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[positronic1]

Well, thanks for the effort anyway, paw broon.

It's just a shame that Bails' listing is so frustratingly vague on details, listing only the publisher (if that even) and year of activity, and NOT specific publication titles or issue numbers. The credit for TABU ("1940s") isn't very helpful even though I know that Tabu appeared in JUNGLE COMICS. Well, the one story at GCD that attributes credit to Brodie-Mack specifically is reprinted from a 1951 issue of JUNGLE, so I guess I'd need to check every issue of Jungle Comics published in the 1940s, looking for that "by Mack" byline. Going back to JUNGLE COMICS #1, I can see that TABU, Wizard of the Jungle was created by Fletcher Hanks. Of course, like most features he created, he did not stay on it past the first year.

Even then, it seems dubious that an artist living in Australia was contributing first-publication work for an American publisher on some kind of regular basis. On KAZANDA, we know that it was reformatted and reprinted in RANGERS COMICS a couple of years after it had been published as a one-shot in Australia by N.S.W. Bookstalls, so that's clearly an unusual type of circumstance for Fiction House.

I also know that I can't completely trust Bails' data either, since he lists Kazanda as "c1939", when the work was definitely copyrighted in Australia in 1942. It hardly seems likely that the creators allowed the work to be published somewhere in 1939, waiting until a 1942 one-shot reprint to register a copyright on the work.

Studying the black and white one-shot a bit more carefully, I can see certain panels where Brodie-Mack took a decent amount of time to produce a lavish glamour shot of Kazanda, rendered in detail and with carefully-added gray tones. I can't help thinking in looking at these that he was working from a photo (or a live model, but probably a photo), and Kazanda's dress looks strikingly similar to the type of sarong worn by Dorothy Lamour in several films, such as Jungle Princess (1936) or Her Jungle Love (1938). There were several other similar roles she was cast in as well. I haven't been able to find of photo of Lamour where she's posed exactly like any of the images of Kazanda as drawn by Brodie-Mack, but I haven't spent THAT much time looking either. I'm just struck by the general resemblance of Kazanda to Miss Lamour, both in facial features and mode of dress, and can't help but think that she may have been the inspiration for Kazanda. Another possibility is Ann Corio, who appeared in Jungle Siren with Buster Crabbe, but Lamour was certainly far better known, worldwide.

[SuperScrounge]

It's not unprecedented for an Australian comic to appear in the States. I think the Australian comic strip Ginger Meggs ran for a few issues in Popular Comics.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there was a representative for Australian comics trying to sell them to American publishers. Unfortunately I don't remember where I read that so I can't double check it.

[The Australian Panther]

Its very difficult to get information on Australian Golden Age comics.
Ted Brodie-Mack has a page in Lambiek but its not very informative.
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/brodie-mack.htm 

There are two books on Australian Comics dealing with that era. Firstly,
Panel by Panel: An Illustrated History of Australian Comics.by John
Ryan. Here it is, complete with an article and a letter by Ryan. 
https://www.comicoz.com/panel-by-panel.html

More recently in 2018 Graeme Cliffe has published [ [i]From 'Sunbeams' to Sunset.- the rise and fall of the Australian Comic Book 1924 - 1965[/i]]
An article here.
https://www.comicoz.com/comic-related-news/progress-on-from-sunbeams
I have read Ryan's book but I do not own a copy. He was not, by his own admission, a born writer and its not an easy book to read. I'm looking forward to reading Graeme Cliffe's book.
Re Ted Brodie Mack, the publication of Kazanda in the US (and possibly the UK) is mostly likely to be something that happened at a Publisher Level and its unlikely that Brodie-Mac himself got much out of it.
Even in the seventies (pre-internet remember) it was quite difficult for an Australian comic creator to get regular work in the US or UK. Stanley Pitt was one who tried it, with limited success.
Modern Generation aussie fans have a limited knowledge of older comic history.
In evidence I offer this list,
http://www.tabula-rasa.info/AusComics/ComicsTimeline.html
You will note that the author lists nothing between 1975 and 1957. This is not necessarily so. Paul Wheelahan's Panther ( my Avatar) is well-known enough to be listed but not Wheelahan's other character, 'The Raven'
Readers of CB+ will be familiar with more early Australian creators and characters than the compiler of this list. Sad! [Did I just quote the Donald? Ouch!] The gradually increasing list of characters between 1985 and 2007 on this list might lead you to believe that the Australian scene is very healthy. Not so. You can mostly only buy a comic at a comic shop in Australia, not in a Newsagent (paper shop) so most of these will have had miniscule print runs. I'm not familiar with most of them,and not because I'm not interested. The success story in Australia is FREW with its Phantom comics, but that's another story.     

