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Posts posted by ComicBookGuy
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Thought I'd take a break from the comic stuff before posting
the index for the regular series. I am currently blown away
by the incredible depth of merchandising that Dennis has
undergone during the last half century. Many pages back,
we all were dazzled by Mark's Dennis display case back on
Page 18 of this thread. That being said, I'd like to post some
interesting Dennis-related collectibles. I am going to use Mark's
excellent article from the September 12, 1997, issue of TOY SHOP,
entitled MAKING MISCHIEF: COLLECTING DENNIS THE
MENACE, as a reference for the dates on some of these
items.
First here is the Kellog's Dennis the Menace spoon from 1960,
and a pretty nicely preserved one at that...
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Jon, I sent you a personal message with my email.
Joe
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In case you are a fan and want to give some input about the Jay North tv show ever making it to DVD, here is a website, www.tvshowsondvd.com, where you can vote for it. You can vote for lots of shows on Amazon, but this one has yet to appear. Here is a link to the site...
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I'm posting Dennis the Menace #46 on ABPC right now. This is the last consecutive issue in the run drawn by Wiseman. (He did draw parts of #53
68, 69.) My copy is torn and I'm missing part of the first and second story pages of the final story, "High Finance" (pages 31-2) counting the fron cover as 1). If anyone can scan and supply those two pages I'd greatly appreciate it.
Done!
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'91 sounds about right for my purchase from Metropolis. That was around the time that they would brag that they had (or could get) a #1 of every comic ever printed I still have to pull that out to scan. It's in my safety deposit box so kind of a hassle. Also, any confirmation on a date when the Sundays started??
I can't wait to see a scan of your Dennis #1.
About the Sundays: I'm inclined to see what the Fantagraphics book that comes out in the fall says. It may just drop the answer on our lap. If there is no mention of it, however, Jon had access to the Chicago-Tribune microfilms to find out the first Dennis strip, so most likely one of us could sift through the Sundays to see when the first one appears. In addition, I have a huge stack of old Sundays from the 1950s I will be breaking out soon and will scan some for all to see. The indexing of the regular series is well underway, so I want to wind that up first before tackling all the Sunday stuff. As I have said, there are many projects to do here before this thread dies.
Joe
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I've been reading with great interest about Wiseman's confirmed involvement with the early Dennis Sundays. The copy of the letter by Wiseman is fascinating and I'd be interested how you came in possession of it.
Welcome back, JediJim - long time, no see!
TTW is Jim Wiseman's wife, and Jim is Al Wiseman's son.
By the way, I was speaking to the guys at Metropolis at the Wizard World Philly Convention last Sunday, and I was talking to them about Dennis the Menace #1. They said the last one they had in stock - in any condition - was in 1991. I was thinking that may have been the one you bought from them. Small world, huh?
Joe
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Good points, Bill. And let's also remember that the little "notch" in the panel is supposed to represent the panels that Ketcham actually drew once there got to be a lot of assistants. I'd like to hear any thoughts about this if anyone has information about it. I've heard this twice but really have no way to verify whether it's true or not.
Joe
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Thanks for posting that!
This is just the kind of stuff we need to figure out who drew what. I will make good on my promise to post some Dennis Sundays from the 1950s soon. I'm working hard to wind up the school year and will be posting a lot again soon.
Joe
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Now for a few words on the Philly Wizard World Show: It was awesome! Harley Yee had some great Dennis Giants, and I could not believe I was looking at a Dennis in Mexico Giant #8 first print in about 8.0 or 9.0 that was snow white. The interior and exterior covers are so white my scanner kept cropping off part of the cover. I never thought I would see a true high grade copy of this comic ever. The one I posted earlier is about a 7.0 at best. This book alone made the 300-mile round trip worth it. I made it a goal to go to every dealer and look only at the Dennis books available - if any were available at all. Most dealers had none. The fare was typically beat-up, but Harley had some high grades for me to upgrade and a seller from Canada named Bruno (can't remember the last name) had some nice ones also. Here's a scan of the Dennis in Mexico:
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I don't know if anyone saw this eBay auction, but one of the Dennis the Menace Giants from the Bethlehem pedigree went up on eBay a couple weeks ago. I've never seen any of the giants for sale before, so naturally I was intrigued. The seller was Overstreet advisor Keith Contarino. He said he bought all the Dennis Giants from the Bethlehems but can't remember which issues were in the set. He said this was the only one he had left and doesn't remember anything else. Not too helpful, but at least he seemed sincere. This went for about $45. It was advertised as 9.0 VF/NM, and I think it is an accurate grade. Here is the scan:
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Cool art, Bill C.! Thanks for posting. I was at Wizard World Philly this weekend so didn't have too much time to post. I did discover this cool article that follows about Malcolm Ater, the father of the political comic and the man behind Dennis giveaways -- two of them, anyway. Amazing to hear that 20 million copies of some of these were produced. An excellent read about comic history that I hope you enjoy! (I inserted little, yellow gremlins to highlight the parts pertaining to Dennis if that's all some readers wish to read.)
