19th century In the 19th century, story papers (containing illustrated text stories), known as "
penny dreadfuls" from their cover price, served as entertainment for British children. Full of close-printed text with few illustrations, they were essentially no different from a book, except that they were somewhat shorter and that typically the story was serialised over many weekly issues in order to maintain sales. These serial stories could run to hundreds of instalments if they were popular. And to pad out a successful series, writers would insert quite extraneous material such as the geography of the country in which the action was occurring, so that the story would extend into more issues. Plagiarism was rife, with magazines profiting from competitors' successes under a few cosmetic name changes. Apart from action and historical stories, there was also a fashion for horror and the supernatural, with epics like
Varney the Vampire running for years. Horror, in particular, contributed to the epithet "penny dreadful". Stories featuring criminals such as 'Spring-Heeled Jack', pirates, highwaymen (especially Dick Turpin), and detectives (including Sexton Blake) dominated decades of the Victorian and early 20th-century weeklies. '' in 1896 featuring the first appearance of the long-running comic strip of the
tramps Weary Willie and Tired Tim. Comic strips—stories told primarily in strip cartoon form, rather than as a written narrative with illustrations—emerged only slowly. Scottish-born newspaper proprietor
James Henderson began publishing
Funny Folks in 1874. Writer
Denis Gifford considered
Funny Folks to be the first British
comic, though at first it tackled topical and political subjects along the same lines as
Punch. The magazine was heavily illustrated, with cartoons by
John Proctor, known as Puck, among others, and benefitted from innovations in the use of cheap paper and photographic printing. ''
Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'' (1884) is regarded as the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character (Ally Sloper). This strip cost one penny and was designed for adults. Ally, the recurring character, was a working-class fellow who got up to various forms of mischief and often suffered for it. In 1890 two more comic magazines debuted before the British public,
Comic Cuts and
Illustrated Chips, both published by
Amalgamated Press. These magazines notoriously reprinted British and American material, previously published in newspapers and magazines, without permission. The success of these comics was such that Amalgamated's owner, Alfred Harmsworth, was able to launch the
Daily Mirror and the
Daily Mail newspapers on the profits. Comics were also published as accompaniments to women's magazines at the end of the century.
Jungle Jinks, which held the honor of being the longest running British comic until 1954, first appeared in 1898 as a supplement to
Home Chat; drawn by
Mabel F. Taylor, it was the first anthropomorphic animal British comic.
20th century '',January 6, 1940 edition. Over the next thirty years or so, comic publishers saw the juvenile market as the most profitable, and thus geared their publications accordingly, so that by 1914 most comics were standalone booklets aimed at eight- to twelve-year-olds. The
interwar period is notable mainly for the publication of
annuals by Eagle Press, and also the emergence of
D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. D. C. Thomson launched both
The Beano and
The Dandy in the late 1930s, which thrived during the
Second World War. Their successful mix of irreverence and slapstick led to many similar titles, notably
Buster,
Topper and
Beezer. However, the originators of this format have outlasted all rivals, and
The Beano is still published today. In the early 1950s, "lurid American 'crime' and 'horror comics' reached Britain", prompting what in retrospect has been characterised as a
moral panic. Copies of
Tales from the Crypt and
The Vault of Horror, which arrived as
ballast in ships from the United States, were first only available in the "environs of the great ports of
Liverpool,
Manchester,
Belfast and London", but by "using blocks made from imported American
matrices", British versions of
Tales from the Crypt and
The Vault of Horror were printed in London and
Leicester (by companies like the
Arnold Book Company) and sold in "small back-street newsagents." The act prohibited "any book, magazine or other like work which is of a kind likely to fall into the hands of children or young persons and consists wholly or mainly of stories told in pictures (with or without the addition of written matter), being stories portraying (a) the commission of crimes; or (b) acts of violence or cruelty; or (c) incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature; in such a way that the work as a whole would tend to corrupt a child or young person into whose hands it might fall." Although the act had a
sunset clause, in 1969 the Act was made permanent, and continues to be in force today, represented, for example, in the
Royal Mail prohibition against mailing horror comics and the
matrices used to print them. '',12 October 1963. During the 1950s and 1960s, the most popular comic for older age-group boys was
Eagle published by
Hulton Press.
Eagle was published in a more expensive format, and was a
gravure-printed weekly, with regular sales of nearly one million. (This format was used originally by
Mickey Mouse Weekly during the 1930s.)
Eagle's success saw a number of comics launched in a similar format —
TV Century 21,
Look and Learn and
TV Comic being notable examples. Comics published in this format were known in the trade as "slicks." At the end of the 1960s, these comics moved away from gravure printing, preferring
offset litho due to cost considerations arising from decreasing readership. However, the boys' adventure comic was still popular, and titles such as
Valiant and
Tiger, published by
IPC Magazines, saw new adventure heroes become stars, including
Roy of the Rovers who would eventually gain his own title.