   

[SuperScrounge]

Design & Art Australia Online has a bio on him https://www.daao.org.au/bio/brodie-mack/biography/

Some place called AustLit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A45399

Some covers he drew in 1917 http://pikitiapress.blogspot.com/2014/04/brodie-mack-freelance-covers-1917.html

Some odds and ends  http://www.pikitiapress.com/blog/2016/11/15/brodie-mack-and-peter-amos-publications

Some scans from the Brodie Mack Correspondence Art School booklet http://fraiing.blogspot.com/2009/07/brodie-mack-correspondence-art-school.html

[positronic1]

You can mostly only buy a comic at a comic shop in Australia, not in a Newsagent (paper shop) so most of these will have had miniscule print runs.

So basically (unless you're including trade paperbacks and hardcovers) it's exactly the same situation as it is in the United States. The vast majority of titles being published these days sell less than 10k copies (most of them, much less) and can only be gotten from a comic shop (or online seller, or digital). Marvel, DC, and Image do a little better on average, since they have the most well-known characters -- but it's only a handful of titles that sell in the 6-figure range. You'd think with all the films being made that would have helped improve comic book sales, but not really. Back in the 1970s, they were cancelling titles left and right when they dipped below the 150k level. Granted, a comic book now costs about ten times as much, and sells a tenth as many copies now. There's practically no such thing as a casual comic book reader, so the entire burden of the market is being borne by hardcore collectors purchasing multiple titles on a regular basis, until they burnout or can no longer afford the hobby. The baby-boomer collectors who sustained the growth of the comic shop direct market in the 1980s and 1990s have pretty much aged out and dropped out.

Thanks for the links (also thanks to SuperScrounge for same). Some of these I've already hit in my searches for more info regarding Ted Brodie Mack, but I'll definitely be looking into the others.

[paw broon]

I'm afraid it's much the same in the U.K.  New comics are only really available in specialist shops and there seem to be fewer of those shops nowadays.  Titan have recently announced the cancellation of their superhero reprint books, leaving us with Doctor Who; Rivers of London and some other non DC books.  Marvel reprint titles still seem to be published and appear in WH Smith stores, although recently, they haven't been in the big supermarkets. Even Commando (DC Thomson) which has been running since the '60's and is well over 5000 is hard to find.  Cons seem to be full of gifts, knocked-off art, cupcakes, jewellery and very few comics.  With the odd exception. Fortunately there still are marts with more comics, although often it's relatively recent stuff and tpb's.
The price for floppies nowadays is also putting punters off.  Many fans I speak to don't think modern, mainstream comics are value for money. I tend to wait for a collection of the very occasional title that captures my imagination but that's not healthy for the hobby.
By the way, Rachel Stott is turning in good work on the new Titan Doctor Who series.  Well worth a look.

[SuperScrounge]

The art in Rangers Comics #28 does not come from the original Kazanda book. So presumably it comes from Kazanda Returns, although if that's so, why didn't Rangers finish the story?

[positronic1]

The art in Rangers Comics #28 does not come from the original Kazanda book. So presumably it comes from Kazanda Returns, although if that's so, why didn't Rangers finish the story?

