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Re: Super Cat 3

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topic icon Author Topic: Re: Super Cat 3  (Read 201 times)

crashryan

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Re: Super Cat 3
« on: October 31, 2022, 05:30:02 PM »

The most remarkable thing about this issue is that Super Cat actually appears in it.

Link to the book: Super Cat 3
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Robb_K

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Re: Super Cat 3
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2022, 07:05:02 AM »


The most remarkable thing about this issue is that Super Cat actually appears in it.

Yes. Ajax's "Super Cat" series was very strange, in that the first two of its 4 issues didn't even contain stories starring the series title character.  The publisher, Robert Farrell, certainly had originally intended "Super Cat" stories to be the lead story in every issue. 

While running Victor Fox's Fox Features comic book production operations for him while the former dealt with personal legal and financial issues in the beginning of the 1950s, Farrell had bought the rights to several of Fox's comic book characters, and existing unpublished story scripts and drawn, but unpublished artwork and printing plates from Fox just before he shut down Fox's comic book production operations, when Fox needed the money for legal fees.  In 1954, Farrell leased the rights to Fox's Cosmo Cat, and a few other of former Fox funny animal and other children's comics characters' story artwork to L.B. Cole for reprinting in his Star Publications' "Frisky Animals" series, which had from the beginning of it's continuance of Star's "Frisky Fables" in 1951, been exclusively reprinted "Frisky Fables" stories produced earlier by Novelty Press, plus a small amount of newly drawn stories, all with Novelty's characters.  "Cosmo Cat" a Sci-Fi Superhero, as the most dynamic Fox character, they acquired, was expected to be attractive to older children, and so be the best attraction to increase sales.  So the series title was changed to "Super Cat", and Cosmo Cat (now, as 'Super Cat") was placed on each of the 5 remaining front covers, and each issue's lead story was a reprint of a Fox Cosmo Cat story with its title logo changed from "Cosmo Cat" to "Super Cat", and the remainder of each book was filled with one new Star story with old Novelty characters, and the rest, reprints of Novelty Funny Animal stories. 

Then, when Cole's Star Publishing went out of business in fall 1954, Farrell not only got his former Fox artwork back, but also bought the rights to Cole's former Novelty Press "Frisky Fables" characters and artwork, and printing plates, which he sat on at his own Four Star/Farrell/Ajax Publishing operations, until 1957, when he started issuing them under his Ajax imprint, in several series, including "Frisky Animals on Parade", "Mighty Bear", "Funny Fables", "Full of Fun", "Spunky", "Super Spook", and "Mighty Ghost".  He commissioned new front cover art, and a few newly-drawn lead stories for these series.  But most of the stories were reprints of the Novelty Press and Star Publications artwork.  Apparently, the new artwork that Farrell had commissioned, wasn't ready for either of Farrell's new "Super Cat" series' first 2 issues.  Two issues later, he dropped the series for lack of sales.  The new stories were really silly and made no sense, and had nothing of the "charm' of Fox's original "Cosmo Cat" series; and their artwork was really weak and uninspired.  At least Fox's series had a "tongue-in-cheek", "campy" feel, and an interesting art style.  Farrell never had much of a feel for his children's series.  His earliest (1940s) ventures, "Hi-Ho Comics" (3 issues), "Kiddie Kapers" (2 issues), "Daffy Tunes" (1 issue), and his early 1950s series "Billy Bunny" (4 regular-sized and 1 giant issue) all failed, just as all his 1957-58 series I mentioned above, with none going past 4 issues.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2022, 04:41:25 PM by Robb_K »
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