Crikey! regroups after Borders collapse

By John Freeman on 5 January 2010

The editor of British comics magazine Crikey! has revealed the recent collapse of Borders UK has proved a bit of a catastrophe for the magazine, as the loss of that chain and its affiliates took away about 70% of its distribution.

No alternative distributive possibilities are available to the title at this stage, which means a ‘regroup’ for the title. The title’s sales are too small for Diamond to consider distributing it, for example – and the money the magazine has lost from the Borders collapse means they can’t currently afford to go into another high street chain.

“So we’re retrenching and regrouping and in the meantime going back to our old format for #13,” says editor Tony Ingram in a post to the downthetubes forum, “but there is one bit of positive news; we’ve been adding content to the website at www.crikeyuk.co.uk, and we now have our own brand spanking new Crikey! forum there, too.

“All are welcome, so please don’t leave us talking to ourselves.”

• More about Crikey! at www.crikeyuk.co.uk

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.