Doctor Strange #1: The Yaffa edition

Page Publications' Doctor Strange #1 was published 23 December 1977:

The cover originally appeared on Marvel Comics' Doctor Strange #2:

The stories are as follows:

Through an Orb Darkly, originally published in Doctor Strange #1, June 1974 

A Separate Reality, originally published in Doctor Strange #2, August 1974 

Amidst the Madness, originally published in Doctor Strange #3, September 1974 

This issue includes black and white printings of the covers to Doctor Strange #'s 1 and 3.

Amidst the Madness is the title of the framing sequence for a reprint of The Domain of the Dread Dormammu! and Duel with the Dread Dormammu! which originally appeared in Strange Tales #126 and Strange Tales #127 respectively.

This issue includes full-page in-house advertisements for The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four.

Doctor Strange #1 was recycled as Doctor Strange #3, June 1980:

It was also recycled as the digest-sized Mystic Arts Master c.mid-1982:

The three stories in this issue were previously published in Australia by Newton Comics in Doctor Strange #'s 1 and 2. These issues reprinted the covers to Doctor Strange #'s 1 and 3 respectively, which means the young Australian reader needed the first two Newton issues and this Yaffa edition in order to have the first three US covers in colour printings.

I have previously dated this issue c.November 1977, however I have since seen a copy with 4 written by a newsagent on the rear cover, and 23 12 written on the front cover, hence my designating the publication date 23 December 1977.

Update 29 June 2022:

Yaffa recycled Doctor Strange #1 as an unnumbered digest-sized issue shortly after #7, c.April 1982:

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #3: The Yaffa edition

Page Publications' The Spectacular Spider-Man #3 was published c.December 1978:

 The cover is from Marvel Comics' The Spectacular Spider-Man #8:

This issue contains black and white reprints of the main Spider-Man features from The Spectacular Spider-Man #'s 7-9. 

Dating the $0.95 and $0.99 cover-priced Murray Comics

Here's my notes and guidelines for dating the $0.95 and $0.99 cover-priced Murray Comics:

1. The $0.95 cover-priced issues appear to have supplanted the $0.90 cover-priced issues by May 1981. There may have been some $0.95 issues on the stands a month or two earlier. 

2. These $0.95 issues carry the red Murray Comics logo.

3. The black Murray Comics logo takes over by April 1982. March 1982 appears to be a transitional month between the red and the black logos.

4. Eastern Suburbs Newspapers is the sole printer for the above issues with the red Murray Comics logo.

5.  The Murray Romance Library logo is operational in parallel with both the red and black Murray Comics logos.

6. The black Murray Comics logo runs up to at least December 1982.

7. The $0.99 cover-priced issues begin September 1982. Some may have hit the stands in August 1982.

8. Black Murray Comics logo issues are printed by either Eastern Suburbs Newspapers or Hedges and Bell. There are also a few printed by Comprint.

9. All of the above is in reference to the large size 96 page issues. There are some smaller sized issues (not digest-sized) in this period which may or may not comply with the above schema. These appear to be printed by Comprint, and may be NZ editions. TBC.

10. The above schema is based on a review of approximately 160 issues. The review accounted for newsagency date markings, combinations of advertisements on the rear and inner covers, and in-house advertisements. The review also had some dozen or so issues which were deemed outliers based on the data/information not conforming neatly to the above schema. 

The above guidelines will be updated as more information comes to hand.

Fact or Fiction #1: The Bramley Book

Fact and Fiction #1 is a digest-sized book published by Page Publications in the early 1970's with a Keith Chatto cover:

I expected this to be a collection of short illustrated prose stories. However, it turns out to be something quite surprising - it not only contains comics stories, it is also wholly comprised of material by Maurice Bramley, which he apparently personally compiled. Indeed, as per the introduction below, the title could have been The Bramley Book:

The issue begins with the 10-page U-Boat Kelly: 

This is followed by a 3-page story, Flying Spits. 

The other 51 pages are 1 and 2-page features which look like the filler material found in various other Australian comic books. For example, this issue includes Stranger Still, which was previously published in Strange Tales #4 (1963) and  Pirates, previously published in Strange Tales #6. 

This is effectively a Maurice Bramley trade paperback collection.

I have seen a second issue in this series:

I do not own this book. It may be a reprint of Fact and Fiction #1. However, consider that Strange Tales #4 (1965) contains a Bramley feature titled Goblins which does not appear in Fact and Fiction #1, and might qualify as a (ahem) Strange Tale as per the cover blurb of Fact and Fiction #2. TBA.

The cover image of Fact and Fiction #1 appears to be based on interior art from U-Boat Kelly:

So - Chatto covers Bramley in two senses of the word!

I purchased this issue for the Chatto cover, but I'm keeping it for the Bramley material.

Yaffa's Dracula #2 and Evil Dracula

Page Publications' Tomb of Dracula was published c.April 1978:

The cover is from Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula #4:

Tomb Dracula #2 reprints the main contents from Tomb of Dracula #'s 4-6 with some modifications - for example, the splash page to Through a Mirror Darkly! from Tomb of Dracula #4 is omitted.

It was recycled as an unnumbered digest-sized issue c.August 1982 and retitled Evil Dracula:

This specimen is in rather poor condition but is more difficult to find than its parent issue.

