[Dave Hayward]

Lovely stuff Paw.
Although it says the stories are redrawn, comparing 'Skull Island Killers' with the story in Black Cat #20 (Harvey), apart from it being black and white, they look virtually identical. But, I'm no expert.
I wonder if it was some way of getting around a copyright issue?

Link to the book: Black Cat Adventures_18

[crashryan]

Of course these are reprints of American strips (which was my point; I think someone may have thought I was serious about Elias and Australia). I don't think copyright played a part. According to Wikipedia :

With the onset of World War II the Australian Government placed a ban on the importation of American comics and syndicated proofs. As a result, the local comic book industry flourished. Following the war, Australia incurred a huge national debt: local publishers found they had a captive market as import restrictions continued to be enforced, at the same time the modern American style comic book (mostly sans color) was adopted. In its Golden Age Australian talent produced exciting creations such as Yarmak, Captain Atom, Tim Valour, Crimson Comet, The Panther, The Raven, The Lone Wolf, The Phantom Ranger and many others. September 1948 saw the debut of  The Phantom by Frew Publications, the longest continuously published comic book.

According to the article, importation of American comics resumed in 1959. Looks rather like Consolidated Press was trying to dodge the import restriction by pretending its comics were home-grown

[paw broon]

Yes, you're  quite right of course crash. The same claim is made in our copy of Doll Man #03.
A few years ago neil4161 commented on the same point and posted a link to this:-
"But what of the mysterious Australian production companies, Jayar Studios and Jubilee Publications, associated with this comic? James Zanotto at AusReprints.com believes there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that Jubilee Publications was affiliated (along with several others) with the Australian publisher, Ayers & James. He also suggests that Jayar Studios mainly provided new cover illustrations for Australian reprints of American comics and, where necessary, traced and/or copied American comic-book artwork for black & white reproduction by Australian publishers."
The above was a post by Kevin Patrick.