City Magazines

Last updated

City Magazines
Founded1955;69 years ago (1955)
Defunctc. 1974 (assets owned by the Daily Express )
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters location London
DistributionUnited Kingdom
Key people Leonard Matthews
Publication typesMagazines
Nonfiction topicsYouth culture, men
Fiction genres Comics
Imprints Century 21 Publications

City Magazines was a British publisher of weekly comics and men's magazines that operated from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The company's most notable publications were comics magazines based on licensed television properties, including TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope , both of which featured comics based on Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions Supermarionation shows.

Contents

A number of City Magazine titles were absorbed by IPC Magazines in the late 1960s; the company ceased operations in c. 1974, with its remaining assets coming under the control of the Daily Express.

History

City Magazines started in 1955; its first title was Blighty/Parade , which it acquired from another publisher; followed by Escort , launched in 1958. City Magazines' headquarters were initially at 45 St Pancras Way, London, later moving to 167-170 Fleet Street, and later to Aldwych House, 81 Aldwych, London. [1]

In 1959–1960, City Magazines started a comics division. First, it launched the weekly teen girls' magazine Boyfriend in 1959, which featured a mix of text stories and comics. In the period 1961 to 1965, City Magazine published licensed comics based on the Hanna-Barbera animation properties Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear [2] (with the odd Flintstones one-off thrown in). The company dipped into the growing "TV comic" market in 1960, acquiring the title Express Weekly from Beaverbrook Newspapers and renaming it TV Express Weekly . The experiment only lasted until 1962, however, when TV Express was merged into Polystyle Publications' TV Comic .

From 1965 to 1970, City Magazines partnered with Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions to produce weekly comics based on Anderson's Supermarionation properties. The Century 21 Productions division Century 21 Publications provided the editors, writers, and artists, while City Magazines arranged for printing and distributing the titles.[ citation needed ] The Century 21 Publications imprint's most prominent and long-running titles were TV Century 21 , later known as TV21, which launched in January 1965; and Lady Penelope , which launched in January 1966. Building on the success of the two earlier titles, in January/February 1967, City Magazines launched three more Anderson-related titles: Candy, TV Tornado, and Solo. The latter title didn't survive the year, merging into TV Tornado in September 1967, while TV Tornado merged into TV21 in September 1968.

Matthews era

Leonard Matthews, a longtime editor at Amalgamated Press and its successor Fleetway Publications, seems to have taken over City Magazines in early 1969. [3] Along with Alf Wallace, another former editor at Fleetway Odhams Press, Matthews opened Martspress, [3] which took over the packaging and publishing of the remaining City Magazines titles. [4]

In the summer of 1969, Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions had become financially over-stretched. Within a few months, the company had disbanded its three warehouse-sized studios on the Slough Trading Estate. In June 1969 the entire staff of Century 21 Publications were given a month's notice. [4] A small nucleus of staff from the disbanded division were taken on by Matthews at Martspress/City Magazines. [3]

City Magazines lost the Gerry Anderson license in early 1970, [5] [6] so the two remaining titles — TV21 and Penelope — lost their Anderson-related content. Shortly after losing the Anderson license, City Magazines acquired the Marvel Comics license (previously held by Odhams Press, a division of IPC Magazines), with some Marvel strips being reprinted in TV21 . [7]

In the period 1967 to 1971, all of City Magazines' main comics titles ended up being taken over by IPC Magazines and/or merged into existing IPC titles: these included Boyfriend and Trend (formerly Boyfriend), Penelope (formerly Lady Penelope), and TV21 (formerly TV Century 21).

By 1974, [8] the company appears to have gone defunct; its assets ended up in the possession of the Daily Express [2] (formerly Beaverbrook Newspapers).

Men's magazines

City Magazines started in 1955 with the weekly men's magazine Blighty Parade , a magazine originally called Blighty which had been relaunched in 1939 by another publisher. In 1959, the title of the magazine was changed to Parade & Blighty, and then in 1960 to Parade. City Magazines published Parade until c. 1971, when it was taken over by Williams Publishing, the publishing imprint of Warner Communications.

