Life at Marvel UK
Some photos from the early 1990s...
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Marvel
UK Editor in Chief Paul Neary looks through pages of a new title,
making notes and suggestions. Neary would work late hours in what I call
the beginning of the Marvel UK 'Resurgence', when the company went all
out to capture some of the US comics market with comics such as Death's
Head II, Warheads and Motormouth and Killpower.
For the new Marvel UK universe Neary drew on past creations, such as Death's Head, but reinvented them within a new universe (though still part of the Marvel Universe) where a nefarious, shadowy organisation -- MysTech --plotted world domination, utilising techno-majick, supra-sciences so advanced they were indistinguishable from magic. In the beginning the experiment was hugely successful and the Marvel UK range enjoyed huge sales. The first issue of Shadow Riders, a four-part mini-series I penned fro the company after going freelance, sold 142,000 copies of its first issue. Today, that level of sales would for many titles be remarkable. The general consensus now seems to be that the sheer number of titles created by Marvel UK outweighed the tiny's company to continue to produce high-quality work and this, combined with the 1990s downturn in comics sales, brought about an implosion and the end of the range after two short years of success. |
Comics
artist Liam Sharp at a Marvel social event, the artist who brought Death's Head II to incredible
life with writer Dan Abnett. I first
pushed Liam's work under Paul Neary's nose during his first days of his
second tenure at Marvel UK -- Neary was part of the team behind the re-creation
of Captain Britain in the early 1980s, alongside Dez Skinn and others. (Richard Starkings also
points out that Liam pencilled an issue of the original Death's Head, so he wasn't unknown at Marvel UK but Paul hadn't seen his work before).
Liam and I had a plan for a title that would feature Wolverine, Rourke (a character Liam and I co-own) and Monark Starstalker, first created by Howard Chaykin in the 1970s. It never materialised -- which is probably a blessing in disguise -- but I'm pleased Liam had such a terrific run at Marvel UK and got the exposure that has since seen him creating stories featuring Spawn, Superman and Man-Thing, to name but a few. He's now working on a variety of projects, including a short film. Visit Liam's web site: www.mamtor.com |
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The
cover of Issue 1 of the Death's Head II mini-series, marking the end of
the original Death's Head (who was created by Simon Furman) and the introduction
of a far deadlier character, imbued with the abilities of over 100 absorbed/stolen
personalities.
Fans of the original Death's Head bemoaned the passing of their robotic avenger, who has appeared in several US comics, including The Avengers. His life history was detailed in the 12-part series The Incomplete Death's Head, which I edited, revealing previously unknown links with the Time Lord, the Doctor of Doctor Who fame. |
Helen
Stone at work on a colour mark up for the wraparound cover of Death's
Head II #4. The mark ups were used by a colouring house in Slovenia to
create the four-part films used in the print process for the books. Marvel
UK also used computerised colouring methods, though not in house, and
the results are possibly a far cry from the sophisticated renderings of
today.
Helen, widely regarded as one of Mravel UK's best colourists, moved on from the company to work in children's books. |
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Colonel
Liger, leader of the Warheads Kether troop, mercenaries charged with recovering
alien technology and other aretefacts by Mys-TECH. |
Peri
Godbold, lettering genius at work in the days before lettering was largely
done on computers with the help of fonts from ComicBookfonts.com,
owned by Richard Starkings. Richard, of course, being another Marvel UK
stalwart and the man who helped get me my jobe with the company many years
ago...
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One-time
Marvel UK Managing Director Vincent Conran looks over various titles with
then Marvel US supremo Jim Galton and Paul Neary.
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