Nick Landau is one of the co-founders, together with Mike Lake and Mike Luckman, of the comic store chain Forbidden Planet, and he also co-founded Titan Distributors, which was sold to Diamond in 1993 and became Diamond UK. Landau and his wife, Vivian Cheung, now own Titan Entertainment Group, which includes a publishing company and nine Forbidden Planet stores in the UK.
For ICv2’s Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary celebration, former retailer and DC Senior Vice President—Sales and Marketing Bob Wayne (see "ICv2 Interview: Bob Wayne") talks to Landau about his years in the business. In Part 3, Landau discusses the shift to graphic novels, the sale of the distribution company to Diamond and the formation of the current company, as well as his part in the stage production of Thunderbolts: FAB. In Part 1, Landau talks about starting the Comics Media fanzine and his own distribution company. Part 2 covers his time at the publisher IPC, where he edited 2000AD, and the opening of the first Forbidden Planet store in 1978.
We are also making available lightly edited transcripts of the interview, in three parts:
ICv2 Interview Transcript: Nick Landau, Part 1
ICv2 Interview Transcript: Nick Landau, Part 2
ICv2 Interview Transcript: Nick Landau, Part 3
This interview was conducted as part of ICv2’s Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary celebration; for more, see "Comics Direct Market 50th Anniversary."
The Rise of the Graphic Novel, and the 'Thunderbirds Go' Onstage
Posted by Bob Wayne on November 14, 2023 @ 5:04 am CT
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