This is the first of a series of articles celebrating 40 years of Scream and Horror Comics in the UK. This article, by Barrie Tomlinson, first appeared in the History of Comics 1984 – you can purchase all History of Comics here . The 1984 issue includes Scream, Halo Jones, Swamp Thing, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Supergirl, Captain America and more.
“In 1984, I was group editor of the Sport and Adventure Department at IPC Magazines. As such, I was in charge of such titles as Tiger, Roy of the Rovers and the New Eagle. They were very much parent buys. A new comic was heading my way which would probably not be a parent buy.
Scream was waiting for me!
My peaceful life producing my comics was about to to be interrupted.
Normally, the editorial pages in my titles caused no offence, produced no criticism and usually received some praise. No problems, no aggro and no surprises.
How everything was going to change… and not for the better!
At a series of meetings with managing editor Gil Page, he had told me he was very keen on the company producing a ‘horror’ comic. He eventually got the management to agree to produce such a title and I was told it was to come from my group.
Shortly after being given the news, I was a bit surprised to receive a management memo, related to the newcomic, which said the following:
“I saw xxxxx xxxxx this morning and put the situation to him. He is very enthusiastic. I have given him a general brief as to how I see the product… I said you would phone him tomorrow. His brief is for him to produce – with you – a finished dummy in approximately eight weeks…he can start here on a casual basis from Monday next. Hopefully, we shall have some space for him on the 23rd floor and we’ll take it on a day-to-day basis.”
The contents of that memo caused me some concern. Xxxxx xxxxx was a former employee, whose name I have kept confidential. I had no doubt about his abilities but I just don’t operate that way!
I create dummies. I don’t have people create them for me!
I made it clear that was not a good idea and I wanted to put the new comic together myself and produce it as I did other titles in my group. Eventually, after much discussion, I got what I
requested. The new title was going to be produced in the way I wanted. My joy was short lived.
I did some story ideas myself and asked authors for their own ideas and gradually. I built up a story content I thought would be successful. I listed lots of possible titles for the comic but eventually came up with SCREAM and two regular cover lines which were NOT FOR THE NERVOUS! and JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO SLEEP IN THE DARK! I thought such lines would clearly tell parents and readers what the new comic was all about.
I’d received very good reports about the work of the sub editor on Eagle, Ian Rimmer, so I invited him to be the editor of Scream, with Simon Furman as sub editor.
Many, many hours later, the first issue was nearing completion. For issue one we had a cover which featured Dracula and the free Dracula fangs given away with the first issue. I was pleased with the fangs, which although they were a ‘stock’ free gift, they were just right for Scream.
On page two we introduced editor Ghastly McNasty. Scream’s fictional editor was a hooded figure who would present the contents of each issue. We offered a big cash prize (£50) if any
reader could guess what his hidden face looked like. I felt sure our money was safe!
We showed a drawing of King’s Reach Tower, the place where Scream and a host of other comics were produced. The building was 29 floors high but we revealed that the Scream offices were 29 floors beneath King’s Reach Tower. In the depths!
Dracula Spectacular invited readers to send in photographs of someone they would liked turned into a hideous creature. For the reader whose idea was used there would be a prize of Dracula Spectacular make-up and disguise set from Pic Toys.
Another feature was Who Would You Condemn to the London Dungeon?
Readers were invited to send in photograph of someone they would like to be put in the London Dungeon. If an idea was used, the sender would win £5 and get free membership of The London Dungeon Kids Klub.
This is the issue one story line-up:
The Dracula File. This was my first story idea for the new title. I felt that Dracula had to be part of things. Gerry Finley-Day was the writer, with Eric Bradbury doing the artwork. Eric’s dark,
brooding style was excellent for this story!
Monster. What was the terrifying secret of the locked room? Readers would soon find out! The first instalment was scripted by Alan Moore, which was a scoop for Scream!
The Thirteenth Floor. Starring Max the computer who had terrifying ways of looking after all the tenants of his tower block. Script by Ian Holland ( John Wagner and Alan Grant), art by Ortiz.
Tales from the Grave. The title speaks for itself! Script by Tom Tully, art by Jim Watson.
A Ghastly Tale. One page. A story to make you shiver. Art by Mike Western.
Fiends and Neighbours. This was a reprint of a story that had appeared in one of the humour titles. I was told to include it to bring some light relief to the issue. I wasn’t madly keen on the idea but it meant I had two pages less to worry about!
The Library of Death: At Death’s Door.
A complete story, which I wrote myself, with art by Cam Kennedy.
Terror of the Cats. When cats turn into killers. Script by John Agee, art by Gonzalez.
The issue was completed by a full page poster of Ghastly McNasty himself!
That was issue one. I felt we had put together a good first issue, carefully balancing the contents so it couldn’t be described as a horror comic. I felt a major publishing house had to produce a title which didn’t go too far.
