Hatch, Match & Dispatch – February 2024

The future ain’t what it used to be, folks…

As you’ll see when you browse through this month’s list, the story-paper Scoops was launched ninety years ago. It was possibly the first British periodical dedicated to science fiction, and it both paved the way and lit the path for many others, including of course the legendary 2000AD, which this month will be celebrating its forty-seventh birthday. A quick tap at the calculator buttons shows that forty-seven is greater than half of ninety… In other words, 2000AD is older now than Scoops was when 2000AD was launched.

To be honest, that’s kind of unsettling. To be even more honest, it’s very unsettling. Scoops seems utterly ancient, while shirley 2000AD is still the fresh new kid on the block! The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic can’t possibly be that old, can it?

Well, yes, it can. And it is. In fact, as of last November, 2000AD is now further away from the year 2000 than it was when it was launched in 1977.

So what does that tell us? That time marches on regardless of our attempts to ignore it, slow it down or reverse it? Yep, probably that. As I approach the final fifth of my sixth decade I’m gradually coming to terms with the notion that I’m more than half-way done: I’m almost certainly not gonna live to be 116! I have a finite amount of time left, and I don’t want to squander such a precious gift slumped in front of a TV or indulging in selfish hedonistic pleasures or wallowing in self-pity. I intend to spend my final decades helping those less fortunate than myself.

Guys, I’m gonna need a mask, a cape and a utility belt. Oh, and a big, big secret cave behind a waterfall.

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Blog News:

• I’m delighted to learn that Rusty Staples has been shortlisted in the Comic Scene Awards in the Best Comic Media category! Voting is open until the end of January 2024, so if you happen to be over there, please bear in mind that only Rusty Staples has been secretly sprayed with an invisible Good Luck potion! And, um, I have it on good authority that at least one of the other entries in that category has nits. I don’t know which one, so best to play it safe and vote for Rusty Staples!

• And speaking of awards: I’m pleasantly stunned to see that Judge Dredd: Risk Assessment by me, Colin MacNeil, Chris Blythe and Jim Campbell (which was published in Judge Dredd Megazine last year) has been nominated in the Short Fiction category for the British Science Fiction Association awards! Also, the graphic novel Judge Dredd: The Darkest Judge is in the Best Collection category: I wrote two of the strips in that one, so I’m counting that too! And not only that, but the excellent I Am the Law by Michael Molcher, which was previously featured on this blog, is a contender in the non-fiction category! Voting closes on February 20th, and it goes without saying.

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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, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2024: Jan

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30 years ago:

February – Cyberspace 3000 final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Jul 1993
To: Feb 1994
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 8

February – Die-Cut final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Nov 1993
To: Feb 1994
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 4

February – Plasmer final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Nov 1993
To: Feb 1994
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 4
Note: As mentioned previously, a lot of the Marvel UK comics of the early 1990s era — including Plasmer, Die-Cut and Cyberspace 3000 — were designed to be limited series: it’s not that they were cancelled!

04 February – James Bond Jr. final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 01 Oct 1993
To: 04 Feb 1994
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 10
Fortnightly. At least 10 issues, possibly more — though I’ve not yet been able to verify that. Update: Richard Sheaf of the Boys Adventure Comics Blog has confirmed that issue #10 was indeed the last one!

35 years ago:

February – Popeye the Sailor launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: Feb 1989
To: Sep 1989
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 8

February – The Adventures of Luther Arkwright final issue.
Publisher: Valkyrie Press
From: Oct 1987
To: Feb 1989
Duration: 1 year, 4 months
Issues: 9
Bryan Talbot’s utterly captivating Luther Arkwright is one of my favourite-ever comics — brilliant stuff!

40 years ago:

25 February – Champ launched.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 25 Feb 1984
To: 19 Oct 1985
Duration: 1 year, 8 months
Issues: 87

45 years ago:

February – Uncanny Tales final issue.
Publisher: Alan Class
From: May 1963
To: Feb 1979
Duration: 15 years, 9 months
Issues: 187
Reprinted material from the US Marvel series Young Men, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Adventures into Weird Worlds, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual, Mystic, Journey into Mystery, Astonishing, Mystical Tales, Marvel Tales, and others.
See also: Before Marvel UK

24 February – Magic Comic (1976) final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 31 Jan 1976
To: 24 Feb 1979
Duration: 3 years, 1 month
Issues: 161
Absorbed into Twinkle.
Title becomes Magic sometime before its demise.

24 February – Plug final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 24 Sep 1977
To: 24 Feb 1979
Duration: 1 year, 5 months
Issues: 75
Absorbed into The Beezer.

55 years ago:

15 February – Once Upon a Time (1969) launched.
Publisher: City Publishing
From: 15 Feb 1969
To: 22 Apr 1972
Duration: 3 years, 2 months
Issues: 167
Weekly. Less than a year after it ended, this publication was reprinted in February 1973, and marked as “Republished” on the cover — this second version only lasted for eighteen issues before it was absorbed into Walt Disney’s Now I Know.

