On a recent clear-out I happened to discover these old plastic bags from Forbidden Planet & Comics Showcase that had been stashed amongst my collection since the early 80ies.
The FP bag featured the 2nd 'People like us' design that Brian Bolland created for the shop.
The original can be seen below (from the back cover of Warrior magazine)
The 80ies was a really exciting time to be shopping for comics in London and the home counties. The shops then were run by comic fans who would commission their favourite artists to design bags, logos, adverts etc.. The zine scene was thriving and there was a real feeling that you were more than just a customer. You were entering some arcane society which Bolland's design really nails.
Comics Showcase bags featured Marshall Rogers' Joker.
Also of note Is a shop called 'Dark They Were and Golden Eyed' this was, along with FP, the first specialist comic shops I ever visited, come to think of it they were probably the first specialist comic shops in the country full stop.
Here is one of their bags with art by Jim Cawthorne (best known for his collaborations with Michael Moorcock) c/o Steve Cook from his excellent 'Secret Oranges' blog.
And as a special bonus here's a collection of vintage price tags from old comic shops.
Orbital Comics manager Karl collects these while he grades and re-bags second hand comics for their extensive back issue section.
Some real blasts from the past on here for any long-time UK comic fans.
Mentioning Orbital Comic brings this post back full-circle as they recently decided to revive the tradition (of having fan-favourite artists design their bags) by asking the amazing Shaky Kane to do the honours for this little beauty...
Orbital bag image taken from, and looked at in more detail at, DJ Foods' blog
Love it!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Is Dark They Were the same as (what I called) LTS, up a tiny side alley on Denmark Street?
ReplyDeleteDTWAGE was down at St Annes Court in the heart of Soho. The name of that little place down the alley was officially LTS but we all called it "Paradise Alley", I guess that was ironic because the alley was so pissy and gross. I used to love that place, the bloke behind the counter was so grumpy and lazy, I always got the impression it was an incredible hassle for him to even lift his hand to collect your money, let alone open a bag, answer a question, give chance etc...
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