YOUR FRIENDLY UK SPIDER-MAN: TALKING TO PANINI'S ED HAMMOND

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

What do Stan Lee, Dez Skinn, Chris Claremont, Herb Trimpe, Alan Davis, Alan Moore, Paul Neary, Richard Starkings, Liam Sharp, Dan Abnett, Bryan Hitch and Simon Furman have in common?

They were all part of Marvel UK, an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 when Lee headhunted Skinn to head the UK publishing arm of Marvel. While it started out reprinting US produced comics for the British weekly comic book market, it later went on to produce original material. Claremont and Trimpe co-created and introduced Captain Britain in the pages of Captain Britain Weekly. Davis’ big break was illustrating the revamped Captain Britain story in The Mighty World of Marvel. Moore enjoyed a celebrated run on Captain Britain with Davis. Neary was editor-in-chief of Marvel UK. Starkings had served as an editor. Sharp and Abnett co-created Death’s Head II, which became one of Marvel UK’s flagship titles in the 90s. The creative team of Abnett and Hitch pitted Death’s Head II, Dark Angel, Motormouth and Killpower, the Knights of Pendragon and other Marvel UK characters against the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and Nick Fury in the Mys-Tech Wars limited series. Furman was the principal writer of Marvel UK’s highly successful Transformers series.

In 1995, Panini obtained the Marvel UK license and the company, which is currently headquartered in Italy, has since reprinted American Marvel Comics material as well as launched new comic book magazines featuring all-new UK-originated material.

For instance, in Spectacular Spider-Man, which was based on the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, brought Captain Britain back to Britain after more than a decade in a jam-packed story by writer Jim Alexander and artist Jon Haward, merged Venom and Lady Deathstrike into Venomstrike, and other memorable stories told exclusively in the UK.

It was jointly announced by Panini and Marvel last year that they had renewed and expanded their publishing agreement, with the former retaining the master license for Europe and selected Latin American countries to translate and publish all comics, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, encyclopedias and art books released by Marvel in the US.

The aforementioned Spectacular Spider-Man is reprinted in a number of territories including Germany, Spain and France in magazine form.

We got in touch with Panini UK’s Ed Hammond, who is editor of Spectacular Spider-Man and reprint editor of Marvel Pocketbooks, to talk about the company and its all-ages titles.

Newsarama: What’s the big picture outlook on the comics landscape in the UK?

Ed Hammond: As far as kid’s comics are concerned, it’s a pretty thriving place at the moment. There are an awful lot of titles out there, which is making for some healthy competition amongst publishers.

Though things have changed since the old Marvel UK days. Most kid’s titles are now based on licensed characters. (This has really come about due to the big chain stores that, understandably, will not risk stocking a kid’s title unless it has an already established presence either as a toy range, TV show or movie.) The only real exceptions to this rule are the Dandy, the Beano and 2000AD, thanks to their long established history.

For older readers, comics from the Big Two are a bit more accessible than in the US, thanks to the fact that both Panini’s Marvel and Titan’s DC reprint series are available on the newsstand, not just in specialist comic stores.

NRAMA: Can you give me a brief summary on all things Marvel by Panini UK and its young readers series?

EH: Well, here at Panini UK, our biggest line of Marvel comics are the Collector’s Edition series (Essential X-Men, Astonishing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four Adventures, Avengers United, Mighty World of Marvel, Marvel Legends and Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men), which reprint material from the US. We also have an ever growing range of UK exclusive graphic novels such as the recent Captain Britain and Death’s Head books, along with our omnibus books which collect the top stories featuring certain characters, or the best of a writer or artist’s work.

Our other book line is the Marvel Pocketbooks range, which are digest-sized reprints of classic Marvel material. So far we have produced volumes for Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, along with one-off specials for the Silver Surfer, Venom and the Hulk.

