| Comments |
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| This is intriguing! The last page and the order ticket on page 2 make it clear that this is a Canadian publication, but the cover price, the advertiement on page 2, and the advertisements on the penultimate and last pages all refer to shillings and pence. I'm puzzled. |
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| For dkelsey:
After WWII ended, and paper rationing and the Canadian ban on foreign comic book imports was lifted, a flood of full-colour US comic books started coming into Canada, the Canadian publishers couldn't compete, and most closed operations. The couple that hung on (i.e. Bell Features, etc) needed more sales to stay afloat. So they imported US comics produced and packaged by their original publishers, and even printed in USA. The Canadian firms just printed the front and back covers, containing the local advertising. To help boost their sales, the Canadian firms also assembled copies to sell in The UK, and so, printed their covers. This was a UK issue, but, I wonder why there is no Indicia bar at the bottom of the Inside Front Cover, which should contain the Copyright of the Canadian company, and the laws covering the issue, and the prices for single copies and subscriptions in The UK. Twinkle was published by Spotlight Publications in USA, and must have been provided to this Canadian publisher by Spotlight's distributor and packager, which probably packaged all the Universal Comics group titles, including Latest, Pop-Pop, Three Ring, Jeep, Bee-29, and Teen Town Comics, all of which I have or have seen Canadian issues. All the others I've seen had the Canadian Indicia, if I remember correctly. So this one may have been a printing oversight. What is very interesting to me is that this issue has a story (Marty & Mat - a funny animal story drawn by Howie Post) which was NOT included in the Twinkle #1 original US issue, and seems likely to have originally been slated for inclusion in Latest Comics #3, which was never issued, because that series was cancelled after #2.
Here are the indicia from Canadian Three Ring Comics #3, listing information on BOTH the Canadian and UK issues:
Three Ring Comics Vol.1 No.3, Sept. 1946 published 4 times yearly by Century Publishing Co. 2382 Dundas St. West, Toronto Canada.Entire contents copyrighted by Century publishing Co. British distributors: Streamlined Books, Ltd. 23 Holloway Arcade, London N.7. Printed in Canada.
So, Twinkle, Pop-Pop, Latest, Jeep, Bombardier, and the rest were distributed in Canada by Superior Comics, Ltd., and in The UK by Streamlined Books. Thus, Canadian and UK issues were identical, other than the price printed on the front covers. So THIS was a UK issue. |
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| Thank you, Robb_K, for that very fulll and informative explanation. I was a teenager at that time, and had no idea what byzantine arrangements lay behind the production of simple looking comics! Fascinating stuff. |
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| As surmised in the Notes for this issue, Superior Publications, was the Canadian distributor and holding company for its subsidiary, Century Publishing. Superior had several comic book publishing companies under its banner, the main, and most well-known one being Duchess Printing and Publishing. They imported US generated product mainly originating from Funnies, Inc. and The Chesler, Eisner, Iger, and Baily comics packaging studios. |
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| The comic isn't listed in the British guide.
Could the London distributor be Streamline, not Streamlined?
Streamline produced comics.
The price on the cover is odd. Most non anthology weeklies came in around 6d. 8d and 9d were usually the prices on Australian ballast comics.
The lack of indicia is not unknown in British comics. And even when one is printed, there is often very little info. |
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| Thanks very much for all the very informative comments being shared on this book. |
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| "Svengali" is a weird kind of story, but it's always good to see art from Bob Fujitani. Thanks, Yoc. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | [circa 1946] | Price: 9d [0-0-9 GBP] | Pages: 1 |
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| Cover | Strongman |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
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| Advertisement | Fun for Boys (1 page) |
| Notes | Ad for the book 'Fun For Boys' published by Dominion Mail Order Agency of 2382 Dundas Street West, Toronto. |
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| Comic Story | Svengali (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | Updated version of the Svengali story, with the title character as an evil hypnotist who mesmerises teenage boys in wartime Budapest to carry out murder and torture on command. |
| Credits | Pencils: Bob Fujitani [as B. Fuje] (signed) | Inks: Bob Fujitani [as B. Fuje] (signed) | Letters: Howard Ferguson |
| Content | Genre: Adventure |
| Notes | One panel shows the hypnotised boys flogging men tied to stakes, with a swastika flag flying in the background. The story is told by one of the boys while he is dying. |
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| Comic Story | Marty & Mat (6 pages) |
| Synopsis | A cat and a rat (or possibly a cat and a dog) steal a custard pie from their owner. |
| Credits | Pencils: Howie Post [as Howard W. Post] | Inks: Howie Post [as Howard W. Post] |
| Content | Genre: Anthropomorphic-funny Animals |
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| Text Story | Dishonor Among Thieves (2 pages) |
| Credits | Script: Clifton Cuthbert (credited) | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Crime |
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| Comic Story | Dream Man (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | An elderly man helps the police to solve crimes by psychometry, dreaming the solutions. |
| Credits | Pencils: Nina Albright (signed) | Inks: Nina Albright (signed) | Letters: Howard Ferguson |
| Content | Genre: Detective-mystery |
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| Comic Story | The Governor's Doubloons (8 pages) |
| Synopsis | A 'good' pirate steals treasure from a wicked governor, who has been robbing his own people. |
| Featuring | The Crimson Admiral |
| Credits | Pencils: August Froehlich [as A. M. Froehlich] | Inks: August Froehlich [as A. M. Froehlich] | Letters: Howard Ferguson |
| Content | Genre: Historical |
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| Advertisement | Library of Fun (1 page) |
| Notes | Inside back cover. 20 books for 7/6 from Dominion Mail Order Agency. |
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| Advertisement | It's Easy to Learn Dancing (1 page) |
| Content | Characters: Dale Evans |
| Notes | On back cover. Ad for book from Dominion Mail Order Agency.
Bottom of page has disclaimer that neither free trial offer nor COD orders applicable to Great Britain and Ireland. |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