Odhams Press was a company that mainly printed (adventure-oriented) new material; it also reprinted American
Marvel Comics material in its
Power Comics line, which included the titles
Smash! and
Fantastic. By 1970 the British comics market was in a long-term decline, as comics lost popularity in the face of the rise of other popular pastimes for children. Initially, the challenge was the rising popularity of
television, a trend which the introduction of colour television to Britain during 1969 set in stone. In an effort to counter the trend, many publishers switched the focus of their comics to television-related characters. The television shows of
Gerry Anderson, such as
Thunderbirds and
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, had begun this in the mid-1960s with the launch of tie-in comics such as
TV Century 21 and
Lady Penelope, which included strips related to Anderson's TV shows (as well as other popular programs of the era).
Polystyle Publications already published a TV-related comic for young children called
TV Comic, and in 1971 moved into the older market with
Countdown (later retitled
TV Action). The teenage market saw
Look-in magazine feature strips solely based on popular television programs. Another strand of the reaction to television was the launch of comics focused entirely on
association football (a sport as popular as television amongst boys), with titles such as
Shoot and
Scorcher and Score. Those comics that didn't compete with the popularity of television began to close down, merging with the few survivors. In the 1970s very few boys' comics in the "slick" format were launched, although Polystyle's
Countdown was one exception, launching in 1971 with content similar to
TV21 (which had disappeared by then) and
TV Comic.
Vulcan, a reprint title, was another, in 1976.
Girls' titles which had launched in the slick format in the 1960s continued in that format into the 1970s; and others, such as
Diana and
Judy, changed to become slicks. They found themselves in the same market as teenage titles for girls such as
Boyfriend and
Blue Jeans, which had changed their content and were featuring mainly product-related articles and
photo comics. In
1972,
Marvel set up a publishing arm in the UK,
Marvel UK, reprinting American superhero strips. These proved extremely popular, and a range of weekly titles was being published by 1975. So much so that in 1976 the parent company briefly published a minimal amount of new material specifically for the UK market in
Captain Britain. The American reprint material proved to be more successful and continued to appear into the 1980s, at which stage Marvel UK also began diversifying into home-produced original material, both UK-originated strips featuring American created characters such as Captain Britain, the
Hulk and the
Black Knight, and wholly original strips like
Night Raven. They also began producing television-based material, initially with
Doctor Who Weekly, launched in 1979. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the
underground comics movement inspired two new comics in the UK:
Oz and
Nasty Tales were launched with the underground premise of counter-culture rebellion.
Oz notoriously featured the children's character
Rupert the Bear performing sexual acts. Both magazines were tried at the
Old Bailey under the
Obscene Publications Act because of their content. The
Oz defendants were convicted, although the conviction was overturned on appeal. '',26 February 1977. ''Action's'' position as the UK's most popular title was taken over by
2000 AD, a science-fiction comic launched in
1977 by IPC. Created as a comic for older boys, it also held appeal for teenage and even adult readers. In the 1960s IPC began to source comic art from
Spain, mainly for financial reasons. This trend was continued through to the launch of
2000 AD.
Carlos Ezquerra is the most notable Spanish artist to have worked in British comics, having worked on both
Battle and
2000 AD, and is credited with the creation of the look of
Judge Dredd.
Star Wars Weekly, published by Marvel UK, launched in 1977, lasted until 1986. In
1982 Eagle was relaunched, this time including photo comics, but still with
Dan Dare as the lead story. The comic moved it from the front page to the centre pages to allow a more magazine-style cover. In 1978
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by
Bryan Talbot began serialisation in
Near Myths (and continued in other comics after that title folded).
Luther Arkwright was later collected as a
graphic novel, and has been called the first British graphic novel. In 1982
Dez Skinn launched
Warrior, possibly the most notable comic of the period, as it contained both the
Marvelman and
V for Vendetta strips, by
Alan Moore.
Warrior was a British equivalent of
Heavy Metal magazine. Marvelman was a
Captain Marvel clone that Skinn acquired, although the legality of that acquisition has been questioned. In Moore's hands, the strip became an "adult" style
superhero, and was later reprinted, with the story continued, in an American full-color comic, with the name changed from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman" to avoid any lawsuits that
Marvel Comics may have considered. Eventually,
Warrior succumbed to copyright issues. Adult comics also witnessed a slight resurgence with
Pssst!, an attempt to market a French-style monthly
bande dessinée, and
Escape magazine, published by
Paul Gravett, former
Pssst! promotions man.
Escape featured early work from
Eddie Campbell and
Paul Grist, amongst others. Neither comic managed to survive in the vagaries of the comics market,
Escape beset by lack of publisher interest. During this period a number of smaller publishers were formed to provide inventive publications appealing to niche markets.
Congress Press was one of these companies, releasing titles such as
Birthrite,
Heaven & Hell and a graphic novel,
Spookhouse. Other small publishers of the era included
Harrier Comics (1984–1989) and
Acme Press (1986–1995). Most of the surviving titles published by IPC, Fleetway, and DC Thomson were merged into each other in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics waned further in response to a surge in the popularity of television (a popularity which received another major boost from the late 1970s onward as domestic
videocassette recorders became available), and due to the popularity of
video games (as inexpensive home computers such as the
ZX Spectrum, mainly used for gaming, became available from 1980). Although new comics titles were launched in this period, none seemed to find a sustainable audience. Notable comics of the period included
Deadline,
Toxic!,
Crisis, and
Revolver.
