A special promotional poster for the 2019 Royal Mail Marvel Special Issue Stamps
With Captain Marvel in cinemas in a couple of weeks and Avengers: Endgame hot on its heels, it should be no surprise the Royal Mail has turned its hand to a Marvel-inspired Special Issue stamp release – and artists Alan Davis and Neil Edwards have done fans proud.
Released 14th March, there’s a host of different items available featuring some of Marvel’s top heroes, including Captain Britain, Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Avengers and more.
Neil tells us the project took two months to complete and the art commissioned includes a promotional poster and more.
Also involved was author and comics writer Alan Cowsill, who provided a history of Marvel and Marvel UK for the collectors’ packs.
The 15-stamp set features some of Marvel’s most popular Super Heroes, including Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel.
The heroic line-up is joined by Peggy Carter, Black Panther, Captain Britain and Union Jack – and a further five stamps will be part of an exclusive short comic strip story contained within the stamp.
Prestige Box
On offer are Presentation Packs, Medal Packs, Framed Stamps and Mini Sheets by both Alan and Neil, and much, much more.
Marvel Comics grew out of Timely Comics, which in 1939, published its first comic book, Marvel Comics #1. Editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby created a Super Hero revolution when they devised a new world of characters in the early 1960s, including Hulk and Thor.
In 1963, Lee and Steve Ditko hit upon a new idea for a hero; a teenager who accidentally takes on Super Hero abilities – and Spider-Man was born.
In 1972, Marvel UK was formed, publishing weekly comics that repackaged the stories for a British audience. This changed in 1976 when Captain Britain Weekly was launched, featuring the adventures of the first Marvel Super Hero created for the UK.
The 1980s, in particular, saw US comic publishers heavily recruiting British writers and illustrators, who increasingly worked on the American publications and began to inject darker storylines to widen the appeal of the characters.
One of them was Alan Davis, who designed the new Special Stamps, and has worked with Marvel since the early 1980s and first illustrated Captain Britain in 1985.
A specially-created story features five further stamps printed in a miniature sheet. The story, entitled Avengers UK, sees Captain Britain rallying Super Heroes to face the arch villain Thanos.
“I really can’t take all the credit for producing these stamps,” says Alan. The speed of production required in US comics makes it necessary to separate the creative disciplines into four individual jobs. Writer, penciller, inker and colourist. My primary focus is writing and pencilling.
“My long-time collaborator Mark Farmer supplied the blackline inks for the stamps and Laura Martin added the colour.”
Philip Parker, Royal Mail, added: “Generations have grown up, spellbound by the adventures and the personalities of these Super Heroes. Our epic new stamps celebrate each in characteristic pose, emerging from the stamp frame.”
• The stamps and a range of collectible products are available now to pre-order from www.royalmail.com/marvel and go on general sale from Thursday 14th March by phone on 03457 641 641 and in 7,000 Post Offices throughout the UK
• Check out the full range here on the Royal Mail web site, but here’s some more images…
• Alan Davis is online at www.alandavis-comicart.com
• Follow Neil Edwards on Twitter @thebristolboard
Spider-Man Medal set
Art Cards
Avengers Medal Set
Framed Set signed by Neil Edwards
Framed Set signed by Alan Davis
Spider-Man Framed Print
Captain Marvel Framed Print
• The stamps and a range of collectible products are available now to pre-order from www.royalmail.com/marvel and go on general sale from Thursday 14th March by phone on 03457 641 641 and in 7,000 Post Offices throughout the UK
All art © Marvel | With thanks to Neil Edwards for the heads up on this release
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Merchandise, Other Worlds, US Comics
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Utterly, utterly amazing news. Seeing Captain Britain by Alan Davis up there with some of Marvel’s most cinematic is most welcome.
I love the stamps and the densign of the packaging. The only problem I have is the quote “Loki seeks power for himself and believes he should be the rightful ruler of Asgard” I disagree with this quote as Loki put it “I never wanted the Throne only to be your equal.” Loki was misunderstood, I understand him being on the Villain page but his description in my opinion is not fully true