Forbidden Planet and Titan Entertainment Group co-owner Nick Landau is the focus of an in-depth three-part interview on the comics retailer news site, ICV2.
Nick Landau was one of the co-founders, together with Mike Lake and Mike Luckman, of the comic store chain Forbidden Planet, and he also co-founded Titan Distributors, which was sold to Diamond in 1993 and became Diamond UK.
Nick and his wife, Vivian Cheung, now own Titan Entertainment Group, which includes a publishing company and nine Forbidden Planet stores across the UK.
For ICv2’s Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary celebration, former retailer and DC Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing Bob Wayne talked to Nick about his years in the business.
In Part One, Landau talks about starting the Comics Media fanzine and his own distribution company. Part Two covers his time at the publisher IPC, where he edited 2000AD, and the opening of the first Forbidden Planet store in 1978.
In Part Three, Nick discusses the shift to graphic novels, the sale of the distribution company to Diamond and the formation of the current company, as well as his part in the stage production of Thunderbolts: FAB.
• PART 1 On Comics and Conventions in 1970s London
• PART 2 Editing ‘2000AD’ and Opening the First Forbidden Planet Store
• PART 3 The Rise of the Graphic Novel, and the ‘Thunderbirds Go’ Onstage
- About the Author
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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.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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