Joe
Here is the link if you want to check out the source:
Malcolm Ater and the Commercial Comics Company
by Tom Christopher
copyright 2003
Malcolm Ater Sr was born in Jacksonville Illinois in 1915. He got a
degree from Jacksonville College and took Graduate courses at George
Washington University. He was married in 1942 and fathered five
children. He served in the Navy as an Ensign during World War Two, and
upon discharge, worked briefly for what he later described as the only
company packaging commercial comics in New York City. This may have been
M.C. Gaines’ Educational Comics. He seems to have figured in that time
that he could do the whole job himself, and tried to get a G.I. Business
Loan for that purpose but was denied. Undaunted, in July 1946 he set up
Malcolm Ater Productions in a ten dollar a month flat at 220 West 42 St
in NYC with fifteen hundred dollars that can be assumed to have been
savings or loans.
His first comic was The History of Gas, 1947, done for the American Gas
Association. It introduced the charming Miss Flame, telling the history
of gas from its discovery by the Chinese centuries ago. Miss Flame was
subsequently used as a gas industry trademark for over 20 years. -script
and concept were by Malcolm Ater and art and character design by Jack
Sparling.
The 1948 Presidential elections were approaching and Ater, a ,
approached the party offering to produce comicbooks for them.
“I thought that if anybody needed comicbooks - and could afford them -
it was the ” , he reflected in 1950. Instead he was rebuffed
with the criticism that the idea was ‘too undignified’. Ater took his
ideas to the Democratic National Committee via an old friend and ex
employer named V. Y. Dallman, who Ater had seen on television during the
Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. Ater had taken an overnight
train from New York City and presented Dallman with the finished art to
The Story of Harry S Truman. Dallman was impressed and took Ater to the
Democratic National Committee, who liked the idea well enough to
eventually buy three million copies. There were doubtlessly obscure uses of cartoons in local elections, but this was the first use of a comicbook in
a state or national election, and Jack Redding, Democratic publicity
head asserted that the comicbooks may have strongly influenced the
election, particularly in the close states. The book is full sized
comic, 16 pages, full color with newsprint covers and known copies exist
with both glue and saddle stich binding . It features -script by Malcolm
Ater and art by Jack Sparling.
The would eventually get on the comics bandwagon and produce
their own comic for Eisenhower and Nixon during the 1956 presidential election.
By 1950 Malcolm Ater Productions was called Commercial Comics Inc.,
though both names were used through the years, and had offices at 1507 M
St NW, Washington DC. By that time they had produced political comics
for Senator Scott Lucas (D-Ill, and majority leader of the Senate)
Connecticut Governor Chester Bowles and Senator Brien McMahon,
Congressman Al Loveland (D - Ia) and Arkansas Governor Sid McMath. They
had also produced the stridently left wing magnum opus Joe Worker and
the Story of Labor for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO),
The Story of Elpido Quirino (for President of the Phillippines) Joe, the
Genie of Steel (for U.S. Steel), and America Under Socialism and they
were about to make their cultural mark again.
Smokey the Bear, a real bear cub orphaned in a forest fire, had been
used in a series of ads by the National Forest Service and had proven
popular. The Forest Service approached Ater about producing a comic and
the result was 1950’s Forest Fire. This is a lovely book. The character
was created by Rudy Wendelein, and that the art is by Wendelein and
Sparling. Mr Wendelien is indeed a skilled cartoonist, with a style that
enables him to render the cartoony Smokey and two small bear cubs (in
trousers and a dress) next to their realistic animal chums and humans in
a seamless manner. This is the first Smokey and predates the Dell series
by five years. Smokey the Bear is the longest running advertising campaign
in the United States.