In terms of younger readership we have our two wholly UK originated Spider-Man titles; Spider-Man and Friends, based on the Marvel pre-school toy range, and Spectacular Spider-Man. Originally, Spec Spidey was based around the 90’s Spidey cartoon, but over the last few years we’ve broken away to become a more general ‘classic’ Spidey title.

Here at Panini UK, our only titles to carry original strip are Spectacular Spider-Man and Doctor Who Magazine.

Across the entire newsstand, I think there’s between 10-15 titles that still originate strip using UK talent.

NRAMA: Are comics for kids in your part of the world? Or, in the words of Michael Chabon in his speech at the Eisner Awards in 2004, have comics "abandoned children"?

EH: It’s hard to judge, I think comics are still more for kids in the UK, however, long gone is the traditional format where you would have wall-to-wall comic strip. Kid’s titles in the UK have changed to become more interactive, including things like fact files, activity pages, lifestyle features etc, in order to stimulate and satisfy readers. The unfortunate side effect from this is that the amount of strip has been cut to only a third or in some cases a quarter of the page count. They’ve really become more like activity magazines than traditional comics.

In the UK, rather than comics ‘abandoning children’ it’s more that titles have had to evolve beyond the comic strip only format. Whilst a good story with excellent art is important, greater variety is needed to sell comics for kids in the UK market.

Having said that, I know a lot of editors and creators who would love to produce a new fully originated, 100% strip, UK comic containing original characters. Unfortunately, due to the amount of control the big chains have over distribution, it would be a huge challenge to get it into enough shops to make a profit.

NRAMA: Other than Jim Alexander, Andie Tong, Jon Haward, who else is there creating original stories and contents for Panini UK’s Marvel line?

EH: Currently Ferg Handley is scripting all our Spec Spidey stories with artwork by Andie Tong (plus some rather amazing coloring by the highly talented James Offredi). Though we do have a couple of issues coming up in the New Year with art by the astoundingly talented John Royle and another by Jack Lawrence (best known for the plush-tastic Lions, Tigers and Bears).

NRAMA: Unlike the Marvel Adventures line in the US, these Marvel titles in the UK are not restricted by the "done-in-one-issue" mandate, right? In your opinion, why is this model effective in reaching out to new readers?

EH: Basically it gives us the opportunity to tell more involving stories. As I mentioned before, our strips in Spec Spidey are normally only 11 pages long. Now 11 pages is enough for a good Spidey vs. super-villain smackdown, but it doesn’t really leave a lot of room for anything else. Kids relate to Spidey because, under the mask, he’s just a normal guy who faces the same problems they do; he must do his homework on time, help out with chores etc. This is what gives him his mass appeal. By introducing on-going story arcs it gives us a bit more space to add those elements back in to the mix.

There was a worry at first, that multi-part stories would alienate new readers. However, this has not been the case at all (and in some instances the readership has actually gone up). We seem to be very lucky on Spec Spidey that we have such a huge loyal fanbase who pick up every issue religiously. With the amount of competition on UK shelves, I can promise you this is quite an achievement.

NRAMA: As you mentioned, Panini UK’s been repackaging the Lee/Kirby and old Spider-Man stories and reprinting them as Marvel Pocketbooks. How do you compare the comics from the 1960s to the new material from Panini UK?

EH: For me, those first 100 issues of ASM stuff are really the Spidey bible. Everything you need to know about the character and how to tell a perfect Spidey story is contained within them. I think the essential characteristic we’ve taken from those stories is the sense of fun the creators have with the web-slinger. Even though Pete has the odd crisis or conscience, you still feel that he loves being Spider-Man, and enjoys the amazing things his powers allow him to do. If anything, I hope that aspect of the classic comics comes across in our modern Spidey tales.

We’re lucky on Spec Spidey that we have no real continuity to adhere to. As the stories are set relatively earlier on in Spidey’s career, we’re not bogged down by clone sagas, alien suits, spider totems, or any other historical gumf, which frankly just gets in the way of a good story. All readers need to know before picking up a copy of Spec Spidey is the basic Spidey set-up – High School student Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, gains super powers, then goes out to fight crime. Apart from that, anything and everything from the past forty years of Spidey continuity is open to us – we can basically cherry pick the best bits and reuse them however we see fit. A bit like Ultimate Spider-Man really, but with more butt-kicking and less talking heads!

