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 cinema reference books; and
graphic novels and
comics
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
references and art titles. Its imprints are
Titan Books,
Titan Comics,
Titan Magazines and Titan Manga.
Titan Books
Titan Books is a publisher of film, video game and TV tie-in books. As of 2011, the company publishes on average 30 to 40 such titles per year, across a range of formats from "making of" books to screenplays to TV companions and novels, and has a backlist reprint program.
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 ...
's
Judge Dredd stories from ''
2000 AD''. Titan Books followed the first title with numerous other ''2000 AD'' reprints. Subsequently, the publishing company expanded operations, putting out its first original title in 1987 (
Pat Mills
Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...
and
Hunt Emerson
Hunt Emerson (born 1952) is an English cartoonist. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His many comic strips and graphic novels have ...
's ''You Are Maggie Thatcher''). Around this time, Titan also began publishing ''
Escape'' magazine (although the title was canceled in 1989).
[Plowright, Frank. Opening Shots: And As Ye Reap, So Shall Ye Sow," ''The Comics Journal'' #122 (June 1988), p. 11.] Titan Books continues to publish both new and licensed graphic novels, as well as film and television tie-ins.
Titan Books’ range of fiction includes limited comic books tie-ins and novelizations for such films as ''
Alien'', ''
Predator
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
'' and ''
Alien vs. Predator'', ''
Terminator Salvation'', ''
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...
'', ''
The X-Files: I Want to Believe'', ''
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
'', ''
The Dark Knight Rises
''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final instal ...
'' and ''
Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
''.
Titan also publishes
coffee table books
A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hardcover, hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a coffee table, table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve t ...
on animation, popular culture, collectibles and comic and fantasy art including ''
Harryhausen: The Lost Movies'' published in 2019, ''
Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film'' published in 2020 and ''
Escape from New York: The Official Story of the Film'' published in 2021, all written by
John Walsh. As of 2016, Titan Books' editorial director is Laura Price.
Reprint comic collections
* ''
Beetle Bailey: Daily & Sunday Strips''
* ''The Complete
Flash Gordon Library''
* ''
Hägar the Horrible: The Epic Chronicles: The Dailies''
* ''
Mandrake the Magician
''Mandrake the Magician'' is a Comic strip syndication, syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk before he created ''The Phantom''.Ron Goulart, ''The Encyclopedia of American Comics''. New York: Facts on File, 1990. . pp. 91, 249 ...
''
* ''The
Simon &
Kirby Library''
* ''
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
- The Complete
Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth (born Spinoza Bernard Ginsburg, December 25, 1911 – January 28, 1996) was an American artist and educator, best known for his work on the ''Tarzan (comics), Tarzan'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artis ...
Sundays and Dailies Library''
Titan Comics
Titan Books also publishes
trade paperbacks and
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
s in the
UK and
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
under the imprint Titan Comics. The company has a backlist of over 1,000 graphic novels. Its titles include such licensed characters and properties as ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'', ''
Heroes'', ''
Nemi
Nemi is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome (central Italy), in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcanic crater lake. It is northwest of Velletri and about southeast of Rome.
The town's name derives from the Lati ...
'', ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'', ''
Judge Dredd'' and other ''
2000 AD'' characters, the
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
comic-book title ''
Sandman'', ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Tank Girl
Tank Girl is a British comic created by Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett. It first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline (magazine), Deadline'', and then in the solo comic book series ''Tank Girl' ...
'', ''
The Real Ghostbusters'', ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'', ''
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
'', ''
The Walking Dead'', ''
Life Is Strange'', ''
Roy of the Rovers
''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional association football, footballer and later Manager (association football), manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared ...
'', ''
Dan Dare
Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic series ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in ...
'', ''
WWE Heroes'', ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''. In addition to licensed titles, Titan Comics also publishes creator-owned series, such as ''
Bloodthirsty: One Nation Under Water'' (2015–2016) and ''Man Plus'' (2015–2016).
In 2010, Titan acquired the American
hardboiled
Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...
fiction imprint
Hard Case Crime, and since that time has released a number of comics and graphic novels under the Hard Case Crime brand.
Heroic Signatures
Funcom Oslo AS (formerly Funcom N.V. and Funcom Productions AS) is a Norwegian video game developer and publisher that specializes in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles ''Conan Ex ...
gave Titan the license to publish new titles featuring
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 ...
in 2022. As of 2021, Titan Comics' publishing directors are Ricky Claydon and John Dziewiatkowski.
Titan Magazines
Titan Magazines is the magazine-publishing division of Titan Publishing Group. Launched in 1995 with ''
Star Trek Magazine'', Titan had previously published several one shot film tie-in titles. Since then it has published many film, TV and comics titles, including poster magazines for
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
's ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
''.
Some of Titan's magazines are published in the US, although not all, some with an entirely separate magazine.
In April 2016,
Bleeding Cool
''Bleeding Cool'' is an Internet news site, focusing on comics, television, film, board games, and video games. Owned by Avatar Press, it was launched by Rich Johnston in 2009. Avatar Press also publishes an associated magazine, also called ''B ...
published a blog/vlog entry pertaining to concerns over Titan's UK reprints of DC titles, specifically cancellations and a lack of updates and communication with readers, as well as addressing the frequent inconsistencies regarding the publication dates of future issues.
Titan ceased publication of all DC Comics titles in December 2018, most notably ending a fifteen-year run for '
Batman Legends'.
Titan Magazines currently publishes the following comics and magazines:
;Comics
*''
Adventure Time
''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
''
*''
Blade Runner''
*''
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 ...
''
*''
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 ...
Comic''
*''Doctor Who: Tales from the TARDIS''
*''
Rick and Morty
''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...
''
*''
Simpsons Comics''
*''Man: Plus''
*''Minions Comic''
*''
Tank Girl
Tank Girl is a British comic created by Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett. It first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline (magazine), Deadline'', and then in the solo comic book series ''Tank Girl' ...
'' (digital only)
;Magazines
*''Star Trek Explorer'' (Nov 2021–)(relaunch of ''
Star Trek Magazine'')
*''
Star Wars Insider''
*''Souvenir One Shots'' (different theme each issue, usually TV show tie-ins)
Titan Manga
In 2022, the Titan Publishing Group launched Titan Manga, an imprint focused solely on manga series, with their first release being a "director's cut" of
Takashi Okazaki's ''
Afro Samurai''.
References
External links
Titan Books - official websiteTitan Comics - official website*
* {{comicbookdb, type=publisher, id=2077, title=Titan Books
Book publishing companies based in London
Comic book publishing companies of the United Kingdom
Titan
Titan most often refers to:
* Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn
* Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology
Titan or Titans may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Fictional entities
Fictional locations
* Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
Manga distributors
British companies established in 1981
Publishing companies established in 1981
1981 establishments in England
Companies based in the London Borough of Southwark