Ater’s business was taking off. His comicbook promotions had drawn such
attention that others had begun producing political books. There was a
mini scandal in 1950 when the United Labor League of Ohio commissioned
Elliot Caplan to do an anti Robert Taft comic and many thought the work
to be libelous (see endnote). Many newspapers and magazines took note of
the proliferation of political comics, and Life Magazine reproduced some
panels of Ater’s and others’ books in an article that acknowledged Ater
as originator of the political comic.
Elsewhere, Ater contrasted his own business philosophy at the time:
“Tell the story of your candidate, but mention the other guy as little as
possible.”
Ater’s business continued to grow. During the 1950s he continued to
produce political books with a circulation average of 650 or 700,000 and
industrial books with an average circulation of one million copies. One
of the more interesting from a collector’s standpoint was a government
sponsored book on nuclear war, The H-Bomb and You (1955) this was
similar to a 1951 color strip that ran on the front page page of the
Washington Post in July 1951 titled If An A-Bomb Falls. Also notable
was the first Oral Roberts comic. The popular faith healer, one of the
first to take advantage of the new medium of television, was so
impressed with Ater,s book, Healing For You, that he launched his own
imprint,Tele-Pix, which produced 19 issues of Oral Roberts True Stories.
In 1943, before Ater’s entrance into the promotional comics field, the
industry had produced 20 titles. Print runs totaled 9 million copies
generating $250,000 worth of sales. By 1951, 120 books were produced for
a combined print run of 100 million copies, generating $2 million in
sales, and it was estimated that 1952 sales would top $3 million for 180
million copies of almost 200 titles. Prices for commercial customers
were estimated at 2.25 or 2.50 cents a copy for press runs of 500,000.
Half of the costs went to printing and paper, 30% for -script and art,
and the remaining 20% was profit.
Ater sold the concept of the books originally, but as his business grew
he was usually approached by customers to develop comics. He worked
directly with his clients, writing the strips from their biographies or
promotional material. Malcolm Ater was a good commercial writer. His
dialogue is clear and simple. He organizes information well and has a
real grasp of the structure of a comicbook page. He was conscious of the
visual appeal of his work and in a 1950 interview spoke of moving away
from a traditional comicbook style. After completing the -script Ater
farmed the artwork out to one of several artists, one of whom was Jack
Sparling, a relative by marriage. Malcolm then published the books and
delivered them to his clients for distribution.
In 1960 Ater traveled to Alabama to meet with George Wallace, who was
running for governor. By Malcolm’s retelling, Wallace leaned across his
desk and stated “I donユt see how a damn Yankee like you can come down
here to Alabama and help me get elected.” Ater replied “Well, Judge, if
you’ll recall, I came down here a few years ago and worked for John
Patterson and helped defeat you!” Wallace and he became friends and the
result was the comic Alabama Needs the Little Judge, George Wallace for
the Big Job. This book is pro segragationist and in it Wallace promises
to send “back north every freedom rider, sit-in, and every other
troublemaker” sent by NAACP.
Pro segragation books were also prepared for other Southern candidates
and these are noted in the publications list. These books typically give
a nod to ideas of ‘Southern tradition’ along with more strident
statements such as being anti beatnik, anti goon and anti NAACAP
During the 1960s the business continued to grow, and Ater became the
commercial agent for Publishers Hall Syndicate and was working with
their well known characters such as Dennis the Menace
, Mark Trail, BC,
Andy Capp and Rex Morgan, MD.
Under this contract, Ater produced the popular Dennis the Menace Takes a
Poke at Poison (1961, with a completely redone second version in 1981),
and eventually twenty million copies were printed.
This was a very
influential book, and Ater was told by the Department of Agriculture,
which had commissioned it, that they believed it to have been an
extremely valuable educational tool.
During this time Publishers Hall approached him with a plan to put
$250,000 into his business and put their salesmen out on the road to
promote his product, but Ater declined, preferring to keep control of
his business. “I donユt want to become a millionaire” he said.
