Air Action Library #2: Searching for Tiger in the Sky

Having spent a bit of time over the last year or two tracing printings of Page Publications digest comics - war, romance, horror, spy and western comics - I've become a bit more confident in anticipating what I will find in many issues, based on the cover art and cover price and story titles on the covers. However, now and again, an issue pops up which leads me down an expected path but leaves somewhere a little unexpected.

For example, consider Air Action Library #2:

I could tell pretty much straight away a few things about this issue as soon as I picked it up. For example, I was pretty sure that the cover was a reprint of interior art, and sure enough, it comes from page 16:

I could also tell that this would not be the first printing of the story Tiger in the Sky - a bit of searching on the GCD and AusReprint websites would reveal previous Page Publications printings of the story, the original source of the story, and likely a cover swipe of the original cover by Keith Chatto. However, much to my surprise, this issue isn't to be found on either site, and even stranger, the story Tiger in the Sky isn't listed on either site. I doublechecked my own database and again, no other reference to this story.

I did find the cover to the original source of the story on the GCD website:

Action War Picture Library #23 was published by MV Features in the mid-1960's, but the GCD listing doesn't list the story. I tracked it by following the job code number (you can see a sample on the page scanned above) and assuming it would be an MV Features series.

So here's a couple of rather safe assumptions about Tiger in the Sky which I look forward to confirming in the future:

1. There will be a Page Publications issue reprinting Tiger in the Sky with a swipe of the Action War Picture Library #23 cover;

2. There will be at least one other - possibly more - reprintings of this story by Page Publications with cover prices lower the $0.60;

3. The cover to the third issue will be an original Chatto illustration;

4. One of these reprintings may be in Air Action Library #1;

5. I will be more excited than you if and when I confirm any or all of the above.

As you were.

Update 20/9/2018: OK. I'm excited. Here's the cover to Air Ace Picture Library #1:

And sure enough, Chatto swipes the cover to Action War Picture Library #23.

So check your pulse and get back to me.

Modern Love Stories: Considering the Candid Confessions paradigm

Page Publications' Modern Love Stories #49 reprints The High Life of Molly Brown, which originally appeared in Famepress' Juliette Picture Library #12:

Modern Love Stories #49 features a Keith Chatto cover. Based on previously established patterns I expect that there is an earlier edition of this story from Page Publications, and that Chatto would have been tasked with swiping the cover from the Famepress edition.

What really interests me at the moment is the high issue number of the Modern Love Stories #49 issue. The cover price $0.20, as per the only other issue in the series that I am aware of - Modern Love Stories #50:

Given the Famepress edition was published in 1966, and the Page Publications editions were published in the early 1970's, the basic math equation suggests The High Life of Molly Brown, and indeed a number of the issues in the Juliette Picture Library series, could have been published by Page Publicatons from say Modern Love Stories #1 onwards if they were loosely monthly issues as far back as 1966. But I don't know whether there was such an issue. I certainly haven't seen any in the relatively short time I've been following the Page Publications romance comics, and there are no such early issues listed on GCD or AusReprints - and James has been tracking these for much longer than I have. So I'm guessing that at some point, Modern Love Stories picked up its numbering from some previous Page Publications series.

Or maybe even from another publisher's series. This paradigm is evident in another high numbered Page Publications series, Love and Romance Library. According to AusReprints, this series began in 1951 as a Frew Publication and morphed into the Page Publications series c.1965 with the Candid Confessions cover title. 

So, was there a  Modern Love Stories #1 comic? And was it published by Page Publications? 

Gunslinger Western Library #6: Three editions so far...

Page Publications' digest-sized Gunslinger Western #6 features a Keith Chatto cover and is a reprint of Silver Star Western Library #3:

and Rawhide Western Library #2:

It's possible there is a subsequent reprint of this issue - if so, it is likely to be published with a non-Chatto cover sourced from a splash page or other interior art. I expect there is at least one more edition pre-dating Rawhide Western Library #2.

Update 14/1/2020: So, it turns out Gunslinger Western #6 is a replica - cover and contents - of Gunslinger Western #3:

No doubt more to come...

Update 3/4/20:
https://notesfromthejunkyard.blogspot.com/2020/04/gunslinger-western-chatto-in-triplicate.html

Planet Series 1 No. 6: Love 1978: The Junkyard salute!

