Once again, it’s time for our monthly look at some of the British comics celebrating (or commiserating) an important anniversary in the coming month.
But first, I want to revisit a comment I made on social media recently (following a conversation with a younger creator) that sparked some interesting reactions…
If someone goes out of their way to say negative things about your work then you have absolutely no obligation to be friendly to them if you encounter them in person. Good reviewers understand this. They know that while their criticism might not be intended as a personal attack, you still have the right to feel hurt by it. A bad reviewer will whine: “Well, I’m entitled to my opinion!” That’s true, and likewise the creator is entitled to shun them for it, regardless of how accurate the review might be.
(For clarification: this conversation wasn’t about a specific review or reviewer, merely a discussion of reviews in general.)
And expanding on the subject a little… Sometimes, just as a creator feels driven to create, a reviewer feels compelled to broadcast their opinion of other people’s creations. Nothing wrong with that, of course — I’ve published dozens of reviews on this site alone — but the reviewer must also understand that no matter how famous, clever, or experienced they are, or how eloquently expressed their review might be, their opinion is subservient to the subject of the review.
In other words… Regardless of the quality of execution, in practically every case a creation is going to be of greater value to the world than what some person thinks about that creation.
And that’s especially true, of course, when the reviewer is trashing something purely because doing so is fuel for their own ego.
So if you want to create something — comics, music, movies, anything you like — just go for it. Don’t let fear of what someone might say about it be an obstacle.
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, Feb, Mar, Apr, May
25 years ago:
05 June – Twinkle final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 27 Jan 1968
To: 05 Jun 1999
Duration: 31 years, 5 months
Issues: 1638
16 June – Barbie (1999) launched.
Publisher: Not sure.
From: 16 Jun 1999
To: Unknown.
Duration: 6 months maybe?
Issues: 92
At least 92 issues – possibly a relaunch of the 1997 comic. It’s extremely hard to pin this one down: there’s been an awful lot of Barbie comics and magazines published in the UK!
16 June – Tomb Raider / Witchblade launched.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 16 Jun 1999
To: 11 Aug 1999
Duration: 2 months
Issues: 2
30 years ago:
03 June – Rainbow (1988) final issue.
Publisher: London Editions
From: 17 Mar 1988
To: 03 Jun 1994
Duration: 6 years, 3 months
Issues: 314
Relaunched as Best of Rainbow.
At least 314 issues. Another one that’s been tricky to verify! Update 20240530: Richard Sheaf of the mighty Boys Adventure Comics Blog has supplied the comic’s start-date!
35 years ago:
June – Redfox final issue.
Publisher: Harrier Comics/Valkyrie Press
From: Jan 1986
To: Jun 1989
Duration: 3 years, 5 months
Issues: 20
Preceded by a fanzine of the same title. Published by Valkyrie Press from #11.
June – Sinister Romance final issue.
Publisher: Harrier Comics
From: Jul 1988
To: Jun 1989
Duration: 11 months
Issues: 4
19 June – Sooty launched.
Publisher: London Editions
From: 19 Jun 1989
To: 1991
Duration: About two years
Issues: At least 11
Bimonthly. Again, not a lot is known about this one. Nursery-age comics end up in the sticky hands of little kids, you see, so they don’t have a very long life-expectancy.
40 years ago:
01 June – Lucky Charm (1979) final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 23 Oct 1979
To: 01 Jun 1984
Duration: 4 years, 8 months
Issues: 30
Bimonthly. Reprints of stories from other DC Thomson girls’ titles.
01 June – Red Dagger final issue.
Publisher: DC Thomson
From: 23 Oct 1979
To: 01 Jun 1984
Duration: 4 years, 8 months
Issues: 30
Bimonthly. Reprints of stories from other DC Thomson boys’ titles.
20 June – Top Cat’s TV Comic Show final issue.
Publisher: Marvel UK
From: 21 Sep 1983
To: 20 Jun 1984
Duration: 9 months
Issues: 40
23 June – Tammy final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 06 Feb 1971
To: 23 Jun 1984
Duration: 13 years, 4 months
Issues: 699
Absorbed into Girl (1981).
29 June – TV Comic final issue.
Publisher: TV Publications/Polystyle Publications
From: 09 Nov 1951
To: 29 Jun 1984
Duration: 32 years, 7 months
Issues: 1697
30 June – Scream! final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 24 Mar 1984
To: 30 Jun 1984
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 15
Absorbed into Eagle (1982).
50 years ago:
15 June – Cor!! final issue.
Publisher: IPC
From: 06 Jun 1970
To: 15 Jun 1974
Duration: 4 years
Issues: 211
Absorbed into Buster. See also: Oddities: Goody Goody Comic
15 June – June final issue.
Publisher: Fleetway/IPC
From: 18 Mar 1961
To: 15 Jun 1974
Duration: 13 years, 3 months
Issues: 690
Absorbed into Tammy.