During the 1960ユs the purely political work became less popular and the
bulk of his work became more informational and funded by the federal
government. This trend continued into the 1970s with the production of
books such as Think First of Your Unborn Child (Rex Morgan, MD
introduces foetal alcohol syndrome), It”s Best to Know....About Alcohol,
Teenage Booby Trap and What if They Call Me Chicken (both anti drug).
There were numerous cancer awareness books for the National Cancer
Society and even the mischievous Dennis the Menace turned ‘relevant’ for
the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect’s Dennis the Menace
Coping with Family stress.
This change in content and funding was fine with Ater as he’d come to
see politicians as hypocrites, though he still enjoyed the friendship of
George Wallace, who by this time had pragmatically and honestly recanted
his racist views and was seen by Ater and many others as a straight
shooting realist.
During the 1970s Ater produced The President’s House, a slick magazine
given away to White House visitors during the Ford and Carter
Administrations. This was the only venture into non comics publishing
He did, and it was similar to his 1956 comicbook Visiting Washington,
which was handed out as a travel guide by congressmen and senators to
visiting constituents.
In 1971 Commercial Comics had twenty books in print. Ater was the
president, director, board of directors and owner of a company making
about $100,000 a year. He was the only full time employee, but he
employed an additional staff of five artists and eight clerical workers
on a freelance basis. At that time he was in the process of reducing his
hourly work week from 80 to about 30
During the 1980s he continued to produce comics, one of which was
commissioned by the Central Intelligence Agency to be air dropped over
the island of Grenada during America’s 1983 invasion of that country.
The CIA had to distance itself from the project and neither their name
nor that of Commercial Comics appears on the book. When Ater was to
pick up a check for production costs he was told by his CIA contact to
meet at a pre arranged place in Washington DC. Ater the meeting he and
the agent got into a taxi where he was given a suitcase filled with
$35,000 cash.
Also during this time he produced the comic Madonna on Aids, which was
commissioned by the rock star and given away at concerts.
Malcolm Ater published comics until his death on 10 May 1992. He was
remembered as a dignified man of high standards, who thought it awful,
as many of his generation did, when his children started wearing jeans
in the 1960s, but he was also remembered as someone who was equally at
ease hosting a formal party of politicians or a cook out for
professional baseball players.
He should also be recorded as the man who created the political
comicbook, the first Smokey the Bear comic and one of the most
reproduced comics ever. In a 40 year period Malcolm Ater wrote and
produced almost 80 comicbooks that propagandized and informed, and may
well have influenced the course of democracy in the United States.
COMICBOOKS PRODUCED BY
MALCOLM ATER’S
COMMERCIAL COMICS COMPANY
All scripts by Malcolm Ater
Political Comics
7 x 10, 16 pages
Truman for President (1948. First political comic)
The Story of Al Loveland, Candidate for the U S Senate
Scott Lucas, the Nation’s Number One Senator
The Story of Elpido Quirino (for President of the Phillippines)
published in English, Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocono and Ilongo) Rare
Escuela de Traidores (Spanish language anti communist) Rare. Not
intended for USA distribution. Possibly a CIA or USIA book
5 x 7, 16 pages
Alabama Needs the Little Judge, George Wallace for the Big Job
(pro segragation)
J Millard Tawes for Governor (Maryland)
Re Elect America’s Number 1 Senator, Paul H Douglas (Illinois)
Let’s Keep Alford in Action in Arkansas (Pro Segragation)
Robert B Meyner (Unusual in that it names oponents and their connections
to organised crime. Murder scenes, etc)
Alabama Needs John Patterson for Governor (Pro Segragation)
Patterson for Alabama (Pro Segragation)
Let’s Get Things Done for Kansas, Elect Robert Ellsworth to the U S
Senate
Governor Dennis J Roberts, the Man Whoユs Done the Most for Rhode Island
The Truth on Hume, At Last! The True Story on the Democratic Candidate
for Governor
It’s Time for Bryant (Florida) Pro Segragation
It’s Time for Bagwell (Michigan) Anti Segragation
A Man Named Stevenson (Democratic Presidential, 1952)
Louisiana Needs Chep Morrison (Pro Segragation)
You’ll Be The Winner with William Winter (Pro segragation, Anti Beaknik
and Goon. Shows Anti War Protestors. Late 1960s?)
