible) foray into magazines as things happen so much more quickly, and actually make it into print! In the book publishing world, things happen at the speed of a glacier, if not slower. Anyway, I will let everyone know if that article does see the light of day!

tony ingram wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote:I'd never read girl's comics at all until this year when I bought a load of Diana weeklies on eBay! Tried a few other titles since, but not too impressed with Bunty, June, etc. Diana seemed to offer the most interest art-wise to collectors, - judging from the few dozen I bought at any rate.

Try Misty, Spellbound, Mandy, Judy or Romeo. I think Bunty and June aimed specifically for a certain type of reader-and their house style was basically bland and a bit twee as a result.

I’m not familiar with all of them, but from the ones I have read, they all seemed to go through phases – even Judy had a ‘twee’ phase. The Judys I remember were of superb quality, but looking at some later ones, it seems that quality had perhaps slipped again? I was also puzzled to see a story I remembered in a Judy dated from after I’d stopped reading them. Did they re-run stories? I wonder if they did this to cut costs when the girl comics began their demise…? There’d be no reason *not* to re-run stories, I suppose, given how many they’d have in their archives, and the fact that their readership would fully change every seven years or so. Does anyone know?

Lew Stringer wrote:…it's not just finding space. It's finding time. A personal realisation that everyone here will reach at some point or another.Apologies for taking the topic off at a tangent. Lew

I think it is a relevant topic… the reason I got rid of all my comics was from moving so many times. There’s only so many times you can pack up boxes of things you haven’t looked at in years before you realize you either can’t afford to move them again, or have nowhere to store them. (When in Uni, I was generally moving twice a year… that’s when you HAVE to cut down to the bare essentials.) Besides all the comics I got rid of, I also got rid of many books, not realizing that books could go out of print! I’ve since replaced many of those, but I simply don’t have the shelf room (or room for more shelves!) for more. If I were to continue, I’d have to put them in storage, so then I’d be paying storage on top of it all.

Which brings me to one of my greatest wishes… I wish there could be a comic LIBRARY. It would be like a normal book lending library, except that you’d go in to read the comcis, rather than taking any out… and it would be ultra-high security, and you’d have to wear a lab coat, latex gloves, and a dust mask. Membership would be pricey, I suppose… but worth it!

Well to a certain extent Audiate we do have comic librarys in the UK- Glasgow's Mitchel Library and The British Library in London (to name at least 2) have large amounts of old comics that you can go and look at (from 1800 - present day).