The Distribution of US Published Comics in the UK (1959~1982) 15 15

[Malacoda]

On 1/21/2022 at 7:07 PM, themagicrobot said:

I have two full sets (at least) of all the 1975 Atlas/Seaboard comics (not the magazines) because someone was selling a job lot of most otf the titles (incredibly cheaply a decade ago) that contained the one issue (Vicki) I still needed and I thought I may as well tidy up and get the other missing issues. I also have 20 copies of the Brute No 2 but that is another story.

What's your take on Atlas/Seaboard....genuine attempt to make money with a fresh start by a seasoned professional .....or mad, quixotic act of revenge by a man who had seen both himself and his dynasty back-stabbed and replaced by a fast-taking snake oil salesman?

[themagicrobot]

No doubt Martin Goodman really thought producing hit comics was easy but launching 20 new titles all at the same time was a bit much. No doubt the returns/unsold stock were massive hence Thorpe and Porter being able to sell many of them to us for 5p a throw. But it seems to me that he pulled the plug before he had given the comics/creators a chance to find their feet.

They are now 47 years old and still available for 99p or £30 encapsulated (not mine) but perhaps their time will come when people realize they are so bad they're good like Archie's MightyRadio comics, Tower comics, most ACG heroes etc ad infinitum.

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by themagicrobot

[themagicrobot]

Tod's comic used to sell for 99p but those days have gone.

[yrag9591]

I bought this recently. Beautiful cover and (possibly more importantly) beautiful stamp!

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:03 PM, yrag9591 said:

I bought this recently. Beautiful cover and (possibly more importantly) beautiful stamp!

That's lovely Gary, thanks. It looks like the copy I have saved in the files as it goes:

I checked only the other day to see if I could find an earlier cover dated copy than the October 1959 dated Adventures #112, but no luck - it still leads the ACG pack:

They're quiet underloved books aren't they, ACG. Although I recall Mr T liked them. 

[Malacoda]

I was reading again that legendary story from 1957 where Martin Goodman opens a closet, finds it full of artwork that Stan has paid for but not used and tells him to basically fire everyone until the backlog is used up.  This is Stan's telling of it: 

"It would never have happened just because he opened a closet door. But I think that I may have been in a little trouble when that happened. We had bought a lot of strips that I didn't think were really all that good, but I paid the artists and writers for them anyway, and I kinda hid them in the closet! And Martin found them and I think he wasn't too happy. If I wasn't satisfied with the work, I wasn't supposed to have paid, but I was never sure it was really the artist's or the writer's fault. But when the job was finished I didn't think that it was anything that I wanted to use. I felt that we could use it in inventory — put it out in other books. Martin, probably rightly so, was a little annoyed because it was his money I was spending."

But it occurs to me, if you do the maths, there must have been nearly 2 years worth of already accepted-as-good-enough material sitting around anyway.  Timely went from producing up to 46 titles (April 57) down to zero (Oct 57).  They famously got no warning at all that ANC was shutting down - let's assume for argument's sake they had minimum 4 months of content ready to go (distribution was 3 months ahead of cover dates - might be a false equivalency), the leftover content when they dropped from 40+ titles per month to just 8 would have been the equivalent of nearly 2 years of material in only 8 titles. 

Just saying. 

 

 

[themagicrobot]

I was reading an old issue of Alter Ego magazine over the weekend. Half the magazine was a massive article about the life (and death) of Joe Maneely. He had been Stan's go-to artist for almost a decade but died before the Marvel Age of Comics even began. He drew Horror, Funny Animals and Westerns but not much in the way of Super Heroes because, apart from a few experiments reviving Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, Atlas weren't really doing that genre in tthe 1950s. If he hadn't died young in a tragic accident, being as prolific as Kirby but also always doing his own inking too he would probably have been offered Spider-man or the FF or some others and Marvel would have looked quite different. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Maneely  

Edited January 24, 2022 by themagicrobot

[Garystar]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:20 PM, themagicrobot said:

If he hadn't died young in a tragic accident, being as prolific as Kirby but also always doing his own inking too he would probably have been offered Spider-man or the FF or some others and Marvel would have looked quite different. 

Jack Kirby walked into Marvel Offices right after Joe Maneely’s death - I don’t think it’s documented whether Stan invited him or he saw an opportunity. If Joe hadn’t died Jack probably wouldn’t have joined Marvel and there probably wouldn’t have been a Fantastic Four or Spider-Man. 

