Panini Comics - History

History

It obtained the Marvel UK license in 1995, enabling it to publish reprinted American Marvel Comics titles, and is also the company responsible for printing the Doctor Who Magazine. Panini Comics, had been part of Marvel Europe, and had already been reprinting American material across Europe for several years.

Thanks to this licensing deal, reprints of American Marvel Comics material was once again published in the UK by Panini from the mid-1990s. Each book contained approximately two or three Marvel US strips in one issue with possibly a "classic" comic printed as a substitute for a comic in the current run, whilst being priced at a reasonable level. Initially the lineup consisted of only Astonishing Spider-Man and Essential X-Men and followed the continuity of the US comics, however it was approximately two–three years behind the current run in America.

In addition to reprinting the mainstream US comics, Panini also published a monthly (later every three weeks) over-sized comic, entitled The Spectacular Spider-Man, for younger readers to accompany Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which began broadcasting in the UK in the mid-90s. Initially, the stories were simply reprints of the US comics based on the series, but eventually the title moved to all-new UK-originated stories, marking the first Marvel UK material featuring classic Marvel characters to be produced since early 1994.