Censoring The Man Who Could Live Forever!

As we know, Australian printings of US comics were altered for the domestic audience, typically crudely edited to accommodate page counts. Sometimes they were altered to reflect English spelling, currency and idioms, sometimes to insert local place names or landmarks, and sometimes they were just plain censored. 

And sometimes, the one story was altered more than once, as is the case with the Batman story The Man Who Lived Forever!, originally published in Detective Comics #204.

Here's scans of the first two pages:

Now compare to scans of the first two pages from Colour Comics' Batman #55, c.1955:

On the splash page, the masthead has been altered from Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder to Batman with Robin, and the dollar signs on the notes have been altered to pounds. On the second page Jewelry and Jeweler have been altered to Jewellery and Jeweller. These alterations appear conventional and benign, converting American spelling and currency to Australian.

This story was recycled by K.G. Murray a short time later. Here's scans of the first two pages from Colossal Comic Annual #3, c.August 1957:

These pages are sourced from Batman #55 - the masthead, spelling and currency alterations are intact - however there are other significant changes: The Bang Bang Bang gunshot effects are omitted from the splash page; the gun is excised from the first three panels on the second page, necessitating the gunholder's hand to be redrawn; the Bang Bang effects are removed from the third panel on the second page; and the speech is altered - from And you won't get hurt! to Do as I say!, and But I'll teach you not to horn in on my jobs! to But you'd better not stop me!, and M-My bullets didn't even scratch him! to That blow didn't even shake him!

Self-censorship in the Australian comics industry did not begin in the 1950's but clearly something happened between 1955 and 1957 to warrant the toning down of the violence in this story. According to Kevin Patrick K.G. Murray adopted an internally modified version of the US Comics Code, and the distributor, Gordon & Gotch "could demand changes be made to artwork prior to publication, or refuse to distribute titles that contained offensive material." I wonder whether the second iteration of this story was subject to intervention by Gordon & Gotch or some other body? 

According to the GCD this story was not reprinted in the 1960's, but it was recycled by K.G. Murray some ten years later. Here's scans of the first two pages from Wonder Comic Monthly #16, c.August 1966:

This version is sourced directly from Batman #55. 

Thanks to Mark Muller for alerting me to the variation in Colossal Comic Annual #3 - and look for his thorough indexing of this issue on GCD soon!