Obverse Books is a British publisher initially known for publishing books relating to the character Iris Wildthyme,[1] and currently for the Black Archive series of critical books on Doctor Who. The company also owns publishing rights for stories based on Faction Paradox and Sexton Blake[2] and had an e-book only imprint named Manleigh Books between 2012 and 2016.[1]
The company was founded in 2008 in Edinburgh by Stuart Douglas.[3] Obverse's first book was a 2009 collection of short stories featuring the character Iris Wildthyme, first seen in the Doctor Whouniverse. Further volumes of Iris Wildthyme short stories have followed annually.
In 2010 the company expanded their line to include story collections from single authors and collections that did not focus primarily on science fiction. That same year the company also acquired the rights to publish short story collections based on Faction Paradox.[4]
In 2011 Obverse launched The Obverse Quarterly, a series of paperback books aimed at genre fans.[5] The series contains stories by authors such as George Mann, Paul Magrs and Michael Moorcock, and new stories featuring Zenith the Albino,[6]Sherlock Holmes and The City of the Saved, amongst others.[7] That same year Obverse began publishing a series of tete-beche collections as part of the resurgence of such books in the speculative fiction market.[8] The following year Obverse launched an ebook-only imprint, Manleigh Books.
Obverse obtained the rights to the character of Sexton Blake in 2013 and relaunched the Sexton Blake Library in 2014 with Mark Hodder's 'The Silent Thunder Caper'.[2][9][10]
In 2015 Obverse announced The Black Archive, a series of book-length critical studies of individual Doctor Who stories, launched in March 2016. In 2017, a sister series The Silver Archive was announced. This Archive, edited by Stuart Douglas, covers series other than Doctor Who, including Sapphire & Steel, Dark Skies, Stranger Things and The Strange World of Gurney Slade.
In 2018, a charity book published by Obverse contained a section of the abandoned Steven Moffat script for The Day of the Doctor featuring the Ninth Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston.[11]
In 2019, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the imprint, Obverse published six books,e achih featuring one of the most popular characters from their catalogue. These included Iris Wildthyme, Faction Paradox, The Manleigh Halt Irregulars, Senor 105, Seaton Begg and The City of the Saved.
Publications[edit]
The Sexton Blake Library[edit]
Sexton Blake and the Silent Thunder Caper by Mark Hodder (2014)
Iris Wildthyme[edit]
Iris Wildthyme and the Celestial Omnibus (eds Paul Magrs and Stuart Douglas, 29 May 2009)
The Panda Book of Horror (eds Stuart Douglas and Paul Magrs, 12 December 2009)
Miss Wildthyme and Friends Investigate (collection of linked novellas, 10 June 2010)
Iris: Abroad (eds Stuart Douglas and Paul Magrs, December 2010)
Wildthyme in Purple (ed Stuart Douglas and Cody Quijano-Schell)
Lady Stardust (ed Art Critic Panda, 2012)
Fifteen (ed Stuart Douglas, August 2013)
Iris Wildthyme of Mars (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, October 2014)
The Perennial Miss Wildthyme (ed Dale Smith, October 2015)
A Clockwork Iris (ed Stuart Douglas, George Mann, and Paul Magrs, February 2017)
Wild Thymes on the 22 (ed Stewart Sheargold, 2018)
Bafflement & Devotion: Iris at the Edges (collection of previously published Iris stories from charity anthologies)
The New Adventures of Iris Wildthyme[edit]
Iris Wildthyme and the Polythene Terror by Paul Magrs
Mother, Maiden, Crone by Courtney Milnestein
Faction Paradox[edit]
A Romance in Twelve Parts (ed Stuart Douglas, 2011)
Burning with Optimism's Flames (ed Julian Eales, 2012)
Against Nature - Lawrence Burton (2013)
The Brakespeare Voyage - Simon Bucher-Jones and Jonathan Dennis (2013)
Liberating Earth (ed Kate Orman, 2015)
Head of State - Andrew Hickey (2015)
Weapons Grade Snake Oil - Blair Bidmead (2017)
Spinning Jenny - Dale Smith (2017)
The Book of the Enemy (ed Simon Bucher-Jones, 2018)
The Book of the Peace (ed Philip Marsh, 2018)
The Obverse Quarterly[edit]
Book 1.1: Bite Sized Horror (ed Johnny Mains)
Book 1.2: Señor 105 and the Elements of Danger (ed Cody Quijano-Schell)
Book 1.3: The Diamond Lens and Other Stories (the short fiction of Fitz James O'Brien)
Book 1.4: Zenith Lives!: Tales of M.Zenith, the Albino
Book 2.1: Tales of the City (ed Philip Purser-Hallard)
Book 2.2: Lady Stardust (Iris Wildthyme and David Bowie)
Book 2.3: The Casebook of the Manleigh Halt Irregulars (ed Philip Craggs)
