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Marvel 'L Miller & Co' UK Distribution Variants (May 1960 ~ September 1961)
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189 posts in this topic

I agree.   So if the covers were printed same day and same press with just a brief plate change delay, and then assembled at the same time, (or printed elsewhere and shipped to the assembler/printer) they are all first printings to my thinking .  And prob most of us would agree with that.  Thats not to say that some of our clan wouldn't gladly pay extra for these variants if it were proven that the pressmen got them over with first (smaller batch) and THEN printed the US covers.. meaning that all the variants were sitting in bales ready for shipping while the US copies were still being worked on. 

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2 minutes ago, Aman619 said:

I agree.   So if the covers were printed same day and same press with just a brief plate change delay, and then assembled at the same time, (or printed elsewhere and shipped to the assembler/printer) they are all first printings to my thinking .  And prob most of us would agree with that.  Thats not to say that some of our clan wouldn't gladly pay extra for these variants if it were proven that the pressmen got them over with first (smaller batch) and THEN printed the US covers.. meaning that all the variants were sitting in bales ready for shipping while the US copies were still being worked on. 

That's one of the theories that has been touted regarding the Marvel Australian Price Variants Aman, that they were run off first so they could get them on the boat for the long ship ahead (3 month cover difference between US and AUS copies).

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12 hours ago, Aman619 said:

Well, printing comics is very fast, so no point to that theory... save a day? Big deal if the shipping takes weeks or months... right ?

Yup. Just something I'd heard Aman. No records of these things alas.

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1 hour ago, rakehell said:

Don't try to tell me you don't need two copies. :insane:

Can you believe it Alice... All that time waiting then two in the same week. Unbelievable 9_9

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16 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I picked up a 9d pence copy of Battle #70 this week (June 1960, the final issue in the title), the last comic that could possibly turn out to have an L Miller indicia.

The discovery of Miller indicias in 'Amazing Adventures' put paid to my long held original theory that Miller only picked up westerns. So there was a chance that Battle could have had one - but it was a Thorpe & Porter, as expected:

1052220425_Battle709dTP-CJun60.thumb.jpg.0d9227d47a50388a4bc0c9de3953eeae.jpg 1891456471_Battle709dTP-IJun60.thumb.jpg.dc4cc2678fdf935ebc2a47078c1ae66e.jpg

That virtually concludes the Miller position now - I do not expect any more titles or issues to materialise (apart from the ever reluctant Gunsmoke Western #61 and Two-Gun Kid #58):

1607911192_v2_515_11_19.thumb.PNG.8d9fa69785d11253190adbef51aa282c.PNG

So five titles it will remain, with 24 confirmed of 26 in scope issues.

Someone had to do it....(thumbsu

And thanks for doing it (thumbsu

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Some Miller musings in here, and we may see a book go to CGC. The OP has promised to keep us posted - it'll be interesting to see how CGC handle it:

 

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Morning :)

The other month, Steve in the city enquired after the Miller indicia variants over in my Marvel Pence thread. It reminded me that sometimes, what is very clear to an author when he is writing may not always be as clear to the reader. 

During the lock down, I've been pottering away on the comic files, reorganising, scanning and making new and updated notes. They look quite nice now, the Miller files - here's a few screen dumps:

The books I currently own:

lm1.thumb.PNG.b7d2869ae72401fe026860104012c99b.PNG

 

The folders by title:

lm2.thumb.PNG.d00074c396b334665b2bf573b7593420.PNG

 

The content of each Miller issue - showing the Miller cover and indicia vs the US copy:

lm3.thumb.PNG.3a0be5c7cca2a8a0925d3420aa8f3386.PNG

 

My latest addition to the Miller pot is Gunsmoke Western #61.

So, to help illustrate what these books are all about, here's a further illustrative summary using that issue.

For Gunsmoke Western #61, two first printing versions exist (there are no US Price Font Variants for this book by the way). The first is the standard US version below. It has a ten cent cover price and standard US indicia page:

1219056798_GunsmokeWestern6110cUS-CNov60.thumb.jpg.d74714716a6c515026a0d9dd209dd8f0.jpg386006726_GunsmokeWestern6110cUS-INov60.thumb.jpg.83f2750b67962933bcadc275a8b3a59f.jpg

 

The second version is the Miller indicia version. It also has a ten cent cover price but the indicia has an additional two lines of printed data at the foot of the indicia page to show that it was 'Exclusively printed for UK distribution':

1111836049_GunsmokeWestern6110cLM-CNov60.thumb.jpg.eef67cfc3c7410a0bc3141f6938aa25b.jpg972788463_GunsmokeWestern6110cLM-INov60.thumb.jpg.f652f93570b5d8d2ee757a8b10bca8c3.jpg

 

So two versions exist - one destined for the US and one for the UK. Both printed at the same time by the same printers. 

