1939 NEWSSTAND PIC TIME MACHINE JOURNEY INTO THE PAST 18 18

[Electricmastro]

7 hours ago, woowoo said:

Found this picture Great books NYC 1941

At least 20 different publishers that were selling comics here in 1941 and 1942:

Marvel Comics: Young Allies, Marvel Mystery Comics, Captain America Comics, Human Torch Comics, Sub-Mariner Comics, Daring Mystery Comics, All-Winners Comics, Mystic Comics

DC Comics: World’s Finest Comics, Flash Comics, Superman, Star-Spangled Comics, More Fun Comics, Sensation Comics, Action Comics, All-American Comics, Leading Comics, Batman

Archie Comics: Shield-Wizard Comics, Pep Comics, Jackpot Comics, Top Notch Comics

Harvey Comics: Champ Comics

Dell Comics: Super Comics, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, War Comics, Popular Comics

Fawcett Comics: Whiz Comics, Bulletman

Quality Comics: Hit Comics, Military Comics, National Comics, Crack Comics

Nedor Comics: Startling Comics, Exciting Comics, Real Life Comics, Thrilling Comics

Fiction House: Jumbo Comics, Rangers of Freedom Comics, Wings Comics, Fight Comics, Planet Comics

Lev Gleason Publications: Daredevil Comics

Ace Comics: Lightning Comics, Our Flag Comics, Four Favorites

Fox Comics: The Flame, The Eagle, Wonderworld Comics, V...-Comics

Novelty Press/Star Publications: Target Comics

United Feature Syndicate: Sparkler Comics

David McKay: King Comics, Magic Comics

Eastern Color Printing: Buck Rogers, Dickie Dare, Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics

Hillman Periodicals: Victory Comics

Parents' Magazine Press: True Comics

Street and Smith: Shadow Comics, Doc Savage Comics

Centaur Comics: Amazing Man Comics

Columbia Comics: Big Shot Comics

Chesler: Scoop Comics, Dynamic Comics, Yankee Comics

Great Comics: Great Comics

Edited November 11, 2020 by Electricmastro

[woowoo]

Found 2 more nice pics the Fantastic 19 is cool but the Superman i cant recall seeing that ?

[jpepx78]

It’s been a challenging year and I hope these comic related photos of Christmas past can provide a brief diversion from current events. A few of these have been shown before.

1. A Christmas family get-together in Ontario Canada 1953 which unfortunately many of us will not be able to have this year. Kids are busy reading comics that appear to be one of the presents.

2. It seems pretty cool to have Clark Kent/Superman give out comics as presents but the kids don’t seem super excited about it in 1955.

3. It’s a good time of the year to read Santa Claus Funnies.

4. Showing off the Superman costume at Christmas.

5. Visiting Santa and one of the gifts is a Buster Brown 29 comic.

6. Christmas was a great time to visit the toy section of department stores. Visiting Herpolsheimer’s department store in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1941, you could meet Santa and get a free copy of Key Ring Comics featuring Radior.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday and hope for a better new year.

 

[Robot Man]

3 hours ago, jpepx78 said:

It’s been a challenging year and I hope these comic related photos of Christmas past can provide a brief diversion from current events. A few of these have been shown before.

1. A Christmas family get-together in Ontario Canada 1953 which unfortunately many of us will not be able to have this year. Kids are busy reading comics that appear to be one of the presents.

2. It seems pretty cool to have Clark Kent/Superman give out comics as presents but the kids don’t seem super excited about it in 1955.

3. It’s a good time of the year to read Santa Claus Funnies.

4. Showing off the Superman costume at Christmas.

5. Visiting Santa and one of the gifts is a Buster Brown 29 comic.

6. Christmas was a great time to visit the toy section of department stores. Visiting Herpolsheimer’s department store in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1941, you could meet Santa and get a free copy of Key Ring Comics featuring Radior.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday and hope for a better new year.

 

Great photos! Happy Holidays jpepx! 

[woowoo]

[Robot Man]

56 minutes ago, woowoo said:

Wow! That rack to the right of the kid looks like my collection. I probably have most of those books. You rarely see much PCH displayed on racks like that. 

[EdMann2]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:34 PM, Robot Man said:

Wow! That rack to the right of the kid looks like my collection. I probably have most of those books. You rarely see much PCH displayed on racks like that. 

I also like seeing that column of 'MAD rip-off' comics too (well, including Gabby and Fight Comics at the bottom).  And the Dells are at ground level for easy younger kid access.  What an incredibly well stocked, and well organized, display!