60 years ago:

February – Hospital Nurse Picture Library launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: Feb 1964
To: Oct 1965
Duration: 1 year, 8 months
Issues: 45

February – Rave launched.
Publisher: Newnes
From: Feb 1964
To: Sep 1971
Duration: 7 years, 7 months
Issues: 88
Monthly music magazine. Issue-count and end date are estimated. Don’t know whether this one had any comic-strip content: it appears here primarily because it’s part of the My Guy Timeline.

29 February – Hurricane launched.
Publisher: Fleetway
From: 29 Feb 1964
To: 08 May 1965
Duration: 1 year, 3 months
Issues: 63

65 years ago:

February – Confessions Library launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press/Fleetway
From: Feb 1959
To: Dec 1960
Duration: 1 year, 10 months
Issues: 68
Renamed Romantic Confessions Picture Library from #45.

February – Emergency Ward 10 launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: Feb 1959
To: Oct 1959
Duration: 8 months
Issues: 29

70 years ago:

03 February – Marvelman launched.
Publisher: L. Miller and Son, Ltd.
From: 03 Feb 1954
To: 01 Feb 1963
Duration: 9 years
Issues: 346
Replaced L. Miller’s Captain Marvel Adventures (1953) reprint title: issues were numbered #25 to #370.

03 February – Sparkle final issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 04 Nov 1953
To: 03 Feb 1954
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 14

03 February – Young Marvelman launched.
Publisher: L. Miller and Son, Ltd.
From: 03 Feb 1954
To: 01 Feb 1963
Duration: 9 years
Issues: 346
Replaced L. Miller’s Captain Marvel Jr. (1953) reprint title: issues were numbered #25 to #370.

27 February – Jack and Jill (1954) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC
From: 27 Feb 1954
To: 29 Jun 1985
Duration: 31 years, 4 months
Issues: 1640

75 years ago:

February – Dynamic only issue.
Publisher: Paget Publications
From: Feb 1949
To: Feb 1949
Issues: 1

85 years ago:

11 February – Bouncer launched.
Publisher: Target Press
From: 11 Feb 1939
To: 08 Apr 1939
Duration: 2 months
Issues: 9

90 years ago:

03 February – Romance (1934) launched.
Publisher: Shurey’s Publications
From: 03 Feb 1934
To: 17 Dec 1934
Duration: 10 months
Issues: 47

10 February – Scoops launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 10 Feb 1934
To: 23 Jun 1934
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 20
Weekly. Tabloid format, 28 pages per issue

10 February – The Pioneer launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 10 Feb 1934
To: 28 Jul 1934
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 25

95 years ago:

February – The Champion Library (1929) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: Feb 1929
To: Jun 1940
Duration: 11 years, 4 months
Issues: 274

02 February – The Boys’ Realm of Fun and Fiction launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 02 Feb 1929
To: 09 Feb 1929
Duration: 1 week
Issues: 2
A relaunch of The Boys’ Realm of Sport and Adventure (23 Jul 1927 to 26 Jan 1929, 80 issues), itself a relaunch of The Boys’ Realm (4 Apr 1919 to 16 Jul 1927, 432 issues). “The Boys'” was dropped from the title after only two issues: see below!

09 February – The Boys’ Realm of Fun and Fiction final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 02 Feb 1929
To: 09 Feb 1929
Duration: 1 week
Issues: 2
Relaunched as Realm of Fun and Fiction.

09 February – The Thriller launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 09 Feb 1929
To: 18 May 1940
Duration: 11 years, 3 months
Issues: 578
Renamed Thriller Library from #423 (13 Mar 1937), then War Thriller from #579 (9 Mar 1940).

16 February – Lot-O’-Fun final issue.
Publisher: Henderson/Amalgamated Press
From: 17 Mar 1906
To: 16 Feb 1929
Duration: 22 years, 11 months
Issues: 1196
Absorbed into Crackers.

16 February – Realm of Fun and Fiction launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 16 Feb 1929
To: 01 Feb 1930
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 51
Relaunch of The Boy’s Realm of Fun and Fiction — see above!

23 February – Crackers launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 23 Feb 1929
To: 31 May 1941
Duration: 12 years, 3 months
Issues: 615

100 years ago:

02 February – Poppy’s Paper (1924) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 02 Feb 1924
To: 20 Jan 1934
Duration: 9 years, 11 months
Issues: 520

16 February – Woman’s Friend launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 16 Feb 1924
To: 11 Aug 1950
Duration: 26 years, 6 months
Issues: 1380
Weekly story-paper. Start date and issue count are estimated.

110 years ago:

14 February – The Rainbow launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 14 Feb 1914
To: 28 May 1956
Duration: 42 years, 3 months
Issues: 1898

21 February – Fun and Fiction final issue.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 14 Oct 1911
To: 21 Feb 1914
Duration: 2 years, 4 months
Issues: 124
Absorbed into The Firefly (1914).

28 February – The Firefly (1914) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 28 Feb 1914
To: 13 Feb 1915
Duration: 1 year
Issues: 51

115 years ago:

February – Wild West Library final issue.
Publisher: James Henderson
From: Jan 1903
To: Feb 1909
Duration: 6 years, 1 month
Issues: 184
Relaunched as Lion Library.

16 February – Picture Fun launched.
Publisher: Trapps Holmes/Amalgamated Press
From: 16 Feb 1909
To: 17 Jul 1920
Duration: 11 years, 5 months
Issues: 595