NRAMA: Where are things headed? What can fans and readers look forward to in the New Year? New titles? New direction?

EH: There is something new on the horizon for the Marvel line at the moment, but I can’t really give away any details. In terms of Spec Spidey, things will be carrying on in much the same vein – cracking, web-spinning, wall-crawling stories!

Just in time for the two Marvel movies next summer we will be having a couple of issues guest starring Iron Man and Hulk. The Hulk story in particular should be quite impressive – loads of gratuitous smashing – and I know Andie is itching to draw the ol’ green skinned goliath.

NRAMA: What're some of your favorite stories coming out from the Panini UK line?

EH: Now I might be a little biased, but I personally think the current Spec Spidey story arc is one of the best things we’ve ever done. We’ve nicked the basic set-up for the story from ASM Annual #6 where Pete discovers his parents were apparently traitors. We’ve used that as the catalyst for the story and sent Spidey off on a 7-part journey around Europe trying to find out what really happened to his parents. Each part takes place in a different European city and inevitably leads to a fight with a different super villain in each one. It’s great stuff, plus the final two parts guest stars one of England’s home grown heroes Union Jack and a very angry M.O.D.O.K. Need I say more?

[froinlaven]

This looks a lot better than Amazing Spider-Man.

[ljacone]

Good stuff. Given that a lot of comic magazines in the UK are weekly, having only 11 pages is a blessing in disguise. It's not too much to read and digest each week, and at the same time it's just long enough to either get the reader interested, or to tell a complete (albiet short) story. I think that is why anthologies have been more long-lived in the UK and the rest of Europe. I for one would love to see an American series like 2000 AD.

[WildcardZ]

No continuity, but what about the marriage?! I'm only kidding, it looks cool and like a lot of fun.

[Quail-Man]

Originally Posted by froinlaven

This looks a lot better than Amazing Spider-Man.

How? A couple of unlettered pages and you're already jumping the gun and saying it looks better than ASM? Yeah, that's what I want to read on a regular basis, Spidey teaming up with another hero every week and fighting Modok. This totally looks better than BND, because I'm sure you've got an advanced copy.

[Johnny Triangles]

Can we replace Phil Jiminez with that guy on Brand New Day?

[nickmarino]

Ed's art is awesome!!!!!!!!!

[skaly]

Looks interesting. I wouldn't mind picking up a Best of UK edition.

[Merai]

I actually picked up the Collector's Edition Marvel titles for a while, and still do occasionally. The FF one in particular is reprinting all of the Stan/Jack run in order, so it's good for the occasional missed issue. Incidentally, for anyone interested, their FF is in the early JMS run, their X-Men is on House of M, and their Avengers are still on early New Avengers.

[newfoundma]

That art is amazing. It is very fluid and energetic.

[Krypto]

Nice piece, there are a couple of corrs necessary - Dez Skinn didn't work for Marvel UK until 1979 or thereabout - prior to that Marvel had such editors as Jim Salicrup and some guy named Neil Tennant. And, simple misprint, Moore and David worked on Captain Britain, not America.

[froinlaven]

Originally Posted by Quail-Man

How? A couple of unlettered pages and you're already jumping the gun and saying it looks better than ASM? Yeah, that's what I want to read on a regular basis, Spidey teaming up with another hero every week and fighting Modok. This totally looks better than BND, because I'm sure you've got an advanced copy.

I CAN GUARANTEE ITS BETTER BECAUSE THERE WONT BE BULL$HIT STORYLINES ABOUT A DEMON SORCERER ASKING FOR PETER PARKER'S MARRIAGE AS A FAVOR FOR SAVING AUNT MAY'S LIFE.........

