VULTURE CULTURE

Shaqui Le Vesconte remembers the highs and lows of Stafford Pemberton Publishing, one of several British companies who competed for the market of TV and cartoon tie-in annuals during the 1970s and 1980s...

There can be little doubt that from the 1950s through to the 1980s, when it came to children’s annuals, Manchester-based publishers World Distributors had an almost monopolistic hold on the market. Other publishers, such as Purnell, Atlas and Brown Watson, were all quick off the mark in aiming for the expected post-war baby boom.

Cowboys and superheroes, cartoon characters and nurses, rubbed book spines with more traditional boy scout, girl guide and comic fare.

If the 1960s laid the foundations for a greater profile of television tie-in annuals, the 1970s built on them. From comic and cartoon-based characters such as Superman, Batman, and the Hanna-Barbara stable of animation, Brown Watson - under the Babani brothers, Peter and Brian - created a solid if short run of distinctively superior titles. Most were written by Steve Moore, and illustrated by top or rising artists such as Brian Lewis, David Lloyd, John Bolton, Paul Neary, and Ian Gibson. A short while later two more brothers decided to set up their own publishing venture, based in Knutsford, Cheshire.

“I left World Distributors with my cousin Stafford Pemberton and his brother John to create Stafford Pemberton Publishing.” explained Chris Fernie. “Joining in 1975, I was with them for six years. I concentrated more on the sales and distribution side, as well as coming up with publishing themes, etc. Why did we break away from World? Ambition, I suppose, and wanting to prove we could do it.”

Whether they proved it is debatable. Compared to the fairly consistent offerings from the Pemberton family ‘parent’ company World, the Stafford Pemberton (SP) annuals are usually given short thrift. It did not help that their logo was a vulture, implying - maybe an in-joke - it was a scavenger that picked on the remains of dead licenses.

Variable in quality, their range was a roller-coaster from titles for young ages, to sport, comic and music-based editions. Some gems are overlooked in the criticism of the poorer titles which feature badly written fiction, dubious layouts or shoddy artwork. Sometimes all three.

Television sci-fi fans tend to be vocal about shows and merchandise that do not make the grade, so it is unfortunate SP’s two offerings for that market - the Star Maidens Annual 1978 and The Tomorrow People Annual 1979 - are among their worst.

The first was an Anglo-German production airing around UK regions from late 1976. A satire on feminism, the thirteen-part series concerned a planet ruled by women, and two men who want asylum on the male-dominated Earth. It could be the format, veering from comedic to dramatic, confused contributors to the annual. Even so, writing a coherent story or strip should be an immutable quality regardless - this is largely lacking on both counts. The cover photo clearly depicting an egg-box as part of a model city immortalised the annual for the wrong reasons. Inside, a feature showed readers how to make their own model the same way. Self-satire? Perhaps.

The Official Bay City Rollers Annual 1976 was a 70-page hardback book containing facts, photos and features on the Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity. The “tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh” were heralded as the “biggest group since the Beatles”

SP got in on the act for Thames’ longrunning The Tomorrow People late in the day. The line-up for the ever-changing cast was that of the last two series - the Junior TV Times Magazine Look-in had the rights since the start, only relinquishing them in early 1978. With some stories that are, putting it politely, ‘inspired’ by Doctor Who - one being a wholesale rip-off of the adventure ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’ - it is clear again that writers did not know where to go regarding characters and style. It was probably a mercy that SP opted not to do a second annual.