Batman Album #2 is a UK edition published c.1966 by Randlecourt Printers Ltd.:
The cover is slightly redrawn or traced from the splash page to the first story in this issue, The Great Batman Swindle, with idiosyncratic colouring.
The contents are as follows:
The Great Batman Swindle!, originally published in Detective Comics #222, August 1955
Batman the Magician!, originally published in Detective Comics #207, May 1954
Bruce Wayne's Aunt Agatha!, originally published in Batman #89, February 1955
The New Batman!, originally published in Batman #94, September 1955
The Puzzle of the Perilous Prizes!, originally published in Batman #170, March 1965
The Batman Museum, originally published in Detective Comics #223, September 1955
This is a curious book, and there is little information on it online.
The GCD lists two issues in the series, with a queried date of 1960. The inclusion of The Puzzle of the Perilous Prizes! clearly indicates this book could not have been published before 1965. The Zonk! Pow! Blam! exclamations on the rear cover pinup offer suggest it was published 1966 on the heels of the 1966 Batman tv show:
I have also seen a comment on a chatboard by a collector who says they purchased this in 1966.
I am aware of KG Murray reprints of DC material being made available in the UK up to around 1959, and I'm also aware of some connection between between KG Murray and UK Atlas. I have not encountered Randlecourt before, but it appears to me there is likely a connection between this book and the Australian reprints.
Consider the last story in the book, The Batman Museum:
This was originally titled The Batman Dime-Store Museum:
KG Murray routinely edited US references in the Australian editions of the comics,
for example converting dollars to pounds. In this instance it appears the reference to dimes was omitted rather than converted, and the edited Australian version was duly reprinted in the UK.
The problem here is that I do not have access to an Australian or UK edition of The Batman Museum from the 1950's to closely compare to this version. The closest I have is an early 1970's reprint of The Batman Museum in Giant Batman Album #21, which appears to be a recycled edition of the earlier KG Murray printing in that in-story references to dimes are omitted, evident by blank spaces in the text, and such edits match those in Batman Album #2.
I also note that three of the other four 1950's stories were published in Australia and the UK in the 1950's (I don't have confirmation of The New Batman!).
I also have not found a contemporaneous Australian printing of The Puzzle of the Perilous Prizes! - the only one I've turned up so far is in
Bumper Batcomic #8, c.April 1978.
I'd like to see copies or scans of the books I don't have access to in order confirm my theory of a connection between the KG Murray material and Randlecourt.
Posts
4 comments:
I think the “Batman Museum” story was published in the Atlas/KGM UK Batman comic #68 according to Ausreprints. I’ve not been able to locate a scan of it so far. Of course, if the plates of the Atlas/KG Murray issue match that of Batman Album #2, then where the Atlas/KG Murray issue was physically printed comes into question. And how those plates made their way to the UK. Unless they were photocopied.
From James:
I have the first issue of this Album, but I can't find it at the moment. It is likely the publication date is 1966. Both issues have the same advertisement on the back, so they were potentially printed at the same time.
The address for Randlecourt Printers Ltd. is Melton Road, Thurmaston, Leicester. That is the same address used by Top Sellers, part of Thorpe and Porter. Top Sellers had Tarzan comics imported into Australia in the seventies and was also the publisher of UK Classics Illustrated comics (as Strato). Later issues of these Tarzan comics are branded Warner Communications.
It's complex and I haven't dug into it, but:
Following a bankruptcy, Thorpe & Porter was purchased in July 1966 by Independent News Distributors (IND), the distribution arm of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). In 1967/68, Kinney National Company purchased DC Comics/IND, and in 1969, Kinney acquired Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, later becoming Warner Communications, Inc. in 1972.
So -- is this a last DC publication before acquisition? Or just after? I note the chat group message says "I purchased both Batman Albums brand new in the Autumn and Winter of 1966." That sounds like just after IND/DC took over.
I don't have Batman #68 to see what the story looks like.
I have a full list of story contents from the 1950s Batman series. 'The Puzzle of the Perilous Prizes!' wasn't published in Australia at that time. Now I look, that's not surprising as it was first published in Batman (DC, 1940 series) #170 (March 1965). It was reprinted in Superman Supacomic (KG Murray) #70 (June 1965).
From baggsey:
To view a copy of Batman #68 (the UK K G Murray version), you’ll find a copy at the British Library outpost in Wetherby, Yorkshire. According to their search engine, they have all 115 issues bound into one volume.
I plan to take a look next time I’m in the UK (I live in the US). I’ve found the on-line staff very helpful, and they may simply photograph some relevant pages for you and email them to you instead of you visiting. They sent me info on Doc Savage paperbacks in the past via email.
Thanks for the headsup on the British Library. I have some time off in a few weeks so I'll look into it.
Post a Comment