[crashryan]

I can supply a little more info. I found a reference to "Elliott Publishing Company" in Wikipedia's article about "Classics Illustrated." It seems a publisher named Albert Kanter and two business partners conceived "Classic Comics" for Elliott and produced the first three issues for the company (beginning 1941). In 1942 Kanter & Co. split from Elliott to form Gilberton, the company that produced "Classics Illustrated" until 1971. Ruth Roche, listed as Spitfire's managing editor, was a writer for the Iger shop. She became Iger's business partner in 1945 and remained with the shop until it closed in 1961. Paul Cooper was an Iger shop artist. GCD credits Rick Shawn as a writer but I've found nothing on him. Maybe it was a house name. S. M. Regi was of course Jerry Iger.

"Over the Rail" with Uncle Otto is an Eisner page reprinted from "Jumbo" #9. I wonder if other strips were reprints. The GCD says no, but they may be mistaken. The character name "Drop Towers" irks me. It's a stupid name that has been re-lettered throughout. The "D" of the logo is raised just enough for for it to be a re-jiggered "P." Could Drop have started life as "Prop Powers"? A character by that name appears in "Atomic Comics" #4 (1946) published by Green. Ruth Roche is again listed as managing editor and it also features Iger artists. Though published after the War the stories read like wartime leftovers. Could Drop/Prop have been leftover inventory from Iger's earlier projects? There was a Prop Powers in Quality's "National Comics." In an earlier comment I thought he and Drop couldn't be the same person because Prop had a sidekick. However in early stories he worked alone, so who knows?

I wish there was more information on Elliott Publishing Company. Note that the publisher is credited as the "Malverne Herald" of Malverne, NY. The Library of Congress says this paper was a weekly published beginning in 1928 with an unknown ending date. There's a weekly "Malverne/West Hempstead Herald" published today but I haven't found a connection between it and the earlier paper.

Link to the comment: Spitfire Comics 133