Get Marwood & I

On 7/19/2022 at 1:43 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

I have Miller stamped examples for ten out of the twelve titles mentioned in the advert below now (the back cover of the Miller UK title War #5, dated 1961)

Only Dick and Dag missing!

Still no new Harvey 15c variants though....

On 4/9/2024 at 6:44 PM, Yorick said:

Someone should try and build a collection of "coverless" comics.  A Top Notched set.   

Shut up.

Evening.

I'm supposed to be leaving this thread alone, but what can you do when you find this in a box for two quid?

What do you mean, 'leave it there'?

It reprints this:

Comparing the placement of the indicia data on my stickerless copy, and this other stickered UK distribution copy (not mine), the production values were demonstrably top notch 

I'll see you again if I ever find another cheap pre-60s book in a box.

On 3/18/2024 at 3:38 PM, Malacoda said:

Shan't! This touches on some fascinating areas.....although I do appreciate that I'm in a pretty small crowd with regard to what I find fascinating (the last Distribution Con was just me with a big name sticker and bloke sweeping rubbish round my feet hinting heavily that he's like to go home now, please). 

At the bottom of every UK distribution barrel, through the bottom in fact, underneath it, burrowing into the ground, you'll find at least one of us....

@Malacoda

Rich, some more related musings in this old thread:

https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/417827-are-there-pence-titles-for-ga-books/?do=findComment&comment=11581770

Kev had a UKPV purist induced coronary in it, if I remember correctly.... 

Just to reiterate, Rich, and just for the 1946 Bells, I didn't find any examples among this lot where there were different printed pricing scenarios - every book with dual pricing has DP on all copies, every 10c only had 10c only in existence (with a UK sticker attached):

Comic Crimes #11, Jet Man #10 and Joke #28 all crop up once in a while in the UK. The others, I've never seen one available issue - only old scans from online sources.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be knocking all this on the head. Stop asking questions! 

On 3/18/2024 at 2:44 PM, Malacoda said:

Wait....what?  So you've got: 

A 10c US original with dual pricing (should we not be remarking on that?). 

I have, haven't I?  They're all the same though, Rich, the 1946 Bells - every applicable issue (and printing) is dual priced so there are no 'UK price variants' to find, which was the original purpose of the thread. Well, I never found any. 

On 3/18/2024 at 2:44 PM, Malacoda said:

A 6d 'British edition'  which I assume is a reduced price re-cycle of the 9d original with a 6d sticker on it? 

and then a  1/- stickered British one.  So there were stickers to put the price down from 9d to 6d and then later more stickers to put price up to 1/- ?

Yep, all the same printed info, just with some 6d and shilling stickers dotted about. There's some Manchester vs London commentary going on, as I recall reading somewhere. Maybe that had something to do with it. Maybe not.

On 3/18/2024 at 2:44 PM, Malacoda said:

But US imported comics didn't cost a shilling until 21 years after this was published. 

Techno fear.......

On 3/18/2024 at 2:44 PM, Malacoda said:

According to GCD, Bell were producing bespoke comics for the British market for only a very short time around 1946, so this is quite a historic survivor. 

There are some very good sites that discuss the Bells and the Canadians, Rich. The authors appear very clued up and likely have the answers. I was just looking for UKPV candidates, to be honest, but stumbled across the separate printings whilst tinkering. 

That's my trouble, you see. Always tinkering. I should get out more. 

On 3/14/2024 at 7:24 PM, Yorick said:

Are you able to shine a bright light through the front cover and perhaps see the printed price behind the sticker?  Maybe there's a price variant lurking under there? 

First thing I did Yoz!

But just for you...

On 3/16/2024 at 4:28 PM, Malacoda said:

That's obviously completely true.  Much of what you've researched has never been researched by anyone else and, even if it had been, it would surely not have been to the same depth and with the same relentless, meticulous dedication. Or with the same incisive conclusions drawn.  Where you say  "I've always liked to own the comics I write about where I can, rather than use other peoples scans"  I fully get this. There is nothing like holding the actual artefact in your hands, feeling the paper, smelling it and, in the case of stickers, holding it up to a 200w bulb.  However, I think your other great strength has been the courtesy and credit you extend to other (less expert) adventurers in this curious back alley of comic collecting.  I think your expertise coupled with the appreciation and respect you extend to others has created a gathering of eagles (bonus points if you can identify where I stole that from) and the interactions that have blossomed in that environment (particularly with input from those who were there at the time) has mushroomed into something far greater than the sum of its parts.  

I'm not disagreeing with what you say about your methods, I just think you're underselling yourself and your achievements. 

 

That's very kind, thank you Rich 

Afternoon 

In my post last Saturday we learnt that there are different printings of the 1946 UK distributed Bell Features Joke Comics #28. Well, I did anyway. I haven't seen that fact posted anywhere else.