Similar titles published by City Magazines were the pin-up magazines Escort (1958–1971), [9] Carnival (1965–1970), and Men Only (1965–1971). Carnival was acquired from Liverpolitan Ltd in Birkenhead, where it originated in 1955. [8] Men Only was a publication dating back to 1935, originally published by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd and acquired by City Magazines from the International Publishing Company. Men Only was sold in 1971 to Paul Raymond Publications, who relaunched it as the start of a top-shelf publishing empire (competing with Mayfair as well as US magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse during the 1970s and 1980s). Similarly, Escort was incorporated as part of Men Only and then relaunched in 1980 by Paul Raymond as part of his stable of softcore pornography magazines. [10]

In the period 1965–1967, the flagship title Parade was used in specials with the company's other monthlies: Parade Carnival, Carnival Parade, Parade Escort, etc. [1]

Boyfriend and Trend

City Magazines' second ongoing publication was the weekly teen magazine Boyfriend, which debuted in 1959. Early issues featured a romance comic on the cover, whose story continued on the interior pages. Later issues featured photographic covers and the tagline, "The modern young woman's magazine." In 1966, with issue #352, Boyfriend was merged with another City Magazines title, Trend, to become Trend and Boyfriend, and then, shortly thereafter, Boyfriend and Trend (the "Boyfriend" in the title being much smaller than the word "Trend"). The magazine's tagline at this point was, "Setting the pace for the girl with go!" The magazine lasted until issue #428, 9 September 1967, when it merged with the IPC Magazines title Petticoat to form Petticoat/Trend.

Hanna-Barbera comics

In the period 1961 to 1965, City Magazine published licensed comics based on the Hanna-Barbera animation properties Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear (with the odd Flintstones one-off thrown in). Huckleberry Hound Weekly ran 283 issues, from 1961 to 1967, with a number of various one-offs and seasonal "extras."  (In 1967, the title was acquired by Hayward.) Yogi Bear's Own Weekly ran 75 issues from 1962 to 1964, also publishing a number of specials and seasonal extras.

TV Express Weekly

City Magazines' first foray into the growing "TV comic" market was with TV Express Weekly in 1960–1962. City Magazines acquired the publication from Beaverbrook Newspapers, changing its title from Express Weekly . (The publication started out on 4 September 1954 as Junior Express, was renamed Junior Express Weekly with issue #39, then Express Weekly with issue #74.) The first issue of TV Express was #286 (23 April 1960); it was merged into Polystyle Publications' TV Comic after issue #375 (6 January 1962). [11]

TV Express was similar in format to IPC's Eagle : tabloid with photogravure colour, with a mixture of comic strips and features. [11]

Century 21 Publications comics

TV Century 21

The company's first (and longest-running) title, TV Century 21 , aimed at teenage boys, debuted on 23 January 1965; featured strips included Stingray , Supercar , Fireball XL5 , and the aristocratic Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds . The rest of the Thunderbirds team and Captain Scarlet eventually joined the comic's lineup. The publication extended its licensing beyond the Anderson productions, as well, publishing strip adventures based on the extraterrestrial Doctor Who villains the Daleks, in addition to adaptations of the popular television series My Favourite Martian and Burke's Law .

The comic dropped the "Century" from its title in January 1968, after 155 issues, and became known as TV21. In September 1969, after 242 issues, TV21 relaunched after a merger with another title, Joe 90 Top Secret. At this time, the issue numbering of TV21 and Joe 90, as the comic was now called, was reset to #1, with a "New Series No." printed on the front cover. While the general format of the old comic was preserved, the Thunderbirds and Joe 90 strips were now printed in black-and-white in favour of the new colour favourites Star Trek and Land of the Giants . The Joe 90 aspect gradually disappeared from the comic, whose name reverted to TV21 after 36 issues (the 278th overall). (Further Joe 90 annuals were published, however, in 1969 and 1970.)

The title sputtered along for another year, mostly based on reprints, including of American Marvel Comics strips. With issue #93 (3 July 1971), the title changed publisher-name from City Magazines to IPC Magazines. TV21 ceased publication with issue #105 (25 Sept. 1971), when it was merged into IPC's long-running comics title Valiant .

