downthetubes: How different were the football stories in
Football Picture Story Monthly to the science fiction stories in Starblazer?
Bill: In the sense that they all had a beginning, a middle and an end, then they were the same in terms of work. In terms of enjoyment, about the same.
downthetubes: Was there a cross over of artists and writers between Starblazer and Football PSM? What writers and artists worked on the title?
Bill: Not really! A lot of the artists on Starblazer were Spanish or Argentinian and didn't draw football. The scripters were SF and that was that.
downthetubes: There have been a surprising number of digest sized picture libraries produced by DC Thomson, from the well known Commando to the less well known Star Romance, or the picture library versions of Dandy and Beano, and Bunty, Judy, Debbie and Mandy. Were these created as one group?
Bill: These publications were under the command of one department who scheduled the stories to fit into printing schedules.
downthetubes: Bill Graham has told us the history of the
pony stories for Wendy, so could you tell us about the practicality of
creating comic strips for foreign publication?
Bill: The practicalities are the same as for producing material for the domestic market. You have to know your audience and know what is or isn't acceptable.
downthetubes: How much involvement does the editorial team of, for instance, Wendy magazine in Germany have in the creation of the end product?
Bill: The editorial team in Germany have a lot of input into the end product. They advise us of trends or give us details of what is coming up so that we can keep things current.
downthetubes: Are the strips written in the UK in English and, if so, how are they then translated into the appropriate foreign language?
Bill: The material is prepared in Quark and all the text is editable. The English is translated into German and with almost a click of a mouse the text is changed.
downthetubes: Have any of the Wendy pony stories seen publication in the UK, perhaps in the ongoing Bunty annual?
Bill: A version of Wendy appeared in Animals & You, but I don't think there are any plans to publish stories here.
downthetubes: Could you describe what the Syndication department of DC Thomson does?
Bill: We sell on our copyright material to other publishers, negotiate rights for images to be used in books or magazines, TV etc, deal with book companies in assisting to source material, deal with permissions to use our images in various ways, prepare editorial material for India, Norway, Bosnia, Russia, to name but a few. We are also in charge of the archive.
downthetubes: With the recent announcement of an Indian company reprinting Commando stories for their home market, what other countries are currently publishing DC Thomson comic strips?
Bill: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Malaysia, Emirates, Egypt, Greece, Spain, Portugal.
downthetubes: Are foreign editions of comic strips or text illustrations taken from the original artwork?
Bill: Yes, or digital versions.
downthetubes: From a licensing perspective is there a type of comic strip or text story that stands out as being universally popular around the world, pony stories for girls, war stories for boys, or romantic fiction for women perhaps?
Bill: Not really, although romance stories are in constant demand.
downthetubes: The popularity of the Carlton/Prion Commando and Jackie reprint books seems to continue unabated with the sixth Commando and fifth Jackie books due out in September 2008. How were they initially conceived and how much input does DC Thomson have to the choice of their contents?
Bill: These are deals under licence and it was the respective companies who approached us. We do not impose editorial conditions on these companies.
downthetubes: Was the popularity of these books a surprise within the company and would it not be preferable for Thomsons to publish such titles themselves for the UK market rather than licensing them out to another publisher?
Bill: What has to be remembered is that we are not a book publishing company and not set up in the way Carlton are.
downthetubes: Licensed products such as Dandy t-shirts and
Beano backpacks seem fairly obvious marketing opportunities, yet there
are more unusual examples of DC Thomson merchandise such as the Lledo van
range advertising story paper titles on their sides.
What was the most unusual item you have come across – has there been something more unusual that the Jackie Knitting Kit?
Bill: This is probably the most unusual and I'd be hard pushed to come up with something more quirky!
downthetubes: The beautifully produced Maw Broon's Cookbook from Waverley Books drew a lot of mentions in the Scottish media. Have there been any other particular licensed products that have drawn a lot of attention either good or bad?
Bill: We did a Broons Rabbie Burns special that was given away with the Sunday Post. It was so popular that some schools have now included it in their curriculum. The facsimile editions of the Beano and the Dandy did well...both under license as portfolio editions.
Most of the licensed products are in the clothing area and do well. I think there is probably a huge market in nostalgia stuff... like 1930s artwork reproduced on t-shirts.
downthetubes: What's the best thing about working for DCT... and the worst?
Bill: I've enjoyed the various magazines I've worked on and a lot of the people I've worked with... I'll not mention the ones I could cheerfully strangle!
The worst thing is probably not being able to produce the sort of publication that you know would be best seller and also something you'd love doing.
downthetubes: What was your favourite comics title that
you have worked on and why?
Bill: Starblazer, because of the people I worked with and because a lot of the stuff we were doing was the result of communal conversations, ideas whatever.
downthetubes: Bill, thank you very much for your time.
Additional questions from Steve Bright, Ray Carnes, John Freeman, Steve Holland and Ian Wheeler.
Interview
Ends... Back to the Start
• 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
All images © DC Thomson and Co Ltd. Image research by Jeremy Briggs