Effectively, the Miller copies follow the same approach as the Thorpe & Porter UK Price Variants with one set of copies being printed for UK distribution with a different indicia. With the Thorpe & Porter copies, they all have a UK price on the cover too. Now Miller started with a 9d UK price...

2064668383_v2_621_03_20.thumb.PNG.c9a4000a3fc410a9522345c02a0750bd.PNG

 

....but from September 1960 they reverted to having US 10 cent cover prices. We don't know why, but I suspect it was so that they could then add their 6d price stamps to the covers in an attempt to undercut Thorpe & Porter in the UK marketplace.

Now, Steve, did that help at all? hm

@steveinthecity

Probably not!  :grin:

 

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Morning :)

I've been doing a bit of research into L Miller over the last year, looking to see what information is out there. As well as the Marvels of this thread, and the Charlton UKPVs of the other (see sig line), their 6d, 9d and one shilling 'LM' cover stamps tell us that they also distributed IW Super, Archie, Harvey and cents priced Charlton comics in the UK.

1649285135_LoveandMarriage2LMStamp.thumb.jpg.34e21df893d51093cb4e72cb73efe4b6.jpg1115428819_1961.12Archie124LMStamp.jpg.4c76c6dd8fedbb13f89c184654e3326d.jpg

1822981232_1970.02RichieRich90LMStamp.jpg.d02f2e2f062137b718ac5e039f6b3236.jpg1468438393_1967.05ArmyWarHeroes19.jpg.e10447a8b956924ab013826ebf8a366c.jpg

Who knew.

I'm planning a fairly extensive journal entry on all that, as well as a quite exhaustive one on the history of Charlton in the UK right up until its demise. Miller plays a large part in that.

Their old address as we know was 342 & 344 Hackney Road and I've tried hard to find a vintage picture of the place.

The closest you can get currently is #340, Wall & Jones:

752165595_340HackneyRoad.thumb.PNG.a12c82c9cafa82dce65147e5e4634cc0.PNG

To the left, up the road, we have a housing estate which I'm guessing was built on the former Miller site.

895384015_342HackneyRoad.thumb.PNG.db435ddfa6044981b87a29798a225c42.PNG

The retail numbers return in the 380's so Miller sat somewhere in what is now the Warner Place / Hadrian Estate which I believe was built around 1967.

The site was opposite the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children and, try as I might, I can't find an old picture of it from the sixties.

I'll keep looking though, and plan to have a mosey in person when lockdown ends. See if I can detect any Miller vibes, 60 years later (it can happen).

Next up, a check for the Folgate Street address....

1090564953_13_03.70Letter.jpg.31176025222560a001231c25986f9a0d.jpg

Hmmm...

315020145_45FolgateStreet.thumb.PNG.63403ff2d0a820c3a3d7cc4b9b89b80d.PNG

 

 

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An extremely unexpected place to find an exhaustive index of all the Miller/Arnold comics ever issued is within Nos 15 and 16 of Peter Normanton’s UK Horror magazine  “From The Tomb”. The index along with a  fascinating article is by Frank Motler. There’s even a photo (thanks to Alan Austin and Steve Holland) of the less than scintillating premises where these comics originally emerged from !!

 

miller.jpg

Edited by themagicrobot
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1 hour ago, themagicrobot said:

An extremely unexpected place to find an exhaustive index of all the Miller/Arnold comics ever issued is within Nos 15 and 16 of Peter Normanton’s UK Horror magazine  “From The Tomb”.

:headbang:

Just ordered a copy of each Robot (on the off chance he's reading, I think Golders put me on to this publication a while back but there were no copies available to buy at the time and I proceeded to forget all about it!)  

I'm taking it the index will be of Miller's self produced reprint titles only, and not the imported books of this thread (or the Charlton UKPVs).

Quote

The index along with a  fascinating article is by Frank Motler. There’s even a photo (thanks to Alan Austin and Steve Holland) of the less than scintillating premises where these comics originally emerged from !!

miller.jpg

Brilliant, thanks Robot. I'll punish Google later :)

The zebra crossing is still there (hiding under the lorry on Google maps - typical!):

 miller.jpg.f31188fcdf386c03432a2d6f1d5832e1.jpg.7f40736f2a0f4d903c24670b760d6745.jpg  Capture.thumb.PNG.6c9a8c41d460e3e0151d35fe40d31f31.PNG

Brilliant. 

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Marwood couldn't give a monkeys actually - I'm doing it all 9_9

Here's a good reference book for the Miller Westerns - lots of nice little snippets in there:

thumbnail.thumb.jpg.512ddc0edacf8c4c169eb5047757a725.jpg

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slightly obscure corner of British comic book publishing history 

 Not half. That book won't make the best seller list. At 20 squids I can't really justify the cost when I can get something more interesting to read like four copies of The Defenders or She Hulk for that money.

Western.jpg

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