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

So I had to rotate this picture to get better look at the comics in the low case. I am perplexed by the comic on the far right as it appears to be the cover of Flash 105 but that sure isn't the logo. What's going on there??

Edited February 26, 2021 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

9 minutes ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

So I had to rotate this picture to get better look at the comics in the low case. I am perplexed by the comic on the far right as it appears to be the cover of Flash 105 but that sure isn't the logo. What's going on there??

Ha! Found my own answer. This is an Australian reprint which I never knew existed. So I guess this photo comes from down under! Great line up of DC comics in that book and a 100 page giant long before we had them in the US!

Edited February 26, 2021 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[woowoo]

2 hours ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Ha! Found my own answer. This is an Australian reprint which I never knew existed. So I guess this photo comes from down under! Great line up of DC comics in that book and a 100 page giant long before we had them in the US!

Great Detective work I wish i could buy them all

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

The other thing I noticed in the picture are all the Classic Illustrated comics on the rack.

The amount of presence that the Classics line had globally was always discussed in Overstreet and here is some proof.

[Robot Man]

On 2/26/2021 at 2:56 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Ha! Found my own answer. This is an Australian reprint which I never knew existed. So I guess this photo comes from down under! Great line up of DC comics in that book and a 100 page giant long before we had them in the US!

The Blackhawk in the top row is a whole lot older than the Annette at the bottom.

[jpepx78]

1954 Iowa Drugstore Photo

 

I found this interesting photo in a popular auction site but the seller put a rubber band on the photo to protect the image. However Ivan Ivanstein was kind enough to share his intact picture for us to see in another thread in the General section recently. This photo might seem like an ordinary 1950s drugstore photo with comic racks but I will try to explain the photo’s signifigance.

This Des Moines Iowa drugstore photo was taken around Nov 1954 based on the appearance and on-sale date of the Weird Science Fantasy 27 (11/1/54). This was an interesting period in comics history because comic publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to regulate the content of comics after the scrutiny of the comics industry during the Senate Hearings on Juvenile Delinquency which attributed the lurid and unsavory content of comics as one of the main causes of juvenile delinquency. To stem negative publicity and to save the comic industry, publishers adopted the Comics Code on Oct 26 1954 and the Comics Code Authority office was under the direction of Judge Charles Murphy. All comic book content had to be submitted to the code enforcement arm of the CMAA for review and approval before publication and be entitled to publish the “Seal of Approval” on the cover.

In the photo, you see the pharmacist named Harold holding 2 EC books (WSF 27 and Haunt of Fear 28) and I believe he is removing those EC books from the racks since those books could not be sold under comics code. It is notable that was the final issue of Haunt of Fear. Those EC books appear to be the most interesting comics on the racks compared to all the other bland books like all those Classics Illustrated, humor and westerns. Even the DC books like Batman and Worlds Finest had bland stories in that period. There was an interim period lasting until around March 1955 where there were still some comics on the newsstands without the “Seal of Approval” code on the cover due the publishing cycle.

Adoption of the Comics Code shut down the crime and horror titles of Bill Gaines EC Comics which were the major money makers of the company. Gaines tried to adapt to the code with his New Trend titles but but was unsuccessful and shut down comic publishing in 1955 except for Mad magazine which was not subject to the code. Many other comic publishers also shut down due to code restrictions and most importantly the refusal of magazine distributors to distribute their unapproved titles.

The comic publishers had appointed Judge Murphy to head the comics code authority to be independent from other operations of the CMAA in order to give their comics czar credibility. He was paid by the publishers and it was understood that he could work free from interference from association members. The publishers intended for him to to ignore all but the most obvious code violations but Murphy had his staff review material carefully and demand any changes for any infraction of the code, however minor. It was believed that Murphy did not have to be that strict and there was little oversight from the public as to how well the code was to be enforced. Most critics see the code as a cut and dried document but the code required a lot of interpretation. Murphy did not understand that all the publishers required was the appearance of self-regulation to appease most critics. His zeal in strict interpretation of the code set him against the publishers and was one of the reasons why his contract was not renewed by the association at the end of his 2 year term.
from Seal of Approval by Amy Kiste Nyberg

The third picture is Murphy in front of a comic page where the art was made less horrific to pass the comics code.

comics on racks

Spoiler

Peter Porkchops 33, Porky Pig 37, My Friend Irma 47, Adventures of Martin & Lewis 17, Flippity Flop 19, Bob Hope 30, Tex Ritter Western 26, Batman 88, Western 48, Rudolph 5, Joe Palooka 86, World’s Finest 73

 

Edited March 18, 2021 by jpepx78

[Primetime]

2 hours ago, jpepx78 said:

1954 Iowa Drugstore Photo

 

I found this interesting photo in a popular auction site but the seller put a rubber band on the photo to protect the image. However Ivan Ivanstein was kind enough to share his intact picture for us to see in another thread in the General section recently. This photo might seem like an ordinary 1950s drugstore photo with comic racks but I will try to explain the photo’s signifigance.

