Colossal Comic #16 has a proxy cover date 1 January 1961 courtesy of an advertiser's date code. The cover is unsigned but certainly appears to be by Hart Amos:
This cover promotes the other ongoing series featuring DC characters published at the time by KG Murray. The focus of this promotion appears to be the expanded page count of the titles boasting 116 pages, the earliest of which appeared very late in 1960.
The story contents:
The Return of the Bathound!, originally published in Batman #97, February 1956
The Case of the Crying Clown!, originally published in Superboy #33, June 1954
The Varmint and the Wizard!, originally published in World's Finest Comics #42, September-October 1949
The Invisible Clues!, originally published in Gang Busters #47, August-September 1955
The Superman Stamp!, originally published in Superman #91, June 1954
The Lagoon of Doom!, originally published in Adventure Comics #204, September 1954
The Mystery of the Four Batmen!, Batman #88, December 1954
Haunted Superman!, originally published in Action Comics #186, November 1953
Jimmy Olsen's Martian Pal, originally published in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #10, February 1956
The Day Aquaman Couldn't See, originally published in Adventure Comics #217, October 1955
The Journey of the Second Superboy!, originally published in Adventure Comics #205, October 1954
T.N.T. Olsen, the Champ!, originally published in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #11, March 1956
The Haunted Island!, originally published in Adventure Comics #206, November 1954
Fighting Fools!, originally published in Action Comics #141, February 1950
The Spectral Superman!, originally published in Action Comics #188, January 1954
The Son of Batman!, originally published in Batman #88, December 1954
Uncle Superboy!, originally published in Adventure Comics #203, August 1954
The Man of Steel's Substitute!, originally published in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1, September-October 1954
The Human Circus!, originally published in Action Comics #200, January 1955
This issue contains a number of filler strips, including full-page instalments of Professor Eureka from Detective Comics #219, May 1955; Ollie from Adventure Comics #278, November 1960 and Superboy #83, September 1960; Bebe from Superboy #39, March 1955; Varsity Vic from Superman #90, July 1954; and the partial page fillers Casey the Cop from Detective Comics #252, February 1958 and Ton o' Fun from All-American Comics #76, August 1946.
There are some notable editorial interventions in the reproduction of some of these stories. The Return of the Bat-Hound! is an 8-page story, but this version is expanded to 10 pages - two pages have been blown up to three panels per page. Haunted Superman! and The Spectral Superman! each have their final pages reduced to fit, which is far more common in such issues. The Varmint and the Wizard! has grey tone shading. My guess is that each of these modifications is present in previous KGM publications. TBC.
I've been collecting KGMs of this period for over 25 years, and those of us obsessed by such things had not spotted a copy. As recently as a couple of years ago James was querying whether we should deem this issue non-existent. Shortly afterwards a collector came forward with a cover scan of his copy wondering what all the fuss was about. Naturally I offered him my kidney for it, but my generous offer was rebuffed. This copy appeared on eBay a week ago so I kept my kidney but paid more for this than I've ever paid for a KGM. So of course, another copy turned up on eBay the next day. It's still scarce, but not as scarce as it used to be.
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