Albion British Comics Database Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
in: Publishers

IPC

Revision as of 07:37, 19 July 2017 by Tony ingram (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Revivals)
 Sign in to edit
Battle
Score
Whoopee
Smash!
Buster
Starlord 2
Tornado 1981
Misty
Hurricane annual
2000ADStarlord
Cor
Tiger 1968
Whizzer
Crisis
DanDarepostprog
Tammy
Speed
Comicreliefcomic
Thunder
New Eagle1

Background

The International Publishing Corporation, also known as IPC Magazines Ltd, were for much of the 20th century one of the three largest comics publishers in Britain, along with D.C. Thomson and Marvel UK. Notable comics publications included 2000 AD, Buster, Tiger, Look and Learn, Girl, Hurricane, Battle Picture Weekly, Valiant, Misty, Tammy, June, Vulcan, Whizzer and Chips, Scorcher, Score 'n' Roar, Tornado, Shiver and Shake, Monster Fun, Wow!, Cor!!, Knockout, Nipper, Lion, Whoopee!, Jackpot, Krazy Comic, Cheeky Weekly, Starlord, Eagle, Roy of the Rovers, Scream!, Action and Speed. Later publications included Scouse Mouse, and also both Crisis and Revolver (which were aimed at an older age group).

Formation of IPC

IPC's history is a long and complex one. In 1958, Cecil Harmsworth King (chairman of the newspaper group which included the Daily Mirror) purchased magazine publishers Amalgamated Press Ltd, and in 1959 changed their name to Fleetway. In 1961, the company absorbed Odhams Press (publishers of the Power Comics line), who had themselves already absorbed both George Newnes Publishers and Hulton Press, publishers of the Eagle and its various sister titles. All the various companies had initially continued to operate as independent entities, but in 1963 were placed under the umbrella of a newly created parent company, the International Publishing Corporation, or IPC. The company was divided up into six divisions, with IPC Magazines Ltd handling the company's comics and consumer magazines (the other divisions handled newspapers, technical magazines, books, printing and other projects). In 1970, the company was taken over by Reed International.

Dissolution of IPC

In 1987, IPC's comic properties were divided up, with all the characters and strip published since 1st January 1970, plus 26 characters then appearing in Buster, allocated to Fleetway, now a separate company again, which was then sold to Pergamon Holdings, a company owned by Robert Maxwell. Infamously, Maxwell's son ordered the destruction of the comics archive, which he saw as simply taking up space; hundreds, perhaps thousands of pages of art were simply dumped in a skip in the rain, though some artists (including Kevin O'Neill) were allowed to recover some of their work. In 1991, Egmont UK purchased Fleetway and merged it with their own comics publishing operation, London Editions Magazines, to form Fleetway Editions. This was eventually absorbed into the main Egmont operation by 2000, though the science fiction anthology 2000 AD was sold off to Rebellion, with Egmont now publishing only reprint and licensed titles. IPC itself retained all its comics properties created before January 1970 (including the Steel Claw, Kelly's Eye and Battler Britton), the sole exception being Dan Dare, who was sold off separately to the Dan Dare Corporation. IPC Magazines is now IPC Media, and is owned by Time, Inc., the magazine publishing division of Time Warner, who purchased it in 2001.

Revivals

In 2005 to 2006, many of the IPC comic characters resurfaced in the pages of Albion, a six-issue limited series published by Wildstorm, an imprint of America's DC Comics, which is also owned by Time Warner. Separate series featuring Battler Britton and Thunderbolt Jaxon followed later, while in 2015 Titan Comics licensed Johnny Red and, the following year, Hook Jaw.

Purchase by Rebellion

In 2017 it was announced that Rebellion had purchased the rights to the majority of IPC's vintage material, and would shortly begin reprinting selected strips. Among the first to be reprinted were Monster, Misty and One-Eyed Jack.

IPC and Fleetway Publications

See Also

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Albion British Comics Database Wiki