Polystyle Publications

Polystyle Publications Ltd was a British publisher of children's comics and books that operated from 1960 to 1997, publishing such titles as TV Comic, I-Spy, Pippin, Countdown/TV Action, and BEEB.

The company's registered offices were at Polly Perkins House, Paddington Green, 382/386 Edgware Road, London W2. Its publications were distributed in the United Kingdom by The Argus Press Ltd of 12/18 Paul Street, London EC2. Overseas, Polystyle's publications were distributed by its sole agents: for Australia and New Zealand, Messrs Gordon & Gotch (Asia) Ltd; for South Africa, the Central News Agency Ltd.

History

The company was incorporated as TV Publications on 12 May 1960,^[1] ostensibly to publish TV Comic, which it had acquired from Beaverbrook Newspapers.

The company changed its name to Polystyle Publications Ltd in March 1968.^[2][3] It dissolved in 1997 due to insolvency.^[4]

Reputation & Legacy

Polystyle Comics particularly those of more popular franchises like Doctor Who as originally published in TV Comic and Countdown/TV Action were reprinted by Marvel starting in the 1990s. The quality of these compared with contemporaneous comics gained the company a reputation for low-quality, cheap content, much of which often bared little resemblance to the original material.

Titles

Among the titles that it published were:

• BEEB (1985)
• Buttons for Play School Children (1981–90)
• Countdown/TV Action (1971–73)
• I-Spy (c. 1967–c. 1982)
• Pippin (1966–1986)
• Playland (1968–1975)
• Read To Me (1977)
• Target (1978)
• TV Comic (1960–1984; originated in 1951, previously published by News of the World then Beaverbrook)
  • TV Comic Annual (1960–1985)
  • TV Comic Holiday Special (23 issues, 1962–1985)

References