Forbidden Planet

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The London Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue

Forbidden Planet is the trading name of two separate science fiction, fantasy and horror bookshop chains across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States of America, after the feature film of the same name.

As well as books the shops sell comic books, graphic novels, manga, DVDs, video games, and a wide variety of toys, clothing and other collectible merchandise.

History

Forbidden Planet London is the largest cult Megastore in the UK, flagship of a national chain that includes Megastores in Bristol and Southampton as well as an on-line presence. Specialising in movie and television merchandise, the store also retails art toys on the high street and hosts genre signings and events.

Forbidden Planet was the third major comics store in London eventually replacing what had been the leading shop, Derek Stokes's Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed, which had started in 1969 and coming after Frank and Joan Dobson's 'Weird Fantasy' in New Cross. Much of FP's growth came after the demise of DTWAGE which went out of business in 1981. Forbidden Planet had grown out of the Titan Comic Distributors business of Mike Lake, Nick Landau and Mike Luckman, Titan itself having grown out of Comic Media Distributors. It began life in 1978 as a small store in Denmark Street. As the scope of the store expanded beyond comics to embrace film and TV a 2nd store was opened just around the corner on St Giles High St. The store's success led to overcrowding, necessitating a move to much larger premises on New Oxford Street.

As well as improving their London store the original partners paired with James Hamilton and Kenny Penman (today the main shareholders in Forbidden Planet International with Andrew Oddie, Richard Boxall and Colin Campbell) to open other stores. Penman and Hamilton were owners of one of the UK's oldest comics and SF stores 'Science Fiction Bookshop' in Edinburgh which opened around 1975. On September 30, 2003 the London store moved to even bigger premises at the eastern end of Shaftesbury Avenue.

The Forbidden Planet in Manhattan, New York, at the corner of Broadway and East 13th Street.

The original chain split into two firms, called Forbidden Planet and Forbidden Planet Scotland (later renamed Forbidden Planet International). Forbidden Planet International grew beyond Scotland to include stores throughout the Midlands, in Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and majority ownership of the store in New York City. The New York store can be found on Broadway near Union Square.

Forbidden Planet Ltd. has concentrated its growth across the south of England and into the Midlands. In 2003, they moved the flagship New Oxford Street store to the much larger Megastore premises at 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London. A landmark media event, it became the first high-street retail outlet offering every type of merchandise from individual science fiction, fantasy and cult mythologies.

The London Megastore is a city landmark, hosting signings and events throughout the year. Synonymous with the new popular credibility that science fiction has enjoyed since the year 2000, it offers a primary West End location for tourists, shoppers and celebrity appearances.

Forbidden Planet opened a second Megastore in Clifton Heights in Bristol in 2005, and a third in Southampton in 2007. In 2006, the company launched an e-commerce retail site offering a wide range of products and hosting details of the company’s many events and signings.

FPI also runs a blog featuring comics and SF related news, reviews and interviews with novelists and comics creators and has recently begun podcasting too. As well as the main webstore with a wide range of comics, SF and cult merchandise and graphic novels (including a number of British small press titles) there are also sites dedicated to new comics and back issues.

In total, between the two groups who trade under the same name, there are currently some 30 stores worldwide.

Shops

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet stores are:^[1]

• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Cambridge
• Coventry
• Croydon
• Liverpool
• London
• Nottingham
• Newcastle Upon Tyne
• Southampton

Forbidden Planet International

Forbidden Planet International stores are:^[2]

• Aberdeen
• Belfast (Managed by former Darkness writer Malachy Coney.)
• Birmingham (Nostalgia & Comic - associate store)
• Cardiff
• Derby
• Dublin
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Hanley, Stoke on Trent
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Liverpool (Worlds Apart - associate store)
• Manchester
• Middlesbrough
• New York
• Nottingham
• Sheffield
• Wolverhampton

Appearances in pop culture

• The New York store was featured in an issue of The Authority vol. 4, #2. When the eponymous superhero team ends up in the "real world", they visit Forbidden Planet and discover comic books that feature them.

• The St Giles High St store appeared in The Daredevils issues #3 and #4 in a Captain Britain story.

• Landau, Luckman & Lake, a fictional organization in the Marvel Universe, is named for the original three founders.^[3]

• British store employee Jan Waicek was quoted in the May 2000 issue of Maxim magazine, in an article titled, "Hardest of the Hardcore" which examined various items with extreme statistics or traits ("Hardest Dinosaur, "Hardest Natural Disaster", "Hardest Aircraft", etc.). Waicek was asked his opinion on who is the "Hardest Superhero", and cited Wolverine's adamantium skeleton and claws, and Superman's near-invulnerability.^[4]

• One of the potential flatmates interviewed in Shallow Grave prominently holds a Forbidden Planet carrier bag.

References

External links

• Official site of Forbidden Planet
• Flickr history of Forbidden Planet's events
• Official site of Forbidden Planet NYC
• Official site of Forbidden Planet International
• Official blog of Forbidden Planet International
• Official Comics subscription store of Forbidden Planet International
• Official Comics Back Issues store of Forbidden Planet International
• Official podcast of Forbidden Planet International
• ComicSpace site of Forbidden Planet International