History Main / BritishComics

The girls' equivalent of this (the British equivalent of {{Shoujo}} manga) would often feature sports- or ballet-themed stories and school settings, although they would often include an element of fantasy or science fiction. Typical examples would be ''ComicBook/{{Girl}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Bunty}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Mandy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Tammy}}''. In the 1970s genre aspects became more explicit with the appearance of overtly themed titles such as ''ComicBook/{{Misty}}'' (supernatural and horror), ''ComicBook/{{Jinty}}'' (SF), and ''ComicBook/{{Spellbound}}'' (fantasy and SF). Immensely popular in their day -- according to Pat Mills, ''Comicbook/{{Tammy}}'' outsold ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' by 30,000 copies a week -- but as newsstand comics declined, girls' titles merged, with surviving titles morphing into teen magazines, dropping comic strips as they did so.

[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top right: ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'', ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' (Specifically, ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK)'', ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'']]

There is also what might broadly be termed "adventure comics", which are quite different to their American equivalents. Instead of the [[MediaNotes/TheComicsCode particular]] [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks history]] that led to a market dominated by [[SuperHero superhero stories]], British comics readers read a lot of war, sci-fi or football stories, as well as some uniquely British oddball "superheroes", often more violent, more ambiguous or just plain more ''sinister'' than their mainstream American counterparts. The two highest-profile comics in this genre today are ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' and ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}''. In certain ways, such as their darker subject matter and their manner of serialization, these British comics have more in common with Japanese manga than they do with American comic books.

* ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}''

* ''ComicBook/{{Dark Angel|MarvelComics}}''

** ''ComicBook/{{Hilda and the Mountain King|2019}}''

* ''ComicBook/{{The Phoenix}}''

There is also what might broadly be termed "adventure comics", which are quite different to their American equivalents. Instead of the [[UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode particular]] [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks history]] that led to a market dominated by [[SuperHero superhero stories]], British comics readers read a lot of war, sci-fi or football stories, as well as some uniquely British oddball "superheroes", often more violent, more ambiguous or just plain more ''sinister'' than their mainstream American counterparts. The two highest-profile comics in this genre today are ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' and ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}''. In certain ways, such as their darker subject matter and their manner of serialization, these British comics have more in common with Japanese manga than they do with American comic books.

[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top right: ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'', ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' (Specifically, ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK)'', ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'']]

British comics, as the name suggests, are comics that originate from Britain. British comics are usually [[AnthologyComic Anthology Comics]] and often have annuals printed once a year in time for Christmas (or at least they used to), likewise summer specials printed in time for the summer holidays. British comics evolved out of [[DimeNovel story papers]] with a number of story papers switching to comics. The earliest British comics, such as ''Comic Cuts'', began in [[TheGayNineties the 1890s]] and these slowly evolved into the modern anthology comic, which in the early days would feature humourous and adventurous stories. Because of their [[DimeNovel story paper]] roots, they also featured text stories. The oldest British Comic which survives to this day is ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' [[PrintLongRunners which began in 1938]]. ''ComicBook/TheDandy'', from the same publisher, had previously held the record for longest runner, having launched eight months earlier, but it closed in December 2012.

Perhaps the biggest and most popular (and certainly the most visible) is the British humour comic. The two pinnacles of the genre are childhood staples ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''ComicBook/TheDandy''. There used to be many more, but sales decreased over the years and many of them [[ComicsMerger merged]] or became defunct around TheNineties: some of the most popular characters from these discontinued comics migrated to ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' or ''TheDandy''. They generally emphasise dynamic movement and cartoonish exaggeration, similar to France's [[Creator/AndreFranquin Marcinelle school]]. The humour comic genre is probably the most historically popular genre, though as of 2016, only ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' still publishes regular issues (''The Dandy'' is also still published, but only in annual form).

[[caption-width-right:350:Clockwise from top right: ''ComicBook/{{Hilda}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'', ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK'', ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'']]

Perhaps the biggest and most popular (and certainly the most visible) is the British humour comic. The two pinnacles of the genre are childhood staples ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''ComicBook/TheDandy''. There used to be many more, but sales decreased over the years and many of them [[ComicsMerger merged]] or became defunct around TheNineties: some of the most popular characters from these discontinued comics migrated to ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' or ''TheDandy''. They generally emphasise dynamic movement and cartoonish exaggeration, similar to France's [[Creator/AndreFranquin Marcinelle school]]. The humour comic genre is probably the most historically popular genre, though as of 2016, only ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' is left standing.

** ''ComicBook/HildaAndTheMountainKing''