The Man Who Beat Hoffa, Des Berry (Texas)
Wayne Morse, the Man
Elect Robert F Ellisworth to the U S Congress
A Man of Action, Elect Maurice ‘Footsie’ Britt Lt Governor (Louisiana)
For One United Sunshine State, Elect Bud Dickinson Governor (Florida)
Elect David Clark, Democratic Candidate for Congress (Washington D C)
El Gobernador Que Se Ocupa (Richard Hughes for Governor of New Jersey,
Spanish version)
In addition there are references in company files to comics for the
following candidates, but the full titles and format are unknown:
Harrison A Williams, Senator, New Jersey
Robert B Meiner, Governor, New Jersey
Charles P Howell, Senator, New Jersey
Average print runs of political comics were 700,000
Industrial,Educational and Promotional Comics
7 x 10, 16 pages
History of Gas, Through the Ages with MIss Flame (American Gas
Association, 1947) First appearance of Miss Flame. Scarce
Christmas is Coming (Commercial Comics, 1948) done as a promotion for
the company. Some overstock distributed years later through Toys R Us in
Washington DC, with store stamp
Meet the New Post Gazette Sunday Funnies. (1949) Announcing the addition
of a Sunday comics supplament, with new art by many top cartoonists,
including Gould, Montana, Wunder, Siegal and Shuster, Yagar, Messick and
others. Rare
Joe Worker and the Story of Labor (Congress of Industrial Organizations,
1948 - 1950.) Rare, 48 pages. Stridently left wing. Anti segragation,
has KKK scenes, depictions of Anti Catholic lynching, black lynching,
underground railroad, etc, and shows racial cooperation as an asset in
winning World War Two, and portrays racial integration as an essential
expression of American freedom
America Under Socialism (1948 - 1950) Rare
Joe, the Genie of Steel (U S Steel, 1950) Scarce
Forest Fire (First Smokey the Bear, 1950) Scarce
The Return of Joe, the Genie of Steel (U S Steel, 1951)
If an A-Bomb Falls (U S Government, 1951, 8 pages) Rare. Designed as a
brochure, but only published as a color strip on the front page of the
Washington Post in July 1951. Only a few hand bound copies of the
brochure were made. 2 copies are believed to exist
The Conquest of Hunger (National Fertilizer Association, 1951) Scarce.
Small print run
Safe Breaks Save Lives (Wagner Electric Corp, 1951 or 1952)
Jack and Chuck Learn the Hard Way (Wagner Electric Corp, 1952 or 1953)
From Goodwill Industries a Good Life
The Will To Win (Goodwill Industries)
Happiness and Healing For You (Oral Roberts, 1956, slick covers)
Seeing Washington (Commercial Comics, 1956 or 1957). Done for newsstand
distribution, print run was 100, 000, but with 15,000 copies sold in 10
days, American News Company, the distributor, closed shop. Remaining
copies sold to U S Legislators for distribution to visiting
constituents)
Knowingユs Not Enough (U S Steel, 1956)
Copper...The Oldest and Newest Metal (Copper Development Association,
1959, also in Spanish)
Dennis the Menace Takes a Poke at Poison (U S Dept of Agriculture, 1961,
with a complete revision in 1981. Eventually 20 million copies of this
book were produced)
It’s Best to Know...About Alcohol (Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research
Foundation of Ontario, 1961)
New Uses for the Good Earth (Mined-Land Conservation Conference 1962)
Where There’s Smoke (American Cancer Society, 1963.) there were 24 press
runs for a total of 15,300,000 copies. Early runs had back cover ads of
non smoking athletes, including Bobby Richardson, Bill Russel. Athletes
were changed in 1972, and none at all in last press runs.
Where There’s Smoke (Canadian Cancer Society, 1963) Back cover has
Canadian athletes
Il n’Ya Pas De Fumme (Canadian Cancer Society, 1963) Where Thereユs
Smoke, for distribution in Quebec
Donde Hay Humo (American Cancer Society, 1966) Spanish version of Where
There’s Smoke
It’s Time for Reason, Not Treason (Liberty Lobby 1967) 4 pg, promoting
patriotism during the Viet Nam War, and exposing unscrupulous
industrialists trading with our enemy. Scarce
Ladies...Wouldn’t it be Better To Know? (American Cancer Society, 1969)
What if They Call Me Chicken? (Anti Drug, Kiwanis International, 1970,
with a second version with scrip and art updates in the early 1980s.
