The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Today I’m joined by Chris Smillie of Spitfire Comics, a man and a publisher dedicated to bringing back some of those classic British comic strips that those fans of a certain age (yeah, that would include me) grew up on and would love to see again. Chris took some time out from wrestling with a Carcharodon carcharias (that’s a Great White Shark to most of us) to chat with us about Hook Jaw, Doomlord, Union Jack Jackson and other classic Brit comics strips.

FPI: Hi, Chris and thanks for taking some time to talk to us. Spitfire Comics – hard to think of a more defiantly British name; I’ll refrain from asking if it was inspired by RJ Mitchell’s superlative aircraft or the real ale of the same name. Perhaps we should start by asking what got you into comics, both as a reader and then as a publisher?

CS: I’ll answer the Spitfire question if I may. Many of Britain’s best comics were named after aircraft, Vulcan, Hurricane, Tornado, and Valiant, so it was a bit surprising no-one ever thought of releasing Spitfire…so I did!

As for comics, my home town of Paisley actually had a comic shop in the 1940s (Yankee Mags) where my mother used to buy her Captain Marvel comics, so it was only natural I got into comics. As a child my mother and grandfather between them used to buy me around 15 British comics a week.

I partly paid for my university course by selling comics via the Superhero Store. One day, Grant Springford had sent me a copy of his Pest Control to attempt to sell. It was only then I realised that there were a number of comics out there with fabulous creators but no-one knew anything about them. After enquiring to Fleetway Egmont about bringing back the Leopard from Lime Street, I realised I could create a great comic and sell it next to the X-Men, Batman and 2000AD.

FPI: We do seem to be rather poorly served for classic material in the UK; things are getting a little better these days with new reprints of The Spider and The Steel Claw from Titan (not to mention their reappearance in the recent Albion), as well as their wonderful Classic Dan Dare library, while Rebellion has been impressing us with their ‘Marvel Essentials’-style Complete Nemesis and Judge Dredd Case Files. And yet there remains a ton of material in various publishers’ archives that rarely sees the light of day, from the humour of the Beano to the blood-soaked thrills of Action, especially compared to the amount of classic material reprinted in the US. Is a desire to redress this imbalance a big part of the raison d’etre for Spitfire?

CS: In a way, though a lot of the US comics I loved (Freedom Fighters, 1970s Ghost Rider, Champions, Defenders) looked like they would never be reprinted either until a couple of years ago. After seeing the rise in interest in Brit comics via the Superhero Store, plus letters in Comics International, I thought I’d just put in a cheeky request to Egmont saying ‘well, if you’re not going to print them, can I?’ After all the doomsayers telling me how difficult Egmont/IPC were to deal with, I found them quite refreshing. As long as they got some cash from you, they were actually quite keen to do a deal.

FPI: Good to know since that bodes well for future possible reprints. Returning to the here and now, you’re just about to unleash a man-eating Great White Shark upon the unsuspecting readership once more (appropriately just as a spectacular shark attack in Australia has been in the news) with the Collected Hook Jaw Volume 1. A whole comics collection based on a central character who is a shark – I have fond memories of Hook Jaw, but for those unfamiliar with him could you explain who he is and what prompted you to pick his strip for a collection over some of the other characters from Action (or even sister publication Battle which it later merged with)?

CS: Well, I would have chosen Charley’s War if I could seeing as it is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written, but Titan already had the rights to that. Action comic was, um, heavily influenced by the current films of the time and produced titles such as Dredger (Dirty Harry) and Spinball (Rollerball) but Hook Jaw (Jaws) was the lead story. There were two pre-ban stories: the first sees Hook Jaw munching on various personnel around an oil field, whilst the greedy oil magnate is solely concerned with his investment and wilfully sends his divers to those horrific jaws and that nasty hook (the result of a failed attempt to ‘fish’ the shark).

The second story involves a greedy developer stealing land from a tribe of shark-worshippers to set up a paradise resort. However, he fails to realise that where there are shark worshippers, there are sharks! Especially one big fish! The comic was then banned for a few months due to pressure from media such as the Sun, Evening Standard and BBC’s Nationwide programme. It’s visually stunning art from Ramon Sola, as well as great writing from Pat and Ken Armstrong, has meant the story really stands up well and I’ve no hesitation in showing friends who weren’t around at that time. They are always shocked at the content – particularly when I explain it was aimed at boys aged around 8-14!

FPI: I was too young in the 70s to get into cinemas and watch Jaws, so Hook Jaw was my alternative, as I suspect it was for many a young lad then. There’s obviously something about man-eating creatures that fascinates readers (especially younger ones); the same visceral thrills we would later get with Shako and Flesh, but it wasn’t just a simple rip-off of a popular movie, was it? Look past those big teeth and you can even spot some environmental aspects in Hook Jaw.

CS: Definitely! I’ve actually got a PhD in Environmental Science myself, so Pat Mills has long been close to my heart (and politics). Jaws was a truly great film but it was simply horror. If Pat had been writing the script, you can bet the whole political system would have been to blame, goaded by big bucks from wealthy Americans. You wonder why he never made the jump to US comics!

