Hatch, Match & Dispatch – November 2021

Ah, November (or, as I like to think of it, December Eve) is just about upon us once again, bringing with it the promise of Christmas not too far down the road. Call me a sentimental middle-aged fool if you will, but I’ve already succumbed to the spirit of the season and hung the Christmas decoration.

We have a decent-sized crop this month, folks, with more out than in: eleven titles launched and fourteen cancelled. That might seem like a lot of kills, but it’s actually fewer than average for November as you might recall from last year’s article on the topic of Euphobia, which, by the purest of coincidences, just happens to mention the first comic in this month’s list. What are the odds of that happening, eh? Got to be millions to one against!

Standard disclaimer: unless I decide otherwise, these are only the “big” anniversaries (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 90 & 100+ years); dates are cover-dates where known; monthly comics with no confirmed day of launch default to the start of the month; and this list is accurate only to the best of my knowledge, so do please let me know of any important errors or omissions!

Previous episodes of Hatch, Match & Dispatch:
2019: Oct, Nov, Dec
2020: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2021: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

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25 years ago:

01 November – The Smurfs launched.
Publisher: DeVere Entertainment Company
From: 01 Nov 1996
To: 1997
Duration: Uncertain
Issues: 10
Monthly. Rebooted/relaunched after issue #6: subsequent issues are undated. Lasted at least a further four issues. (Note: the second volume might have lasted for six issues, or more, but right now only the first four issues have been confirmed: see the excellent Boys Adventure Comics blog for more details.)

20 November – Marvel Action Hour final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK/Panini UK
From: 09 Oct 1996
To: 20 Nov 1996
Duration: 1 month
Issues: 4

30 years ago:

01 November – Apocalypse Presents final issue.
Publisher: Apocalypse Ltd.
From: 1991
To: 01 Nov 1991
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 8

01 November – Blast! final issue.
Publisher: John Brown Publishing
From: 01 Jun 1991
To: 01 Nov 1991
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 7

01 November – Space Junkk launched.
Publisher: Visual Imagination
From: 01 Nov 1991
To: 01 Mar 1992
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 4
Bimonthly. Issue-count confirmed, dates uncertain. #1 lists #2 available from 28th Nov 1991, #2 lists #3 available from 31 Jan 1992, #3 lists #4 available from 31 Mar 1992.

16 November – Rupert and Friends launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 16 Nov 1991
To: 20 Jun 1992
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 32
Fortnightly. Issue count unverified.

35 years ago:

01 November – Muppet Babies launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Nov 1986
To: 19 Mar 1988
Duration: 1 year, 4 months
Issues: 56

01 November – Second City launched.
Publisher: Harrier Comics
From: 01 Nov 1986
To: 01 Apr 1987
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 4

40 years ago:

01 November – Conan the Barbarian Pocket Book final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Nov 1980
To: 01 Nov 1981
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 13

01 November – The Incredible Hulk Pocket Book final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Nov 1980
To: 01 Nov 1981
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 13

01 November – The Titans Pocket Book final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Nov 1980
To: 01 Nov 1981
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 13
Four years after the demise of the weekly The Titans (see below) — notable for being in landscape mode which allowed it to reprint two original pages on each page — it was revived in monthly pocket-book format. Sadly, this version only lasted a further year.

01 November – Young Romance Pocket Book final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Nov 1980
To: 01 Nov 1981
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 13

21 November – Jinty final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 11 May 1974
To: 21 Nov 1981
Duration: 7 years, 6 months
Issues: 393
Absorbed into Tammy.

45 years ago:

13 November – Disneyland final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 27 Feb 1971
To: 13 Nov 1976
Duration: 5 years, 9 months
Issues: 298
Absorbed into Mickey Mouse.

24 November – The Titans final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 25 Oct 1975
To: 24 Nov 1976
Duration: 1 year, 1 month
Issues: 58
Absorbed into Spider-Man Comics Weekly.
See also: The Titans

27 November – Diana final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 23 Feb 1963
To: 27 Nov 1976
Duration: 13 years, 9 months
Issues: 720
Absorbed into Jackie.

65 years ago:

24 November – Rocket (1956) final issue.
Publisher: News of the World
From: 21 Apr 1956
To: 24 Nov 1956
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 32
Absorbed into Express Weekly

70 years ago:

01 November – Thriller Picture Library launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 01 Nov 1951
To: 01 May 1963
Duration: 11 years, 6 months
Issues: 450
Initially Thriller Comics, renamed Thriller Comics Library with #41, then Thriller Picture Library with #163.

02 November – Girl (1951) launched.
Publisher: Hulton/Longacre/Odhams/IPC
From: 02 Nov 1951
To: 03 Oct 1964
Duration: 12 years, 11 months
Issues: 664
Belle of the Ballet was later retitled Belle and Marie.

09 November – TV Comic launched.
Publisher: TV Publications/Polystyle Publications
From: 09 Nov 1951
To: 29 Jun 1984
Duration: 32 years, 7 months
Issues: 1697
Temporarily retitled Mighty TV Comic from #1292 to #1347.

85 years ago:

15 November – Sunny Stories for Little Folks final issue.
Publisher: George Newnes
From: 15 Jul 1926
To: 15 Nov 1936
Duration: 10 years, 4 months
Issues: 250
Revived as Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories.
This one wasn’t actually a comic, as far as I can tell, but it was revived as Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories, which was later relaunched as Sunny Stories, which in turn was absorbed into Disneyland (see above).

100 years ago:

01 November – Peg’s Companion launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 01 Nov 1921
To: 01 Oct 1932
Duration: 10 years, 11 months
Issues: 572
Absorbed into Films and Fiction

05 November – The Mascot launched.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 05 Nov 1921
To: 01 May 1926
Duration: 4 years, 6 months
Issues: 237
A mostly-forgotten DC Thomson publication that featured serials and short stories. I wasn’t sure whether to include this one given that it was more of a mag than a story-paper, but I figure it’s close enough (although its decorative use of a swastika on the front cover of #1 — barely visible in the thumbnail here, thankfully — was almost enough for me to drop it). I’ve now added The Mascot to the DC Thomson Comics Timeline.

12 November – Tiger Tim’s Weekly (1920) final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 31 Jan 1920
To: 12 Nov 1921
Duration: 1 year, 10 months
Issues: 94
Relaunched as Tiger Tim’s Weekly (1921).

19 November – Tiger Tim’s Weekly (1921) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 19 Nov 1921
To: 18 May 1940
Duration: 18 years, 6 months
Issues: 965
Relaunch of Tiger Tim’s Weekly (1920)

115 years ago:

24 November – The Girls’ Friend Library (1906) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 24 Nov 1906
To: 02 Apr 1925
Duration: 18 years, 5 months
Issues: 578