Kobra (magazine)
Kobra was a German-language comic magazine published by the Swiss publisher Gevacur AG between 1975 and 1978. The original sales price was 1.20 DM (9, - ÖS , 1.50 SFr ). With the issue 16/1978 Kobra was discontinued.
history
| tape | Price (BDR / A / CH / I / NL) |
|---|---|
| 1975 - No. 7 | 1.20 DM / 9 Ös / 1.50 sfr / 400 Lit / 1.50 hfl |
| 1975 - No. 23 | 1.30 DM / 10 Ös / 1.60 sfr / 450 Lit / 1.65 hfl |
| 1975 - No. 25 | 1.30 DM / 10 Ös / 1.60 sfr / 400 Lit / 1.65 hfl |
| 1976 - No. 2 | 1.50 DM / 11 Ös / 1.80 sfr / 450 Lit / 1.90 hfl |
| 1976 - No. 13 | 1.50 DM / 11 Ös / 1.70 sfr / 450 Lit / 1.90 hfl |
| 1976 - No. 49 | 1.50 DM / 11 Ös / 1.70 CHF / 650 / Lit 1.90 hfl |
On Tuesday, February 11, 1975, issue number 7 was the first Kobra comic book to appear in the German magazine trade. The issues were numbered according to the calendar week in which they were published, so that each year ended with number 52 in December and began again with number 1 in January of the new year. From issue 14 of 1976 onwards, the year of publication is noted in most issues on page 4 in the imprint at the bottom of the page, but sometimes it is missing, so that an assignment to a volume is only possible via the context (issue price, stories). This often led to bad purchases and confusion for buyers of used books (the series begins with number 7, there are also 3 different books with numbers 1–6 and 17–52, 4 books with numbers 7–16) In the later magazine section Kobra-Markt , where magazines were traded among the readers, there is always the editorial note that advertisements should include the year of publication in addition to the magazine number. It was only just before the out of the series in 1978 that the publisher decided to include the year in addition to the issue number on the title page.
From issue 10/1975, the half-page advertising on page 4 gave way to an editorial section with a small letter to the editor called Kobra readers write your opinion . The letters to the editor varied in size and could sometimes be completely absent in later issues in favor of other editorial categories. In some editions this area took up a full page or, much less often, a double page. From issue 49/1976 the column Kobra readers write your opinion has been replaced by the Kobra discussion and Kobra market sections , which were printed on separate pages. In 1977 the reader area was renamed Kobra-Aktuell .
A few issues came with a gimmick, e.g. B. a wobbly ghost with luminous color application, a flip book or a boomerang. Later editions often had a poster in the middle of the magazine.
The magazine prices were increased steadily in the first 2 years of the publication period, only in Italy the price was temporarily reduced back to Lit 400 two weeks after an increase from Lit 400 to Lit 450 in 1975. The first edition of the booklet in 1975 cost 1.20 DM in Germany, the last edition in 1978 cost 1.50 DM. As was customary at the time, booklets could be reordered by letter directly from the publisher; the money had to be included with the order in the form of stamps become.
The series appeared a little over three years. It ended with issue number 16 of the 4th year in April 1978 without notice. The last issues show attempts to gain new readers by changing the thematic focus. So the design of the title page changes, and in addition to the fantastic adventure stories there are now funny comics. In order not to offend the readers of the comics with the abrupt ending, which are designed as sequels, there is a short summary of the further course of the plot at the end of each story in the last issue.
Kobra's target group were young readers of fantastic adventure and superhero comics. The cartoonists included Don Lawrence with the series Das Reich Trigan , The Fights of the Sea Wolves and Storm , Eric Bradbury with the series Mytek - The Monster and Francisco Solano López with the series The Magic Eye and, in later years, with the series Pit and the prodigies .
Comics included
In the initial edition (issue 7/1975) the following comics were included as sequel stories (original title in brackets):
- Mytek - Das Monster ( Mytek the Mighty , artist: Eric Bradbury)
- Das Reich Trigan ( The Trigan Empire , artist: Don Lawrence)
- The magic eye ( Kelly's Eye , draftsman: Francisco Solano López)
- Archie - The Man of Steel ( Robot Archie , draftsman: Bert Bus)
- Spiderman ( The Spider , draftsman: Reg Bunn, writer: Ted Cowan)
- The Iron Hand ( The Steel Claw , artist: Jesus Blasco)
- Sabor - The Jungle King ( Saber - King of the Jungle , artist: Denis McLoughlin)
Later volumes also contained the following stories (original title in brackets):
- The fights of the sea wolves ( Karl the Viking , artist: Don Lawrence)
- Billy and the soccer shoes ( Billy's Boots , draftsman: John Gillatt)
- Code name tiger shark ( code name Barracuda )
- Storm (draftsman: Don Lawrence, the series Storm replaced the series Trigan from issue 9/1978)
- Spin the thread with Zip Nolan, from 1977 with a changed title: Crime for thinking - Zip Nolan ( Zip Nolan - Highway Patrol )
- Martin's super mini
- Johnny Puma - The Man with the Steel Handle ( Johnny Cougar )
- Pit and the child prodigies ( Pete's Pocket Army , artist: Francisco Solano López)
- Lefty with the superbums ( Look out for Leafty! )
- Bob Scott
- Hot wheels
- Mick and Mack ( The Wild Wonders )
- Dr. Karnak's revenge
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kobra at comicguide.de , accessed on December 15, 2011
- ↑ Price information on the title pages for the years 1975 to 1978
- ↑ Kobra, edition 14/1976
- ↑ Kobra, issues 13/1978 to 16/1978
- ↑ Kobra, No. 6/1976 without letters to the editor
- ↑ Kobra, issue 36/1975, letters to the editor on double page
- ↑ Kobra, issue 49/1976
- ↑ Kobra, edition 32/1976
- ↑ Kobra, Hefte 7/1975 (fidgety skeleton), 8/1975 (Fantom face), 9/1975 (Schnurr-Kino) and 2/1976 (Boomerang)
- ↑ Kobra, edition 22/1975 (400 lit), editions 23/1975 and 24/1975 (price 450 lit), edition 25/1975 (again 400 lit)
- ↑ Kobra, edition 4/1977
- ↑ Kobra, born in 1975 and 1976
- ↑ Kobra, No. 7, year 1975
- ^ Robot Archie [1]
- ↑ The Steele Claw [2]
- ↑ British Comic Art: Saber King of the Jungle [3]
- ↑ British Comic Art: Billy's Boots [4]
- ↑ Kobra, edition 6/1977
- ^ British Comics from the Past, Present and Future [5]
- ↑ Kobra, various editions, years 1976 to 1978