In the 1950s Thorpe & Porter was a British publisher who competed with the likes of L. Miller and Son to reprint US titles for the UK market. In 1959 they began publishing the UK edition of Mad Magazine, which occasionally included both new covers and new interior strips produced in the UK. That same year they also became the sole distributors of Marvel Comics in Britain; the comics were still printed in New York and shipped to the UK, but had UK prices on the cover and an additional line in the indicia acknowledging T&P as distributor. However, other companies such as Alan Class and then Odhams were nevertheless allowed to purchase a separate license to reprint US Marvel comics, and World Distributors yet another license to reprint US Marvel comics as annuals.
In the 1960s T&P launched the imprint Strato Comics, although the TP logo usually remained on the cover, making it hard to tell at a casual glance which T&P publications belonged to the imprint. Strato published titles such as Adventures into the Unknown, Blackhawk, Justice Traps the Guilty, The Flash, Mystery in Space and Out of This World. Most only lasted a few issues, and T&P switched more to importing the actual US comics from companies such as ACG and DC. T&P also launched a new imprint, Top Sellers, which publised US reprints in titles including Tarzan, Korak and The Saint. In 1964 DC's distribution arm bought up T&P, and in 1965 Top Sellers hired British comics veteran Mick Anglo to attempt to recapture his success with L. Miller's Marvelman via a new title, Miracle Man, which lasted only 13 issues. In 1966 T&P also ventured into publishing original comics produced by Anglo, but neither The Avengers nor Charles Rand went beyond a single issue, and Anglo moved on to John Spencer comics. In 1970, Top Sellers printed the UK version of the 1968 Gold Key adaptation of King Kong, with interior art by Alberto Giolitti.
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