55 years ago:
June – Super DC launched.
Publisher: Thorpe & Porter
From: Jun 1969
To: Jul 1970
Duration: 1 year, 1 month
Issues: 14
14 June – Sally launched.
Publisher: IPC
From: 14 Jun 1969
To: 27 Mar 1971
Duration: 1 year, 9 months
Issues: 94
27 June – Wonder Weekly final issue.
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:
June – Giant War Picture Library launched.
Publisher: Fleetway
From: Jun 1964
To: Dec 1965
Duration: 1 year, 6 months
Issues: 76
20 June – Wham! launched.
Publisher: Odhams/IPC
From: 20 Jun 1964
To: 13 Jan 1968
Duration: 3 years, 7 months
Issues: 187
Biff was later reprinted as Sam in Thunder. Eagle Eye, Junior Spy‘s arch-nemesis was Grimly Feendish who was later awarded his own strip in Smash!.
65 years ago:
June – Film Picture Library launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: Jun 1959
To: Nov 1959
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 3
Arguably replaced by or relaunched as Continental Film Photo Stories which ran for two issues in 1960.
75 years ago:
June – Western War Comic (1949) launched.
Publisher: Swan
From: Jun 1949
To: Nov 1950
Duration: 1 year, 5 months
Issues: 5
85 years ago:
02 June – Monster Comic (1939) launched.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 02 Jun 1939
To: 17 Nov 1939
Duration: 5 months
Issues: 2
02 June – Sunny Sands only issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 02 Jun 1939
To: 02 Jun 1939
Duration:
Issues: 1
02 June – The Holiday Comic final issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 27 Jun 1930
To: 02 Jun 1939
Duration: 9 years
Issues: 7
02 June – The Seaside Comic final issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 27 Jun 1930
To: 02 Jun 1939
Duration: 9 years
Issues: 7
90 years ago:
23 June – Scoops final issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 10 Feb 1934
To: 23 Jun 1934
Duration: 4 months
Issues: 20
See also: Hatch, Match & Dispatch: Feb 2024
95 years ago:
01 June – Woman (1924) final issue.
Publisher: Hutchinson
From: 01 Apr 1924
To: 01 Jun 1929
Duration: 5 years, 2 months
Issues: 64
Not actually a comic, as far as I know, but it’s part of the My Guy Timeline so I’ve decided to include it here!
28 June – Frolix launched.
Publisher: A. J. Barton & Co.
From: 28 Jun 1929
To: 09 May 1930
Duration: 11 months
Issues: 46
100 years ago:
01 June – Aldine Novels launched.
Publisher: Aldine House
From: 01 Jun 1924
To: 01 Jul 1933
Duration: 9 years, 1 month
Issues: 36
105 years ago:
01 June – Tiger Tim’s Tales launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 01 Jun 1919
To: 24 Jan 1920
Duration: 7 months
Issues: 28
A rare example of a landscape format comic, with the pages bound on the short edge.
01 June – Wonderland Tales launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 01 Jun 1919
To: 23 Jul 1921
Duration: 2 years, 1 month
Issues: 106
Renamed Wonderland Tales Weekly on 5 Jun 1920, then Wonderland Weekly on 5 Jul 1920. Maybe Tiger Tim’s Tales wasn’t quite that rare after all, because this one was also in landscape format. And launched on the same day by the same publisher… interesting!
14 June – Young Britain (1919) launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 14 Jun 1919
To: 17 Nov 1923
Duration: 4 years, 5 months
Issues: 232
115 years ago:
26 June – The Comet (1909) final issue.
Publisher: Pearson
From: 27 Mar 1909
To: 26 Jun 1909
Duration: 3 months
Issues: 14
Relaunch of Big Budget
120 years ago:
04 June – Horner’s Weekly launched.
Publisher:
From: 04 Jun 1904
To: 11 Mar 1916
Duration: 11 years, 9 months
Issues: 615
125 years ago:
10 June – Girls’ Best Friend final issue.
Publisher: Harmsworth/Amalgamated Press
From: 26 Feb 1898
To: 10 Jun 1899
Duration: 1 year, 4 months
Issues: 89
Relaunched as The Girls’ Friend. See below.
17 June – The Girls’ Friend launched.
Publisher: Amalgamated Press
From: 17 Jun 1899
To: 24 Jan 1931
Duration: 31 years, 7 months
Issues: 1628
Relaunch of Girls’ Best Friend. See above.
Rusty Staples 