Today in Comics History, February 4: Happy birthday, Dez Skinn!

Born on this day: British comics editor, scripter, and publisher Dez Skinn! He was the editor-in-chief at Marvel UK during its heyday in the late '70s, and later founded and edited Starburst and the influential and vital UK comic Warrior which included among its serialized strips Alan Moore's Marvelman (Miracleman) and V for Vendetta! He holds a Guinness World Records certificate and credit for creating the world's longest-lasting TV tie-in magazine: Doctor Who Weekly, and founded and ran Quality Comics, a famous London SF/fantasy shop, and the publishing line named for it, Quality Communications!

It's fair to say that without Dez Skinn on this Earth, we woulda never got the 1980s British Invasion of comics that so transformed DC and led to the founding of Vertigo.


from "1986 AD" in Comic Book Comics #5 (Evil Twin, March 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey. Read the entire chapter (in color!) over at Ryan Dunlavey's website



Skinn also wrote scripts for Quality's Halls of Horror (later reprinted in Eclipse's John Bolton's Halls of Horror), "Big Ben" (the man with no time for crime!), and the intriguingly titled "Father Shandor, Demon Stalker" feature. And in these Marvel UK "Bullpen Bulletins," you can see why he was nicknamed the British Stan Lee!



"Bullpen Bulletins" from Hulk Comic #9 (top) and 18 (bottom) (Marvel UK, 2 May 1979 and 4 July 1979)
The first couple pages of a lengthy interview with Dez from Warrior:



from "Sweatshop Talk II" in Warrior #16 (Quality Communications, December 1983), interview by Steve Moore (as Pedro Henry)
I didn't know his importance at the time, but when I was living in London during 1983, I first picked up and became a huge fan of original British comics — many of them under the editorship of Dez Skinn. Thank you and a ta very much to Dez for increasing my knowledge and love of the medium! Happy birthday, Dez!