They WON'T be here from January. This is a MARVEL UK House Ad, published in the US books cover-dated February 1994, for another victim of the GENESIS IMPLOSION that was about to overtake the entire Genesis line.
The WILD ANGELS limited series was intended to combine DARK ANGEL (previously Hell's Angel, until the lawyers came calling) and WILD THING, two existing Marvel UK characters, in an extended team-up.
The English language editions were scrapped but Pino Rinaldi was a sufficient draw (ho-hum) in his native Italy for Panini to collect the four completed issues into a black & white one-shot, translated into Italian of course. The original books were planned to be in colour and its possible Panini opted for b&w because the colouring on all four books hadn't been completed when Marvel UK shuttered. And, of course, it's cheaper.
The advert is also another example of the bonkers advertising campaigns that M-UK used to try and revive their fortunes in those final months.
According to my calculations, this is my 1000th post since I started STARLOGGED (as Slow Robot) on 16 January 2012. A cause for a moment's celebration me thinks...
Hurrah.
I never expected I would reach so many posts so quickly and I reckon this has evolved into a fine repository for all things geeky and oft overlooked. I even broke one exclusive. I NEVER expected that to happen. It's also focused my mind and I've discovered lots of things I didn't previously know (or, had long since forgotten) in the course of compiling my posts and - I hope - some of that has been passed on. I've no intention of stopping any time soon. Thanks for passing by and - to those that post comments - it's much appreciated!
Congratulations on your 1000th post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog. I was surprised that it has only been going since January 2012. Your output certainly is impressive. I enjoy the type of material you dig out for us all.
Keep up the great work!
1000 entries young! You don't look a day over 950 posts, I swear!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the hard work you put in. The blog's a daily read for me.
Many congratulations on your 1000th post! I usually make regular visits here weekly to see what obscurities you have recalled from Marvel UK's heyday, and am never disappointed!
ReplyDeleteEven in retrospect, it's still somewhat surprising that Marvel UK went down like they did in early '94, considering that they were still advertising a lot of forthcoming projects that we now know were indeed in various stages of development.
Then again, I remember visiting Australia in late '93, perusing a comic shop run by a British guy, and casually asking him how the MUK books were selling. "Not good, I'm afraid", was the answer. Turns out that was probably quite the understatement!
On that note, I know you mention Wild Angels eventually saw print as an Italian collection, but were there any other escapees from the closing days of MUK? The only other one I remember was the 1996 Europa series, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was anything else.
Was always a bit frustrated with these publications myself, since they were doubtlessly originally conceived in English, yet ended up with only foreign translations actually being published. The same thing happened with the DC-created German Superman albums!
Hello there!
DeleteDid you ever see the 1993 OPENING SHOT TV documentary devoted to (the then booming) Marvel UK? I watched it again recently and there's an uncomfortable sequence, shot in a New York comic book store, where local punters are asked for their comments on the M-UK books. It's pretty obvious that they don't really know what they're talking about... despite being obviously briefed off-camera by the producers. Although, in fairness, I don't think I would be very articulate (or willing) if someone tried to film me when I was geeking!
I don't think much else escaped the Genesis Implosion, probably because most of the material was work-in-progress and the axe fell so suddenly that creative teams weren't able to bring things to a point where they were ready for press.
The DOCTOR WHO: AGE OF CHAOS four-parter, originally planned as a US format mini-series, resurfaced as a UK one-shot (I've seen it incorrectly described as graphic novel, it's just a fat A4 comic).
CLANDESTINE, of course, transferred to Marvel US.
LOOSE CANNONS, the fully-painted Warheads series, was nearly done when the line was cut and can be found online. M-UK had got as far as running trade ads and interviews (which I've posted) when it was scrapped.
There must have been a lot of other work from the ongoing monthlies and close-to-launch new series (like the RED MIST 2020 books) which may have included some complete issues.
Had the line originated in New York, I think it would have been a safe bet that Marvel would have tried to get some return on their investment by publishing a one-shot compilation of anything they reasonably could that was still on-file. However, the convulsions at Head Office (nicely covered in the MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe, now in paperback) and the restructuring (and then sale) of the British operation presumably no one much cared what happened to the inventory.
I'm not sure whether the EUROPA series (was it collected in a trade paperback by Marvel and/ or Panini?) was anything to do with Marvel UK. As part of their license (their parting gift from Marvel in the sell off), "big" Panini could originate material and I think these were commissioned elsewhere. I could be wrong however.
It's not lost but it was mentioned at the recent M-UK Panel at the London Film and Comic Con that PLASMER was issued as a collected edition in Spain.
Was that Opening Shot the one with various 90s comics luminaries like Paul Neary and Jan Duursema given equal interview time with some utterly unknown teenage girl called Maya (?) who seemed to be tracing pictures of Tank Girl but had somehow blagged the producers into thinking she was a big name comic artist?
Delete(Or was I possibly ignorant of Maya's contribution to the 90s comic book scene?)
No, never saw "Opening Shot", although I recall it being plugged in various MUK comics. In fact, I think it was broadcast when I was in Australia on the very same aforementioned visit, which is why I never saw it!
ReplyDeleteI remember the Age of Chaos original solicitations; if I remember correctly, the likeness of Colin Baker was changed from the solicitation compared to the final version. I always thought that was a bit odd, as I recall the original likeness being better!
Marvel UK ultimately had the same problem as their parent company, in flooding the market with product, some of which was clearly substandard. That the characters were supposed to inhabit a shared universe, which for the most part was never reciprocated in any of the U.S. books, bar Hulk and Excalibur (at the time), probably didn't help either. Perhaps it says something that even the original Death's Head managed to make appearances in three U.S. comics with no problems, but the same couldn't be said of 99% of the later Marvel UK Genesis line-up.