Wild Cowboy Two-Gun Kid: Recycling Yaffa's Two-Gun Kid #2

A few years ago I posted a cover gallery of my complete collection of Yaffa's Two-Gun Kid. At the time I included a cover scan of of the unnumbered digest-sized issue which recycled #4 in the series, noting that given #'s 1, 3 and 4 had been recycled, I guessed there might be a recycled and unnumbered edition of Two-Gun Kid #2 to be unearthed. And here it is:

The cover has been modified - one of the speech balloons has been omitted, as you can see comparing this cover to Two-Gun Kid #2:

Wild Cowboy Two-Gun Kid is a digest-sized unnumbered $0.75 cover priced edition, probably published mid/late 1982.

I have added this cover to my cover gallery of paired recycled Yaffa digest-sized editions.

Star-Lord #1: The Yaffa edition

Yaffa's Star-Lord #1 has an indicia date 1978:

The cover and contents are drawn from the initial printing of Marvel Preview #11:

According to the GCD, the cover blurb on the initial printing of the cover was removed due to objections from Robert Heinlein. Consequently a corrected version of the cover was issued: 

The contents of the Page Publications edition are identical to the Marvel edition, with the following alterations:

1. The Jim Starlin illustration on the inside cover of the Marvel edition is reproduced on the rear cover of the Yaffa edition;

2. The inner cover of the Yaffa edition carries the Stan Lee resents Star-Lord feature;

3. The Second Launch! feature is omitted from the Yaffa edition, as are the letters pages.

A second issue in the series was published by Yaffa, based on the earlier Marvel Preview #4. Star-Lord #2 was recycled as an unnumbered issue, which is listed as Star-Lord #3 on the GCD. Presumably Star-Lord #1 was also recycled, however I have not seen a copy.

Strange Tales: The complete Yaffa cover gallery

 Here's a cover gallery of my complete run of Page Publications' Strange Tales:

Strange Tales #1, c.June 1978 

Strange Tales #2, 1979 

Strange Tales #3, 1980 

Strange Tales #4, c.April 1981 

Strange Tales #5, c.September 1981 

Strange Tales #6, c.February 1982 

The first two issues are full sized, the rest are digest-sized issues, #6 being a 'tall' edition.

The dates are as accurate as I can be for the moment given my limited data on this series.

It is possible that there is a seventh issue in the series but I think it is unlikely. TBA.

Some of these issues were recycled by Yaffa under new titles - #1 was reprinted in digest form as Weird Tales:

And #2 was recycled as Carnival of Fear:

It is possible other issues in the series were also recycled, but I have not come across any.

All Favourites The 100-Page Comic! #10: Comparing the Australian and New Zealand editions

Australia's K.G. Murray comics were printed and distributed in overseas markets such as the UK and New Zealand. These international editions varied from their Australian counterparts. For example, as noted on AusReprints, the first 20 issues of the UK edition of Super Adventure Comic (1950's series) were printed in Australia and distributed in the UK whilst the later issues were printed separately in either Australia or the UK for the UK market with an altered cover price.

New Zealand editions could be quite different from their Australian counterparts. For example, consider the Australian Mammoth Annual #NN and the New Zealand Mammoth Annual #2. 

However, the differences in regular, ongoing series and issues are less obvious to the naked eye, and I suspect many collectors may not be aware of the subtle - and indeed, the not so subtle  differences between them. The New Zealand issues differed in their size, binding, paper stock, advertisements, but they also differed in their comics content. 

I have two copies All Favourites Comic #10 as the basis for a sample comparison - the Australian edition is on the left, and the New Zealand edition is on the right:

The Australian edition is slightly taller and the new Zealand edition is slightly wider.

The rear covers carry different advertisements:

The date code on the rear cover of the Australian edition is F1/11/58. The New Zealand edition does not have a date code. It is likely that the New Zealand edition hit the stands a month or more after the Australian edition.

The inner front covers and splash pages differ:

The rear inner covers also differ:

It could be argued that the New Zealand edition offers more value for money for the young comic book reader, given the inclusion of the filler strips in lieu of stamp advertisements or the The Phantom's Skull Ring Offer, but this may depend on one's level of 'Phandom'. Note also that the New Zealand editions are more 'self-contained' or 'self-referential' -  the Australian distributor credit is omitted, the advertisements are inhouse productions for other K.G. Murray series, and the filler comics consciously replace references to external advertisers.

You can also see in the pics above how the binding differed - the Australian editions were stapled and the cover wrapped over the staples giving the spine a flat, squarebound appearance, whereas the New Zealand edition has the cover stapled directly to the book with a curved spine.

And of course the paper stock is different due to the different printers. In this instance the New Zealand paper is noticeably courser. In my experience, the New Zealand editions are also prone to rusty staples.

My collection of the core K.G. Murray super hero series from 1956 through to the Federal Comics era is almost complete. However there are quite a few placeholder New Zealand editions in the collection from the late 1950's/early 1960's. To this point I have not differentiated between them as far as the completist itch is concerned, but I admit that my attention has been turning lately towards replacing the New Zealand editions with upgraded Australian editions as the opportunity arises. (I hope I will never be tempted to complete a New Zealand collection of K.G. Murray editions. If I do, I daresay I'll be posting from a lunatic asylum.)

PS My link above to the post on the Mammoth Annual is from a long time ago and is overdue for revision. TBA.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1: The Yaffa editions

Page Publications' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 was published c.April 1978:

This issue reprints material from the first three issues of the US series, and the cover is from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #3:

Page Publications recycled this issue as the digest-sized Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #5 in 1980 with a recoloured cover:

It was recycled yet again as Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #10 c.early 1982:

This was the final issue in the series, however Yaffa would subsequently recycle at least the next two issues in this series under the one-off titles Sgt. Fury's Howlers and Sgt. Fury's War Battles.