Titan Entertainment is a British entertainment company. It was founded from

Forbidden Planet London Forbidden Planet is the trading name of three separate businesses with online and retail bookstores selling science fiction, fantasy and popular culture products. The original store was opened in London in 1978 named after the 1956 feature film ...

in 1993 by

Nick Landau Nick Landau is a British entertainment entrepreneur. He co-owns Titan Entertainment, with his partner Vivian Cheung, which comprises the Forbidden Planet (bookstore), Forbidden Planet Limited store chain and Titan Publishing Group. A lifelong s ...

and Vivian Cheung. The company comprises Forbidden Planet Limited and

Titan Publishing Group Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinem ...

, which has four divisions: Titan Books, Titan Comics, Titan Magazines, and Titan Merchandise.

History

Titan Entertainment is the brand name of the group, outside of Forbidden Planet, and a number of different companies and subsidiaries have been established, utilising the Titan name."Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung"
Retrieved 14 December 2022"At Work with the FT: Nick Landau, co-owner, Titan Entertainment"
Retrieved 15 December 2022"ICV2: Titan's Vivian Cheung and Nick Landau discuss Titan Publishing's roots and expansion"
Retrieved 2 February 2023"ICV2: Titan's Vivian Cheung and Nick Landau discuss Titan Entertainment's various channels, their merchandise business and future plans"
Retrieved 2 February 2023

Titan Distributors

In the early 1970s, Landau started trading his magazine Comic Media with US retailers. This evolved into a US fanzine importation service operating under the name Comic Media Distribution Service. On a trip to the US, an opportunity arose to expand this service into importing US newsstand comics into the UK. At this time, a Brooklyn teacher named

Phil Seuling Philip Nicholas Seuling (; January 20, 1934 – August 21, 1984) was an American comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. Seuling was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, orig ...

took the first steps towards creating the

direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

by setting up a direct sales service for US comic book retailers, creating a direct sales service between them and Marvel and DC. Landau was a vocal supporter of Seuling's initiative and Comic Media Distribution Service became Seuling's first international customer. After first being assisted by

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and then Mal Burns, Landau was joined by Mike Lake and Mike Luckman at Comic Media Distribution Service. Landau and his partners came to feel that the company had grown out of its original name and re-branded their operation with Landau's choice of company identity: Titan Distributors.

Forbidden Planet

In order to support their distribution business, Landau, Lake, and Luckman opened the first

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...

bookstore, on Denmark Street in London, in 1978.Barnett, David
"How cult comic book shop Forbidden Planet changed the way we consume geek culture: Four decades on, the institution is still enjoying a position both at the top of the market and in the hearts of nerds across the land"
''The Independent'' (7 September 2018). From 1978 through to 1993, Forbidden Planet grew to be a chain of stores in the UK, in addition to US stores in New York and Los Angeles. The Forbidden Planet chain comprised a number of mega stores in the UK, with the flagship store in London (which, over the years, has become world-renowned to fans of comic-books, movies, television, animation and gaming). As of 2023, Forbidden Planet London store has hosted over 2,000 signings.

Titan Books

In 1981, Landau started Titan Books, publishers of both new and licensed graphic novels and film and TV tie-ins. Titan Books' first title was a trade paperback collection of

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

stories from '' 2000 AD''. This was one of the earliest high-quality, book-format publications of comic material in the UK and Titan Books followed this first title with many other ''2000 AD'' reprints. Subsequently, Titan Books expanded operations, putting out its first original title in 1987. As of 2023, Titan Books is a global publishing company comprising illustrated and fiction divisions. Titan Books originally focused on film, TV and gaming tie-ins - and now both publishes in these categories and creates a wide range of original horror, science-fiction, fantasy, crime and thrillers.

Titan Productions

Titan Productions (which produced the West End stage play '' Thunderbirds: F.A.B.'' between 1989 and 1993) was originally part of the group, until it was sold to the John Gore Organization.

Transformation into Titan Entertainment

In 1993, Landau became sole owner of Titan Books and Forbidden Planet (UK), establishing Titan Entertainment with his partner Vivian Cheung.

Titan Publishing Group

Titan Magazines

Titan Magazines was the first division launched under Titan Entertainment in 1995, as a UK and later international newsstand publisher of genre titles. Titan Magazines originally published ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' Magazine, the ''

Wallace and Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British claymation comedy media franchise, franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving bachelor inventor, and Gromit, his ...

'' comic, UK editions of '' Simpsons'' Comics and a slew of licensed TV & film fantasy titles (''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'', etc). Featuring articles written by key entertainment industry figures such as J. J. Abrams and

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...

Titan Merchandise

Titan Merchandise was launched in 2012 and produces licensed merchandise for global properties, including

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, ''

'', ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'',

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, ''

'', '' Alien'', ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'', ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', and

Hammer Horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

Titan Comics

Titan Comics was launched in 2012, with the intention of championing creators and original material publishing high quality comics, trade paperbacks and graphic novels across the UK and United States. Film, TV and gaming comics establishing itself as a high quality publisher of licensed properties. As of 2023, their publications include ''Gun Honey'', ''Heatseeker'', ''

'', ''

Bloodborne is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game follows a Hunter through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era–inspired city of Yharnam, whose inhabita ...

'', ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

'' and ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

''.

Titan Manga

Titan Manga was officially launched in 2023. Titan had already pioneered English language manga publishing throughout the 1990s and 2000s (publishing English-language editions of '' Akira'', ''

Crying Freeman is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami. ''Crying Freeman'' follows a Japanese assassin hypnotized and trained by the Chinese mafia (called the "108 Dragons") to serve as its agent and covered ...

'', ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'', etc). Titan Manga now publishes a variety of world English editions of celebrated Japanese manga, including ''Atom'' (the origin of ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...

''), ''

Kamen Rider Kuuga is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the tenth installment of the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows and the first of the series to air entirely in the Heisei period, as well as the first standalone Kamen Rider TV series sin ...

'', ''

Afro Samurai is a Japanese '' seinen'' ''dōjinshi'' manga series written and illustrated by manga artist Takashi Okazaki. It was originally serialized irregularly in the avant-garde ''dōjinshi'' manga magazine '' Nou Nou Hau'' from November 1998 to ...

'', and Western-originated Americanised manga adaptations such as ''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'' and ''

Robotech ''Robotech'' is an American-Japanese science fiction Media franchise, franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production; it was first released in the United St ...

''.

References

External links

* {{official, https://titanbooks.com/help/page/about-us/#titan-entertainment-group Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom Entertainment companies established in 1993 British companies established in 1993

History

Titan Distributors

Forbidden Planet

Titan Books

Titan Productions

Transformation into Titan Entertainment

Titan Publishing Group

Titan Magazines

Titan Merchandise

Titan Comics

Titan Manga

References

Further reading

External links