Duffman_Comics

The cabinetry may cost a lot, but nothing like the outlay to slab 2,000 comics that you are (obviously) not going to sell. Good luck.

Met Gahan at San Diego Comic Convention in 1989. Bought a couple of Trade Paperbacks and he kindly sketched/personalised them. No charge (of course) in those days:

I really appreciate old auction catalogues that the attendee has taken the time to note what lots sold and for how much. I also know that this will test you, Bob - was the "Buyer's Premium" in operation? I know Christie's and Sotheby's started in 1975 but there was a lot of resistance by "smaller" auction houses (they saw it as an advantage to attracting buyers from the big guys).

This is actually interesting. Lifted from John Ryan's "Panel by Panel" " The newspaper fraternity had hardly recovered from the loss of Smith’s when, in February 1951, Jimmy Bancks repudiated his contract with Associated Newspapers and took his case to the Equity Court. After 20 years as the major attraction in the Sunday Sun, it seemed unthinkable that Ginge would part company with his birthplace. Bancks contended that his £80 per week contract had been breached when the paper had failed-to run Ginger Meggs on the front page of the comic section, as stipulated. For three issues the comic section was published as part of the rotogravure section and, so Associated Newspapers contended, for technical reasons the front page of the comic section was not printed in colour. Ginger Meggs appeared on the third page of the section, in full colour and below the title block Sunday Sun Comics. Even though the comic was published on the front page after Bancks had made a number of protests, the Equity Court ruled that the contract had been breached. At the time of the repudiation, Bancks had signed a contract with his long-term friend, Frank Packer, for the comic to appear in the Sunday Telegraph. Paradoxically, Ginger Meggs’ appearance in the Telegraph on 3 June 1951 was as a double-page centrespread and not on the front page of the comic section. It was an unusual strip as it had Mr and Mrs Meggs discussing their appearance in the new paper and approaching Bancks (who had drawn himself into the strip) about a new dress for Mrs Meggs. Bancks refused. The final panel showed Ginge having been severely battered by Tiger Kelly to prove that while he may have changed papers nothing else had changed. This legal drama did not affect newspapers in other states where Ginger Meggs continued to be published as usual. The Sunday Sun’s replacement for Ginge was Snowy McGann, drawn by Hottie Lahm. Hardtmuth Lahm was born at Tallinn, Estonia in 1912. His father was a jeweller who lost a small fortune in a financial crash and decided to migrate to Australia. A family friend noticed Lahm’s flair for drawing and soon after he enrolled at the East Sydney Technical College he sold his first cartoon to the Sydney Mail. The payment of two guineas had to last a long time as he did not sell another cartoon for two years. A fellow student who couldn’t get his tongue around Hardtmuth nicknamed him ‘Hotpoint’. The name stuck and Lahm started to sign his work ‘Hotpoint’ and this was inevitably shortened to ‘Hottie’. During the Depression, Lahm took whatever freelance work came his way and in 1934 he created two strips for Fatty Finn’s Weekly - Pam and Popsy Penguin and Basso the Bear. When the comic folded in 1935, Lahm hit on the idea of going to the country and doing caricatures in hotel bars at 2s. a time. As fast as he made a few pounds he would, spend it buying drinks for offended customers. Lahm returned to Sydney and in 1937 he commenced a long career of supplying Associated Newspapers with covers, caricatures and cartoons for their various publications. The following year saw the birth of his best-known creation, Snifter. A dog that relieved himself anywhere and on anyone, Snifter was to be a back page feature in Man Magazine for over 30 years and the subject of many cartoon books, including special editions that were published to raise funds for the war effort. Snowy McGann was an adventure strip with plenty of comedy relief provided by Pistol Packer (a comment on the opposition?), Herman the Strongman, McGonigle and the rest of the troupe that toured the country with Snowy and Bunce’s Circus. With his wide-eyed characters, Lahm’s natural inclination was towards broad humour and slapstick yet he was capable of producing very realistic drawings for sequences that demanded it. This was the case in many of the episodes that were devoted to boxing and in one such sequence he used the former champion boxer, Vic Patrick. Snowy McGann’s only problem was that it suffered from being asked to fill the shoes of Ginger Meggs - and that task was beyond the capacity of any strip likely to be brought forward. The Sunday Sun promoted the strip with various competitions but it was fighting a losing battle as their former trump card was in the hands of their opponents. Snowy McGann finished in 1954."