[Ragnarokker]

This looks like a lot of awesome fun action. I knew that people would be saying "oh this looks better than ASM." But... really? I mean Steve McNiven is incredible.

[purplerocket]

Panini is awesome. The reprints they put out are great prices and easily available at most book stores over here. Especially the pocketbooks which so far have printed Lee/Kirby FF, Lee/Ditko, Romita ASM and Claremont/Byrne UXM among others. For £4 or £5 you get a silly amount of comics reprinted at about the size of a normal paperback novel meaning I bought Uncanny X-Men 102-144 for £20.

And to top all that theres are Deadpool TPB coming out next year. Check out the Panini website for details.

[Spider-Friends]

Damn, nice art...and it does look better than Amazing Spider-Man has in a while. Steve McNiven may change that.

[RoiVampire]

Originally Posted by froinlaven

I CAN GUARANTEE ITS BETTER BECAUSE THERE WONT BE BULL$HIT STORYLINES ABOUT A DEMON SORCERER ASKING FOR PETER PARKER'S MARRIAGE AS A FAVOR FOR SAVING AUNT MAY'S LIFE.........

what if spider-man tries to fight Modok with humus. that could be worse.

just trying to keep things in perspective

[Tom Daylight]

I love, love, LOVE the X-Men Pocketbooks that Panini puts out. They've collected the first sixty-odd issues of Chris Claremont's run, plus all the Annuals and the "God Loves, Man Kills" graphic novel, in a series of (so far) seven books at about £4-5 each (and most shops do a 3-for-2 or 2-for-1 deal on top of that!). I LOVE them! (even if the binding is a bit dodgy, making it difficult to open the books out...) Bit disappointed to read here that the SILVER SURFER and HULK volumes are one-offs, though.

[SmileOnADog]

Originally Posted by froinlaven

This looks a lot better than Amazing Spider-Man.

Yes yes it does. And we could prolly get a copy from Britain before the next U.S. version comes out.

[ParisCub]

The Captain britain and DeathHead books are really good. Loved the old Cap Britain costume as well...

Now if they would reprint the full runs of Pendragon, i'd be a happy bunny.

[purplerocket]

Originally Posted by ParisCub

The Captain britain and DeathHead books are really good. Loved the old Cap Britain costume as well...

Now if they would reprint the full runs of Pendragon, i'd be a happy bunny.

The Panini website recently updated its collections list. Dont think there was any Pendragon on it though theres only the first half of 2008 up at the moment. One of the editors involved in the reprints comes to my Dads toy shop in sunny Tunbridge Wells and I like to ask him what they're doing next, I'll ask if they're doing Pendragon.

[Kilowog]

So where/how do we get these books here in the U.S.?

[theodoros]

Originally Posted by Quail-Man

How? A couple of unlettered pages and you're already jumping the gun and saying it looks better than ASM? Yeah, that's what I want to read on a regular basis, Spidey teaming up with another hero every week and fighting Modok. This totally looks better than BND, because I'm sure you've got an advanced copy.

They seem better as a concept. They have stories to entertain me, not confuse and make me feel idiot for buying them. Being in Europe and have read a lot of weekly magazines, believe me, sometimes they are better this way.

[Krypto]

Originally Posted by ParisCub

Now if they would reprint the full runs of Pendragon, i'd be a happy bunny.

And I'm waiting for the Captain Britain/Black Knight Otherworld strip from Hulk Weekly.

[kidvictory]

Spec Spidey was based around the 90’s Spidey cartoon, but over the last few years we’ve broken away to become a more general ‘classic’ Spidey title.

Always liked the 90's show and it's nice to see they've grown from that premise. I'd like to pick this up if it was available in the U.S. And that art? Very nice animation look to it.

[Panelologist77]

Panini UK produce some AWESOME Marvel books. Their monthly reprint comics are 76 pages, reprinting three comics in each issue. As for the brand new material, as Ed says above, Spectacular Spider-Man is a great originated comic. It gets better with each issue.

Pan