History
The magazine was published and edited by Quality Communications owner Dez Skinn for its first two hundred issues, from 1990 to 2006 (Skinn's Dez Sez column appeared in each issue during this time).
With the magazine's sale to Cosmic Publications in 2006 (and Skinn's departure as editor), [2] news editor Mike Conroy was promoted to editor with issue #201. [1] Conroy had taken over the main news section of the magazine in 1997 from Phill Hall. Conroy announced a new direction for the magazine under his editorship:
My vision can be distilled down to a news-driven blend of Amazing Heroes and Starlog's Comics Scene presented with CI’s traditional level playing field approach and straightforward reportage. I’d like to think that we can capture the middle ground between Wizard ’s irreverent hyperbole, The Comics Journal ’s serious, intellectual approach and whatever it is Comics Buyer's Guide has to offer. [3]
After the editorial changeover, however, the magazine's frequency became increasingly sporadic, casting doubt on its long-term future under the new editorial team. [1] In May 2010, Cosmic Publications was dissolved, thus confirming that Comics International had ended, [4] after publishing only eight regular issues (and a few specials) under its new regime.
Warrior was a British comics anthology that ran for 26 issues between March 1982 and January 1985. It was edited by Dez Skinn and published by his company Quality Communications. It featured early work by numerous figures who would go on to successful careers in the industry, including Alan Moore, Alan Davis, David Lloyd, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison; it also included contributions by the likes of Brian Bolland and John Bolton, while many of the magazine's painted covers were by Mick Austin.
Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison.
Derek Graham "Dez" Skinn is a British comic and magazine editor, and author of a number of books on comics. As head of Marvel Comics' operations in England in the late 1970s, Skinn reformatted existing titles, launched new ones, and acquired the BBC license for Doctor Who Weekly. After leaving Marvel UK, Skinn founded and edited Warrior, which featured key works by Alan Moore.
Starburst is a British science fiction magazine published by Starburst Magazine Limited. Starburst contains news, interviews, features, and reviews of genre material in various media, including TV, film, soundtracks, multimedia, books, and comics books. The magazine is published quarterly, with additional news and reviews being published daily on the website.
The Daredevils was a comics magazine and anthology published by Marvel UK in 1983. Aimed for a more sophisticated audience than typical light superhero adventures, The Daredevils featured Captain Britain stories by Alan Moore and Alan Davis paired with reprints of Frank Miller's Daredevil stories. It has been speculated this was in response to Dez Skinn's new anthology Warrior.
Quality Communications was a British publishing company founded by Dez Skinn that operated from 1982 to c. 2008. The company's most notable publications were the monthly comics anthology Warrior, which featured early work by writer Alan Moore; and the comics trade magazine Comics International, which Skinn published and edited for 16 years. Quality was involved with comics in both the UK and the U.S., mainly with reprint material from Warrior and repackaging 2000 AD material for the U.S. market.
Mike Conroy is a British pop culture writer and former comic book retailer. He is best known for co-creating the long-running industry award, the Eagle Awards. He was an editor for the trade journal Comics International from 1997 to 2010, with the title of editor-in-chief from 2006 to 2010.
Paul Neary was a British comic book artist, writer and editor.
Fantasy Advertiser, later abbreviated to FA, was a British fanzine focused on comic books, founded in 1965 by Frank Dobson, the "Godfather of British Fandom." Considered the first British comics fanzine, Fantasy Advertiser started out as an adzine focused on the sale of primarily second-hand comics; it eventually transitioned into a true comics fanzine. FA now operates as a comics webzine.
The National Comics Awards was a series of awards for comic book titles and creators given out on an annual basis from 1997 to 2003 for comics published in the United Kingdom the previous year. The votes were by the U.K. comics fan community, and were open to anyone.
Borderline was a comics magazine created by former Comics International news and features editor Phill Hall, which was published from 2001 to 2003. Borderline was the first PDF comics magazine available to read on a computer or as a print-out.
Richard Burton is a British comic publisher and editor who had a lengthy career at IPC Magazines. While an assistant editor at 2000 AD, he became known to readers as Tharg the Mighty's bumbling assistant Burt, who appeared in a number of strips with him. Earlier in his career, Burton published the popular fanzine Comic Media News, and was a co-founder of the Eagle Awards.
Phill Hall is a British pop culture writer, editor, and publisher. He was a long-time editor and columnist for the British comics magazine Comics International, as well as the creator and editor of the comics magazine Borderline, He ran his own publisher, Borderline Press, from 2013 to 2015. In addition, he has worked for DC Comics, Marvel UK, and a number of small independent publishers in both the UK and US.
Nick Landau is a British entertainment entrepreneur. He co-owns Titan Entertainment, with his partner Vivian Cheung, which comprises the Forbidden Planet Limited store chain and Titan Publishing Group.
Titan Distributors was a British comic book distributor which existed from 1978 to 1993, when it was acquired by a larger U.S. distributor. Operated by Nick Landau, Mike Lake, and Mike Luckman, Titan Distributors supplied comics, science fiction, and other genre products to retailers all over the United Kingdom. Titan also operated the retailer Forbidden Planet, produced the bimonthly Westminster Comic Marts, and operated Titan Books.
The British Comic Art Convention was an annual British comic book convention which was held between 1968 and 1981, usually in London. The earliest British fan convention devoted entirely to comics, it was also the birthplace of the Eagle Awards.
Speakeasy was a British magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. It published many interviews with both British and American comics creators.
BEM, originally known as Bemusing Magazine, was a British fanzine focused on comic books which was published from 1973 to 1982. The brainchild of Martin Lock and billed as "The Comics News Fanzine," BEM featured American and British comics industry news and gossip, interviews, comic reviews, essays, columns, and comic strips.
The House of Hammer was a British black-and-white magazine featuring articles and comics related to the Hammer Film Productions series of horror and science fiction films. The brainchild of Dez Skinn, almost every issue of the magazine featured a comics adaptations of a Hammer film, as well as an original comics backup story, such as the long-running feature Van Helsing's Terror Tales.
The comic book character Marvelman has been the subject of several legal issues, even after being renamed as "Miracleman" in 1985. The character and its derivatives were created by Mick Anglo in 1954 at the request of publisher Len Miller. The copyright has been retained by Anglo ever since, and by Anglo's estate, since his death in 2011.
