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The Distribution of US Published Comics in the UK (1959~1982)
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5,827 posts in this topic

In the early days of my comic buying limited funds often saw me heading to the second hand bookstall at the local market. All his comics and paperback books had his price written across the cover at least 6 inches high. Don't know if he used a biro or a crayon (don't think magic markers were too common then) but he sure made a mess of the covers. I'd be forced to return them the following week at two for one just to satisfy my quest for knowledge reading further titles I'd never seen before. Oddly he charged 3d for all comics even if they were 80 page giants. Many of his stock was absolutely ancient...some issues must have been as much as 5 years old!!! in hindsight I should have persuaded my parents to invest in an Action Comics No 1 for an xmas present 55 years ago.

 

 

Lois Lane 111.jpg

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20 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

In the early days of my comic buying limited funds often saw me heading to the second hand bookstall at the local market. All his comics and paperback books had his price written across the cover at least 6 inches high.

Rodney's in Barking did that to my youth - massive 2 and 3p marker pen cover prices on all my UK weeklies :eek:

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36 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

In the early days of my comic buying limited funds often saw me heading to the second hand bookstall at the local market. All his comics and paperback books had his price written across the cover at least 6 inches high. Don't know if he used a biro or a crayon (don't think magic markers were too common then) but he sure made a mess of the covers. I'd be forced to return them the following week at two for one just to satisfy my quest for knowledge reading further titles I'd never seen before. Oddly he charged 3d for all comics even if they were 80 page giants. Many of his stock was absolutely ancient...some issues must have been as much as 5 years old!!! in hindsight I should have persuaded my parents to invest in an Action Comics No 1 for an xmas present 55 years ago.

 

 

Lois Lane 111.jpg

Well,there's a Lois Lane that just rocketed onto my want list!

Boner report!

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Just now, porcupine48 said:

Well,there's a Lois Lane that just rocketed onto my want list!

Boner report!

Wonder what they all did once they'd finished tying her down Jim. You'd have to have a quick look wouldn't you :whistle:

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4 minutes ago, themagicrobot said:

I'm enjoying the way this thread is heading off in multiple directions but I thought I'd post this image to bring things back to where the thread began (although I still reserve the right to be human and go off on a tangent later).

Brave and Bold 26.jpg

That's our current sole stamped 6 example Rob

Odd that the DD's copy was unstamped, I thought...

dd.thumb.PNG.896b9ad569a408377f973ddbb90129b3.PNG

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Morning guys :)

I was working on the summary over in the journals area yesterday and the software change kicked in and mucked it all up. As it stands, all the journal pages are missing their images and experience tells me that not all of them may return if and when the owners get around to reinstating them. Quite a few of mine have hyperlinks so I'll wait and see what happens - there may be a lot of repair work to be done if everything isn't automatically restored so I may leave the summary to next year.

Fingers crossed :wishluck:

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On 12/13/2020 at 7:24 PM, Get Marwood & I said:
On 12/13/2020 at 7:17 PM, themagicrobot said:

What did you buy from eBay for £2.20? An old Charlton I'm guessing although folks seem to be asking a fiver for most of them these days. Too rich for my blood. My new limit is one comic a day at a maximum price of £3. Seconds ago I won this for 45p. I thought I'd got a bargain (despite the poor condition) until I saw I'd been charged £2 postage.

£2 aint bad! I got stung for £4 postage the other week. It came second class Large Letter with no card and in a recycled envelope. I calculated they made about £2.30 profit, the bar stewards.

I'll post my comic when it comes Robot. 

Here we go Robbie. I bought it so I could put it next to my pence copy and 15c variant but, of course, that's issue 15, not fourteen. The good news though, apart from it being a brilliant comic, is that I got another backing board summary from the chap who's name escapes me now, summarising how cool the comic is (I've posted other examples in my Charlton thread):

 1374276549_SpaceWar14(Vol.1)December1961(10c).thumb.jpg.d25c077f466c9bbe12d92bb3866fad58.jpg391425621_SpaceWar14(Vol.1)December1961(10c)bb.thumb.jpg.039fcbe17e4c49d8028d20f8cd40ef96.jpg

"A 'stunning' comic!!"

How brilliant is that :cloud9:

 

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5 hours ago, Get Marwood & I said:

Here we go Robbie. I bought it so I could put it next to my pence copy and 15c variant but, of course, that's issue 15, not fourteen. The good news though, apart from it being a brilliant comic, is that I got another backing board summary from the chap who's name escapes me now, summarising how cool the comic is (I've posted other examples in my Charlton thread):

 

"A 'stunning' comic!!"

How brilliant is that :cloud9:

 

Tictokman0 I think, if you dont agree with his grading, he provides all you need to know to make you own mind up, great seller.

I always loved this title and had a few copies as a kid that I read to death, by 2014 I was still missing 2 issues, not that they are super expensive or anything, just tough to get in the UK.

A friend in the US and one the best boardies on here knew what I needed and when he saw them on eBay in the US, he grabbed them and sent them to me, thats the stuff that makes this place great :) 

 

Screenshot_1.thumb.png.563250135706bc6dddcc907a12293a21.png

 

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42 minutes ago, Kevin.J said:

I always loved this title and had a few copies as a kid that I read to death, by 2014 I was still missing 2 issues, not that they are super expensive or anything, just tough to get in the UK.

Nice run! I had no awareness of Charlton really, growing up. I must have been in an area that they weren't distributed as I don't recall seeing a single copy as a kid. I've got over 600 now, mostly the pence copies as you know. I really love them. The 1960-1964 UKPV phase has something wonderful about it and just fills me with joy. I'm just smelling the musty interior of a Hunk #1 now as it goes. That's something I never thought I'd be saying at 53 I can tell you, Kevin :grin:

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That particular cover appeared on a few Alan Class books. Incidentally the first Charltons I ever saw were brand new ones on the spinner racks in 1967. I remember getting Blue Beetle No 1 and some (my favourites) Go-Gos. As you say distribution must have been spotty. I never saw any Charltons from earlier in the 1960s in my neck of the woods even in the back issue boxes I searched through in those days. Of course in the 1970s the floodgates opened and I think we received more "Ghost" Charltons than they did in the States.

PS: I wonder if this image will display. This whole forum is image-less for me now apart ones linked to from elsewhere:(

Uncanny Tales 10.jpg

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1 hour ago, themagicrobot said:

That particular cover appeared on a few Alan Class books. Incidentally the first Charltons I ever saw were brand new ones on the spinner racks in 1967. I remember getting Blue Beetle No 1 and some (my favourites) Go-Gos. As you say distribution must have been spotty. I never saw any Charltons from earlier in the 1960s in my neck of the woods even in the back issue boxes I searched through in those days. Of course in the 1970s the floodgates opened and I think we received more "Ghost" Charltons than they did in the States.

PS: I wonder if this image will display. This whole forum is image-less for me now apart ones linked to from elsewhere:(

Yes, I'm more familiar with certain covers from their Alan Class reprint copies than the original books themselves - and he used some of them quite often didn't he, our Alan :bigsmile:

All the images should be restored now Robot, apart from those added in the last day or so. I'm off to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow on the few of my recent ones that failed the forum software upgrade test.... 

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Best wishes for new year to you too Marwood and all other board members.

Anyway I’ve made the decision to whittle my collection down to stuff I have some attachment to. I’m not sure exactly what that is but will be mainly up to early 1970s with some titles running to their initial end; reboots will be my jumping off point. I’ve already made a start selling and the plan is to put the proceeds into upgrading silver age and buying more issues Patsy & Hedy.

Waiting to see what your new discoveries are........

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