[Malacoda]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:20 PM, themagicrobot said:

I was reading an old issue of Alter Ego magazine over the weekend. Half the magazine was a massive article about the life (and death) of Joe Maneely. He had been Stan's go-to artist for almost a decade but died before the Marvel Age of Comics even began. He drew Horror, Funny Animals and Westerns but not much in the way of Super Heroes because, apart from a few experiments reviving Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, Atlas weren't really doing that genre in tthe 1950s. If he hadn't died young in a tragic accident, being as prolific as Kirby but also always doing his own inking too he would probably have been offered Spider-man or the FF or some others and Marvel would have looked quite different. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Maneely  

Not sure if that's a direct response to my post, but Maneely was laid off in precisely that cull and was out with fellow artists who were victims of the same lay off when he died, so it is a definite segue.  Don't forget also that Matt Baker, the other Atlas star artist, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1959, so they were really in a jam.  Kirby was suing DC at the time, so I imagine his conversation with Goodman & Stan was really short on both sides. 

[themagicrobot]

Quote

Not sure if that's a direct response to my post

Sort of. I was just thinking about Atlas comics in the late 1950s. Stan would have had Joe back as soon as work picked up. They were still working together on a newspaper strip.

Quote

If Joe hadn’t died Jack probably wouldn’t have joined Marvel and there probably wouldn’t have been a Fantastic Four or Spider-Man. 

 Depends how much you think Jack was involved in the concept. Or Jack could have stayed at DC and have the Challengers blast off into space and return with super powers. And Steve could have come up with a Spider-Man concept on his own and taken it to Charlton. In this alternate reality Charlton comics would have been massive and Atlas comics would have faded away.

Edited January 24, 2022 by themagicrobot

[yrag9591]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:51 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

We've discussed whether the October cover dated Superman #132 might exist with a T&P stamp a few times, our earliest recorded issue currently being #133.

This original owner shot shows #131 to 137 and #133 is once again the earliest stamped issue (unless the stamp is hiding on the bottom right corner):

The #133 is an eight stamp:

Of the four copies I have captured images of to date, we have three eights and one nine.

But still no stamped October #132.

I'll keep looking...

 

Just noticed a small mistake in the table, I think. You’ve got Showcase 22 listed as both 10/59 and 11/59.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/25/2022 at 11:28 PM, yrag9591 said:

Just noticed a small mistake in the table, I think. You’ve got Showcase 22 listed as both 10/59 and 11/59.

Thanks Gary, I'll amend that later. I still look periodically for the missing issues, and potential earlier ones where the dates fit. Still hopeful a Dobie Gillis might turn up one day. You never know...

[themagicrobot]

Presuming that this stamp was placed on the comic when it was new it is interesting to see a "No tax" 10d stamp as early as 1959. Also is that a letter "B" on the stamp? Does that mean there may have been comics stamped with the letter "A" the previous month?

 

[themagicrobot]

 

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by themagicrobot

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/26/2022 at 6:45 PM, themagicrobot said:

Presuming that this stamp was placed on the comic when it was new it is interesting to see a "No tax" 10d stamp as early as 1959. Also is that a letter "B" on the stamp? Does that mean there may have been comics stamped with the letter "A" the previous month?

 

We did him a few weeks back...

https://boards.cgccomics.com/topic/471133-a-review-of-the-distribution-of-us-published-comics-in-the-uk-1959~1982/?do=findComment&comment=12141470

 

[themagicrobot]

Sorry for that. I'll remove my errant redundant post should I? 

Edited January 26, 2022 by themagicrobot

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:07 PM, themagicrobot said:

Sorry for that. I'll remove my errant redundant post should I? 

Nah, leave it there. Nowt wrong with a second viewing. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/26/2022 at 6:49 PM, themagicrobot said:

What a great idea! If you cut out a piece of the cover in the right place you can see the indicea. This enables you to encapsulate or bag your old comic and easily see the publishing details. Now where did I put my scissors.

Note that this won't work on comics that have the indicea on the inside front cover though.

In all the excitement, we seem to have missed that that fella's gun talks. 

[OtherEric]

Just added this to my collection.  We may have seen it here before, but if nothing else this is a fresh scan:

[Get Marwood & I]

On 1/27/2022 at 5:27 AM, OtherEric said:

Just added this to my collection.  We may have seen it here before, but if nothing else this is a fresh scan:

Iron Man got big, didn't he