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gifflefunk

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Posts posted by gifflefunk

  1. Does anyone have a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #14 laying around? I'm curious if the indicia states that it is issue #15. The Marvel DVD scan of issue #14 does, but I'm not sure if it is some type of mistake on the part of the guys who made the PDF files for the DVD (the inside front cover advertisement is the same for both issues so the page might just be wrong for issue #14 on the DVD).

  2. While digging around for some other information I came across the following which seems to indicate that Croydon Publishing Co. was a J. A. Kramer company (Star Comics):

    Publisher Index

     

    If you search for Croydon in the PDF document you'll find several entries that really seem to link Croydon to Kramer and the Star Comics addresses.

     

     

     

    Correct. I no longer believe Croydon to be part of the Universal Comic Group (Baird/Rewl/Rural Home). I don't see any evidence of a connection other than making the assumption that since Lloyd Jacquet Studio did the content for Croydon's Variety Comics series and that Funnies Inc. was a content provider for Universal that the two were somehow related at a publishing level (I'm not even sure if Lloyd Jacquet was still involved with Funnies Inc. in 1944-1946. All signs indicate that he sold Funnies Inc. and started the Lloyd Jacquet Studio).
  3. I'm trying to decipher the Statement of Ownership to AMC #20, but the image I have is too blurry to make out some of the names.

     

    If someone with a copy could check the inside front cover and let me know the names listed in section 2 (Publisher, Editor, Managing Editor and Business Manager) and section 3 (Owners) for my little research effort I would greatly appreciate it.

     

    Thanks!

    -Giff

  4. I have a copy of the report. But it is just a single snapshot of time (1954) and doesn't encompass the years prior to or after the research was done for the report. And as I've discovered over the years, the report isn't 100% accurate either.

  5. Correct. I no longer believe Croydon to be part of the Universal Comic Group (Baird/Rewl/Rural Home). I don't see any evidence of a connection other than making the assumption that since Lloyd Jacquet Studio did the content for Croydon's Variety Comics series and that Funnies Inc. was a content provider for Universal that the two were somehow related at a publishing level (I'm not even sure if Lloyd Jacquet was still involved with Funnies Inc. in 1944-1946. All signs indicate that he sold Funnies Inc. and started the Lloyd Jacquet Studio).

  6. A good thread on this can be found here:

    http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1083.0.html

     

    They mentioned/cited stuff I had posted here which is why I wanted to "update" my findings in this thread. JVJ over there has some good information explaining why some things have been erroneously linked together in the past (content provider connection v. publishing connection).

     

    So TNT and Triple Threat are Charlton books even though the same characters appear in Atomic Bomb, Top Spot, K-O Komics, Zoom Comics, and Merry Comics (Baily studio material):

     

    Atomic Bomb (Jay Burtis)

    ------------------------

    Beau Brummell

    Special Agent 1

    Airmale and Stampy

    Teeny Mc Sweeny

    Captain Milksop

     

    KO Komics (Gerona)

    -------------------

    Duke of Darkness

    Prof. Jabberwacky

    Magnificent Epod

    Menace

     

    Merry Comics (Carlton)

    ----------------------

    Bogeyman

    Teeny Mc Sweeny

    Dr. Mercy

    King O'Leary

     

    Snappy Comics (Cima)

    --------------------

    Special Agent 1

    Sorcerer and the Apprentice

    Beau Brumell

    Airmaile and Stampy

    Prof. Jabberwacky

     

    Top Spot (Top Spot)

    -------------------

    Duke of Darkness

    Prof. Jabberwacky

    Magnificent Epod

    Menace

     

    TNT Comics (Charles Publishing; early Charlton imprint)

    ----------------------------------------

    TNT Murders

    Beau Brummell

    Yellowjacket

    Shnook

     

    Triple Threat Comics (Special Action Comics; early Charlton imprint)

    ------------------------------------------------------

    King O'Leary

    Duke of Darkness

    Beau Brummell

    Menace

    Magnificent Epod

    Whippet Wilkens

     

    Zoom (Carlton)

    --------------

    Dr. Mercy

    Captain Milksop

    Satanas

    Bogeyman (text)

    King O'Leary

  7. After a couple more years of mulling through this mess, I finally decided to get things organized (through my Indicia Project). A lot of the companies lumped together previously under "Rural Home" have fallen out of the list I put together two years ago using the PR Publications website data and other sources (like Nolan's article).

