Trident Comics was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specialising in black and white comics created by new British talent. It was formed in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

as an offshoot of the comics

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark p ...

/wholesaler

Neptune Distribution Neptune Distribution was a UK based comic distribution company founded and headquartered in Leicester, which existed from 1985 to 1991. Neptune Comics (as it was named at the outset), began as a small B2C mail order company selling American com ...

, and went out of business in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

when Neptune was acquired by a competitor.

History

Trident Comics' aim was to provide

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-published or published by a corporate publisher. In some fields of ...

opportunities for not just established talent such as

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Chicago. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of ''From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), Campbell is also the creator of the semi-au ...

and

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for the ...

, but new talent such as

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ...

, Paul Grist and

Dominic Regan Dominic is a name common among Roman Catholics and other Latin-Romans as a male given name. Originally from the late Roman-Italic name "Dominicus", its translation means "Lordly", "Belonging to God" or "of the Master". Variations include: Domini ...

. Trident Comics's main editor was

Martin Skidmore Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

,"UK News: Trident Comics," ''Speakeasy'' #95 (Feb. 1989), p. 18. a British comics enthusiast who had been previously best known for editing the

fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...

Fantasy Advertiser ''Fantasy Advertiser'', later abbreviated to ''FA'', was a British fanzine focused on comic books, founded in 1965 by Frank Dobson, the "Godfather of British Fandom."Skinn, Dez"Early days of UK comics conventions and marts," DezSkinn.com. Access ...

'', a title which Neptune/Trident agreed to continue publishing when Skidmore joined the company. The company's first release, in early 1989, was the ''Trident Sampler'', a 32-page free sampler issue featuring previews from forthcoming titles. This was followed shortly afterward by ''

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

'' #1. ''

'' was an anthology title, and its first issue featured work such as

's ''

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

'',

and Nigel Kitching's '' The Light Brigade'' and

and Paul Grist's ''

St. Swithin's Day Swithun (or Swithin; ang, Swīþhūn; la, Swithunus; died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for post ...

''. ''Trident'' proved successful and was followed shortly afterward by ''

Saviour Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or l ...

'' #1 by

and Daniel Vallely. This was Millar's first published work and again proved successful for Trident Comics. In 1989, Trident Comics also launched ''The Saga of the Man-Elf'' (created by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English people, English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic nov ...

) as well as ''

'' on a bi-monthly basis. However, this success was tempered by criticism of titles shipping late, something which began to affect its titles more and more. In 1990, Trident Comics released its best-known title, the collected and recoloured ''

'' by Morrison and Grist. It proved controversial due to its subject matter, which had to do with a British teenager's fantasy about assassinating Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. Questions were asked about the comic in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, it quickly sold out, and it was one of the few titles Trident sent to a second printing. After this success, 1990 saw more titles such as Paul Grist's ''Burglar Bill'',

and

Andrew Hope Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

's, ''

The Shadowmen ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speak ...

'', and

and

Phil Elliott Phil Elliott (born 1960) is a British comic book creator who was published in ''Escape Magazine''. He was part of the British small press comics scene in the 1980s. Career After contributing spot illustrations to comic fanzines such as ''Bemusin ...

's ''

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

''. Many of these titles suffered from the late shipping that had been a problem previously with the company. This affected sales greatly as well as the reputation of Trident Comics. Another factor was Neptune's late 1990 formation of the imprint

Apocalypse Ltd Apocalypse Ltd was a short-lived publishing company formed out of an alliance of Pat Mills, John Wagner, Alan Grant and Kevin O'Neill. Apocalypse was an offshoot of Neptune Distribution, based in South Wigston, Leicester. Apocalypse was meant ...

(whose main title was the weekly ''

Toxic! ''Toxic!'' was a British comic that was published weekly from March 28 to October 24, 1991, by Apocalypse Ltd, with a total of 31 issues. History ''Toxic!'' was the idea of Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, John Wagner and Alan Grant. ...

''). This expansion of the publishing line stretched all of Neptune's companies to their limit; as a result, Trident didn't publish anything after 1991. Eventually, during 1992

went bankrupt and was acquired by the American competitor

Diamond Comics Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other po ...

,"Newswatch: Geppi Buys ''Baltimore''," ''The Comics Journal'' #174 (Feb. 1995), p. 29. which spelled the end for both Trident and Apocalypse. Several Trident Comics titles did find new publishers, including ''

'' (

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

) and ''

'' (multiple subsequent publishers), but many did not and remained unpublished.

Titles

* ''Black Dog'' by Nigel Kitching (1 issue, July 1990) * '' Bug Hunters'' by Jerry Paris with

Pedro Henry Steve Moore (11 June 1949 – 16 March 2014) was a British comics writer. Moore was credited with showing writer Alan Moore (no relation), then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts. His career has subsequently been quite closely ...

and

Garry Leach Garry Leach (19 September 1954 – 26 March 2022) was a British comics artist and publisher. Biography Garry Leach's early work for ''2000 AD'' included mainly one-off stories featuring ''Dan Dare'' and ''M.A.C.H. 1''.One-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

) — collecting 1985–1987 material from ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' magazine * ''Burglar Bill'' by Paul Grist (1 issue, 1990) * ''

'' (Nov. 1988–1989; 1991) * '' The Light Brigade'', by

and Nigel Kitching (1 issue, Aug. 1989) — collecting material originally published in the ''

'' anthology * ''

'' by

and

(2 issues, 1990) * ''The Saga of the Man-Elf'' (5 issues, 1989–1990), created by

* ''

Norman Spittall Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the No ...

'' (one-shot, 1991) * ''

'' by

and Paul Grist (1 issue, Apr. 1990) — collecting material originally published in the ''

'' anthology * ''

'', by

and Nigel Kitching (six issues, 1989–1991) — a trade paperback collecting issues 1-5 was also released. * ''

'', by

and Andrew Hope (2 issues, 1990) * ''

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa *Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa *Strand Street, ...

'' (2 issues, 1991) — horror series * ''

'' (8 issues, 1989–1990) — comics anthology

Notes

References

* * {{Refend

External links

Mile High Comics Trident Comics page
Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1989 1989 establishments in the United Kingdom 1992 disestablishments in the United Kingdom