Both have Jack Sparling art)
Danny and the Demon Cycle (Safety Division of VIrginia, slick cover,
1972) Bicycle safety
Andy Goes to the Park (Andy Capp, National Park Service,1975)
Taking a Chance...With No Chance to Win (American Cancer Society, 1976)
Coriendo Un Reisgo Sin Oportunidad De Ganar, (American Cancer Society,
1976) Spanish version of Taking a Chance
Think First About Your Unborn Child (Rex Morgan MD discusses foetal
alcohol syndrome)
So You Want to Stop? You Can! (American Cancer Society, 1976) English
and Spanish
Dennis the Menace Coping With Family Stress (National Center on Child
Abuse and Neglect, 1981)
Grenada (Central Intelligence Agency, 1984) Commissioned by the CIA to
be airdropped over Granada during the U S invasion. Scarce as none were
meant for distribution within the United States)
AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Madonna on AIDS (This is the same book as AIDS, with a Madonna cover)
5 x 7, 16 pages
How to Get the Most Out of Your NEA Membership (National Education
Association 1951) 16 pages bound into NEA Journal
From Ball Game to Ballroom (Arthur Murray School of Dancing, 1952)
The Magic of Vitamins (Bexel Vitamins, Mc Kesson & Robbins, 1953)
The H Bomb and You (U S Government, 1955) 20 pages. Rare, low
distribution in a few cities.
Freedom or Compulsion (U S Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Right to Work
Committee, 1957) anti-union
Naked Force (Kansas for the Right to Work, 1958) Anti union
Bouncy Bexie (Bexel Vitamins, Mc Kesson & Robbins, 1961)
Oh, My Achin Back! (Michigan State Chiropractic Association, 1963)
Take Care of Yourself (American Cancer Society, 1967) 4 pgs, designed to
encourage English speaking women of Spanish descent to take the PAP test
Cuidate, Mama (American Cancer Society, 1967) Spanish version of Take
Care of Yourself
Teenage Booby Trap (Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, 1970)
Beware the Booby Trap (U S Department of Defense, !970) Teenage Booby
Trap with military cover
In addition, company records indicate the existence of the following
books who's formats, subjects and publication dates cannot be
identified:
A Safe Start
Keeping Safe Off the Job
A Safe Beauty Shop
Average print runs of industrial comics were 1,000,000 copies.
Sources:
Evening Sun newspaper, city unknown, 9 Oct (1950?) Comic-Book Use by
Politicians Increasing
Life Magazine 25 Sept 50 (as reproduced in 1950s promotional brochure
for Commercial Comics)
New York Times 31 Aug 50. Pg 23 Col 5
Promotion! American Gas Association, #2, 1947. Miss Flame to Tell Story
Unnamed, undated reference: Assorted Smiles, newspaper column by
V.Y.Dallman (Admiral). 1950?
Unnamed, undated reference: (trade newspaper?) Mc Kesson Makes Use of
Comic Type Book
Vet-Times 4 Nov 50; Elections Hinge on Comics
Wall Street Journal 20 May 52. Supermanユs Kin
Washington Evening Star 17 Oct 50. The Comic Book has Entered Politics
Washington Post 6 Sept 71 Propaganda Funnies
Interviews and correspondence with Malcolm Ater Jr
All text copyright 2003
tom christopher
All illustrations copyright 2003
Commercial Comics / Estate of Malcolm Ater
All rights reserved
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The only thing I know is that Mike Goldman of Motor City Comics bought the collection in portions over a period of time - maybe there's something on his website about it.......
The original owner still has a lot of comics left. According to Michael Goldman, the owner was unemployed for a while and sold off bits and pieces. Now the guy is employed and not selling anymore...for a while at least. I was talking to Michael Goldman about this topic on Saturday night.
Joe
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I've seen lots of sealed comics over the years. Except for the DC and King Comics three packs, I don't recall any that were official -- that is packaged by the original publishing company (though I seem to recall Marvel might have done it. Th eonly Marvels I ever saw were unofficial three packs which was great when growing up since Marvels were not well distributed where I was. The other ones I saw were like these a mixture of publishers. I suspect these were remaindered comics being resold. The backing certainly looks generic.