Finally (won't he ever shut up?) here's the second issue - AJD has already posted the third:

The other lovely thing is that the reprints come with reproductions of the "paper" covers and some original advertisements:

Well, here comes a flurry of activity . . . Further to AJD's "Giant Size Phantom" I present the following: The first GS Phantoms were offered in Australia in the late fifties and early sixties. They were 100 pages of black and white fun wrapped in a glossy four colour cover. Here's a link to the GCD. Note the prominence of the Phantom and the strip down the left side of the (later) covers proclaiming "100 Pages". It should also be noted that the characters only interact on the cover. All the stories are character "stand alone". Fast forward to 2017 and a new Frew crew has taken control of the, let's face it, moribund publisher since the death of Jim Shepherd.. This year a new series of "Giant Size Phantoms" is started and with a lovely nod to the history of "the brand" here's the first issue:

Next is an article cut from the Australian Women's Weekly - circa 1970's. Photo of Burt Blum.

Great idea for a thread. I've posted these before, but newer Boardies may not have seen them. They are from an Australian newspaper and magazine, clipped by yours truly back in the day. First, a nice article with the late John Ryan, author of "Panel by Panel" and taken way too young. The sub-editor suffered from the rampant comic cliche that insists "Wham Smash Pow" must be featured but otherwise not a bad piece. From the Sunday Telegraph, September 1972

That's an interesting Wonder Woman 221. Looks like a printing defect stuffed up Hawkman's left boot. The GCD doesn't have the lack of red this one does. Good luck with the Con schedule. I loved San Diego, but as the years rolled on we simply just grew apart.

Also to be noted is the introduction of not one but two cobras, a rather cliched witchdoctor or two (I assume) and what is going on with Jo-Jo's bondage? Seems to have a huge range of movement with his arms - surely enough to extricate himself. As has been noted by others, AJD, very nice, strong colours on this cover. Oh, and I learned a new word today - "soughed".

This is just wonderful. By my count, writer Garvin has pulled quotes from more than 20 of the Baird's plays (plus Sonnets!!) to create the dialogue. When this was created, there were no databases to pull up nor on line quotes to pluck. Barring an esoteric reference book (which I suspect may exist) that some scholar had created that allows the reader to examine Shakespearean quotes as they refer to various categories (a bit like a Thesaurus) Garvin displays a very impressive breadth and depth of his subject. And talk about obscure offerings. Has anybody seen, let alone studied "Timon of Athens" or "Titus Andronicus"? What a great freebie. You know, I have always had some regard for edowens71

Westerns, even moreso than Romance books interest me a lot lately, given the art can't be so superhero "out there" and needs to be grounded in the "real world" with a lot of props. Maneely, Severin and a few others I can't recall mastered this. Not sure about Ingells. Is he related to Graham Ingels?

A book with a spine like that is a 4.0? Wow! Great book

Not to mention war time black-out rules. Nice find. AJD knows this, but I'll blather on anyway. This magazine is still being published, although from 1982 it became a monthly periodical. The original name was retained, however, for obvious "aesthetic" reasons.

One is not purchasing the figurines, but rather a set of molds from which the aspiring entrepreneur might cast a multitude of figures for profit. The extra "powder" (5lbs for $1.25 shipped) is likely plaster of paris.

Cotton McKnight from "Dodgeball" Lovely book. Can any body tell me if they were run on the same presses as the US versions?

I get that Ann has been awarded an Oscar for something or other, but why are the Mandrills so enraged? Unhappy fellow nominees? Making a statement about the AMPAS bias against other primates? Very nice book with great colours for a Fiction House - and I know AJD does NOT "amp" his scans.

I did not like these "two-for-one" comics back in the day - Suspense, Astonish, Strange Tales etc as there were far too many cliffhanger endings and the really spotty distribution here meant I'd often miss the next issue and have to obtain it on the secondary i.e. back issue/fellow collector/second hand book shop route, but months later. And I am sure you know Adam Austin was a nom de plume for Gene Colan. Anyway Harry, carry on, I enjoy your views on these old Silver Age books.

It's a pretty neat book for a few reasons. The cover artist, Maurice Bramley, is/was a local and he did pretty good work on this one, considering how early in Spidey's career this was produced, and therefore not a lot of reference material. The (black and white) interior reprints Amazing Spider-Man #1, so faithfully in fact that the "Peter Palmer" errors are reproduced: As to condition, it is VERY nice by Australian standards for local product of this vintage. I can remember when these were scorned by the (local) market and collectors actively avoided them, preferring the US originals. And now back to AJD.

Still have mine

Abdul Abulbul Check the "naughty" parody version Then wonder whether the "love song" referred to is that rather rude offering

The answer is here and at the top of this very page.

This is more like it. I enjoy a good parody - have you seen the brief run of "Looney Tunes" character "take offs" in Marvel Comics Presents? Linky Pretty amusing.

OK, gritted teeth and cinched belt checked I sallied into the narrative - and it is quite good. Touch of Breathed's "Bill the Cat" * thpppt*, a joke about fish reproduction allegedly composed by WC Fields and I am interested enough to wonder how it turns out. Happy Andrew?