Martin Lock


Martin Lock is a British comic book critic, writer, and publisher. As publisher of the fanzines BEM and Fantasy Advertiser, and then publisher of Harrier Comics, he was an important figure in British comics fandom in the 1970s and 1980s.
All during his publishing career, Lock had a day job in the sales department of a company in the chemical industry, the income from which helped finance his printing bills. When his employer moved its offices from London to Worcester in the late 1970s, Lock relocated as well. By the time he started Harrier in the mid-1980s, he had returned to London, settling in Northwood, Middlesex.

Fanzines: ''BEM'' and ''Fantasy Advertiser''

Growing up as a comics fan in the U.K., Lock became a reader of, and eventual contributor to, British comics fanzines like Nick Landau & Richard Burton's Comic Media and Alan Austin's Fantasy Unlimited. He also worked as an editor for a time of Mark Ellis' fanzine Fantasy Trader.
In 1973 Lock launched his own comics fanzine, Bemusing Magazine . Early issues of BEM were sold to customers waiting outside the frequent Comic Marts held in London. Notable contributors to BEM included Phil Elliott, Brian Bolland, Mike McMahon, Bryan Talbot, and Dave Gibbons.
By the late 1970s BEM had become the UK's leading comics zine, in part because it published U.S.-based industry news it got from Paul Levitz's The Comic Reader. It was also famed for its lengthy letters pages, Reaction. Lock became a member of the British Amateur Press Association, which was formed in 1977 in part due to a letter published in Reaction.
BEM was twice nominated for the Eagle Award for Favourite Fan Publication, winning the award in 1981. BEM's success led to Lock himself winning two Eagle Awards — the 1977 Eagle for Favourite British Fan Personality and the 1978 Eagle for Favourite British Writer.
BEM was acquired by the U.S.-based distributor/publisher New Media in 1981, ostensibly to distribute BEM in the U.S. and widen its readership. But the relationship didn't work out and BEM quickly faded away. In the end, BEM publishes 36 issues from 1973 to 1982.
Quickly pivoting, Lock revived Fantasy Advertiser, a popular British fanzine dating back to 1965 which had been dormant for a years. He edited Fantasy Adveriser from 1981 to 1985, putting out 20 issues before handing over the editorial reins to Martin Skidmore, in order for Lock to focus on his next venture, Harrier Comics.

Harrier Comics

From 1984 to 1989, Lock ran Harrier Publishing, popularly known as Harrier Comics. The success of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles led to a short-lived explosion of black-and-white independent comics in the United States in the mid-1980s. Harrier's titles followed the same mold, unlike most British comics publishers, who favored the comic magazine format. Lock himself wrote the company's first few titles, Conqueror and Swiftsure.
A number of top UK comics professional gave their support to Harrier by contributing covers and introductions to the company's various titles. Harrier's alternative comics imprint, New Wave, featured a number of notable creators, including Eddie Campbell, Phil Elliott, Glenn Dakin, Paul Grist, Ed Hillyer, Rian Hughes, Trevs Phoenix, and Warren Pleece.
By the spring of 1989, low sales forced Harrier to shut down. During Harrier's short existence, the company published more than 120 issues of over 30 titles.

Awards