Book 2.4: The Obverse Book of Detectives (ed Stuart Douglas)
Non-fiction[edit]
Face to Face: Interviews in Time and Space (ed Eddie McGuigan, November 2013)
The 500 Year Diary Volume 1 (1963-1973) (Paul Castle, November 2013)
The Annual Years (Paul Magrs, June 2014, second edition 2019)
An Electric Storm: Daphne, Delia and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Ned Netherwood, October 2015, second edition 2019)
Radiophonic Times (Peter Howell, March 2021)
An Obverse Sextet[edit]
Six novellas featuring popular characters, released to celebrate Obverse Books' Tenth Anniversary in November 2019
The Mystic Menagerie of Iris Wildthyme - Nick Campbell
The Rise and Fall of Señor 105 - Blair Bidmead
The Immortal Seaton Begg - Simon Bucher-Jones
Hyponormalisation: A Faction Hollywood Production - Jonathan Dennis
Closing the Casebook - Nick Wallace
Vanishing Tales of the City - Kara Dennison
The Black Archive[edit]
The Black Archive #1: Rose by Jon Arnold (March 2016)
The Black Archive #2: The Massacre by James Cooray Smith (March 2016)
The Black Archive #3: The Ambassadors of Death by L M Myles (March 2016)
The Black Archive #4: Dark Water / Death in Heaven by Philip Purser-Hallard (March 2016)
The Black Archive #5: Image of the Fendahl by Simon Bucher-Jones (May 2016)
The Black Archive #6: Ghost Light by Jonathan Dennis (July 2016)
The Black Archive #7: The Mind Robber by Andrew Hickey (September 2016)
The Black Archive #8: Black Orchid by Ian Millsted (November 2016)
The Black Archive #9: The God Complex by Paul Driscoll (January 2017)
The Black Archive #10: Scream of the Shalka by Jon Arnold (March 2017)
The Black Archive #11: The Evil of the Daleks by Simon Guerrier (May 2017)
The Black Archive #12: Pyramids of Mars by Kate Orman (July 2017)
The Black Archive #13: Human Nature / The Family of Blood by Naomi Jacobs and Philip Purser-Hallard (September 2017)
The Black Archive #14: The Ultimate Foe by James Cooray Smith (November 2017)
The Black Archive #15: Full Circle by John Toon (January 2018)
The Black Archive #16: Carnival of Monsters by Ian Potter (February 2018)
The Black Archive #17: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit by Simon Bucher-Jones (March 2018)
The Black Archive #18: Marco Polo by Dene October (April 2018)
The Black Archive #19: The Eleventh Hour by Jon Arnold (May 2018)
The Black Archive #20: Face the Raven by Sarah Groenewegen (June 2018)
The Black Archive #21: Heaven Sent by Kara Dennison (July 2018)
The Black Archive #22: Hell Bent by Alyssa Franke (August 2018)
The Black Archive #23: The Curse of Fenric by Una McCormack (September 2018)
The Black Archive #24: The Time Warrior by Matthew Kilburn (October 2018)
The Black Archive #25: Doctor Who (1996) by Paul Driscoll (November 2018)
The Black Archive #26: The Dæmons by Matt Barber (December 2018)
The Black Archive #27: The Face of Evil by Thomas L Rodebaugh (January 2019)
The Black Archive #28: Love & Monsters by Niki Haringsma (February 2019)
The Black Archive #29: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon by John Toon (March 2019)
The Black Archive #30: The Dalek Invasion of Earth by Jonathan Morris (April 2019)
The Black Archive #31: Warriors' Gate by Frank Collins (May 2019)
The Black Archive #32: The Romans by Jacob Edwards (June 2019)
The Black Archive #33: Horror of Fang Rock by Matthew Guerrieri (July 2019)
The Black Archive #34: Battlefield by Philip Purser-Hallard (August 2019)
The Black Archive #35: Timelash by Phil Pascoe (September 2019)
The Black Archive #36: Listen by Dewi Small (October 2019)
The Black Archive #37: Kerblam! by Naomi Jacobs and Thomas L Rodebaugh (November 2019)
The Black Archive #38: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords by James Mortimer (December 2019)
The Black Archive #39: The Silurians by Robert Smith? (January 2020)
The Black Archive #40: The Underwater Menace by James Cooray Smith (April 2020)
The Black Archive #41: Vengeance on Varos by Jonathan Dennis (April 2020)
The Black Archive #42: The Rings of Akhaten by William Shaw (April 2020)
The Black Archive #43: The Robots of Death by Fiona Moore (May 2020)
The Black Archive #44: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang by Philip Bates (June 2020)
The Black Archive #45: The Deadly Assassin by Andrew Orton (July 2020)
The Black Archive #46: The Awakening by David Evans-Powell (August 2020)
The Black Archive #47: The Stones of Blood by Katrin Thier (September 2020)
The Black Archive #48: Arachnids in the UK by Sam Maleski (October 2020)
