British Library stages UK's biggest comics exhibition

Superheroes feature but show focuses on the importance of British talent to what some perceive as a very American genre

The first comics show in Britain was organised by the National Union of Teachers in 1954 as a way of scaring people off them. It was a bit of a failure funnily enough, the exposure to titles such as Tales from the Crypt with their horrifying, sexy covers did not quite have the desired effect.

"It was meant to alarm and horrify opinion formers and parents," said Paul Gravett. "But they took the comics to schools and kids went 'wow' and it probably boosted sales."

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