Not a lot of news this time, folks… Except to say that Mrs Rusty and I had the good fortune to participate in two great comics events in the past month: Lawless in Bristol and Enniskillen Comic Fest. Both were thoroughly enjoyable and I give them my highest recommendation!
At the Enniskillen Comic Fest I was lucky enough to be asked to host several panels. On the Saturday afternoon event organiser Paul Trimble and I had a chat with comics legend Gerry Finley-Day — one of my comics-writing heroes. Gerry turned out to be an exceptionally excellent guest: knowledgeable, witty, incisive and utterly charming.
The panel with Gerry was so well-received that a second panel was organised for the following day, this time with me fielding the questions to both Gerry and my Judge Dredd mentor the brilliant John Wagner: I was way out of my depth with my imposter syndrome throwing up all sorts of red flags, but I’m a strong believer in credibility by association so there was no way I was going to turn that down.
Following on from last year’s launch of Rebellion’s one-off Battle-Action special, on the Saturday evening of the Enniskillen Comic Fest I hosted a trio of short panels with some of the excellent creators behind the new five-issue Battle-Action revival: first with John Wagner, PJ Holden and Dan Cornwell, next with Patrick Goddard, Staz Johnson and Mike Dorey, and finally with Garth Ennis, Keith Burns and Rob Williams.
You can watch this yourself here — please forgive my atrocious hosting skills and unprofessionalism!
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, Nov, Dec
2022: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2023: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
30 years ago:
July – Cyberspace 3000 launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Jul 1993
To: Feb 1994
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 8
July – Jurassic Park launched.
Publisher: Dark Horse International/Manga Publishing
From: Jul 1993
To: May 1994
Duration: 10 months
Issues: 16
Issues #1 to #13 were published by Dark Horse International, the remainder by Manga Publishing
July – Manga Mania launched.
Publisher: Dark Horse International/Manga Entertainment/Titan Comics
From: Jul 1993
To: Nov 1998
Duration: 5 years, 4 months
Issues: Uncertain… at least 46.
Monthly. Relaunched in Dec 1998 as Manga Max
July – Star Wars final issue.
Publisher: Dark Horse International
From: Oct 1992
To: Jul 1993
Duration: 9 months
Issues: 10
July – Warheads: Black Dawn launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Jul 1993
To: Aug 1993
Duration: 1 month
Issues: 2
03 July – Jackie final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 11 Jan 1964
To: 03 Jul 1993
Duration: 29 years, 6 months
Issues: 1534
35 years ago:
July – Action 21 launched.
Publisher: Engale Marketing
From: Jul 1988
To: Oct 1989
Duration: 1 year, 3 months
Issues: 10
Reprinted material from TV Century 21, and presented in the style of that comic: issues were presented as newspapers from the future, dated 100 years after their actual publication date.
July – Dragon’s Claws launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Jul 1988
To: Apr 1989
Duration: 9 months
Issues: 10
July – Sinister Romance launched.
Publisher: Harrier Comics
From: Jul 1988
To: Jun 1989
Duration: 11 months
Issues: 4
21 July – Batman Monthly (1988) launched.
Publisher: London Editions/Fleetway
From: 21 Jul 1988
To: 01 Feb 1993
Duration: 4 years, 7 months
Issues: 56
Possibly retitled Batman Magazine at some stage.
40 years ago:
July – Star Wars Weekly final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 08 Feb 1978
To: Jul 1983
Duration: 5 years, 5 months
Issues: 171
Relaunched as Return of the Jedi.
Weekly until #140, monthly thereafter. Retitled Star Wars Weekly: The Empire Strikes Back from #118, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back from #140, Star Wars from #159.
10 July – Chips’ Comic final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 12 Mar 1983
To: 10 Jul 1983
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 21
Absorbed into Playhour.
45 years ago:
01 July – OK final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 12 Apr 1975
To: 01 Jul 1978
Duration: 3 years, 3 months
Issues: 169
Absorbed into Fabulous.
Issue-count estimated. Absorbed Hi! to become OK & Hi! from at least 14 Aug 1976 to (confirmed) 5 Mar 1977
01 July – Rampage Monthly launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Jul 1978
To: 30 Dec 1982
Duration: 4 years, 5 months
Issues: 54
Retitled Rampage Magazine Starring The Hulk from issue #6 (Dec 1978), then Rampage Magazine Starring The All-New, All-Different X-Men from issue #28 (Oct 1980), then simplified to Rampage Magazine: X-Men from #45 (Mar 1982).
55 years ago:
05 July – Wonder Weekly launched.
Publisher: Esso
From: 05 Jul 1968
To: 27 Jun 1969
Duration: 11 months
Issues: 52
Promo comic sold at Esso petrol stations.
60 years ago:
July – War at Sea Picture Library final issue.
Publisher: Fleetway
From: Feb 1962
To: Jul 1963
Duration: 1 year, 5 months
Issues: 36
65 years ago:
05 July – Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories final issue.
Publisher: George Newnes
From: 15 Jan 1937
To: 05 Jul 1958
Duration: 21 years, 6 months
Issues: 554 (estimated)
Relaunched as Sunny Stories (1958).
The history of this title is a bit murky, but it seems that Ms Blyton split with Newnes in Feb 1953 and created Enid Blyton’s Magazine, so this was relaunched as Sunny Stories (1958).
12 July – Sunny Stories (1958) launched.
Publisher: Newnes/IPC
From: 12 Jul 1958
To: 19 Jun 1971
Duration: 12 years, 11 months
Issues: 747
Relaunch of Enid Blyton’s Sunny Stories
85 years ago:
16 July – Sunshine launched.
Publisher: Target Press
From: 16 Jul 1938
To: 08 Apr 1939
Duration: 9 months
Issues: 39
30 July – The Beano launched.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 30 Jul 1938
To: Ongoing
Duration: 85 years+
Issues: 4190+
If you don’t know The Beano, you don’t know British comics!
90 years ago:
July – Aldine Novels final issue.
Publisher: Aldine House
From: Jun 1924
To: Jul 1933
Duration: 9 years, 1 month
Issues: 36
01 July – Boys’ Wonder Library final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 15 Jul 1932
To: 01 Jul 1933
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 26
Reprinted stories abridged from Chums
01 July – Ruby Library final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 15 Jul 1932
To: 01 Jul 1933
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 26
115 years ago:
11 July – Heartsease Library of High Class Fiction launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 11 Jul 1908
To: 05 May 1917
Duration: 8 years, 10 months
Issues: 461
125 years ago:
02 July – Comic Life launched.
Publisher: Henderson/Amalgamated Press
From: 02 Jul 1898
To: 21 Jan 1928
Duration: 29 years, 6 months
Issues: 1543
Originally titled Pictorial Comic Life. Relaunched as My Favourite on 28 Feb 1928.
Rusty Staples 