Ayers & James by James Zee
Subsidiaries, successors or surrogates?
Based on the links with Magazine Management, it is likely a group of obscure and largely undocumented 'companies' are closely associated with Ayers & James, continuing its legacy into the 1950s, even up to the late 1970s.
While no irrefutable documentary evidence is known, there is a strong rationale for including six other publishers in a group with Ayers & James:
The Red Circle Press: Identified by John Ryan. Located at 149 Castlereagh Street. Some comics include the "Parent Approved" logo. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date.
Approved Publications: Identified by John Ryan. The publisher of some series appears to change over time from Red Circle Press to Approved Publications. Includes or reports work done by Jayar Studios. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date.
Illustrated Publications: Identified by John Ryan. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date. Includes or reports work done by Jayar Studios.
Junior Readers' Press: Identified by John Ryan. Some comics include the "Parent Approved" logo. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date. The company appears to continue a feature from Approved Publications. Some comics include the "ACE" logo.
Rosnock Pty. Ltd.: Continued Ayers & James' distinctive Famous Yank Comics and Popular Yank Comics titles, including US Quality Comics characters from Police Comics. Located at 149 Castlereagh Street. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date. The publisher of some series changes over time from Red Circle Press to Rosnock.
Jubilee Publications: Located at 149 Castlereagh Street. Includes or reports work done by Jayar Studios. Has a distinctive cover style common to many of these comics, including a cover date.
There also other undocumented comics likely to be published by the Ayers & James/Magazine Management group. The publisher is not known for all comics with an "ACE" and/or "Parent Approved" logo (see, for example Felix the Cat). Other comics reported to be published by Associated Newspapers Ltd have similar distinctive covers with dates—although Associated Newspapers could just be a printer, not the publisher.11Sydney Newspapers and Associated Newspapers were amalgamated in 1936 to form what became Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in 1957. ACP...
It's not known how these companies are associated. They could have been take-overs, acquisitions, operating divisions, successors, subsidiary companies, or even 'surrogates'. In the US, some companies used a range of 'surrogates' to access scarce paper allocations and produce comics during the war. It is possible these companies operated in a similar way to distance Ayers & James's 'respectable' operations from comics.
It is also possible that Magazine Management was publishing companies on behalf of other orgainsations, such as Associated Newspapers. It could have been a supplier of foreign import material for other companies, or was in some way responsible for Jayar Studios, helping to produce or print the comics.