Lady Penelope

In January 1966, a sister publication to TV Century 21 — this time aimed at teenage age girls — was launched: Lady Penelope , which featured Frank Langford's Lady Penelope comic strip (previously appearing in TV Century 21). Billing itself as "the comic for girls who love television," Lady Penelope also included strips based on popular television programs of the era, including Bewitched , The Monkees , The Beverly Hillbillies , Crossroads , Daktari , The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. . Other strips published in Lady Penelope connected with other Century 21 Productions.

After 123 issues, the title was shortened to Penelope; it eventually ran for 204 issues until 20 December 1969, when it was acquired by IPC Magazines and merged with Princess Tina (to become Princess Tina and Penelope).

Lady Penelope annuals began appearing in 1967, continuing for six editions until 1972. City Magazines also published three The Monkees Annuals in the years 1968, 1969, and 1970.

Candy

After the company's success with weekly comics aimed at teenagers, Century 21 Publications' third ongoing title, Candy, was a "nursery-type" magazine marketed to younger children. Launched mid-January 1967, the stars of the title were Anderson's puppet characters Candy and Andy (the female one being the magazine's namesake). Candy and Andy had originally been part of a new puppet series that had not succeeded in being sold to a studio.

Early issues of the series featured photographic covers of Anderson's puppets; in addition to the main Candy and Andy strip, other strips were based on popular television children's programs like Winnie-the-Pooh , William Timym's Bengo the Boxer Pup, Maria Perego's Topo Gigio, and Associated Television's koalas Tingha and Tucker.

Candy lasted 154 issues — as well as a number of annuals and specials — from 1967 through 1969.

TV Tornado

Also debuting in January 1967 was the new ongoing title TV Tornado. True to its name, TV Tornado, which was edited by Mick Anglo, featured comics based on popular television properties, including Lone Ranger , Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , Tarzan , The Saint , Bonanza , and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ; plus text features about Doctor Who and The Avengers . The back story of the Mysterons, Captain Scarlet's Martian enemies, was revealed in TV Tornado. Other strips and characters that appeared in TV Tornado included Batman, Superman, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, the Green Hornet, Magnus, Robot Fighter, and The Invaders.

Solo

Solo, which debuted in February 1967, also contained strips based on the Mysterons, as well as other licensed TV properties like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Sergeant Bilko (a.k.a. The Phil Silvers Show ). The title also featured Disney-related strips, including Mary Poppins , Super Goof, and Uncle Scrooge. In late September 1967, after publishing 31 issues, Solo merged with TV Tornado. And in September 1968, after 192 issues, TV Tornado was merged into TV21, forming TV21 and Tornado.

Joe 90

The Andersons' latest Supermarionation production, Joe 90 , inspired a Joe 90 comics annual in 1968, followed on 18 January 1969 with an ongoing comics series, called Joe 90 Top Secret. This publication did not endure, however, merging with TV21 and Tornado in September 1969 after only 34 issues.

Annuals and specials

With the success of TV Century 21, City Magazines published a number of related annuals and specials, two of them featuring Stingray . The first Thunderbirds annual was published in 1966, with a new one appearing each year until 1972. City Magazines also published the first TV Century 21 Annual in 1966, eventually putting out five such annuals (with the last one appearing in 1970). A second Stingray Annual appeared in 1966, and two more TV Century 21 seasonal specials in 1966 and 1967. The first Captain Scarlet annual debuted in 1967; City Magazines published a new one in 1968 and another one in 1969.

Other publications

In January 1968, City Magazines launched Go Girl, a mix of comic strips, pin-ups, and text features. The series only lasted 31 issues, however, from 13 January to 10 August 1968. From 1969 to 1972, City Magazines also published Once Upon a Time, packaged by Martspress, which was an educational comic in the vein of Look and Learn , [3] featuring artists like Don Lawrence, Jesús Blasco, and Ron Embleton. [2] (This title also appears to have been affiliated with IPC Magazines.)

The company published Motor Cyclist Illustrated in the period 1969 to 1971.

The final comics title launched by City Magazines was the football comic Striker, which debuted on 10 January 1970. Only the first 23 or 24 issues of Striker included comics content; about 7 pages per issue. Sometime around issue #30, the magazine was acquired by Banner Press Limited and merged with another magazine to become Inside Football and Striker.