This Des Moines Iowa drugstore photo was taken around Nov 1954 based on the appearance and on-sale date of the Weird Science Fantasy 27 (11/1/54). This was an interesting period in comics history because comic publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to regulate the content of comics after the scrutiny of the comics industry during the Senate Hearings on Juvenile Delinquency which attributed the lurid and unsavory content of comics as one of the main causes of juvenile delinquency. To stem negative publicity and to save the comic industry, publishers adopted the Comics Code on Oct 26 1954 and the Comics Code Authority office was under the direction of Judge Charles Murphy. All comic book content had to be submitted to the code enforcement arm of the CMAA for review and approval before publication and be entitled to publish the “Seal of Approval” on the cover.

In the photo, you see the pharmacist named Harold holding 2 EC books (WSF 27 and Haunt of Fear 28) and I believe he is removing those EC books from the racks since those books could not be sold under comics code. It is notable that was the final issue of Haunt of Fear. Those EC books appear to be the most interesting comics on the racks compared to all the other bland books like all those Classics Illustrated, humor and westerns. Even the DC books like Batman and Worlds Finest had bland stories in that period. There was an interim period lasting until around March 1955 where there were still some comics on the newsstands without the “Seal of Approval” code on the cover due the publishing cycle.

Adoption of the Comics Code shut down the crime and horror titles of Bill Gaines EC Comics which were the major money makers of the company. Gaines tried to adapt to the code with his New Trend titles but but was unsuccessful and shut down comic publishing in 1955 except for Mad magazine which was not subject to the code. Many other comic publishers also shut down due to code restrictions and most importantly the refusal of magazine distributors to distribute their unapproved titles.

The comic publishers had appointed Judge Murphy to head the comics code authority to be independent from other operations of the CMAA in order to give their comics czar credibility. He was paid by the publishers and it was understood that he could work free from interference from association members. The publishers intended for him to to ignore all but the most obvious code violations but Murphy had his staff review material carefully and demand any changes for any infraction of the code, however minor. It was believed that Murphy did not have to be that strict and there was little oversight from the public as to how well the code was to be enforced. Most critics see the code as a cut and dried document but the code required a lot of interpretation. Murphy did not understand that all the publishers required was the appearance of self-regulation to appease most critics. His zeal in strict interpretation of the code set him against the publishers and was one of the reasons why his contract was not renewed by the association at the end of his 2 year term.
from Seal of Approval by Amy Kiste Nyberg

The third picture is Murphy in front of a comic page where the art was made less horrific to pass the comics code.

comics on racks

  Reveal hidden contents

Peter Porkchops 33, Porky Pig 37, My Friend Irma 47, Adventures of Martin & Lewis 17, Flippity Flop 19, Bob Hope 30, Tex Ritter Western 26, Batman 88, Western 48, Rudolph 5, Joe Palooka 86, World’s Finest 73

 

Jeff 

[fifties]

You might be interested to know that up through the fall of 1956, I was able to buy "United States Fighting Air Force", published by Superior Comics in Canada, not subject to the code as they were a foreign publisher, at the local news stand.

[AJD]

On 2/27/2021 at 9:56 AM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Ha! Found my own answer. This is an Australian reprint which I never knew existed. So I guess this photo comes from down under! Great line up of DC comics in that book and a 100 page giant long before we had them in the US!

I haven't looked here for ages, so I missed this. I spotted the local element right away, being a collector of Australian Disney comics - the Disney books there have the 'Giant All Color' box top left, like the one below. The Disney books book place this photo in 1959.

@Robot Man - the chronological ordering of Australian books is all over the place. It wasn't unusual for things to be printed here up to 10 years after their US appearance.

[AJD]

Found this on eBay tonight, being sold as a poster size print. "Ronald Reagan reading to daughter Maureen, 1940s." New Funnies #105 was cover dated Nov 1945.

[woowoo]

1960 

[Arkadin]

Found this Pinterest page with a lot of comic book newsstand pics that maybe haven't been shown here before. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/525795325216344566/

 

 

[AJD]

This site focuses on pulps, but there are plenty of comics muscling into the photos.

https://thepulp.net/pulp-history/pulp-photos/