FPI: It might be hard for modern readers to believe, but at the time Action was a real hot potato, as you mentioned earlier, decried by a huge range of professional fuddy-duddies and busybodies who were determined to protect our young minds from lashings of comics blood and violence, almost the mid 70s equivalent of the early 80s ‘video nasty’ media panic. Looking back do you think any of that moral furore directed at comics was justified? I mean, I remember Action as being a lot bloodier than my reads in Warlord, where I’d decode my secret message from Lord Peter Flint every week, but I don’t recall being traumatised by it in any way, were you?

CS: I don’t know about traumatised but it certainly stuck in my memory. As did Jaws, which I managed to see in the cinema despite being about 8 years old! It is quite strange to look back on my childhood reading habitats compared to what young kids today read. Whilst the youngsters today are reading Yu-Gi-Oh or Bananas in Pyjamas, we were reading anti-war sentiments in Charley’s War (Battle), Nazis having a tough life in Warlord’s Kampfgruppe Falken rather than faceless Jerries, or even the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee/Roy Thomas/John Buscema Marvel stories, instead of watered-down simplified tales ‘for all ages’. Who decided dumbing down was healthy for children’s reading? (here, here – Joe)

Strangely enough though, my US contact for my distributors (Diamond) actually has a phobia about sharks! She still found the book too impressive to put down though.

FPI: Do you think that moral outcry has played a part in them being so neglected for so long, or is it more that the various legal rights issues around older properties make it difficult for potential publishers to negotiate a reprint?

CS: The rights issue isn’t as complicated as it sounds as the retired editor of Lion (and numerous other comics), Gil Page, actually handles all the licensing for both Egmont and IPC. Both companies pretty much regard Gil as the knowledge base, so he can direct people to the right company in any dispute (please note we have had word from David Abbott, Information Manager at IPC to say Gil is not associated with IPC these days and does not deal with the publishing rights – anyone who is interested in reprinting some of their classic archive material should contact David Abbott, IPC Images-Syndication-Brand Licensing-International, IPC Media, 1614 Kings Reach Tower, Stamford St, London or via the IPC media site, where David is happy to talk to potential publishers – Joe). I think a big problem was the amount IPC wanted for reprinting their stories, which was an enormous page rate. Hopefully, it has changed since the Titan deal to allow other publishers in. I’m not entirely sure why there has been so little interest from publishers when you consider the Beano has been the best-selling book in the UK for most of the past 50 years. But with Titan, Hibernia (Doomlord), Look & Learn and now Spitfire, it’s all changing.

FPI: I did actually raise that point with the Beano and Dandy head honcho Euan Kerr in an interview last summer and asked if we would ever see some archive collections of their strips, like an anthology of Leo Baxendale’s Bash Street Kids for example, but although he said they were always considering such things there were no firm plans he could discuss then, which is a shame (doesn’t rule out future ventures of course, he added hopefully). As you say, there are a lot of readers out there who would love to get a chance to see this material again and it would be good sales for comics shops and publishers, so I don’t know why more isn’t being done in this field.

One thing I especially admired on your site is that you are actively asking fans to suggest what other classic Brit comics you should try to reprint next, which is a nice touch and hopefully also a savvy bit of business too, since it makes the readers feel more involved. I know I’d love to see Rat Pack collected trade one of these days and Death Game 1999/Spinball still stirs memories in me to this day (and would we have had the Harlem Heroes in 2000 AD if not for Spinball?). Have you seen any sort of consensus emerging from reader’s suggestions as to what they would like to see?

CS: Far and away, the leader is the banned Action (very rare withdrawn from sale comic), with the Leopard from Lime Street second and Johnny Red third. A collection of Fleetway’s horror funnies is also faring pretty well.

(The Leopard of Lime Street, created by Tom Tully and Mike Western – check the excellent International Hero for more info)

FPI: What about yourself? Putting aside the nasty issues of rights and costs for a moment, in an ideal world what past Brit comics would you dearly love to reprint if you could?

CS: Probably my favourite British character is Adam Eterno, with the Leopard from Lime Street a close second. But you look back at Lion, Thunder and Buster, then there’s so many great mystery series that have been lost in time, like the Snake or the Terrible Trail to Tolmec. And I can’t go on asking Dez if I’m allowed to bring out a Marvelman book.

I’ve also spoken to DC Thomson about a Billy the Cat graphic novel or the collected Starblazers of Grant Morrison but there doesn’t seem to be much interest in letting other publishers in there, even though Carlton are publishing the Commando books.

FPI: That’s a shame – as I said they don’t seem overly eager to exploit their huge archive of classic material, most of which is fondly remembered by thousands of readers who would snap it up – let’s hope they do take these hints onboard!

