Ausreprints

...covering Australian comics

Atlas by James Zee

Fifties proliferation and censorship

Justice Traps the Guilty #4 ([October 1951?])
Justice Traps the Guilty 4: (Atlas, Australia)

As the Australian comics industry expanded through the early fifties, Atlas moved into the second phase of its existence and boosted its output with a range of non-newspaper comic reprints.

These included material from US companies ACG (Giggle Comics and Natch [The Kilroys]), Magazine Enterprises (The Durango Kid and The Phantom [Ghost] Rider), Youthful (Gunsmoke Blazing Hero of the West and The Masked Marvel),1 Prize/Feature (Young Romance, Prize Comics Western, Justice Traps the Guilty and Headline Comics) and Orbit (Wanted).

Giggle Comics #1 ([February 1955?])
Giggle Comics 1: (Atlas, Australia)

The eclectic nature of Atlas's comic sources is underscored by an obscure title from UK company Foldes Press, Super Thriller Comics, featuring Ace Hart the Atom Man.2 The mix of publishers has no obvious common link to suggest a single distributor, but most also had their output reprinted by other Australian publishers, indicating some commitment to the Australian or reprint market.

The iconic Captain Atom continued until around 1954, alongside other original Australian material, including new titles Counterspy and The Mask: The Man of Many Faces. Atlas added further titles to its newspaper strip reprints, including Jane Arden, Buck Rogers and The Captain and the Kids (formerly The Katzenjammer Kids).

Young Romance #1 ([September 1949?])
Young Romance 1: (Atlas, Australia)

Under the Western & United Publishing Co. imprint, the company targeted the girls' market with Photo Confessions and Photo Romance ("Illustrated in graphic photo-form—Depicted by top ranking continential film stars") and advice books (How to Get Along with Boys).3

In December 1952, Atlas launched the men’s magazine Squire (1952-1956)4 based on the US Esquire. It also appears to have begun an expansion into the men's 'girlie' and humour book market5 that led to legal skirmishes around obscenity as censorship grew during the mid-fifties.

The Katzenjammer Kids #13 ([September 1951?])
The Katzenjammer Kids 13: (Atlas, Australia)

The December 1953 issue of Fun magazine put Atlas in court in Victoria facing a charge of distributing obscene literature. Atlas escaped conviction in August 1954—on the technicality that it was not actually the distributor, which was in fact Gordon & Gotch.6

When the Queensland Literature Board of Review was established in 1954 to prevent distribution of objectionable publications in that state, the Board banned a significant number of Atlas comics, including Justice Traps the Guilty, The Masked G-Man, Headline Stories, The Mask, Dizzy Dames and Wanted.

Atlas's sex humour oriented magazines Frolic, Fun and Zowie were also banned in Queensland in 1954 for including "jokes and pictures of women in compromising circumstances". The penalty for distribution of banned literature was up to £100, with up to £500 for a subsequent offence.7

References

1
An interesting advertisement on this series appeared in The Argus (Melbourne, Vic) 18 May 1954. Appearing the the classifieds under "Lost and Found", it reads: "ENVELOPE, Large, lost, containing black and white prints of illustrated story called 'Masked Marvel,' and 'Riddle of the Golden Fleece.' &c., vic. Egan and Hoddle sts., Richmond, or Pt. Ormond buss. Friday eventing, May 14. good reward for finder if returned intact to Atlas Publications Pty. Ltd., 282 Queen's pde., Clifton Hill." I wonder if the story ever saw print?
2
For further information see British Golden Age Heroes. This is the same Ace Hart that required DCMT to rename the character that became Space Ace, which by the 1960s was a rebadged version of Johnny Galaxia (see Johnny Galaxy and the Space Patrol).
3
I've only identified bare mentions of this publisher. The photo books are advertised on the back of various Atlas comics. The 100 page advice book, copyright 1952, is held by the National Library of Australia. The company is listed in the Victorian Government Gazette 5 August 1959 under the item: "Notice is herby given that in pursuance of section 241 (d) of the Companies Act 1958 the names of companies referred to below have been struck off the register, and on publication of this Notice in the Government Gazette the said companies will be disolved. Dated this 31st day of July, 1959, T. S. Welsh, Registrar of Companies." The Western and United Publishing company Proprietary Limited was Registration no. 31983.
4
Squire was a rare Atlas publication with dates. The National Library of Australia holds Vol. 1 No. 1 (Dec. 1952) - Vol. 2 No. 4 (Aug. 1953); Vol. 3 No. 1 (Nov. 1953) - Vol. 4 No. 3 (July 1954); and Vol. 5 No. 4 (Apr. 1955).
5
Titles included Cartoon Parade (195-?); Cute (195-?); Tops: A Magazine for Men (1954?) including at least one annual with the "Year's best gags"; Frolic (Vol. 1 No. 1 - Vol 1 No. 12, 1953/4?); Fun (Vol. 1 No. 1 - Vol. 3 No. 2, 1954?); and Zowie (Vol. 1 No. 1, 1954). Another oddity of Atlas's publishing program is the 20 page booket, How to play the races and win by Mark Mellen, a handbook about betting on horse races "featuring Mellen's master's key system for picking longshot winners".
6
The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria), 18 August 1954.
7
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld) 21 August 1954. See also articles on bans in The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) 24 July 1954; Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld) 24 July 1954, The Canberra Times (ACT) 24 July 1954; The Mail (Adelaide, SA) 21 August 1954; The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld) 28 August 1954; and Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld) 28 August 1954.
Article status

Ausreprints ID

  • 32

Article details

  • By James Zee
  • 8 April 2011

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