     

    In many cases I think prior researchers had lumped books together based on characters that may have appeared on the pages between the covers. So Bernard Baily studio, Funnies Inc., Jason Comic Art studio and Lloyd Jacquet studio material might turn up in the books from several publishers leading one to conclude erroneously that there existed a publication relationship when there was only a relationship between publishers and content providers.

     

    Charlton Comics Group (Charles/Charlton/Childrens/Frank Comunale/Special Action)

    Croydon

    Holyoke (Continental/Et-Es-Go/Helnit/Holyoke/Nita/Tem)

    Universal Comic Group (Baird/Rewl/Rural Home)

    Wanted Comic Group (Orbit/Patches/Taffy/Toytown)

     

     

     

  8. I can see it going either way and you can definitely "rank" that first tier of characters, but I'm not sure where the "clean split" would be to divide that tier if one were so inclined.

     

    Within the comic book medium I'd go with my definition, but if you wanted to look at it from a wider view (say total earning potential for that character) then I'd definitely want to factor in the other mediums and perhaps even things like merchandising.

  9. I think that gets a little tricky. Characters like the Blue Beetle and Captain Midnight made the cross-over to other media, but they didn't last as long as Blackhawk. Would you really rank Timely's Human Torch lower than the Blue Beetle just because the Blue Beetle had a radio show and a short run as a newspaper strip?

     

    I like the list, but I think the 1st tier needs to be broken up into two tiers. I would define the true superstar characters as ones that not only had their own title and were the lead in another title, but were also successful in other media: radio, movies, newspaper comic strips.

     

    Off the top of my head I would put Superman, Capt. Marvel, Batman and Archie in that category.

     

    Otherwise, you're going to have Superman cheek-by-jowl with (for example) Blackhawk...

  10. In general?

     

    1st tier: Any character that had his own title and was the lead feature in one or more other titles (the superstar characters).

    2nd tier: Any character that headlined his own title.

    3rd tier: Any character that was consistently the lead feature in a anthology title but never had the power to sustain his own title.

    4th tier: The regularly featured back-up characters.

    5th tier: The filler story back-up characters (one-shots or randomly moved from title to title, etc.)

  11. Does anyone know more about Victor Fox's dealings in Chicago? There seems to be several ties between Fox and the midwest city:

     

    1) The 1944 nn issue of Rocket Kelly is published by "Larkin, Roosevelt & Larkin" of Chicago.

    2) The 1944 issues of The Bouncer (no #), All Good Comics, and All Your Comics, are published by "R. W. Voigt" of Chicago.

    3) The 1945 nn issue of Ribtickler is published by "Chicago Nite Life News, Inc."

    4) The two 1947 issues of All Great Comics are published by "Fox Feature Syndicate, Inc." but the cover to #14 states "Copyright, 1947, The Chicago Tribune" and the cover to #13 states "Famous Chicago Tribune Comics"

  12. Kooba signs turn up about once every two years on eBay and Kooba bottles turn up about once every five (based on my experience to date). I've seen three signs turn up so far and in contacting the sellers of the first two I was able to learn that they had been found in drug store storage. It is possible that Fox did have some markets outside of NY, but to date I have not found any evidence of such, so the likely scenario is that he had a small NY market and was hoping to gain national distribution.