It's definitely the same story reprinted (in part) from KAZANDA AGAIN, based on the cover of that Aussie comic book being a redrawn version of the panel at the bottom of page 3 (which shows Kazanda being carried through the trees by "the great ape, Kagor") of the Kazanda story as edited for RANGERS #28.



It's hard to say why the strip didn't continue past those 6 pages of "The Forbidden Kingdom" storyline. Perhaps the Sheena, Camilla, and Tiger Girl strips which were appearing in JUMBO, JUNGLE, and FIGHT appealed to the audiences of those comics, but readers of RANGERS had somewhat different tastes? That's the only thing that occurs to me, along with the fact that unlike the other FH jungle girls, Kazanda was never cover-featured on RANGERS.

[The Australian Panther]

Thought I would put this here, rather than start a new thread.
I'm a huge devourer of Noir related material as well as comics,so Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder is one I will definitely be picking up.

A globally acclaimed crime novelist and a pioneering cartoonist team up to bring readers two graphic novel noir thrillers, collected in an oversized format.

Jacques Tardi and Jean-Patrick Manchette.

Cheers!

[Electricmastro]

Art from Kurt Caesar

[The Australian Panther]

Superb Work!
This reminds me that George Evans, who drew Air War stories for EC comics, was the only person to criticize Joe Kurbert's work on Enemy Ace - on the grounds that details about his Aeroplanes were inaccurate! 
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/e/evans.htm

After spending three years in the US airforces, he began his career in comics at Fiction House until 1950. There, he worked on among others 'Lost World', 'Senorita Rio', 'Air Heroes' and 'Tigerman'.

When Fawcett folded, he was brought over to EC Comics by Al Williamson, where he was hired immediately in 1953. Thanks to his technical knowledge of airplanes and machinery, Evans quickly became Kurtzman's favorite on 'Two-Fisted Tales' and 'Frontline Combat',

he drew covers and stories for the "New Direction" aviation title 'Aces High'.

This last is some of his best work.
http://comicsbulletin.com/aces-high-george-evans/
Scroll down the page to the Chivalry one pager. Its a stunner!

[Electricmastro]

Superb Work!
This reminds me that George Evans, who drew Air War stories for EC comics, was the only person to criticize Joe Kurbert's work on Enemy Ace - on the grounds that details about his Aeroplanes were inaccurate!

Didn

[Robb_K]

A wooleywhipper?   Is THAT an Irish saying for a cold, super windstorm???  Sounds like an American writer who's never talked with any Irish sailors made that up based on the Western rural American "gullywasher", for a river flash flood.  Of course, he HAD to slip in a "Begorra!"  The author missed a chance by using the proper, "To be sure", in stead of slipping in the Irish colloquialism of "Sure an'  ".

[SuperScrounge]

Doing a search I found wooley whipper on a quiz asking which phrase is not a Canadian weather term https://www.davisinstruments.com/enews/e_news_archive/2015-09.php#q2.

Sadly they did not provide a definition, or where in Canada this term was used.

[Robb_K]

Doing a search I found wooley whipper on a quiz asking which phrase is not a Canadian weather term https://www.davisinstruments.com/enews/e_news_archive/2015-09.php#q2.

Sadly they did not provide a definition, or where in Canada this term was used.

I never heard it, so, I doubt it was a Western term.  I'd guess it was used in The Maritimes - Nova Scotia most likely, and possibly, also used in New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

It sounds like it would be a Nova Scotian (or general Maritime Provinces) colloquial term.  It probably came from those "Noreaster" Atlantic storms that buffeted Canada's east coast, with winds of over 150 mph,  when the wind came up in the middle of the night, ripped shutters off of protecting windows hanging by their hinges, and the gales were blowing into the house getting everything wet.  So, the father had to run outside in his woolly underwear and climb onto the roof to put the window back in place.  And the whipping wind whipped his woollies hard, making a loud noise.  It probably was coined between 1840 and 1890.

