1990: STRIP ISSUE 21 Preview (Marvel UK)

From November 1990: The STRIP that never was.  

A full-page plug, from the twentieth issue, for the launch of the new NIGHT RAVEN strip destined for the never-to-be-published twenty-first edition. 

1990: STRIP PART 4 - Issues 16-20 (Marvel UK)

From 1990: The final five issues of MARVEL UK's twenty-issue wonder STRIP.

The sixteenth issue saw the arrival of THE PUNISHER to the ranks.  Although this may appear to be a merger of Castle's own weekly (cancelled after thirty issues), it isn't really.  The last issue of his solo title had actually hit the stands in late February) and he didn't join Strip until September.  Nevertheless, the British Bullpen still pushed the boat out with a free fabric patch along the lines of the ones that accompanied the contemporary launch issues of STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION and THE COMPLETE SPIDER-MAN (suggesting that there were some economies of scale by having three designs made).

Rather than pick up where the ongoing title unexpectedly left off, Strip went back to the character's roots by representing, albeit now in colour, his first pulp-inspired adventure from two decades earlier.  

See here for the final issues of Punny's own British book.  

The DEATH'S HEAD strip (The Body In Question, collected as a graphic novel the same year.  See here) wrapped with the twentieth issue, leaving a vacant slot destined to be filled by the return of another M-UK here: NIGHT RAVEN.  

Unfortunately, the Marvel axe swung without warning again and despite the investment in the new material (and continuing to offer subscriptions), the 21st issue never appeared.  Ooops.

The new NIGHT RAVEN material did appear in book form.  Twice.  It was first issued in late 1990 as a graphic novel and then, with the GENESIS line in full swing, reissued as a prestige format one-shot.  It's actually the latter that is far harder to find.  Both editions appear here. 

1995: NIGHT RAVEN in DEATH DUTY (Marvel Comics)

From 1995: A possibly oft-overlooked addition to the MARVEL UK pantheon, with excellent creative credentials, that snuck out of the New York office after the British branch imploded. 

DEATH DUTY was a done-in-one bookshelf format edition starring Nick Fury, the Black widow and M-UK's Night Raven (apparently making his US debut despite having been appearing in assorted British books from 1979 onwards).

Despite the title, there's no sign of former M-UK favorite (and notoriously frequent other-comic-gatecrasher) DEATH'S HEAD II.  

Writer Cefn Ridout was the former Editor of DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE (during the troublesome 'hiatus' period circa issue 100 of the mag) who later worked for the short-lived Manga Comics in the UK, overseeing the likes of THE X-FILES, MANGA MANIA and SPACE PRECINCT.  

Charlie Adlard illustrated THE X-FILES for Topps... and a whole lot more. 

1982: SAVAGE ACTION BOWS OUT WITH ISSUE 15 (Marvel UK)

From 1982*: the British Bullpen Spin Machine cranks up again to put a positive gloss on the demise of SAVAGE ACTION Monthly after fifteen issues.  

SA was a "mature readers" comic before the term had been invented... a hotch-potch of adventure and horror fare assembled (for the most part) from the US black & white magazine line. 

As Bernie says, putting a brave face on it, SA was about to fold into the pages of MARVEL SUPERHEROES from 382.  Which also happened to be the only issue to officially incorporate SA although the Night Raven text stories (the only survivor to emerge from the wreckage of SA) did continue. 

* This would have gone on sale in December 1981. 

1990: MARVEL UK BOOKS House Ad

From December 1990: something of a work-in-progress House Ad for some of MARVEL UK's Graphic Novels and Trade Paperbacks.  

The NIGHT RAVEN book doesn't seem to have any cover art so the designer has used some panels from the strips themselves.  The final cover for NIGHT RAVEN THE COLLECTED STORIES can be found here.

THE CHRONICLES OF GENGHIS GRIMTOAD was a graphic novel rather than a trade paperback.  I've posted the cover here. 

DEATH'S HEAD THE BODY IN QUESTION was, indeed, a graphic novel (and also serialized in STRIP) and a full scan of the cover can be found here.  "Also trade paperback" must refer, not to an alternative edition of TBIQ, but to THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DEATH'S HEAD (see here for the cover). 

The artwork for THE SLEEZE BROTHERS is the cover of the first issue of the comic.  The collection was issued with new art.  See here.

1993: NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS House Ad (Marvel UK)

More NIGHT RAVEN!  A MARVEL UK House Ad, published in the American comics, promoting the second edition of the HOUSE OF CARDS Graphic Novel.  This appeared in titles dated February 1993.  

1990: NIGHT RAVEN THE COLLECTED STORIES (Marvel UK)

NIGHT RAVEN: THE COLLECTED STORIES, another early 1990s (1990 to be precise) outing for the MARVEL UK character, reprinted (as the name suggests) the strips from 1979's HULK COMIC (and reprinted in 1985's CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly) in one A4 graphic novel behind a new David Lloyd front page.