Jon
Jon and Bill C., thanks for your responses about the 3-pack. My feeling is that it was remaindered comics as well, especially considering the huge time lapse between the Dennis in Washington from 1975 and the other comic from 1979. In addition to your insights on this topic, I would like to add Doug Sulipa's response to my query about the three-pack. Doug Sulipa, as I have stated many times, is a gold mine of knowledge about this era of comics:
Hi Joseph,
The 3-Pack, appears to be one of the Generic Types used by ID Distributors (Newsstand comics);
These could be printed by the distributors themselves, or supplied on a national scale.
An ID Distributor could order the EMPTY BAGS and fill them with whatever products they wanted to.
The big giveaway that this occured was when different publishers where contained within the same bag.
Generic 3-Packs are considered of Marginal collectible value.
The DIRECT Distributors ALSO got in on the GENERIC Polybag game.
DIRECT Distributors were NOT allowed to send RETURNS, thus they filled these bags with there WORST selling leftover comics.
GENERIC Polybags with DIRECT copies, are the LEAST desirable & almost uncollectible of older bagged comics.
Thanks!
DOUG
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When I interviewed her before she passed away, Molly Toole told me that Fred's bound Dennis comic set was going to her nephew.
I'd love to see a set of those. I'd love to own a set of those!
Bill A.
BILL A!!!! WELCOME BACK!!!!!
Artist Frank Hill told me he had a similar bound set. I believe his was from the 1960s onward, though, from the era when he started drawing. He also said artists received lots of complimentary copies from the publisher that he would give to kids at schools or libraries. I agree it would be cool if one of these came up for sale.
Joe
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I gotta tell you guys that I am so impressed with this thread!!! I like Dennis when I was a kid in th eeraly 60s, especially those loooong summer annual vacation issues. But when this thread appeared, I had no inkling it would become such a hotbed of activity for so long!!
BRAVO!
Thanks, Aman!
Glad to see one of my favorite board members is enjoying it. This thread still has a LONG way to go before it's exhausted. At least another year at the same pace. For all the things just I alone have planned to post, etc., I would say I'm only about 20% done. Add to that things others have in mind and this thread will still be smokin' for some time to come.
Joe
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Okay, I'm convinced! Remind me not to try to index any Charlton comics. If I can get these Dennis books indexed without getting grey hairs, I'll be happy.
In the meantime, I've been meaning to post this rarity for some time. I saw it a total of two times on eBay, and they were both from the same guy sold back to back. Needless to say, I snagged one of them for about $35. I emailed a scan of this to Doug Sulipa to get his take on it. It's a sealed three-pack of comics: 2 are Dennis comics and the one in the center is an unknown Gold Key title. Anybody else ever seen sealed packs of Dennis books???
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Jon, I have only dabbled in Charltons over the years but will take your word for their numbering. But I would have to ask: Do they really have a numbering on their comics that is confusing as this Dennis the Menace Giant / Bonus Magazine / Big Bonus Series?
Here is a summary of its numbering:
The first two giants have no number.
The third giant is labeled #2, which botches the numbering for all following issues.
There are two #6's.
There are two #95's.
There is no #96.
The last three issues of the 198 issues published are #194, #10, and #11.
Why?
I have already mentioned that the title changed three times during the course of its publication. Why?
How about this for publication dates?
Giant # 71 has for its publication date September 1969, and Giant #72 has August 1969 for its publication date. A higher number being published a month earlier??? I could mention that most years had two issues published in October then none again till January the following year...
It has taken quite a while to sort all this out, but I believe there are few mysteries remaining about what is what. HOW this all happened certainly has me curious, but I won't lose sleep over it.
Joe
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Allen posted a new Dennis cartoon a few days back, and I said I would look for a cool one that I'd seen recently. Based on the poll we ran here a few pages back, it looks like many fans had given up on the strip, but there really are some great ones out there still being produced. Kudos to Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand for keeping Dennis alive!
Here's one that was laugh-out-loud funny to me. It clearly is not "PC" and is closer to the "menace" Dennis that we all seem to enjoy more than the "warm and fuzzy" version. Enjoy!
The Ultimate Dennis the Menace Thread
in Silver Age Comic Books
Posted
Nice, huh?