Comics titles (selected)

Hanna-Barbera

Century 21 Publications

Magazine titles (selected)

Men's magazines

  • Carnival (1965–1970; acquired from Liverpolitan Ltd, where it originated in 1955; continued by Williams Publishing)
  • Escort (1958–1971; later continued by Paul Raymond)
  • Men Only (1965–1971; acquired from IPC; continued by Paul Raymond)
  • Parade (1955–c. 1971; continued by Williams Publishing)

Other

  • Bliss (2 issues, 1961)
  • Boyfriend (428 issues, 1959–1967):
    • Boyfriend (351 issues, #1–351; 1959–1966)
    • Trend and Boyfriend (8 issues, #352–359; 1966)
    • Boyfriend and Trend (69 issues, #360–428; 1966–9 September 1967; merged into IPC's Petticoat )
  • Go Girl (31 issues, 1968)
  • Motor Cyclist Illustrated (c. 1969–c. 1971)
  • Once Upon a Time (1969–1972)
  • Striker (23 issues, 10 January 1970 – 4 March 1972; merged with Inside Football [Banner Press Ltd] to become Inside Football and Striker)
  • TV Express Weekly (91 issues, 23 April 1960 – 6 January 1962; merged into Polystyle Publications' TV Comic )

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British comics</span> Comics originating in the United Kingdom

A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.

<i>Tiger</i> (British comics) British weekly boys comic

Tiger was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press, Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 11 September 1954 to 30 March 1985. The title was initially launched in a large tabloid size to mimic newspapers; while it featured some action-adventure stories Tiger contained a large number of sport strips. The most famous of these was "Roy of the Rovers", which debuted in the first issue and was the comic's most popular feature, eventually transferring to its own comic in 1975. Tiger would go on to become one of the company's longest-running titles, notching 1573 issues before being merged with Eagle in 1985. Over the course of its run, Tiger featured columns by numerous famous sports figures, including Ian Botham, Geoff Boycott, Tony Greig, Trevor Francis, and Charlie Nicholas.

Frank Bellamy was a British comics artist, best known for his work on the Eagle comic, for which he illustrated Heros the Spartan and Fraser of Africa. He reworked its flagship Dan Dare strip.

<i>Countdown</i> (Polystyle Publications)

Countdown was a British comic published weekly by Polystyle Publications – ultimately, under several different titles – from early 1971 to late summer 1973. The pages in each issue were numbered in reverse order, with page 1 at the end – a gimmick which was derived from the comic's title in order to create a countdown to the number one every week.

<i>Lion</i> (comics) British weekly comic

Lion was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. A boys' adventure comic, Lion was originally designed to compete with Eagle, the popular weekly comic published by Hulton Press that had introduced Dan Dare. It debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Condor, Robot Archie, Paddy Payne and the Spider. Lion lasted for 1,156 issues before being merged with stablemate Valiant.

<i>Valiant</i> (comics) British weekly comic

Valiant was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines from 4 October 1962 to 16 October 1976. A boys' adventure comic, it debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw and Mytek the Mighty. Valiant lasted for 712 issues before being merged with stablemate Battle Picture Weekly.

TV Comic was a British comic book magazine published weekly from 9 November 1951 until 29 June 1984. Featuring stories based on television series running at the time of publication, it was the first British comic to be based around TV programmes; it spawned a host of imitators.

TV Century 21, later renamed TV21, TV21 and Tornado, TV21 and Joe 90, and TV21 again, was a weekly British children's comic published by City Magazines during the latter half of the 1960s. Originally produced in partnership with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions, it promoted the company's many science-fiction television series. The comic was published in the style of a newspaper of the future, with the front page usually dedicated to fictional news stories set in the worlds of Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and other stories. The front covers were also in colour, with photographs from one or more of the Anderson series or occasionally of the stars of the back-page feature.

<i>Lady Penelope</i> (comic)

Lady Penelope was a British weekly comic book magazine for girls which ran from 1966 to 1969. Produced by Century 21 Publications and published by City Magazines, it was a sister publication to TV Century 21. Lady Penelope was edited by Gillian Allan, wife of comic strip writer Angus Allan.

