Brands With Influence to rep Egmont comics and characters

By John Freeman on 21 November 2011

Brands With Influence, a merchandising and Intellectual Management company, has been appointed to represent Egmont UK’s archive of classic comic and magazine titles that includes Roy of The Rovers, Battle, Misty and Whizzer and Chips.

The collection spans the 40 years since the 1970s.

“We feel this is just the right time to bring these titles and brands back to life through a strategic licensing program,” says David Riley, managing director, Egmont Publishing Group.

“The nostalgia market remains buoyant and our brands will have a real affinity with those children, now adults, who grew up with them. We are looking forward to working with Brands With Influence to bring these classic brands back to the high street.”

Whether this signals the potential revival of some of Egmont’s strips in print – alongside Titan Books publication of series such as Charley’s War and Johnny Red, and STRIP Magazine‘s publication of Hook Jaw – is not clear from this initial press notice.

IPC has a deal with a similar company, Drawn Ink, who have been actively pushing many of the company’s comic characters for potential use on clothing and other merchandise.

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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.