When I was mucking about with the other UK distributed Bells a few years back, I made up folders to gather evidence on these titles below:

One of them is Comic Crimes #11, which reprints the guts of Chesler's 'Red Seal Comics #14' and, for reasons known only to Bell, the cover to their own 1945 'Triumph Comics #24'.

I picked up a nice shilling stickered copy a few years ago - here she be:

The GCD seems a little confused with this book, citing an additional two 'variant's' as follows:

Obviously they're not variants, just the same comic but with two different UK price stickers on them (in my world, price stickers do not a variant make):

Anyway, I nabbed another copy off the bay in the week and thought I'd compare the two as I did the Joke Comics #28. Here they are - two Bells, ding-dong:

Both are one shilling stickered copies but, as it turns out, both have different covers.

The main differences are as follows:

They have different back cover configurations - the comic titles are in a different order and the 10c price is notably higher on one copy:

Like the Joke 28, they have different inside front covers:

And also like the Joke 28, the indicia wording is set in a different position:

It's less clear to me whether the guts are separate printings as they look quite similar and do not betray any obvious signs of being reprinted. Indeed, on this occasion, it could be that they are actually remaindered copies of the original Chesler. I can't afford a copy of that, alas, to make a detailed comparison.

There are some production issues in one copy though, with the yellow and magenta plates being off register on some pages:

That could indicate a separate printing or a plate slip mid run I suppose, so isn't conclusive.

In summery, it gets hot, and in summary, it's clear that the covers at least are separate printings on these two books. One has a lighter paper stock too.

I don't suppose I'll venture much further into this area now as I was intending to shelve this entire journal entry. But at least we know that the variations between printings exist for at least two of the Bells that found their way to the UK all those years ago. And even though the pre-1960s isn't really my field, I've quite enjoyed mucking about with some of these old books even if none of them could be classified as UKPVs (the original purpose of the exploration).

Thank you to the few that played along!

Be seeing you...

On 3/14/2024 at 2:46 AM, Malacoda said:

I fully agree with this in principle, but in practice, life's too short to wait years for a knackered copy (of something you don't actually collect) when you know that someone you chat to (probably on here) might have a FN+ copy of the smoking gun run behind them.

Well, it's always worked for me and I don't think I've done too badly on it.

On 3/11/2024 at 2:55 PM, Malacoda said:

I hate that.  I saw a Doc Strange 179 with what may have been a T&P stamp but it was in a massive bundle. The seller said it was already parcelled up and wouldn't open it to tell me.  I was sorely tempted but once bidding went over £500, it was too much money just to find out it was a dealer stamp or similar.  Still haunted by it. 

Good luck.   

On 3/11/2024 at 5:12 PM, Yorick said:

Oh... how many times I've bought up big lots of stuff due to a tiny corner of something or other popping out from the back...

I guess that's the sign of a true collector.  You're willing to go through the trash to find what you seek! 

You wouldn't believe how many comics I've bought down the years just to prove things, large and small. I've always liked to own the comics I write about where I can, rather than use other peoples scans. I've sat on discoveries for months, sometimes years, waiting for the book(s) I need to surface to complete a picture. Some of my pending folders are so old I have to remind myself why I created them in the first place  

Cheers for the comments boys. I've hopefully got another variation example to post soon. It all depends if the millimetre that was visible in the listing is telling me what I think it is... 

Hello 

Notwithstanding how I ended my last post here, curiosity got the better of me and I ordered the second Joke Comics that I posted about back in February.

I compared the book to my existing copy and it looks like it is a completely separate printing. 

First up, the book titles have different colouring albeit the fact that everything is off-register might explain some of the differences. There is an absence of blue on the bell however so if there was, say, plate movement within the same run there was clearly some ink failure too:

The inside front covers are indeed different, as I pointed out previously, which is either the result of a mid-run plate change or a completely separate / later printing:

There is some notable movement to the wording above the indicia:

Aside of those subtle production differences, the only intentional difference is the inside cover 'cut out' variation. Everything else is the same - page count, ads, size and story content.

The production quality is very poor on both books but some of the interior panels in one copy look like they may have been reproduced from the other rather than from the original source material - two good examples here:

It's sometimes hard to decipher what is going on production-wise when comparing books like these, but my gut tells me that these two copies came from separate print runs - covers and guts - and are not the result of a mid-run cover plate change to accommodate an alternative inside front cover. Why those 'cut out' pages vary is anyone's guess.

The salient learning point for me here is that variations of this comic exist in the first instance - I don't think I've seen that fact noted anywhere online before, even in those blogs written by those who clearly know what they're talking about (which, in this area, I largely don't).

Cool though, isn't it.

And worth paying fifteen quid to prove, I think.