Deadline was conceived by
Steve Dillon and
Brett Ewins, and mixed original strips with reprints of U.S. strips, notably
Love & Rockets, and articles and interviews on the British independent music scene of the time.
Tank Girl was its most notable strip.
Crisis was published by
Fleetway Publications, a company formed from
IPC's comics holdings. It was aimed at readers who had outgrown
2000 AD, and featured first works by
Garth Ennis and
Sean Phillips amongst others. One publication of that period did find an audience.
Viz began life in
1979 as a
fanzine style publication, before, in 1989, becoming the biggest-selling comic in the country. Based upon bad taste, crude language, crude sexual innuendo, and the parodying of strips from
The Dandy (among them
Black Bag – the Faithful Border Bin Liner, a parody of ''The Dandy's
Black Bob series about a Border Collie), the popularity of Viz
depended entirely upon a variant of Sixties counter-culture; and it promptly inspired similarly themed titles, including Smut, Spit!, Talking Turkey
, Elephant Parts, Gas, Brain Damage, Poot!, UT and Zit, all of which failed to achieve Viz'
s longevity and folded, while Viz'' remained one of the United Kingdom's top-selling magazines.
21st century Beginning in 2000, the British market arrested its long decline. However, there is no sign of any great growth in circulation for the few remaining titles, and no sign of any new launches from mainstream publishers into the comics arena. An ever-increasing number of
small press and
fanzine titles are being produced, such as
Solar Wind or
FutureQuake, aided by the cheapness and increasingly professional appearance of
desktop publishing programs. It is from this scene that the UK's new talents now tend to emerge (e.g.
Al Ewing,
Henry Flint or
Simon Spurrier). The English musician
Peter Gabriel issued in 2000
The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped
comic book as part of the CD edition with the title "
OVO The Millennium Show". The 2000
Millennium Dome Show based on it. After they were purchased by
Rebellion Developments, both
2000 AD and the
Judge Dredd Megazine have seen the release of more adaptations and
trade paperbacks, including complete reprint collections of the entire runs of
Judge Dredd,
Strontium Dog and
Nemesis the Warlock. Starting in 2006 the
Megazine began a regular small press section which usually features an article on a title by Matthew Badham or David Baillie and a small press story. While British companies and creators have helped create the market for
collected volumes there have, with a few exceptions like
Raymond Briggs, been very few British
original graphic novels published. Briggs himself has said "On the Continent, graphic novels have been as accepted as films or books for many years, but England has had a snobby attitude towards them. They've always been seen as something just for children". However, thanks to the strong sales for Briggs'
Ethel and Ernest, and
Jimmy Corrigan winning
The Guardian's best first novel award, publishers have started expanding into this area.
Random House UK's imprint
Jonathan Cape has tripled its graphic novel output and Random House has also established
Tanoshimi to publish manga. Other publishers have also been increasing their output, which, as well as producing original works like
Alice in Sunderland, have also been included adaptations of works of literature. including
Classical Comics and
Self Made Hero, the latter having an imprint focused on
manga adaptations of the works of Shakespeare. This highlights another recent change, as there has been an increase in British
original English-language manga. Self Made Hero's 'Manga Shakespeare' imprint draws on talent discovered in
Tokyopop's UK/Irish version of
Rising Stars of Manga, including members of the UK collective
Sweatdrop Studios, who have also contributed to other British-based efforts like
ILYA's
Mammoth Book of Best New Manga and
MangaQuake. Creators involved in those collections who have gone on to do several manga style graphic novels include British based Japanese creators such as Chie Kutsuwada and Michiru Morikawa, as well as, conversely, a British writer based in Japan, Sean Michael Wilson. Released at the start of the 21st century was
Toxic, a comic which mixed comic strips alongside
game reviews and other articles. Beginning in 2002, this comic proved very successful and is still running. Its influence can be felt on other comics as well most notably when
The Dandy, Britain's longest-running comic at the time, became the
Dandy Xtreme in August 2007; it borrowed many of the features prevalent in
Toxic, mixing articles alongside comic strips. However,
The Dandy eventually moved away with this strategy in October 2010, when the comic was revamped, and published its final issue on its 75th anniversary in 2012. The
BeanoMAX (which also started in 2007) also borrowed some of
Toxic's features. That title was then replaced by
The 100% Official Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Megazine, which was later renamed
Epic before ending in 2019.
The DFC launched at the end of May
2008 drawing together creators from the small press and manga, as well as figures from mainstream British comics and other fields, including author
Philip Pullman. As it transpired, it didn't make it to its first birthday, ending with issue 43. A new more successful comic, however,
The Phoenix, began in January 2012, a successor to
The DFC which has already reached 500 issues. Starting in May 2023, Rebellion published a five-issue series of
Battle Action, with each issue featuring two complete stories. Ten more issues were published in 2024-25. ==Reprint market for US comics ==