Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate UK-based science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States, and is named after the 1956 feature film of the same name. Specialising in movie and television merchandise, the shops sell, in addition to books, comic books, graphic novels, manga, DVDs, video games, and a wide variety of toys, clothing, and other collectible merchandise. It is owned by Titan Entertainment Group.
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 "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.
Rian Hughes is a British graphic designer, illustrator and comics artist and novelist.
Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet that played a key role in the history of British small press comics. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent.
Comics International was a British news and reviews magazine about comic books. Founded in 1990, it was published monthly by Quality Communications until 2006, and then by Cosmic Publications Ltd. until 2010.
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.
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." Starting 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.
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.
Nick Landau is a British media figure. He is co-owner of the Titan Entertainment Group, which publishes Titan Magazines and Titan Books, and owns the London Forbidden Planet store. In the 1970s, before starting up Titan Distributors, he published a fanzine, organized comic marts and comic book conventions, imported American comics into the UK, and even spent part of a year as an editor with 2000 AD.
Landau, Luckman, and Lake or LLL is a fictional holding company appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, particularly in the pages of the Wolverine, Uncanny X-Men and Deadpool comic books. Created by writer Chris Claremont, the company was first mentioned in Wolverine #5.
Dark They Were and Golden Eyed was a science fiction bookshop and comic book retailer in London during the 1970s; the largest of its kind in Europe. Specialising in science fiction, occultism, and Atlantis, the central London shop also played a key role in bringing American underground comics to the United Kingdom. It also sold American editions of mainstream science fiction books that were not easily obtained anywhere else.
Titan Entertainment Group (TEG) is a British retailing, publishing and merchandise company — owner of the Forbidden Planet London bookstores, Titan Merchandise, and Titan Publishing Group. TEG is owned by Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung.
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.
The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (ACBFC) was the first official organization of comic book enthusiasts and historians. Active during the 1960s, the ACBFC was established by Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom". A vital player in the development of comics fandom, the ACBFC brought fans of the medium together, administered the first industry awards, and assisted in the establishment of the first comic book fan conventions.
Comic Mart is the catchall term for a series of British comic book trade fairs which were held in the United Kingdom from 1972 until the early 1990s. The Comic Mart was one of the earliest recurring public comic events in the U.K., predated only by the British Comic Art Convention. Comic Mart began in London, eventually expanding to Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool, among other locations. The first few Comic Marts were organized and produced by Rob Barrow and Nick Landau; eventually they split up to produce competing versions of the event, and were joined by other regional organizers.
Mike Higgs is a British comic book artist, writer, designer, and editor. He is the creator of the oddball humor strip The Cloak and the daily comic strip Moonbird.
The Society of Strip Illustration (SSI), later known as the Comics Creators Guild, was a British network for all those involved in any stage of the creative process of comics production. The SSI, which was co-founded in 1977 by Denis Gifford, met monthly in London, published a newsletter, and distributed annual awards for achievement in the field. Despite the organization's name, most members were comic book creators, as opposed to those of comic strips like those found in The Beano and The Dandy.
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.
