Malacoda

Cool. I've been developing a list of all the warehouses / depots / offices for a while now. I've never managed to find any in Scotland, so if you find any up there, I'd be fascinated. I suspect they just had a deal with a Scottish national distributor. Thanks for this.

Not sure how much he frequents, but there's loads of great posts on Glenn's website. I've tried to establish contact with him a few times without success. I think his health is not the best these days. His stuff about Neptune Distribution is wonderful (though as I recall, it's as much about heroic drinking as distribution).

Also of note, the address is given as Wardour St. This the Warner HQ because T&P has been rolled into Warner Communications by this point.

Is this reprinting the Young Romance title that Kirby & Simon created for Crestwood?

The page with the records is very cool. Firstly, whoever wrote the wikipedia entry for T&P is under the impression that the head office moved from Oadby to Cricklewood in London in 1959, which I am very sure it didn't, but I think this was the London office for Top Sellers, which, along with Brown Watson was by far the longest surviving T&P imprint, so you could see why it would be identified as the head office. Also worth noting that when T&P went bankrupt in 1966, it was the record distribution part of the business that went bankrupt and whose creditors had the company declared insolvent. That's how Rothschild's were able to float the comic distribution business under one of the existing subsidiaries and sell it to IND.

Thanks Kevin, anything in the Indicia for this one?

I think you're dead on. Some of them actually say "AMERICAN COMIC!!!" and then British Edition a lot more quietly somewhere else on the cover.

Many thanks, Kev. Hope all went well at the doctors. Yes, these CI's are another level of confusion because these are US ones probably distributed after the ban lifted, but possibly before. 20k Leagues was number 47 in the US numbering, but was actually the 67th one published, but then it became no 2 in the UK reprint run. I assume, as they're US ones, they just have the UK sticker / stamp, and apart from that nothing was changed by T&P, but please check if you have a minute.

Indeed. You'd imagine this was because of a sudden price increase, but it was actually a decrease from 1/3 to 1/-. This doesn't come close to capturing the chaos of Classics Illustrated. In the US, they were distributed in a different order to how they were printed, so the numbers are meaningless, some numbers were used twice, some contents were used twice (so they were effectively reprints but not marketed as such), some of the US editions weren't printed at all, so the UK reprints were actually the first time they saw the light of day, some of the US ones were re-issued with new art and revised text. When Twin Circle bought the company, they reissued them as giveaways with catholic newspapers, so there are some without prices that look like knock-offs, but actually aren't. The UK reprints are in a completely different order to the US, though it's hard to tell what that means as the US ones were distributed in a completely different order to the numbering. It's a hot mess. Collectors of CI are made of stern stuff.

I sometimes think the hardest part is getting past all the fake, made up nonsense written about them so you can get the real, made up nonsense that actually happened.

Most likely a copyright issue? Presumably Dell only paid for the US rights to this photo.

Thanks for these. Interesting. I see no 4 credits Hillman Periodicals which is the US originator but the earlier one doesn't. Also a handy list of some titles actually published (not just distributed) by T&P. Thanks.

That could be a quote from Douglas Adams.

Gents, I need some help, please. Does anyone have any T&P's from 1946 to 1959 - I mean from the reprint period during the import ban. What I'm trying to establish is when they started using the Upper Brook St address so what I'm trying to get my hands on is the indicias so I can establish when this first turns up. Ideally, I'd have a bunch of issues from month/year X none of which mention it and then a bunch from the next month where they all carry it. I think the magazines may be more reliable than the comics as they will have the distribution month on them, whereas the comics don't seem to have months in a lot of cases. If you have any Classics Illustrated that would be great, but they are an absolute dumpster fire in terms of dating anything....both the UK reprints and the US originals, so they are chaos within chaos. I'll do a couple of posts on them in a while as they're interesting, but absolutely nuts. With that in mind, any of the other titles would be great. I'd particularly like anything from 1953 and 1954, as I think the start date is June 1954. I think the point where they start publishing the UK edition of Esquire in June 1954 is the first activity out of the Upper Brook St address. The difficulty is sorting out stuff they actually published through their labyrinth of imprints vs comics that they just distributed on behalf of other publishers. I think the ones below are all actual T&P publications. If anyone has any of these they can access easily, that would be very much appreciated. American Eagle Western (1955) Blackhawk (1956- 58) Bugs Bunny (1953) Spellbound (Comics to hold you...) 1953 Eerie (1952) Forbidden Worlds (1950) This is ABC Frogman comics (1952) Gene Autry Comics (1953/4) Jesse James Comics (1952) Justice Traps the Guilty (1957/8) Kid Colt, Outlaw Kid Colt, Western Comics Kid Slade, Gunfighter (1957)

I've never read the romance titles, but I agree they seem to be (unintentionally) funnier than the funny comics ever were. I've never heard anyone express much love for the Love titles (you old softy), but as Charlton practically invented the genre, it would make some sense. I know people like their 50's horror comics which were supposed to be genuinely nasty. I have heard it said that Charlton started the whole romance genre, but I think Kirby and Simon got there first at Crestwood the year before and Charlton were just the best & fastest imitators. Would that be right?

#5 also has those big shilling stamps. #1 has PV's. 2 should as well. I've never got into the humour & romance titles, too much else to do, but NBE does look quite interesting. I wonder what lurks beneath this 2/- sticker. Also, according to Paul Gambacinni, he coined the termed 'Brand Ecch' to refer to the competition in ASM #7 which would be pretty ironic as he got told off for it at the time.

And our old friend.

Not Brand Echh, beautifully caricatured by Marie Severin. Actually looks quite a bit like her. She might have cheekily done Lois as a self portrait.

Zoinks. If this is issue #1, I assume it's from before ABC joined T&P, so it was distributed by Millers?

@Get Marwood & I Hey Moonboy, check these out. The second one is a fantastic rimshot.

Yup, that's spot on. The stamping number system had long since got to pot by 1970, but the stamps with numbers on continued to be used randomly (purely as pricing tools). Then in 1970 the ampersand stamps arrive and they are used in tandem with the number stamps for a few months, but by the last quarter of 1970, they go fully over to ampersands.

When you compare it to the kind of hackery he was turning in when he came back, you can see he had clearly given up. 'You want it fast and least-possible-effort? Well here you go.'

Indeed. What I love about this is how Ditko uses the panel size on the page and the size of Spidey within the panels. At the start the panels are tiny and seen from a distance so Spidey is tiny, dwarfed by the sheer tonnage of metal and concrete on top of him, then as he begins to exert himself, not only do the panels get larger, but he fills more and more of the frame, the camera zooms in, as it were, as if he is physically changing as he summons every ounce of strength he has. It's really a masterclass in visual storytelling. When I was kid, I was blown away by this but without even realising how Ditko was manipulating my eye.