The Black Archive #49: The Night of the Doctor by James Cooray Smith (November 2020)
The Black Archive #50: The Day of the Doctor by Alasdair Stuart (December 2020)
The Black Archive #51: Earthshock by Brian J Robb (February 2021)
The Black Archive #52: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos by James F. McGrath (April 2021)
The Silver Archive[edit]
The Silver Archive Christmas Special: The Christmas Box by Paul Magrs (December 2017)
The Silver Archive #1: Sapphire and Steel (Assignments 1 & 2) by David McIntee and Lesley McIntee (August 2018)
The Silver Archive #2: Sapphire and Steel (Assignments 3 & 4) by Cody Schell (August 2018)
The Silver Archive #3: Sapphire and Steel (Assignments 5 & 6) by James Cooray Smith (August 2018)
The Silver Archive #4: Stranger Things Season 1 by Paul Driscoll (January 2019)
The Silver Archive #5: Dark Skies by Matthew Kresal (April 2020)
The Silver Archive #6: The Strange World of Gurney Slade by Andrew Hickey (October 2020)
Time's Mosaic[edit]
Time's Mosaic 9 - Eccleston, Torchwood and Quatermass by Finn Clark (2015)
Time's Mosaic 5 - Davison, Sarah-Jane and Erimem by Finn Clark (2017)
Time's Mosaic 6 - Colin Baker, BBV and K9 by Finn Clark (2019)
The City of the Saved[edit]
Tales of the City (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, 2012)
More Tales of the City (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, 2013)
Tales of the Great Detectives (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, 2014)
Furthest Tales of the City (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, 2015)
Tales of the Civil War (ed Philip Purser-Hallard, 2017)
Stranger Tales of the City (ed Elizabeth Evershed, 2018)
The Periodic Adventures of Señor 105[edit]
The Gulf, or Señor 105 y el Cráter Misterioso by Cody Quijano-Schell (2012)
The Grail, or Señor 105 y el Pueblo del Gobernador Demente by Lawrence Burton (2012)
By the Time I Get to Venus, or Recuerda by Blair Bidmead (2012)
Señor 105 and the Secret Santa, or El Santa, el Barbudo de Plata by Stuart Douglas (2012)
Green Eyed and Grim, or Aquí Hay Dragones by Selina Lock (2013)
Horizon, or Señor 105 contra las Momias Locas de Odinhotep by Philip Purser-Hallard (2013)
The Senor 105 Adventure Book, or Señor 105 y los Chicos y las Chicas Guía de Peligro by Joe Curreri (2013)
The Five Faces of Fear, or Ocho de Lado by Jay Eales (2013)
Spectrum, or Monstruos en la Luz by Stewart Sheargold (2014)
Obverse originals[edit]
Welcome Home, Bernard Socks by Paul Magrs (2015)
Terra Exitus by Scott Liddell (2016)
Other titles[edit]
The Obverse Book of Ghosts (ed, Cavan Scott, November 2010)
With Deepest Sympathy - Johnny Mains (October 2010)
Team Up - Paul Magrs and George Mann
The Ninnies - Paul Magrs (April 2012)
The Newbury and Hobbes Annual 2013 - George Mann (December 2012)
Storyteller - a Found Book (charity anthology for cystic fibrosis)
Behind the Sofa - Mark Charlesworth and Chris Newton
A Target for Tommy (limited edition anthology of charity Doctor Who short stories)
The Blue Landscape and other stories - Stewart Sheargold-Pearce (2012, ebook only)
Downtime - The Lost Worlds of Doctor Who - Dylan Rees (2017)
A Treasury of Brenda and Effie (ed, Paul Magrs, 2017)
A Second Target for Tommy (limited edition anthology of charity Doctor Who short stories)
Forgotten Lives (limited edition anthology of charity Doctor Who short stories)
References[edit]
^ a bSouthall, J.R. (30 March 2012). "Books! The Best Weapons In The World! - A Guide to Independent Doctor Who Publishing". Starburst. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
^ a b"Sexton Blake back in print". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
^Douglas, Stuart (15 March 2013). "Interview: Obverse Books". Smooth Book Club (Interview). Interviewed by Lynn Parsons. London: Smooth Radio.
^Douglas, Stuart (7 June 2010). "Obverse Books is..." Facebook. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^Jones, Stephen (2012). The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 23. Running Press. ISBN 9780762445974.
^Holland, Steve (2013), Zenith: Prince of Chaos, Bear Alley Books, p. 24
^Southall, J. R. "Book News: Obverse Announce New Titles..." Starburst. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
^Barnett, David (27 July 2011). "Tête-bêche books make a speculative return". The Guardian. London.
^"Sexton Blake returns with Obverse Books". Bookbrunch.co.uk. London. 19 May 2013.
^Coming Pulp Attractions
^"Steven Moffat publishes Christopher Eccleston version of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary script". 22 Mar 2018.