A new comic book trade association has been formed by several publishers in the UK. Simply called Comic Book UK, the group’s members consist of DC Thomson (The Beano), Rebellion (2000 AD), Avery Hill (Spinning), David Fickling (The Phoenix Comic), B7 Media (Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies), and Envision Entertainment (the Fable reading platform.) As CBUK explains on their website, they seek to represent the interests of everyone in the British comics industry, to advocate for it as a vital part of the economy, and “make the UK the best place in the world to create, publish and sell comics and graphic novels.”
Mark Fuller, the group’s chief executive, stated, “Comics are one of the jewels in the crown of the UK’s creative industries, and there is enormous untapped potential for further growth. We have the creative talent and business-base to become a global comics superpower, with UK companies growing and expanding their reach into new territories alongside inward investment from the huge North American, Asian Pacific and European comic industries. Comic Book UK will provide the cross-industry representation and support needed to unlock this potential.”
Comic Book UK’s three main objectives for their first year are to undertake research and analysis for “clear evidence of the industry’s economic value to the UK” to investors; advising on government policy to make the industry more attractive to international companies; and perhaps most topically, “playing a constructive role in debates around regulation of generative AI, ensuring that the value of UK comic companies’ intellectual property is maintained within a regime that supports innovation.”
Fuller has also called on Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to provide tax relief for smaller publishers. He says, “Bringing just one new monthly anthology comic to market creates hundreds of paid commissions for freelance creatives, exports a new product to a huge global audience, and offers a platform to develop new properties that can be licensed into other media. UK comic companies are primed to create dozens of new titles like this but the upfront costs are prohibitive, particularly to smaller, independent publishers. Tax reliefs of the kind that have driven growth in the film and video game industries could make a huge difference. We encourage the Chancellor to look seriously at the potential for expanding the existing creative industries tax reliefs to cover comics in this Autumn’s budget.”
Sir Chris Bryant, the UK’s Creative Industries Minister, welcomed Comic Book UK’s launch, saying, “With an edgy history from Punch to 2000 AD, British comics and cartooning entertain millions globally as part of our £11 billion publishing sector, rightly earning their place and undeniable influence among the best of the UK’s creative industries. It is only right that comics have their own advocate to help champion and unlock more investment in this innovative sector. I look forward to working with Comic Book UK as we develop our plan to boost our growth-driving industries even further.”
More members of the group will be announced at a later date. At the time of writing, membership is not available for individual freelancers, employees or students, although the official website proclaims they represent the interests of comics creators, so hopefully that’ll change. For more information in the meantime, head to their website. Perhaps the group’s launch will also encourage the creation of an equivalent in the US, which has been without since 2011, when the Comic Magazine Association of America disbanded, but as is often the case, only time will tell.