Playhour was a British children's comics magazine published by Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC between 16 October 1954 and 15 August 1987, a run of approximately 1,700 weekly issues. Playhour contained a mixture of original tales for young children and adaptations of well-known fairy tales.

<i>Smash!</i> (comics)

Smash! was a weekly British comic book, published initially by Odhams Press and subsequently by IPC Magazines, from 5 February 1966 to 3 April 1971. After 257 issues it merged into Valiant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Comics</span> Comics imprint of Odhams Press

Power Comics was an imprint of the British comics publisher Odhams Press that was particularly notable for its use of material reprinted from American Marvel Comics. Appearing chiefly during the years 1967 and 1968, the Power Comics line consisted of five weekly titles: Wham!, Smash!, Pow!, Fantastic and Terrific. The first three of these titles were essentially traditional The Beano-style British comics papers, supplemented by a small amount of Marvel and DC Comics material, while Fantastic and Terrific were more magazine-like in style and were dominated by their Marvel superhero content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Century 21 Organisation</span>

The Century 21 Organisation was a group of companies founded by Gerry Anderson in the early 1960s to expand on his television production company, AP Films (APF; later Century 21 Productions). In addition to APF, the group included:

Ronald Turner was a British illustrator and comic book artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odhams Press</span> Former British publishing company

Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and then IPC Magazines in 1963. In its final incarnation, Odhams was known for its Power Comics line of titles, notable for publishing reprints of American Marvel Comics superheroes.

Tom Kerr was a British comic strip artist whose work has appeared in comics such as Look-in, the Eagle, Valiant, and TV21. He has also drawn for many annuals of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Monkees annuals, Look-in annuals, etc. He is not to be conflated with the Australian cartoonist of the same name, who was responsible for such creations as Daddles, an animated duck that would walk along the TV screen when a cricketer scored a duck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Noble</span> British comics artist

Mike Noble was a British comic artist and illustrator, best known for drawing strips like Fireball XL5 for TV Century 21.

<i>Princess Tina</i> British weekly girls comic

Princess Tina was a British weekly girls' comic anthology published by Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 23 September 1967 to 12 January 1974. The comic was created by combining two underperforming Fleetway titles — Princess and Tina — into a third, new comic. Notable strips included the long-running family drama "The Happy Days" and "Patty's World". The latter would outlive Princess Tina, continuing after the comic was merged into Pink.

British girls' comics flourished in the United Kingdom from the 1950s through the 1970s, before beginning to decline in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Publishers known for their girls' comics included DC Thomson and Fleetway/IPC. Most titles appeared weekly, with the content primarily in picture-story format. The majority of the stories were serialized, with two or three pages per issue, over eight to twelve issues. They were marketed toward young teen girls.

<i>June</i> (comics) British weekly girls comic

June was a British weekly girls' comic anthology published by Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 18 March 1961 to 15 June 1974. Designed as a response to DC Thomson's hit Bunty, June never quite eclipsed its Scottish rival but was nevertheless a success on its own terms, reaching 631 issues before being merged into Tammy in 1974.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Parade" at Magforum. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Freeman, John. "Landmark British Comics: Looking Back on TV21 Issue 200," DownTheTubes.net (Oct. 29, 2015).
  3. 1 2 3 4 George Beal, Obituary: Leonard Matthews, The Independent , 5 December 1997
  4. 1 2 Stringer, Lew. "Flashback 1969: TV21 & Joe 90 No.1," Blimey! The Blog of British Comics! (November 25, 2007).
  5. ↑ Stringer, Lew. "This week in 1970: TV2," Blimey! The Blog of British Comics! (December 01, 2012).
  6. ↑ Stringer, Lew. "The Road to Marvel UK - Part 3," Blimey! The Blog of British Comics! (February 01, 2008).
  7. ↑ Murray, Chris. "Mergers and Marvels (1962–1980)," The British Superhero (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2017), p. 173.
  8. 1 2 "Carnival [closed]," Magforum. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Escort [closed]," Magforum. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Men Only," Magforum. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Apr. 20, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "British Comics Reference | British TV-related Comic Strips," DownTheTubes.net. Retrieved Feb. 25, 2021.

Sources consulted

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.