Oddly for a noir character, M-UK decided to colour the strips for this book.  Whether this was to create some value-added appeal to readers or make it more desirable to the book trade is unclear.  However, the end results are rather nice and sympathetic to the original art.  

Unfortunately, it doesn't also collect the myriad of prose stories (some by Alan Moore) that weaved through the UK monthlies (somehow managing to dodge cancellation each time until landing in THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN THE BARBARIAN) throughout the early eighties.

1991/ 1992: NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS (Marvel UK)

1991

1992

One book: two editions: MARVEL UK issued two different versions of the original NIGHT RAVEN graphic novel HOUSE OF CARDS only a year-or-so apart.

The 1991 first print was an A4 sized affair.  The second, published as part of the GENESIS 92 wave of material pitched specifically at the US market (although it wasn't part of the G92 sub-universe of characters), was a US-sized 'bookshelf' (aka "the Dark Knight format" for old 'uns) squarebound edition.

In my experience, it's actually the 1992 version that is the harder to find today.  I've only ever seen one copy… and this is it!

Whichever the version, it's well worth seeking out.

The character, of course, made his debut in 1979's launch issue of HULK COMIC.  Although the strip (latterly reprinted in 1985's CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly and again, this time in colour, in a graphic novel compilation) couldn't escape Hulk's diminishing origination budget, the character did continue to appear in as series of prose adventures which ran across the M-UK monthlies (skipping from title to title as each was, in turn, canned) and included contributions from Alan Moore.

1995:NOCTURNE (Marvel UK)

NOCTURNE is another Mighty MARVEL UK obscurity: a last survivor from the British Bullpen's ambitions to be an originator of mainstream (albeit with a British twist) superhero adventure comics (which, for the most part, went up in smoke during the late 1993/ early 1994 Genesis Implosion.

Dated June 1995, this was put together by a British team overseen by Paul Neary (he served a similar duty on THE CLANDESTINE) but published as part of the US line.  Apparently with minimum hype as this passed me by entirely at the time despite running for four issues.

I stumbled across this first issue (sadly not the remaining three) in a dealer's dump bin at the weekend… and the name rang a bell.  

The M-UK connection (other than the creative team) here is that NIGHT RAVEN is featured, albeit in flashbacks as a fictional character… who may not (you can see where this is - probably - going) have been as fictional as everyone assumed.  

I really enjoyed this first issue.  Dan Abnett's plotting doesn't feel very original but it is highly enjoyable and I hope I get a chance to read the remaining chapters soon.  More disappointing is Nocturne's costume design: it looks like a pimped-up Phantom and is far from memorable.  

1992: NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS Second Edition (Marvel UK)

These are the covers, front and rear, of the 1992 reissue of the NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS graphic novel from MARVEL UK.  

Originally published as an A4 Graphic Novel a couple of years earlier, it was reissued in '92 in the comic-sized Dark Knight/ Bookshelf/ Prestige (delete-as-applicable) format as part of the Annex of Ideas' North American push.  

1992: NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS House Ad (Marvel UK)

This is a nice, appropriately noir, advert for the second edition of MARVEL UK's revival of NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS.

The Graphic Novel had already appeared once, with a different cover, to little fanfare a couple of years earlier (a serialised reprint in STRIP was nixed when the anthology was unexpectedly cancelled the issue before the run was due to start) but was dusted off for another edition as part of Paul Neary's attempts to exploit the (minimal) M-UK back catalogue during the GENESIS 92 era.

Either edition is worth grabbing…

1980: NIGHT RAVEN: THE PHANTOM OF WALPOLE TOWERS text story - PART TWO (Marvel UK)

Hot on the heels of part one, here's the concluding part of the first NIGHT RAVEN text story from Marvel UK's SAVAGE ACTION monthly 1-2, first published during the final months of 1980.

1980: SAVAGE ACTION ISSUE 1 (Marvel UK)

This is another blast (literally) from the Marvel UK archives: the launch issue of SAVAGE ACTION (A Marvel Monthly) from November 1980.

SA (which ultimately ran 15 issues to January 1982) was a "mature readers" title before anyone even knew what that meant.  The monthly pulled together the likes of The Punisher, Dominic Fortune, Moon Knight, Blade, The Black Widow, Man-Thing (again!), Man-God and Ka-zar ('savage' action, geddit?!?) from Marvel's US black & white magazines.

Amongst the reprints, the two standouts were the NIGHT RAVEN text stories which revived the character last seen (until the money ran out) in the pages of HULK COMIC and (beginning in the seventh issue) the text feature INSIDE COMICS.

The text stories demonstrated remarkable longevity and survived the cancellation of SA and continued, through a variety of titles, until the demise of CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly.  Unlike the original NR strips (albeit decades ago), they've never been collected in book form.

Inside Comics was, as the title suggests, a regular text feature that appeared across the monthlies with a wandering brief to write about anything comics related that took the author's (including one Alan Moore) fancy.