Titan Magazines British DC Comics titles cease publication

DC Universe Presents Volume 3 #12 - Titan

Titan Magazines has announced that it will no longer be publishing its licensed DC Comics range in the UK. All titles on sale now in newsagents are the final issues.

The company sent a brief email to subscribers of its titles earlier this week, thanking them for their loyalty, advising readers all titles would be discontinued after December, although back issues will still be available.

Titles affected, sold in newsagents, include DC Universe Presents (previously known as Superman Legends), featuring Superman, Green Lantern, JLA and the Flash. The most recent issue, Volume 3 #12, was published in November.

Titan’s web site also lists All-Star Batman (#11 the most recent issue, published in October), Batman (#14 was published in November), Batman Superman (Volume 3, #2, released earlier this month), DC Legends (Volume 4, #3, released in November), DC Spotlight (bowing out with a 100-page Aquaman Special, on sale now), DC Super Heroes (Volume 3, #13, currently featuring Flash) and DC Team Up (#5, also released this month) and DC Universe Presents.

Titan says all subscribers will be contacted about the cancellations, which only affect its DC range.

We don’t know at this point if another publisher has picked up the DC Comics license in the UK. Egmont published a short-lived DC Super Hero Girls title in 2017 featuring strip drawn by Ferran Rodriguez, and has published other DC tie-in titles in the past, as has Panini.

UPDATE Friday 28th December: downthetubes reader Alan Russell reports the issue’s of the DC titles affected all seem to say “The End” on the last page of all the strips, suggesting the the titles’ closure was not unexpected as the email sent out in Christmas week might suggest.

We don’t know at this point if Titan’s DC book collections are also impacted by any presumed license changes.

All imagery copyright DC Comics



Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 replies

  1. The many complaints on their FB page, from subscribers and non-subscribers alike, is very telling.

    There were reprint errors, errors pertaining to “next issue…” sale dates, a lack of updates on their site/pages, etc. And there was zero consistency. I started buying SUPERGIRL. A fourth issue was advertised. It never happened. Then they retrospectively announced it was a ‘mini-series’.

    I did complain as I had been looking out for it. A Titan employee told me, “We have told subscribers, but can’t inform everyone.” Of course you can inform everyone, that’s what the internet is for. Panini would have told subscribers and non-subscribers alike if a series got cancelled (as they have done).

    A subscriber I know was dismayed that SUICIDE SQUAD morphed into TEEN TITANS GO!

    There were so many problems. It was a complete contrast to how Panini manages their Marvel UK titles. 90% of the visitor posts on the FB page were complaints about subscriptions, lack of updates, reprint errors, etc.

    I felt dismayed because I remember Panini’s great BATMAN LEGENDS title (2003-2006), plus I remember the great job London Editions Magazines/Fleetway (part of Egmont) did with DC reprints in the 80s.

    I sincerely hope a licensee picks it up – and that they do a better job than Titan did.

    I do feel Titan needs to communicate better. Between about November 2015 and mid-2016, there were no issues of STAR TREK MAGAZINE released. No updates on the site. One arrived eventually – I enjoy buying the title – but the lack of updates/communication drives people away.

  2. Could not agree more with the comments made by Stephen above.

    I had current subscriptions for the two Batman titles & The Flash.

    I rarely, if ever received the magazines on time & after requesting a resend, usually a week after the onsale date, I would then receive two copies of the missing title.

    I am currently awaiting the final Flash (publication date mid Nov, reorder requested on the 18th of December).

    Stephen hoped that the titles would be taken up by a company that would do a better job going forward. Personally, I think it would be a accomplishment for someone to do a worse job.

  3. David, I am sorry to hear of your subscription problems. I heard and read many similar stories. Whether it was people receiving two copies (weeks after the fact) or not receiving any copies at all, well I don’t think the blame was down to Royal Mail. One can blame Royal Mail for occasional missing issues, but I subscribe to six Panini titles – and they all come on time for the most part.

    There was just a general amateurish feel about the whole licence. I picked up THE FLASH once and the “next issue…” date was one day ahead. I tried to subscribe to their DC TEAM-UP title, but the link was a dead one. Despite e-mails to them, it was not sorted. If you can’t fix a dead link to a subscription address that a potential customer WANTS to pay for, what hope is there for getting anything else right?

    It has given me zero pleasure to type any of this. There are more important things in life to worry about, but having been a fan of Panini’s BATMAN LEGENDS, and Egmont’s various DC titles, it pained and pains me a little to see a licence misused.

    Perhaps, and I know Titan does a great job on the whole with magazines and books, the DC comic licence was just an afterthought to them. It felt that way. Definitely done differently to how Panini do the Marvel titles.

  4. An update to this – WHSmith have delisted Titan’s other Collectors Edition format comics (I tried to buy the latest Doctor Who and Simpsons comics, and that’s why I couldn’t find them).

Discover more from downthetubes.net

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading