Frank Miller and Gerry Anderson. A match made in heaven.  

I had always read comics as a kid. They have always been an important part of me. The Beano, Warlord, Battle, Action to name a few before the sci fi boom kicked off and 2000ad, Starlord and Tornado hit the shelves. Every weekend I picked up my next instalment from the newsagents, with my own spending money that my parents gave me for jobs around the house.

Then, Marvel UK filled in the gap for the US comics that I could pick up randomly from the newsagents.  The US format ones were never in any order. I would pick up spiderman, hulk or whatever title , issue 100, then the week after it would be issue 300. It never mattered as these stories were self-contained. 

The adverts for the comic shops and related stuff in the US comics just seemed like a world I could never access. Order at your local comic shop? Comic Conventions? 

My brother took me to my first comic shop. My brother was older than me, so had managed to visit Manchester and get some comics for me . However the trip I will always remember would be to Thunderbooks in a northern UK seaside town called Blackpool. 

In the late 1980’s comic shops started opening up in the UK. Most were in major cities, places we never really visited. However, as the comics boom continued to gain momentum, smaller shops started opening. My brother had somehow discovered that a Comic Shop was opening in Blackpool, only a 15 minute train journey from Preston, where we lived.  He managed to find an address via a friend ( no internet!) and off we went to Blackpool. We followed our direction, excited at the prospect of this new shop, no doubt full of wonders. 

After much wandering about, we found ourselves in the middle of a pleasant housing estate, with no shops in sight. The address my brother had a house number on it, so somewhat bemused , he knocked on the door. We could hear some kids playing and a chaps head appeared over the front gate of the house. “Hello?” he said. We told him what we were doing. “ We are looking for a comic shop, and this is the address we have?” We were quite obviously in the wrong place. “ Ahh, you want Thunderbooks!” The chap happily offered and gave us directions. We were very grateful, but a bit bemused.

Anyway, we eventually found it and what a place!! Racks and racks of comics,models and books. I was utterly beside myself and can still remember the feeling today. I had never seen so many comics in one room in my life.   No funkos or toys as such at this early stage in the comic shops industry history . Then , the chap who’s house we had originally been directed to appeared. It happened to be David Nightingale, the owner!!

Myself and my brother were big comic and movie fans. Plus really big fans of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation tv shows.Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett, UFO and Space 1999 were staple tv viewing in our house ( my parents were fans as well!) We were members of Fanderson Fan Club ( ah, fanclubs!!!) and David ran the magazine SIG and was also a big part of the Andersen fan scene. We had a good laugh at the fact we ended up at his house. He was always really helpful, as we visited a lot ( until he opened Thunderbooks 2 in Preston. Both shops have now passed to new owners under different names)  I only recently discovered he passed away in November last year.

It was on this day I came across a Batman book like I had never seen before. Dark Knight Returns Issue 2 , Frank Millar and Klaus Janson prestige format , card cover. What was this???? Now, I’m sure I will have bought others at the time, but this was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It totally blew my mind! The art, the story, The Batman!!!  I could never get the first issue ( only in the trade paperback I purchased years later|) but I ordered the next in the series while I was there!!! ( the start of an early pull list!!!!) The titles then just seemed to keep coming! Brilliant mini series like  DeadMan Love and Death , Justice Ink, Elektra Assassin, Stray Toasters, Havoc and Wolverine to name a few. Check them out, they are incredible feats of art and writing.  

I still have that very copy, still in the original plastic bag I purchased it in. It was probably the start of a hobby that consistently emptied my youthful pockets and introduced me to some of my finest and best friends. The explosion of titles was just incredible, and it set my mind alight . The pushing of boundaries and ideas and art. It was all to implode on itself, but what a time to be into comics! Image, Dark Horse, Epic and even the awesome British attempt of Warrior Magazine!  I honestly don’t think these companies would ever take the risks like this again.  IP is everything now and the  marketing of everything as an IP to make movies for people who never read a comic.  

Myself and my brother still like comics. However, we go into shops to be faced by merch and funko toys. Comics stuffed away in the cellar of the store.  I haven’t read a mainstream comic from the big 2  for years. Nothing grabs my attention. I have pretty much given up on the Marvel /Dc universe. In fact, comics in general just don’t interest me as they used to.That’s a really sad statement I thought I would never say.  I think Manga is the way forward.  However, that’s for a whole other post (Curmudgeonly Old fart alert)

So, that’s the very important connection between Frank Millar and Gerry Anderson. I only realised the importance of them both recently. But they always will be for me. I sorry I never got to thank David for opening the store and being so kind to two strange kids, who literally turned up to his home. Gerry Andersen passed away in 2012.  Frank Miller is 65 and looks a lot older. I don’t even want to think about that. 

Thanks David, Gerry and Frank. I bet no one ever thought your names end up in the same sentence. 

As a side note, I always saw the adverts for San Diego Comic Con and thought I’d have as much chance visiting as going to Narnia. 

I visited the 2010 San Diego Comic Con with my brother. Now that is a tale worthy of a 90’s comic mini series!!!

Cheers

Dan

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