Some younger comics readers may be unaware of this bit of British comics history and just how influential much of it was and indeed still is – for example, without Pat Mills and Action we might not have had 2000 AD. Without 2000 AD would some huge names of today like Alan Moore or Brian Bolland have carved the place they now hold in the medium? Are you planning to put the reprints into some context when you publish them, perhaps with some articles going into their history and later influences the way Titan has for the Classic Dan Dare, or is that too much for a limited budget?

CS: In the far-flung future, I would love to get together a DVD/CD collection of comics. You know, a full year of, say, Tiger or Hotspur on a disc. Being weeklies, there’s just too many comics to reprint on paper, with some of very limited interest. For interviews, I am planning something for my online comic, Starscape, with creators’ memories of working in British comics. I already have some histories of British comics there and if anyone fancies contributing their knowledge or memories – feel free!

FPI: There you go, fans, a chance to put your knowledge to good use! Now, as well as Spitfire Comics you are also involved with the sister site Starscape that you just mentioned, which has a huge amount of comics material available online absolutely free (although donations to keep it running are always welcome, I’m sure), which features work from a number of comics professionals like Gary Simpson and Jason Quinn – care to tell us a bit about Starscape and how that came about? I believe it began life as a print comic? And is that Doomlord’s smiling face I see lurking out of the site?

CS: A collected Doomlord has been published by Hibernia. David McDonald (the publisher) allowed me to use a sampler of the story in a section called Starscape Suck & See where I let readers view a few episodes from a book being published and, if they like it, they can then click the buy button next to it. So hopefully, the copies will be flying out by now! Starscape is subtitled ‘Valiant for the 21st Century’.

Rather than looking back to traditional British comics, we use the likes of Starlord, Hotspur and the Mighty World of Marvel as jumping off points. As in, what would British comics be printing if they had continued to evolve and merge? You’re right in that it had been a printed comic but I realised I could reach far more people on the web, rather than in the very limited small press distribution sphere. Now instead of 100 people reading the Guard Dogs, we now have 10,000 readers! My eventual aim is to make Starscape the 2000AD of webcomics! And just wait till you see Gary Simpson’s and Lee O’Connor’s zombies-in-the-wild-west story, Dead…something else.

(Doomlord from the Eagle – again refer to the excellent comics resource International Hero for more)

FPI: Excellent – always excited to hear about more good comics work on the way, especially from our own homegrown talent – you’ll need to be sure to tell us when that is about to appear. Before we wrap up, can I ask if you can give us any hints as to what is most likely to follow Hook Jaw, or will you wait to see how successful it is?

CS: Nothing definite as of yet, but how about the banned Action with interviews, features and lost stories? Or a book collecting the action/horror from Fleetway’s archives, such as the Leopard, Fishboy, Galaxus, Spooktacular 7, Faceache, Scream Inn etc.? And Johnny Red (as big as Charley’s War in Battle) deserves a collection.

FPI: No arguments from me, I’d be happy to see any of those resurfacing. Are you likely to stick to the classic material for the moment or are there any plans to publish new material, perhaps in conjunction with some of our pool of British small press talent?

CS: I’ve been developing a story myself for the last decade(!) that I’d like to get into print one day. It brings together heroes from British/Celtic mythology that I often describe as the League of Extraordinary Barbarians/Medieval Gentlemen! I’d also mooted the idea of having a quarterly comic filled with reprints, features and new interpretations of classic characters, such as Garen (Rainbow Orchid) Ewing on Billy the Cat, or Martin (O Men) Eden doing Union Jack Jackson. Anything like that is still far off though.

FPI: All sounding good to my ears – strangely enough I was discussing Garen’s Rainbow Orchid earlier today on the blog, it is a lovely strip and I’m sure he’d do a great version of Billy the Cat. UJJ though – my god but that takes me back to my comics youth, leafing through Warlord (getting all nostalgic now!). Can I ask what books and comics are on your reading list at the moment?

CS: Well, you can’t beat Marvel Essentials! I’ve been a bit disappointed though with DC Showcase as I thought DC only really got into their stride in the 1970s, whereas Showcase features 1960s comics. Still a comics junkie and read most titles from the big two. A year ago I would have said DC were tops with Marvel going through the motions but the Civil War/Infinite Crisis series and related have turned everything on its head, with Marvel being back to their best.

I’m sure I don’t even need to point out how big a fan I am of Jack Staff. I still get 2000AD most weeks but let them pile up before reading them in one go. Commando I’ll pick up if it has something a little bit different, like Celtic-Romano adventures, sci-fi or medieval battles.

Books-wise, I’m ploughing through Phillip K. Dick and Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars.

FPI: Chris Smillie, thanks very much for talking to us and I hope you’ll let us know when any new material comes together. Meantime readers can find out more at Spitfire’s main site and, of course, sample the delights we discussed on the Starscape page (where you can read the first chapter of Hook Jaw online). You might also enjoy this article by top UK SF scribe James Lovegrove who discussed his fond memories of Action (including Hook Jaw)and Starlord on the blog a few months back.

CS: Pleasure!

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