[crashryan]

I just received the new issue of Alter Ego (#164). It contains a fascinating article exploring the history of Rural Home comics and Lindsay Baird, the "legally- and ethically-challenged" gentleman who created the company. The whole enterprise was an effort to make a few bucks during WWII by dodging Government-imposed restrictions which determined who could have paper to publish comics. The author, Mark Carlson-Ghost, has dug deep into the web of shell companies, phony publishers and backroom deals with printers and distributors. Along the way he examines the careers of Rural Home heroes like The Green Turtle, Bogeyman, Maureen Marine, and other household names. The Jacquet, Sangor, and Baily shops feature prominently in the tale. It's a long, deep essay which will appeal to those who, like me, are curious about the rough-and-tumble world of Golden Age Comics. (And no, this is not a paid advertisement.)

I wonder whether the higher status of comics in countries like France and Italy is because their early comics industries included "respectable" publishers like Mondadori and the Catholic church. In America comics were launched mostly by chiselers and sleaze bags. It was all about squeezing out a few pennies per copy on a razor-thin margin. No wonder guys like Victor Fox hired kids and desperate old-timers to crank out second-rate work for which he often didn't pay.

[The Australian Panther]

I think a contributing factor has been a prejudice against comics in the English Speaking world from Journalist and publishers. That meant that the only ones who saw comics as a valid way of making a living would have been bottom-feeders and not reputable players. Until recently. Comics are still not regarded with much respect by big publishers and newspaper organizations in Australia. France and Japan 'seem' to have had a different experience. I'm not sure what the story is in the Spanish and Italian-speaking countries. It always fascinates me that American comic creative work seem to be respected more in Europe and some other countries than in the US itself. [The Phantom, The Disney characters etc.] Marvel comics are translated into Russian and are very popular! But then again, the same applies to US music. It took the Beatles and Stones and their ilk to adopt Black American music [first heard from Sailors and Soldiers and US Radio] and bring it back to the US. Sorry to say so, America exports its popular culture and enriched the rest of the world, but large elements in the US population never respected their own culture.       

[Andrew999]

I can confirm Italians have a great respect for graphic culture (fumetti) - after all didn't they pretty much invent the graphic image during the Renaissance :>

As well as prolific home-based companies such as Bonelli, Star and Astorina, Italians also read bucketloads of Marvel/DC translations and Japanese manga - particular imported standouts include Topolino (Mickey Mouse) and the Phantom.

Diabolik has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

Here you go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_comics

[Robb_K]

I can confirm Italians have a great respect for graphic culture (fumetti) - after all didn't they pretty much invent the graphic image during the Renaissance :>

As well as prolific home-based companies such as Bonelli, Star and Astorina, Italians also read bucketloads of Marvel/DC translations and Japanese manga - particular imported standouts include Topolino (Mickey Mouse) and the Phantom.

Diabolik has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

Here you go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_comics

The Italians loved Mickey Mouse (Topolino) so very much in The 1930s, that when Mussolini's ally, Adolf Hitler told him to outlaw all cultural items from the "decadent" USA, The Italian people complained so much that Mondadori had to develop a non-Disney "Mickey Mouse substitute" ("Tuffolino"- a small bouncy human, who looked and acted something like Mickey), to try to appease his fans.  But, the art wasn't nearly as good as Gottfredson's, and neither were the stories.  So they didn't go for it.  The whole country celebrated Topolino's return, when Italy was occupied by The Americans, and Topolino returned!

[paw broon]

Not only Diabolik, Dylan Dog at one point was selling near a million copies a month.
The UK has had a comics industry for a long time, longer than most if story papers are included - bearing in mind there were some short, small comic strips in some of them. Comics sold in huge numbers but were, I believe, considered kids stuff, and that despite the fact that many adults read them.  Comics were looked down on by millions as cheap, childish rubbish.  I still think that comics are not particularly respected here, although they have achieved a higher level of respectability in some quarters.
A lot of folk forget, or never knew, that respectable publishers such as AP/Fleetway and DC Thomson published piles of comics dating from way back to recent times.  These publishers were not as cheap and sleazy as Rural/Croydon or Fox but they made a lot of money from the work of highly talented creators while not paying a lot for the work.

[Electricmastro]

Rural Home did strike me as odd, publishing Blazing Comics, Blue Circle Comics, Red Band Comics, Cannonball Comics, Eagle Comics, Laffy-Daffy Comics, Mask Comics, Meteor Comics, Patches, Red Circle Comics, Taffy Comics all within the span of two years, seemingly abruptly stoping in the second year.