Marvel UK

Marvel UK
Company typePrivate
IndustryPublishing
GenreScience fiction, action, superhero
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
Defunct1995; 29 years ago (1995)
Key people
Neil Tennant, Dez Skinn, John Freeman, Paul Neary
ProductsComics
ParentMarvel Comics
Panini Comics

Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison.

There were a number of editors in charge of overseeing the UK editions. Although based in the United States, Tony Isabella oversaw the establishment of Marvel UK. He was succeeded by UK-based editors Peter L. Skingley (a.k.a. Peter Allan) and then Matt Softly – both of whom were women who adopted male pen names for the job (in reality, they were Petra Skingley and Maureen Softly).[1] They were then replaced by Neil Tennant, who later found fame with the pop group the Pet Shop Boys. Nick Laing succeeded him, but with a turbulent market and falling sales, Laing was let go and Dez Skinn took over. Paul Neary was editor in chief in 1995, when Marvel UK was shut down.[2]

Panini Comics obtained the license to print Marvel material in 1995 and took over the UK office's remaining titles.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Murray was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Wymann, Adrian. "The Mighty World of Bronze Age British Marvel (1972–1979) Part One, 1972–194: Setting Up Marvel UK", The Thought Balloon (2014). Accessed January 2, 2015.