Feeling quite confident, I took the first issue to managing editor Gil Page. He looked through it and declared that he was happy with the contents. We then took the issue to a senior management figure I had not dealt with before. I usually took stuff to the editorial director
but this time I was told to change the system. Gil and myself sat there totally amazed as the issue was ripped to pieces (Not literally, of course!).
The story Terror of the Cats was particularly picked upon. I was told that it had to go immediately. We already had a few instalments in the pipeline, so I was told to wrap up the story at the earliest possible time.
Okay, okay!
Masses of alterations were demanded on most of the stories. We hardly knew where to start. Tails between our legs, we left the office and told Ian Rimmer and Simon Furman what had happened.
For a few moments we all stood looking at each other, trying to work out how we could salvage the first issue.
One thing was for sure, issue one wouldn’t be going to the printer on time!
We eventually got that first issue to the printer and turned our attention to issue two. I tried to treble check the issue to make sure we didn’t have the same problem again. I need not have bothered.
We did have the same problem…only more so!
Issue two was once again bashed very heavily when we took it for approval. Gil Page and myself sat there totally astounded by what was happening. This time there was some extra stuff. Gil and myself were told: “You two need to get your act together and stop competing
with each other!”
We left the executive’s office and looked at each other. There had been no competing. We felt we had got our act together. Scream was turning out to be a horror comic in a way we had never imagined!
Here’s a quote from Gil Page about Scream:
“Scream suffered from an overdose of censorship by an ultra sensitive management. Editorially, we had to operate with one arm behind our backs and if they’d trusted our judgement and expertise more, the title could have been so much better.”
(That quote is from Eagle Flies Again. Thanks to Ian Wheeler, editor).
We carried on with subsequent issues.
Trying to fit the pattern that was being asked for and still being told we had got so many things wrong. I had edited lots of comics and never before had I had any problems with my judgement. On the contrary, I had always been praised for my work.
That wasn’t the case with Scream!
Each issue got later and later going to the printer. I had always been proud of the fact that my comics were never late.
My record had lasted a long while but I don’t think Scream ever went to the printer on time.
Anyway, we staggered on trying to produce issues the management would like. We failed and issue 15 was the final edition, although we didn’t know that at the time.
The lineup for that final issue was:
The Dracula File – Still going strong.
Monster – Still shocking us.
The Thirteen Floor – Max was still in control.
Tales from the Grave – Doctor Death part two.
Library of Death – Out of the Fog.
Blood Track – Two page complete.
Dracula starred on the front cover, with the cover line: CREEPY STORIES TO CHILL YOUR BLOOD! The cover still carried the warning: NOT FOR THE NERVOUS!
The story Terror of the Cats had disappeared very early on. We did an in-house wrap up to close it as soon as possible and end the massive management criticism.
Just why did Scream only last 15 issues? I was the group editor and I don’t know the full story. I think it was probably a combination of a number of things: The company was very nervous of
producing such a comic. It was launched at a time when comic sales were suffering big circulation drops. The sales figures were maybe not as good as they could
have been. The infamous industrial action which removed comics from the bookstalls for a number of weeks certainly didn’t help a new launch.
When the strike was over, Scream and five other titles disappeared from the newsagents.
Eventually I was told that Scream was going to merge with Eagle, another of my titles. Based on reader reaction, I decided that two stories would go forward into the merged issue: Monster and The Thirteenth Floor. The latter became a big hit in Eagle and Max the computer not only continued to run his tower block, he even became editor of Eagle!
There was quite a lot of material around after the sudden Scream exit and I was able to use a lot of it in a series of Scream Summer Specials, which I was able to edit in a calm, peaceful way, with no great problems about content.
Here’s another quote from managing editor Gil Page about the Scream situation:
“Scream was good and I was certainly responsible for pushing for a ‘horror’ title to be launched. But the whole thing was a can of worms. Big IPC was so frightened of it, we used to have a
censorship meeting to examine each page before it was sent to press!”
(Taken from Comic Archive “It’s Ghastly” Hibernia. Thanks to Editor David McDonald)
I felt sorry for Ian Rimmer and Simon Furman who had come aboard the title only to face situations which were worse than anything I had faced before. Maybe it was a good experience for them, as after their Scream experience they went on to find a lot of editorial success.
Looking back, what do I think of the Scream situation? The first thing I have to say is that I’m sure we produced something that was really good. It’s nice to know that so many people still
remember Scream and there are places online where you can still read about the title. Lots of the Scream material has been reprinted in various forms and that in itself is a tribute to the writers, artists, letterers and editorial staff who worked on the title. I was lucky to have really
good contributors working on Scream.
It’s great that their work is still remembered today.
How would I sum up working on Scream? It was most definitely not for the nervous!
AUTHOR:
BARRIE TOMLINSON
You can get the Complete Scream from Rebellion / Treasury of British Comics here
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