Since the late 1980s, creators from the U.K. have played a major role in shaping the American comics industry. And today, British publishers of comics and graphic novels are making a bigger splash than ever in the U.S. market, racking up levels of critical acclaim and commercial success that allow their titles to sit comfortably beside those of established stateside rivals on shelves in American bookstores and comics shops.
London’s Titan Publishing Group is one major player on the scene. A key Titan strategy has been to publish licensed TV, film, and video game tie-in comics, including Blade Runner, Bloodborne, Doctor Who, and—since a 2022 partnership with Heroic Signatures—Conan the Barbarian titles. Its Titan Manga and Statix imprints have also introduced work from Asia and Europe to the English-language market, and the company has actively sought creators worldwide to flesh out its line of original graphic novels. One recent star pickup has been Canadian animator Norm Konyu, best known for the graphic novels Downlands and The Junction. Titan is distributed to the U.S. book trade by Penguin Random House, with Diamond covering the direct market.
The Oxford-based Rebellion Developments is another significant player in the genre space. As the owner of the near 50-year-old science fiction periodical 2000 AD and the entire IPC/Fleetway comics archives, it sits on an IP gold mine that it has readily utilized with archival reprints and new collections. Alongside 2000 AD, it offers a line of classic comics, Treasury of British Comics, to entice vintage enthusiasts, as well as the Monster Fun Collection for the vibrant children’s market. Rebellion’s strongest performers so far this year have been the Judge Dredd collections A Better World and The Complete Case Files, Vol. 1, new collections featuring the beloved British characters Rogue Trooper and Nemesis the Warlock, and the space-revenge saga Shakara. Simon & Schuster distribute Rebellion titles to the book trade, with Diamond and Lunar covering the direct market.
In the arena of adult graphic novels, SelfMadeHero has carved out a niche with its adaptations of classic works of literature. Managing director Emma Hayley said the mission of its line of adaptations is “to attract new readers to graphic novels” and “do something really interesting and creative” with the source material. The London-based indie, which is distributed by Abrams in the U.S., also offers original fiction, nonfiction, biographies, science fiction, and fantasy graphic novels, largely drawing on talent from the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Well-performing backlist titles include Martin Rowson’s adaptation of Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, Edward Ross’s nonfiction ode to cinema Filmish, and Reinhard Kleist’s graphic portrait Nick Cave: Mercy on Me.
Avery Hill Publishing, distributed by SCB, has likewise developed a strong reputation for material outside traditional genre fare, highlighting creators from both sides of the Atlantic with its eclectic backlist. Despite its small size, the publisher has debuted rising stars like Alone in Space author Tilly Walden and Zoe Thorogood, author of The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott. Avery Hill’s current top-performing titles are Kit Anderson’s Safer Places, a tender collection of comics stories, and George Wylesol’s 2120, an illustrated game book that offers a new take on the classic choose-the-outcome format.
For kids, London’s Flying Eye Books has become an important player internationally, notching unit sales in equal proportion between the U.S., the U.K., and the rest of the world. A publisher of children’s picture books and comics, their graphic novel line caters to both young readers and young adults; among their consistent sellers is Luke Pearson’s Hilda series, which has also been adapted into a Netflix animated series. Distributed by Penguin Random House, Flying Eye’s current top-selling books in the U.S. are Billy Partridge’s Hupo and the Wonder Thief followed by Detective Stanley and the Mystery at the Museum by Hannah Tunnicliffe and Erica Harrison.
Also contributing to the record sales boom of graphic novels for young readers in the U.K. is David Fickling Books. The Oxford-based children’s publisher is a recent British success story that’s electing to stick close to home, choosing licensing over entering the American market. Its Bunny vs Monkey series by Jamie Smart has proved a tough rival for Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man on the U.K. children’s bestseller lists, and the series has been picked up by Union Square Kids in the U.S. Smart’s series for younger readers, Max and Chaffy, is being released by DK US this year. Earlier this year, DFB further expanded its offerings, teaming with children’s comics magazine the Phoenix to launch a comic book imprint, The Phoenix Comic Books, which promises to be an enticing draw for U.S. rights sales.
Of course, outside traditional channels sit a plethora of British creators and small publishers utilizing social media, crowdfunding, and webtoons to introduce their work to worldwide audiences. Since 2021, the Edinburgh-based small publisher Quindrie Press has run six successful Kickstarter campaigns with rewards available internationally in print and digital. Quindrie titles have already received Eisner and Ignatz award attention in the U.S.. The Scottish press’s most recent release is Otava Heikkilä’s graphic novella The Second Safest Mountain. And in the world of nontraditional publishing, London-based illustrator Shazleen Khan and Manchester-based cartoonist Rachael Smith are making waves thanks to crowdfunding support. Khan has built an international following for their self-published LGBTQ+ urban fantasy series BUUZA!!, as well as several other collections, and Smith’s self-published confessional comic strips, which first gained traction on Instagram, have since been rereleased by Icon Books.
