Friday 5 June 2015

From Cents to Pence! - a story told in 34 parts

While I'm straining every sinew to finish work on From Cents to Pence (and, oh for a hidden cache of a few extra hours in a week!), I thought you might find it interesting to discover how the 34 chapters (count them) actually break down now, replete with newly uncovered information from personal archives and copious interviews with the personnel involved with the British division from its origins in both the New York and High Holborn/Sevenoaks Bullpens (and then back to London again through the Kentish Town/Redan Place/Arundel House years before heading back to Kent again)...

1-4: A brief history of Marvel in America; Marvel in British comics up to 1970.

5-17: The secret origin of British Marvel; The confluence of initially unrelated business decisions that led to the formation of the UK wing, and how Stan Lee, Albert Landau and (yes) Chip Goodman became involved; a tale of two cities - how it was all run under the watchful gaze of Sol Brodsky and Ray Wergan; the backstory behind all the comics they produced from 1972-9.

18-22: The Marvel Revolution!; The inside line on the whys and wherefores of the re-shaping of the UK line in 1979 and the comics they produced.

23-31: Title-by-title, the Marvel UK years from Captain Britain through to the last knockings of the Overkill-era of UK created American colour comics, plus the lowdown on some of the titles that didn't quite happen over the years.

32-34: The Panini years - the story to date.

Anyway, that's the outline of the history portion of the book. I'll get back to finishing off the first 17 chapters ready for proofing now...