History
Semic Press was the comics division of the Swedish publisher Åhlén & Åkerlunds, which was founded in 1906 by Johan Petter Åhlén (1879–1939) and Erik Åkerlund (1877–1940). Åhlén & Åkerlunds published such long-running titles as Vecko-Journalen[3] ('Weekly Record'), Allt för alla ('Everything for everyone'), Allt för alla denna vecka ('Everything for everyone this week'), Året Runt ('Year-round'), Levande livet ('Living life'), Vårt hem ('Our home'), and Veckorevyn. Although many of these periodicals published comics, they usually made up less than 50% of the total pages.
Semic Press was preceded by three prior comics imprints: Alga (1942–1950), Serieförlaget (1950–1955), and Åhlén & Åkerlunds Youth Magazines (1955–1962).
Åhlén & Åkerlunds began publishing comics in earnest in 1942 with Veckans serier ('Weekly series'), a weekly anthology of comic strips published under the Alga imprint. Alga also published the quarterly anthology Algas serietidning ('Alga's comic book') (1947–1950), which often featured Buffalo Bill on the cover.
Under its own name, Åhlén & Åkerlunds started publishing Lee Falk's The Phantom (as Fantomen) beginning with an annual album series in 1944 that is still being published as of 2025.
From 1950 to 1955, the Alga imprint was followed by Serieförlaget ('Comics publisher'), which launched Fantomen as a comic book series as well as launching Blondie, Tarzan, and Buffalo Bill.
Beginning in 1955, Serieförlaget was succeeded by Åhlén & Åkerlunds Youth Magazines, which lasted until 1962. 91:an launched in 1956, while Fantomen and Blondie remained popular. Lilla Fridolf, based on a character from a Swedish radio series which was broadcast in the mid-1950s, joined the lineup in 1960.
Semic Press – its name being a contraction of Serier (the Swedish word for comics) and Comics – was founded in 1963, taking over publication of most of Åhlén & Åkerlunds' comics titles.
Semic acquired rival comics publisher Centerförlaget in 1970, right around when Åhlén & Åkerlunds itself ceased publishing.[4] With the acquisition of Centerförlaget, Semic took over the publication of such long-running titles as Seriemagasinet, Serie-nytt, Buster, and Hacke Hackspett ('Woody Woodpecker').
In 1973, Semic was acquired by the Bonnier Group.
In 1974, Semic partnered with the Swedish publisher Allers to continue publishing the Western comics series Silverpilen ('The Silver Arrow').[5]
Semic expanded its comics market share in 1975 with the purchase of competing publisher Williams Förlag (the Swedish comics and magazines publishing division of Warner Communications). A number of Williams' titles, featuring DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, Superboy, and Tomahawk – at that point owned by Warner – had been taken over from Centerförlaget in 1969, and were continued by Semic. (Meanwhile, former Williams Förlags employees immediately formed Atlantic Förlags AB in 1975. Atlantic Förlags was ultimately acquired by Egmont Serieforlaget in 2000.)[6]
In July 1986, Semic absorbed the Danish publishers Interpresse (also owned by Bonnier) and Carlsen Comics to form SEMIC Forlagene A/S, with all three publishers continuing to use their prior names. (In January 1991, Interpresse and Carlsen separated into two companies again, with the former becoming Semic Interpresse.)
In 1988, the company formed SatellitFörlaget, which handled superhero reprint translations from Marvel Comics and DC Comics.[7]
From July 2, 1997, all comics releases were taken over by Egmont Serieforlaget; the long-running titles 91:an, Fantomen, Knasen, and Agent X9 are still being published.
Semic continues to exist as Bokförlaget Semic, but generally does not publish comics. The publication of graphic novels is done through the imprint Kartago Förlag, a company that Bonnier bought from the Norwegian publisher Schibsted and placed as an entity within Semic in January 2010.[8]
