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Comics International Closes Shop?

Founded in 1990 by Dez Skinn, and originally distributed through comic shops for free, Comics International was the UK equivalent of Wizard though it bore a greater resemblance to Comics Buyers Guide. A shop-focussed magazine covering the comics industry, I had my first published work there, initially as a reviewer, then contributor to their Movers & Shakers column, and finally they reprinted extracts from my Lying In The Gutters column every month.

The magazine was incredibly popular in the UK, often outselling the top comics it covered. And it was read by the entire industry, and most committed comics fans. But as of 2006, Dez Sknn practically retired and the magazine was sold to Cosmic Publications, headed up by Pete Boyce and employing CI contrbutor Mike Conroy as editor.

However a dramatic reduction in schedule and repeated lateness saw the magazine print stories, even run advertisements hat were months out of date. A series of Comics International themed specials were published, that didn't need to rely as much on topicality, but there has been no sign of a new issue for a year.

And finally DTT report that Cosmic Publications has officially closed shop. There are no responses to emails sent via the company website and direct emails bounce. As it stands, unless there is another buyer, and frankly who would want that taint of Comics International right now, the magazine seems to have finally come to an end for now.

It is likely that CLiNT Magazine from Mark Millar and Titan Magazines will cover some of the topics that used to be CI's domain, but it seems to be a different beast, more akin to Speakeasy, Deadline or Blast!

It's a sad end to what used to be a UK comics behemoth.

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