Titan Distributors
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2020) |
| Company type | Comic book distribution, Comic marts, Book publishing |
|---|---|
| Industry | Titan Books |
Titan Distributors was a British
Titan Books
.
History
Origins: Comic Media Distribution Service
In 1973, when only a small range of US comic books were available in British
news agents, Nick Landau established Comic Media Distribution Service (CMDS), which imported American comics from the "big two" publishers DC and Marvel.[1]
Formation of Titan Distributors / Forbidden Planet
In 1978, Landau partnered with Lake and Luckman and re-formed CMDS as Titan Distributors.New Oxford Street.[4]
Westminster Comic Mart
In late November 1979, Titan began operating the
Titan Books
In 1981, Titan Distributors set up the publishing company
Titan Books, whose first title was the trade paperback collection of Brian Bolland's Judge Dredd stories from 2000 AD. This was one of the earliest high-quality, book-format publications of comic material in the UK,[citation needed] and Titan Books followed the first title with numerous other 2000 A.D. reprints. Titan Books expanded operations in 1987, putting out its first original title — Pat Mills and Hunt Emerson's You Are Maggie Thatcher — and also taking over publishing Escape magazine.[9]
Dissolution and sale
In 1992, Landau, Luckman, and Lake dissolved their partnership and traded their company shares: Landau became sole owner of
Forbidden Planet London; Luckman became sole owner of Forbidden Planet's New York stores,[10] and Lake became sole owner of Titan Distributors.[11] Lake almost immediately sold Titan to the U.S.-based Diamond Comic Distributors, which added its clients and warehouses to the Diamond UK operations.[12] He then opened Forbidden Planet locations in Scotland and northern England (an operation later named Forbidden Planet International).[10]
See also
- Neptune Distribution
- Titan Entertainment Group
References
- ^ Burton, Richard. "Meditorial," Comic Media News #15 (Sept. 1974).
- ^ Skinn, Dez. "Early days of UK comics conventions and marts, part 3" Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine DezSkinn.com. Accessed Mar. 3, 2013.
- ^ "How cult comic book shop Forbidden Planet changed the way we consume geek culture". The Independent. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
- ^ "How cult comic book shop Forbidden Planet changed the way we consume geek culture". The Independent. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
- ^ Burton, Richard. "Meditorial," Comic Media News #29 (Jan./Feb. 1977).
- ^ "Comic Mart: Britain's Largest Comic Fan Gathering" advertisement, Comicon '79 program booklet.
- ^ "The Eagle Awards - Results: 1983," Eagle Awards website. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Accessed Jan. 27, 2020.
- ^ "News From Hither and Yon: Eagles Return, New Dog Strip, EC Update, Computer Comics," The Comics Journal #84 (Sept. 1983), p. 22.
- ^ Plowright, Frank. Opening Shots: And As Ye Reap, So Shall Ye Sow," The Comics Journal #122 (June 1988), p. 11.
- ^ a b Barnett, David. "How cult comic book shop Forbidden Planet changed the way we consume geek culture: Four decades on, the institution is still enjoying a position both at the top of the market and in the hearts of nerds across the land," The Independent (07 September 2018).
- ^ "NewsWatch: Diamond Acquires Titan Distributors," The Comics Journal #154 (Nov. 1992), p. 14.
- ^ "Newswatch: Diamond Acquires Titan Distributors [part II]," The Comics Journal #162 (Oct. 1993), pp. 35-36.