The company produced anthology titles, reprinting comics stories from many U.S. publishers of the 1940s to 1960s in a black and white digest size format for a UK audience.
During the 1960s and 1970s, these reprints were the main medium through which British children were introduced to American monster and mystery comics, as well as most non-DC or Marvel superheroes.
Alan Class (born in London, England, 21 July 1937)[2] began as an importer of remaindered copies of American movie, romance, and detective magazines for UK distribution.
(After World War II, the U.K. was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned the direct importation of American periodicals.
In 1963, Alan Class bought the inventory of L. Miller & Son, Ltd., a UK publisher since the 1940s that had also reprinted many U.S. comics in black-and-white format.
[1] The available reprint material was reduced even further when, sometime between 1968 and 1971, King Features Syndicate sued Alan Class over publishing rights to its titles and characters, including The Phantom.
[5] Alan Class Comics began as 68-page titles, containing a mix of stories reproduced in black and white with colour covers, and selling for 1 shilling.
Beach and coastal resorts were thronged with thousands of holidaymakers with their children, who at certain times had to be kept quiet and happy, and what better way than to read a comic.
Early Marvel Comics tales of Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko respectively, Giant-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp, the Human Torch, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Archie/Radio Comics' characters Jaguar, The Fly and Mighty Crusaders; Charlton's Captain Atom and Judomaster; ACG's Magicman and Nemesis; King Features' Flash Gordon by Reed Crandall, "The Phantom" and Mandrake the Magician, among others, also appeared on a random basis across many titles.
Golden Age superheroes such as Novelty Press's Blue Bolt and the 1940s Timely Captain America and Human Torch tales were similarly treated.
Although many of the reprints scattered across the successful anthologies were science-fiction stories, titles themed solely on science fiction were comparative failures.
It is possible that this was part of Class's license for the Charlton inventory,[citation needed] as that company had reprinted the tale in Space Adventures #20 (March 1956).
Although the Alley Sloper comic magazine was critically acclaimed by the fan press,[2] it suffered from poor distribution and insufficient public interest, and the title disappeared from the market after only four issues.