Some 20 years ago I made a list of K.G. Murray comics I wanted in my collection. This was a list of 100-page (or more) titles which began publication in the mid/late 1950's such as Superman Supacomic, All Star Adventure Comic and the Hundred Comic Monthly, series which ran into the 1970's, often under new titles such as Tip Top Comic Monthly and Wonder Comic Monthly, encompassing new branding along the way such as Planet Comics and Murray Publishers.

As you might imagine, that's quite a lot of comics. And as my collection grew and my knowledge deepened I became interested in other K.G. Murray comics, some of which stemmed from the 1960's, and many besides which were 1970's series, such as Super Giant and Doomsday and Haunted Tales. I deemed this my secondary collection.

As my primary and secondary collections grew, so did my accounting of my collection. That is, rather than relying on a Word doc. or an excel spreadsheet to help me keep up with everything, I invested in a purpose-built database to keep abreast of what I owned, what I sought, and what I needed to replace. This database serves a further purpose - it's populated with indexed entries of the issues I own, links to relevant sites, personal notes on a variety of topics, and a record of purchases. It also serves as a log of where my collection can be found. As the collection has grown, I now need references to box numbers in order to locate a particular issue. Increasingly over time it's become a record of tracked sales and prices - a personal price guide.

As far as my primary collection is concerned, I can count on one hand the number of issues I'm still chasing to complete that collection. And of those issues there is only one I have not yet seen.

As far as my secondary collection is concerned, I only need three fingers to count them. Ironically, they are all issues I have not seen. I may have come across some of them in the past and not noted them as I should have, but for all intents and purposes, I'm deeming them unseen.

These reflections stem from this issue landing in the Junkyard:

Love 1978, Planet Series 1 No. 6

I have not seen this issue in the last 20 years, and speaking to some collectors, they were unware of it either. It's not even on the AusReprints site or the GCD. So by any definition that is meaningful to collecting such comics, this issue is scarce.

And it's interesting because it belongs to two series - the Planet Series and the Love series.

I've covered the Love series in various posts before: Love 1971;  Love 1974 and 1979; Love 1975 and 1977; And as you can tell from those posts, knowing what was published was guesswork until samples appeared in various guises. For example, Love 1979 is an instalment of Planet Series 2, others are standalone issues. It's also interesting that it's the only issue in Planet Series 1 run to not carry the Planet Comics logo. 

The cover is sourced from Charlton's My Only Love #3, with minor psychedelic flourishes added. It's a shame none of the contents are drawn from the Charlton issue, as it contains the Alex Toth-drawn The Loveliest of All! (This issue was reprinted as I Love You #130 a few years later, so it with a bit of luck, this Toth story may have been reprinted in a K.G. Murray or Federal comic).

Twenty years ago I would cross a number off my list when I scored a comic I was chasing. With my database I transitioned to inputting data and holding out for the dopamine rush when I would mark the green tick next to the box which designates a title or series as complete. Now, when I score something from the handful of issues I'm still chasing for my primary and secondary collections, I just hold up one less finger and salute. 

Heart to Heart Romance Library #206: Weird Love

Heart to Heart Romance Library #206 features the story 3 Loves Have 1, which was originally published in Charlton's Secret Romance #20. This is one of those utterly implausible romance stories in which both the guy and the girl act like dicks but true love wins in the end, so you know they truly deserve one another. It also has the distinction of being selected for an issue of IDW's Weird Love series.

This is also the highest numbered issue of the series I have seen, so it may be the final issue in the series. Maybe the Murray editors read the story and figured enough is enough. Maybe that's why the original owner of this copy defaced the characters on the cover. And maybe I hope there is a Heart to Heart Romance Library #207 for the sheer heck of it.

Bumper Western Comic #65: Another K.G. Murray variant

If you look closely at the top right hand corner of my copy of Bumper Western Comic #65 you'll find the numeral 4 printed. I've checked with other collectors, and sample cover scans available online, and it doesn't appear on those copies. So this is another K.G. Murray printing error variant - not as obvious as the printing errors on copies of Bumper Western Comic #1 or Superman Supacomic #87, but a variant nevertheless.

Young Love #17 and Love Song Romances #41: Covering the backup splash

Here's a curious thing I hadn't noticed about K.G. Murray romance comics - or rather, something curious about the US sources of the local romance comics. For example:

The cover to Young Love #17 originally appeared on Charlton's For Lovers Only #71.