Anyway, here are both copies - you can click each image to expand them. I'm off to cut out a pony and a turkey to see which one wins in a fight.

All good fun 

I didn't get to the copies at Splatt - they seem to be gone now - but I did pick up a stickered Dr. Mercy from the bay:

There appear to be a glut of Zor, Skunky and The Conquerors doing the rounds in the UK lately, but this is the first Dr. Mercy I've seen for sale (aside of Splatt's copy).

The story comes from the unnumbered 'Zoom Comics' from 1945. 

CB+ has an image of the interior and you can see, like the other coverless Century comics I posted, that the book is clearly a crude reprint of the source material rather than an actual remaindered copy. 

All the scruffy tell tale printing signs are there.

Incidentally, a different Dr. Mercy story pops up in 'Merry Comics', also from 1945. I can't think of the comic without singing a Roy Orbison song in my head for some reason.

Anyway, not something I'm actively collecting anymore, and certainly not a pre-1960 UKPV, but fun to look at all the same. 

On 3/4/2024 at 7:10 PM, Yorick said:

You'd think after he scorned her once, she'd just walk away!  Sucker for punishment.

No wonder she ripped a hole in the cover. That's one fed up lady. 

Morning, romance lovers 

I need to do some tidying up here, but here is the 30th visually confirmed SPR which I acquired just the other week:

I love it 

It's cool, because that title/cover already exists as a bumper squarebound one shilling book:

That seems to be becoming a thing now, the reusing of titles, which is nice.

I have 30 image-confirmed books now, with another two (The Foolish Bride and Love Locked Me Out) referred to by name in reputable sources (see above).

Here are the thirty cover images saved in my files (22 of them are my copies):

I'm hoping to get back to working through and posting summaries of the contents soon 

Three recent Harvey additions 

A Blondie, stamped and distributed by L Miller in the UK....

....a 6p stamped Hot Stuff, to show that 6p was the UK prevailing price for 15c US imports...

...and a 15 Cent Variant Richie, with a pencilled 6, purchased in the UK:

I rest my case on the floor 

On 2/11/2024 at 1:16 AM, AJD said:

I might be late to the party here (people don't usually tell me about their parties, don't know why...) but why the three different puzzle pages? That doesn't seem to be something that needs to change for different markets.

I thought it was odd, yes. I only have one of the books in hand, so can't establish whether there are any other differences. I'm not the expert in this area, and don't know if this is common, but I don't recall ever seeing internal content differences mentioned anywhere else for books that I thought were printed the same for both markets.

On 2/9/2024 at 8:46 PM, Yorick said:

There was a nice Bombardier on feebay a week or two ago.  I might still be able to access the images if you need them...

I'm not collecting or investigating these books any more Yoz, thanks. I just thought the Joke #28 variations were worth a mention, should anyone in the know ever happen by....

@sarvaj

Here's my copy of Joke #28 that I mentioned earlier in this long forgotten thread:

It's from Bell Features, dated 1946, and some copies can be found with a 6d British price sticker:

I spotted a third interior variation this morning on eBay (my copy is the bottom one):

On 11/5/2023 at 12:35 PM, AJD said:

Hmm, if I was back managing intelligence analysts I'd say that we can be sure it's a '6', but have no further information regarding the significance. If it was a price, why not '6p'? I'd file this under 'inconclusive'.

Another Dot just dashed in from a UK seller 

It has a '6' written in pencil. 6 for 6p, the prevailing UK price of the time. Which is why it's 15c, and not 25c. So it could be priced 6p.

That's my theory, anyway, and it's still holding....

It likely means that your question is awaiting approval @richard8158

On 9/11/2023 at 7:31 PM, Yorick said:

Mick Anglo?  Any idea?

I'm not experienced enough regarding the artists of the era to comment, Yoz. Given the obvious aspiration to production quality though, could it have been the Streamline office cleaner?

I've just added this new one to my gallery, our 27th confirmed Streamline Pictorial Romance book (and my 21st):

I love the cheap as chips cover and production values.

It reprints three stories from Fox's My Desire #3 dated 1950, two with the the splashes missing and one retitled.

I'll post a full write up in the previous journal format at some point and then add it to the two content / format tables I've been running.

During my recent online searches I found this old catalogue page from 30th Century Comics website which had somehow previously avoided detection:

The books are long gone but you can see reference to two new titles - 'Love Locked Me Out' and 'Foolish Bride' - and then a bumper 'He Scorned Her'. Those three take us up to 30 confirmed copies, unless 30th C. have made a mistake (which I doubt - they're on the ball, those guys). 'He Scorned Her', pictured, is only the second 68 page bumper copy after 'I Lied For Love', incidentally, and shares the same 'dumbbell' cover logo.

Could 30 be it then....? It's a nice round number.  I hope not.

Until next time