Titan Entertainment Group
Retailer Publisher | |
Industry |
Comic books Retail Publishing |
Founded | 1978 |
Founders |
Nick Landau Mike Lake Mike Luckman |
Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom |
Key people |
Nick Landau Vivian Cheung Leigh Baulch Chris Teather Andrew Sumner Laura Price |
Divisions |
Forbidden Planet bookstore chain Titan Publishing Group Titan Merchandise |
Titan Entertainment Group (TEG) is a British retailing, publishing and merchandise company - owner of the Forbidden Planet bookstore chain, Titan Magazines, Titan Comics, Titan Merchandise and Titan Books. TEG is owned by Nick Landau and Vivian Cheung.
History
Titan Distributors
Up through the mid-1970s, only a small range of American comic books were available in British newsagents. Landau saw the distribution opportunity, and along with Mike Lake and Mike Luckman, formed Comic Media Distributors. Soon changing its name to Titan Distributors, Landau operated the business until 1992, when he and Lake parted company. (Lake almost immediately sold Titan Distributors to the American comics distributor Diamond Comic Distributors.)[1]
Forbidden Planet
Early on, Landau was "forced" into retail by the closure of one of his leading customers; he needed to take a radical step to avoid going out of business himself. In 1978, Titan Entertainment Group opened its first Forbidden Planet bookstore, on Denmark Street in London.
In 1992, after Landau and Luck parted company, TEG established a chain of stores, Forbidden Planet International, mainly in northern England and Scotland. Although TEG has made some attempts to establish Forbidden Planet abroad, there are no longer any TEG-owned FP stores outside the UK.
Titan Publishing Group
Titan Books
In 1981, TEG started Titan Books, publishers of both new and licensed graphic novels and film and TV tie-ins.
Titan Magazines
Titan Magazines, officially launched in 1995, publishes Star Trek Magazine, the Wallace and Gromit comic, UK editions of Simpsons Comics, and many other titles.
Titan Merchandise
Titan Merchandise (launched in 2011) produces high-quality licensed merchandise for global properties, including Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Doctor Who, The Beatles, Star Trek, Alien, Breaking Bad, Ghostbusters and Hammer Horror.
References
- ↑ "NewsWatch: Diamond Acquires Titan Distributors," The Comics Journal #154 (November 1992), p. 14.