[The Australian Panther]

Think this belongs here as well as anywhere. Once again CB+ was hard to access, which probably accounts for the dearth of posts, so lets get rolling.
First a shout-out to Mark who keeps the whole show on the road. Thank you for all the hard work.
This post is to note that one of comics hardest workers is no longer with us, having left us this year.
I refer to Cesar Aurelio Spadari. Cesar was an Argentinian artist who has been creating Phantom comics for the Swedish 'Fantomen'  and the 'Fantomet' (Norway) comic book since 1987.
Rest in Peace C

[Robb_K]

Think this belongs here as well as anywhere. Once again CB+ was hard to access, which probably accounts for the dearth of posts, so lets get rolling.
First a shout-out to Mark who keeps the whole show on the road. Thank you for all the hard work.
This post is to note that one of comics hardest workers is no longer with us, having left us this year.
I refer to Cesar Aurelio Spadari. Cesar was an Argentinian artist who has been creating Phantom comics for the Swedish 'Fantomen'  and the 'Fantomet' (Norway) comic book since 1987.
Rest in Peace C

[The Australian Panther]

This is the most interesting comic I have seen advertised this month.

Zagor Flash #0
First issue of the crossover between Zagor and Flash

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/zagor-flash-0-la-scure-e-il-fulmine/4000-820681/

As Far as I can see, so far only available in Italian.

Does this mean that Zagor is about to join the DC Universe?  i have no idea.
If it means that DC is about to publish English translated Zagor books, I'm all for it.

Here is the sergio bonelli website.   

https://www.sergiobonelli.it/

The cover on Storie #99, set in New York, is a famous image from the Sergio Leone film, once upon a time in New York. One of my all time best movies.

https://www.sergiobonelli.it/le-storie/2020/10/27/albo/il-calzolaio-del-re-1008828/

Looks like I'm going to have to learn Italian as well as French. 


Cheers!

[Andrew999]

It's good to see Bonelli Editore breaking into the English-speaking market - they have a huge back catalogue and so much to offer.

My all-time favourite was Legs Weaver although that ended sometime around the turn of the century:

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/legs-weaver/4005-65238/

Dampyr is another go-to character for me:

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/dampyr/4050-29465/

A new Dampyr movie is in the works:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10315050/

[Captain Audio]

It's good to see Bonelli Editore breaking into the English-speaking market - they have a huge back catalogue and so much to offer.

My all-time favourite was Legs Weaver although that ended sometime around the turn of the century:

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/legs-weaver/4005-65238/

I wonder if the character of her room mate at the academy was based on the 70's B movie actress "Sybil Danning".

[SuperScrounge]

This is the most interesting comic I have seen advertised this month.

Zagor Flash #0
First issue of the crossover between Zagor and Flash

Bwha...? 

I've only read the Free Comic Book Day offering of Zagor, but my impression was that he was an old-west based hero who had weird adventures, so I'd assume a more likely crossover would have been Jonah Hex. Flash just seems way outside the range of natural crossovers. (Although Flash can go through time and other dimensions so it can work it just seems odd.)

[The Australian Panther]

Legs Weaver although that ended sometime around the turn of the century

Well, perhaps she is still featured in Nathan Never. I think that is still going.

Dampyr

I haven't read the books, but is that some kind of pun on 'Vampire?'

Opps! Just looked it up. Answer, Yes!

Harlan Draka? Lets see a cross-over with Blade.

[paw broon]

Being able to read a bit of Italian opens up a whole new world of comics, both modern and the back catalogue, which is big.
Apart from the titles mentioned, Martin Mystere and Dylan Dog are great reads..  Zagor has been going for yonks.  Lo Spiritu con La Scura. All sorts of weird western adventures.  There is so much more.

[profh0011]

I have an issue of ZAGOR...



...also, one of DYLAN DOG...




Hmm.

[SuperScrounge]

They're being attacked by the Japanese manga Uzumaki?