     

    Given that signage and bottles exist and that Fox advertised Kooba Cola for about a year, it is almost ludicrous to believe that the beverage itself was never manufactured. My theory is that Kooba's failure helped to drive Fox into bankruptcy. I think he tied up to much comic capital in starting Kooba Cola and he never got the expected return to make up that deficit, which then caused him to default against his printer/distributor debts for the comics line and his entire "empire" imploded.

     

    Another sign turned up on eBay, this time from a seller in Arizona (I'm not sure how the sign got to AZ!):

    KOOBA COLA TIN SIGN

    kooba1.jpg

     

    Here is some interesting tid bits from the New York Times (8/25/1940, 4/28/1941, and 6/22/1941):

     

    nyt_19400825.gif

    ----

     

    nyt_19410428.gif

    ----

    nyt_19410622.gif

    ----

    Seems like the Kooba market was limited to a 150 mile radius from New York City (and perhaps some smaller markets outside of New York? I still haven't found any evidence to suggest it got distributed outside of NY).

  13. Which book do you need a scan for?

     

    As stated in my Terms boilerplate:

    No scan, no description? No problem! Contact me and I'll get this item scanned and uploaded.

     

    Bulk Grading:

    • Mid-Grade items will be VG or better in condition.

    • Low-Grade items will be in GD or less condition.

    • All books should be complete unless otherwise noted and completeness will be verified during order fulfillment prior to billing.

     

    I use the Bulk Grading terms on BIP when I'm listing a few hundred books and then I try to go back and add front/back scans or a detailed description. Just let me know which book you are interested in and I'll add scans ASAP.

  14. I thought it might be handy to have a complete list of dealers who sell GA comics online.

     

    Any others? popcorn.gif

     

    Now that BIPComics.com has more than just me adding Golden Age books I figure now would be a good time to pimp BIP.

     

    And if anyone that I've bought books from before or has a good feeBay rating is interested in using BIP to sell comics just PM me here or through the contact us link on BIP. Currently BIP is a free service. I've recently added more features to BIP, including image hosting, search and more ways of checking out the available issues (listings, browse, search, and a catalog view).

     

    I'm hoping to make BIP a multi-vendor platform of selling books for those who are tired of feeBay.

  15. "Lie" is a strong accusation. What's wrong with "error"?

     

    The original statement is the lie. Recycling that lie is an error. Any time statements are presented as facts without research to back up the claim being made, I will call it a lie (i.e. people are just making shiat up).

     

    This is the first time I've read that Kooba Cola was definitely distributed regionally. I was under the impression that the artifacts were all prototypes that weren't actually sold. How did you find out about the regional distribution? Very interesting!

     

    Kooba signs turn up about once every two years on eBay and Kooba bottles turn up about once every five (based on my experience to date). I've seen three signs turn up so far and in contacting the sellers of the first two I was able to learn that they had been found in drug store storage. It is possible that Fox did have some markets outside of NY, but to date I have not found any evidence of such, so the likely scenario is that he had a small NY market and was hoping to gain national distribution.

     

    Given that signage and bottles exist and that Fox advertised Kooba Cola for about a year, it is almost ludicrous to believe that the beverage itself was never manufactured. My theory is that Kooba's failure helped to drive Fox into bankruptcy. I think he tied up to much comic capital in starting Kooba Cola and he never got the expected return to make up that deficit, which then caused him to default against his printer/distributor debts for the comics line and his entire "empire" imploded.

  16. Summer 1941 - during this time, all the Fox titles were full of ads for a drink called Kooba Cola, which was apparently never made (a Victor Fox scheme to create a demand before the product even existed!).

     

    Thank you!!! I've been wondering about Kooba Cola for YEARS, and couldn't understand why I'd never seen any other advertising memorabilia for it. I had no idea it was a marketing ploy. I'm so glad you solved that for me!

     

    Does anyone know where this lie got started? Kooba Cola definitely existed and was at least sold locally in the NY area (well, its the only locale I've seen Kooba items show up). I suspect Fox tried to get national interest going by advertising it in his comics, but it looks like it failed to get national distribution.

     

    KoobaCola.jpg