One of the shortest lived British comics was IPC/Fleetways Vulcan which was published as a tryout in Scotland between May and September 1975 before rebooting as a new number one and going for a full UK distribution. A truly odd and as far as I am aware unique experiment.
The Scottish issues are difficult to obtain and attract a premium price when available. The all UK editions are a wee bit cheaper only slightly easier to find. There is one-off Summer Special and of course the Annual pictured above.
Published in paperback this annual is a great addition to anyone's collection and contains a wonderful array of reprinted adventures from various boys comics over the years.
My all-time favourite British strip, The Trigan Empire is presented in glorious colour and features a tale of exploration loyalty and betrayal. Originally published in Ranger and continued in the long running educational magazine Look and Learn, these stories are classics.
The Spider is a villain turned hero who appeared in the traditional boys comic Lion. Actually the publishers referred to them as "papers", probably to make us feel a bit more grown up. But we always called them comics!
In the annuals featured story The Spider faces The Death Master.
It was Ironic that the bulk of Vulcan's features actually came from Valiant because that's the comic which Vulcan merged with as was the practice of British publishers.
Mytek the Mighty, Dollman and The Steel Claw all appear in this weighty tome.
Pick up a copy if you see one!
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