[positronic1]

It may have been "previously unpublished" by Ziff-Davis (when SPACE BUSTERS was cancelled after only 2 issues), but nothing Israel Waldman printed in his IW/Super Comics line hadn't seen print *somewhere* before -- because what he bought was the old printers' plates after the original comics had been printed. In this instance, the contents of STRANGE PLANETS #18 had previously seen print in Archer St. John's DARING ADVENTURES (officially titled "Approved Comics No. 6" in the indicia) with a May 1954 cover date. And then the entire contents were reprinted *again* by Ajax-Farrell in the one-shot GREAT EXPLOITS No. 1 (Oct. 1957), before Israel Waldman got the plates and used them for the contents of Strange Planets No. 18.

Link to the book: Strange Planets 18

[paw broon]

As with Waldman, in the U.K. Alan Class produced a big range of titles using plates from American publishers.  These reprints were in b&w in the size typical of U.K. 64 page comics.  i.e. slightly shorter than american comics. The various titles contained in each issue a mish-mash of genres from a jumble of publishers.  They sold very well in newsagents here. This is the wiki:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Class_Comics
It has been alleged, not by me you understand, that he did not necessarily have reprint rights to all the stories in his books.
The plates, or some of them, were offered for sale by 30th. Century comics and this page explains what was offered:-
https://30thcenturycomics.co.uk/extras/alan-class/

[positronic1]

As with Waldman, in the U.K. Alan Class produced a big range of titles using plates from American publishers.  These reprints were in b&w in the size typical of U.K. 64 page comics.  i.e. slightly shorter than american comics. The various titles contained in each issue a mish-mash of genres from a jumble of publishers.  They sold very well in newsagents here. This is the wiki:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Class_Comics
It has been alleged, not by me you understand, that he did not necessarily have reprint rights to all the stories in his books.
The plates, or some of them, were offered for sale by 30th. Century comics and this page explains what was offered:-
https://30thcenturycomics.co.uk/extras/alan-class/

I don't think we're talking about exactly the same thing. In Waldman's case, what probably happened is that some printer went out of business due to bankruptcy, foreclosure, fire damage or something of that sort, and needing quick cash, sold all of its assets (which would include the printing plates used to print the comics of various publishers, etc.). It's also possible that Waldman had the money to actually BUY a small printing plant, but more likely some sort of shady backroom deal. The printers know that legally, those plates are supposed to be destroyed when the original publisher's print run is finished. Usually they ARE melted down so that the printer can reclaim the valuable metals, and reuse those to make NEW plates. It would be very unlikely that Alan Class had purchased the same original printing plates used by an American printer to print the original silver age Marvel comics. In the video you linked there, what we see is the printing plates that Alan Class had made to print his own comics (and we know this because we see the plates are from the cover of UNCANNY TALES, not from the cover of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16). If those were authorized foreign reprints licensed by Marvel, they would have supplied Alan Class with black-and-white line art, just a really good clear offset copy that could be then be photographically reproduced to make new printers' plates. Class obviously had to take a copy of the cover art from ASM 16, and modify that by creating a new logo for UNCANNY. The costs of shipping hundreds of original printing plates overseas from the US to the UK would be too high to be worth it to any publisher.

[positronic1]

Actually, after studying the list of Israel Waldman's titles over at GCDb, and noting some of the original sources of the content of the IW/Super Comics line, I'm going to retract my previous hypothesis about how Waldman acquired those printing plates. I'm now pretty sure of *which* printer, specifically, printed the original comics and must have had the printing plates in its possession. That printer was Eastern Color Printing, which printed comics for a number of different publishers, among them Fiction House, St. John, Fox, Avon, Atlas/Marvel, Quality, and others. How do I know that Waldman's unauthorized reprints were printed using Eastern Color's plates? Because one of Waldman's comics was SPACE DETECTIVE #8 (not available on CB+, but see details at https://www.comics.org/issue/14079/) -- which, underneath a cover reprinting Avon's Space Detective #1, reprinted the first 32 pages of FAMOUS FUNNIES #191. Eastern Color Printing, in addition to being a printer first and foremost, also published its own line of comics, of which Famous Funnies was the flagship title. Plates from that issue of Famous Funnies could have come from no other printer than Eastern Color. As for HOW those plates managed to wind up in Israel Waldman's possession, it's still a matter of conjecture, but there's a few observations I can make. Nearly ALL the content of Waldman's comics came from the last few years worth of issues (all early 1950s issues) of several publishers who very shortly thereafter wound up out of business. And they probably WENT out of business owing Eastern Color Printing money for print runs completed but never paid for. *Maybe* the printer felt like it was only fair that he recoup some of his losses by selling plates from those companies' print runs to anyone interested in offering cash for them? Of course, Eastern Color itself got out of the comics publishing business about 5 years after the publication of Famous Funnies #191 -- but they continued to print other publishers' comics until sometime in the 1970s, so we know the business as a whole didn't fail. It's also possible that a larcenous employee may have hustled those plates out the door of some storage room and into a waiting truck owned by Waldman, unbeknownst to Eastern Color's owners. We'll probably never know the actual facts of how I.W. got those printing plates.

[paw broon]

Thanks for the thoughts on Waldman.
You are correct about the plates.  I worked in newspapers for many years when it was all hot metal. 
Alan Class stated that he received "photostats" of the comics from Marvel, from which he had plates made. (There is an interview with Mr. Class on the same page, but you might not want to watch, given the FF #1 story).  However, your comment, "If those were authorized foreign reprints licensed by Marvel" does reflect certain theories which were doing the rounds some years ago.  Reading his various titles, you'll come across material from Marvel, Archie Radio Comics, ACG, Charlton, King and some others.
According to the interview, he used Transworld Features Syndicate, who represented Marvel, to facilitate his reprint books.

[positronic1]

Thanks for the thoughts on Waldman.
You are correct about the plates.  I worked in newspapers for many years when it was all hot metal. 
Alan Class stated that he received "photostats" of the comics from Marvel, from which he had plates made. (There is an interview with Mr. Class on the same page, but you might not want to watch, given the FF #1 story).  However, your comment, "If those were authorized foreign reprints licensed by Marvel" does reflect certain theories which were doing the rounds some years ago.  Reading his various titles, you'll come across material from Marvel, Archie Radio Comics, ACG, Charlton, King and some others.
According to the interview, he used Transworld Features Syndicate, who represented Marvel, to facilitate his reprint books.

Since you bring up the topic of photostats, this is a good place to mention that whenever a publisher has its comics printed in black-and-white, if the printing job is sharp and clear, then the finished product ITSELF can be the source of further UNauthorized reprints. This in fact has happened in a number of known cases, of bootleg/counterfeit reprints of underground comix, or some of the earlier, more valuable issues of horror comics published by James Warren.

[positronic1]

Reading his various titles, you'll come across material from Marvel, Archie Radio Comics, ACG, Charlton, King and some others.
According to the interview, he used Transworld Features Syndicate, who represented Marvel, to facilitate his reprint books.

I don't know much about Transworld, but I've heard of it before, so I'm inclined to think it's the real deal. In the early 60s, except for DC I think, most of the comic publishers in the U.S. didn't have their own in-house departments for foreign reprint rights, and Transworld may have been the only business entity doing the job for most publishers.