Monday 27 July 2015

A bit of Marvel Frontier Comics back matter.

Glancing back at the two issues of Paul Neary and Liam Sharp's Bloodseed, for the Marvel UK A to Z piece, was an interesting experience.

As I've said before, I always felt that of all the material from the imprint years the Frontier Comics material has probably aged the best. While there was some question over Bloodseed itself, the others maintained a perfectly plausible background role within the Marvel Universe but never suffering because of it.

I mean sure, Mortigan Goth: Immortalis featured an in-continuity appearance from Doctor Strange, and Spitfire too, but it wasn't the same kind of inconsequential guest appearances which so many readers had criticised in the main Marvel UK imprint.

It was for plot reasons. And well-reasoned ones too.

It was more in-step with the level of quality British readers had seen from the original Knights of Pendragon series. Which after all was so pivotal in those imprint years happening at all.

For those who have heard about the upcoming Marvel Frontier Comics collected edition, and are curious to know what they might be looking at here, I thought I'd paste in the back matter from both issues of Bloodseed, which may just give you what you are looking for.






That was the mission statement at the top, those were the first wave of 4 titles and the suggestion of more titles to come. 

Further to my previous article, and something I entirely failed to mention in that 2009 piece, is that there actually was an explanation given for Bloodseed's shortening from 4 to 2 issues, listed in the back of the second issue:






There is still a real sense of the ongoing in the sign-off, there. And certainly a plan for further titles. 

Which there were, in a fashion. Prologues for, at least.

'The Marvel Frontier Comics quarterly' did see light in the form of the Marvel Frontier Comics Special. You can see its contents page, here:






Evil Eye was a small strip written and drawn by Strange Embrace and The Bulletproof Coffin writer David Hine.

The Fallen, on the other hand, was written by Nick Vince. The art though, came courtesy of 2000 AD legend D'Israeli (Matt Brooker). 

Really makes you wonder what could have been, eh?

Oh, and there eventually was a letters page. Even if it only was for one final issue. 

Mr Joey Marchete of Union, New Jersey (if you are still out there) you were the lucky individual.




1 comment:

  1. "Arundel House"...this intrigued me and i found more here :
    http://starlogged.blogspot.fr/2012/06/arundel-house-home-of-house-of-ideas.html

    ReplyDelete