The Four Color Media Monitor

A writer at the Sidmouth Herald told some history of Britain's comic strips, which once made for a very successful industry, but later began to wane:

The 1950s was something of a golden age for British ‘funny’ comics. Popular favourites The Dandy (which had started in 1937) and The Beano (1938), produced by Dundee-based publisher, DC Thomson were already well-established at the start of the decade. [...]

As a child growing up in the 1980s, I very much appreciated the wide variety of comics around. In addition to the regular weekly versions of ongoing titles like The Beano, Dandy, Topper, Beezer, Buster and Whizzer and Chips, there were always a wide variety of annuals, summer specials and comic libraries while even long defunct titles like Monster Fun and Cor!! still produced annuals and summer specials themselves.

Sadly, this is no longer the case. The industry went into meltdown during the 1990s. Of all the comics mentioned here, only The Beano still continues today.

You could probably also note how Marvel's UK line is largely extinct today, having been closed and their local branch bought out by Panini in 1995. Yes, it's a shame that Britain's own industry lost influence and much of the anthologies for comic strips went out of business in the nearly 3 decades since. And with the way political correctness is taking over, who knows if it could ever be revived successfully?

Labels: comic strips, Europe and Asia, history, libraries, marvel comics, sales