The cover to Love Song Romances #41 originally appeared on DC's Young Romance #141. 

In each case, the cover is sourced from the splash page of the respective story. This was rather common practice for Australian reprint issues, but I wasn't aware it was a widespread practise in the US. Further, the Australian issues would generally source the splash page from the opening feature story. In other words, it was common to turn the cover and find the cover image facing on page 3 in black and white. What's curious about the US issues in this regard is that in each case above, the cover-featured story was the backup or support feature in the issue, not the lead feature. Was this consciously done to hide the double-dipping?

Now, this is admittedly from a minute sample of two issues. But they are samples ranging from the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's, and from two different publishers, which suggests it was not only common and longstanding but widespread. Presumably a cost-cutting measure - my understanding is that cover art page rates would be different to regular page rates. So there's a story therein which I haven't been privy to.

Federal Comics western one-shots: A logocentric perspective

Western Lawmen is an unnumbered one-shot western comic published by Federal Comics c.August 1984. By mid-1984 Federal Comics had transitioned to the black Australian Edition DC logo, so why does this issue carry the earlier FC logo? Well, because there are no DC comics in this issue - it contains a mix of Charlton and Spanish comics. Makes sense, right? 

A few months earlier c.April 1984 Federal Comics published another unnumbered one-shot western comic - The Fastest Gun Western:

This issue also contains a mix of Charlton and Spanish reprints - no DC reprints - yet it has the new black Australian Edition DC logo on the cover. Of course, The Fastest Gun Western had been a long-running K.G. Murray series, and I guess there was some DC content during its tenure, but by the end of the series even the Spanish material had dried up and it was predominantly if not wholly comprised of Charlton reprints. But hey, it's published in the transitional phase, so let's give Federal Comics a bit of leeway. Makes sense, right?

A couple of months earlier c.February 1984 Federal Comics published another unnumbered one-shot western comic - Scalphunter:

This issue collated a number of DC's Scalphunter stories, including a Batman team-up. Now, the Federal Comics logo had been in place for well over six months, and the new black logo had recently taken over the red logo. Just a month or two later Scalphunter would have had a legitimate Australian Edition DC logo. But hey, if you squint a little and hold the issue at a certain angle, the F under SC kinda looks like a D. Sort of. If you try. Makes sense, right?

Some eight months earlier c.June 1983 Federal Comics published another unnumbered one-shot western comic - Frontier Marshall:

This has the transitional Murray the Cat/Federal Comics logo. The transition began c.March/April 1983, and by July 1983 the fully-fledged Federal Comics logo was in place. This makes sense whichever way you look at it. Right?

Three Thunder Valley Chatto covers

Thunder Valley originally appeared in MV Features' Western Trail Picture Library #7:

The cover image was swiped by Keith Chatto for Page Publications' own edition of Western Trail Picture Library #1:

Page Publications recycled this story at least two more times, under new Chatto covers. The issues I have to hand are Maverick Western Library #2:

and Real Western Library #44:

No doubt more Page Publications editions will turn up.

Superman Super Library: The Junkyard protocol

Here's a nifty little comic that fell into my hands this week - Superman Super Library #37:

As per the established pattern for this series, the cover is cribbed from the splash page to the main feature:

Over the years I've paid scant attention to this series. Although it was published in the 1960's, a period of enduring interest for me when it comes to K.G. Murray comics, this is a series which never really piqued my interest the way other Superman comics did.

Having said that, there is one issue in this series that I can recall coveting, and that is Superman Super Library #23:

It's a striking cover with bold primary colours contrasting with the dark shadows, an atypical Superman cover, and a rather poignant image for a key story which had been recycled in the Silver Age, and has been a touchstone for latter Superman stories by the likes of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore. In fact, I've often wondered whether it was this image which partly inspired the framing sequence of Moore's last Miracleman arc in which the hero inscribes his journal of steel pages with a stylus of bloody light. At any rate, it's certainly a worthy cover for the story - it was originally published behind a generic cover as it was a backup story, not the lead feature.

Nevertheless, quite despite myself,  I've amassed a shoebox worth of Superman Super Library issues - to the point that a complete run of all 44 issues is well within reach. That's just how things roll sometimes in the Junkyard. So I guess the right thing to do is to put my custodian's hat on and pull together a bone fide full run. I mean, someone's got to.