EXTRACTS: The Fleetway Picture Library Index Volume 2: The Thriller Libraries © The Book Palace (284 pages in Full edition)

I: “64 Picture-Packed Pages” When the first issues of Cowboy Comics were published in April 1950 there was no fanfare of trumpets. The Amalgamated Press had spent no money promoting the new title – the comics just appeared one Thursday morning in the newsagents. Nothing like them had been seen before: a pocket- sized monthly picture strip comic at the unheard-of price of 7d. At the time, most weekly comics cost less than half that price: Comic Cuts , Chips , The Dandy and The Beano were all 2d and The Knockout , the spiritual father of the new title and its companions-to-follow, was only 3d. The Eagle , when it appeared eight days later, had the high price of fourpence-ha’penny for which readers received a broadsheet paper partly printed in photogravure colour. Having paid their seven pence, readers of Cowboy Comics were offered four complete stories in each of the two issues that went on sale on April 6, 1950, and a grand total of “64 picture-packed pages” 1 , twice that of the American reprints of the era which usually contained 32 pages for 6d. This emphasis on the title being “all pictures” must have been considered a selling point as, even when the title was changed to Cowboy Picture Library in 1957, it continued to run its “64 picture-packed pages” cover line for another year and, for a while, also ran a banner headline “All in Pictures”. This banner was to distinguish Cowboy Comics and its companions, Thriller Comics and Super Detective Library from the traditional pocket library titles that were all text. The popularity of the pocket library format dates back to around the turn of the century; the slim, cheaply printed pocket book was an inexpensive way for publishers like the Amalgamated Press, George Newnes and C. Arthur Pearson to reprint stories by their most popular authors from their weekly magazines. The format was particularly popular for producing romances and adventure stories for boys and girls and, before long, stories were being written especially for the format. The Amalgamated Press launched The Sexton Blake Library in 1915, although it was only in 1947 that the title slimmed down to 64 pages 2 , the price having jumped to 7d for 96 pages in 1942 when wartime paper shortages began to bite. It was in this 64 page, 7d format that the A.P. launched their post-war romance libraries, Miracle Library and Oracle Library , establishing the format for all library titles from the publisher for the foreseeable future. The story of Cowboy Comics began four years before the first titles were released in the UK. For many years, the Amalgamated Press had enjoyed strong sales around the Commonwealth, but suffered a huge blow during the Second World War. The domination of British papers in countries like Australia and New Zealand came to an end and, in the post-war recovery, Australian publishers looked to America and the newly popular superhero comics that had taken root since the arrival of Superman in 1938. Like Britain, Australia began import restrictions during the war that were to remain in place for many years, creating the opportunity for an enterprising publisher to produce Australian editions of American comics. Sydney-based publisher K. G. Murray began successfully reprinting American comics when, in 1947, they included ‘Zatara’ in their Climax All Color Comic ; this was quickly followed by reprints from Quality Comics and, in mid-1947, by Superman All Color Comic . It was against these new reprint titles that the Amalgamated Press had to battle when they tried to resume their distribution of comics to Australia and New Zealand. With the American comic book format proving popular with readers, the A.P. decided to take the bull by the horns and produce their own American-style comic books for the Antipodean market. These new titles were to be edited by Edward Holmes, the editor of Knockout . Holmes, born on January 29, 1916, had joined the Amalgamated Press in the 1930s, earning his first sub-editorial position on Wild West Weekly (later shortened to Wild West ), an all-text story paper launched in March 1938. Edited by a genial and colourful Irishman, Hedley O’Mant, Wild West was printed by Sun Engraving Co. in an oversized (9 3 / 4 " x 12 3 / 4 ") format with full colour photogravure covers, the best superbly painted by D. C. Eyles and Eric Parker. Its expensive format worked against it and Wild West folded after only 50 issues. Holmes, with an eye to the American comics that were beginning to arrive in the UK, hoped to interest the board in a straight adventure comic when they began looking for new titles to counter the arrival of a pair of newcomers from rival publisher D. C. Thomson. The Dandy and The Beano were launched in December 1937 and July 1938, a double- punch in the traditional comics market that the A.P. had dominated since their first launches in 1890. The Amalgamated Press had a title in mind, The Knock-Out Comic , and managing editor Stanley Gooch was tasked with bringing this new title to life. However, the appointment The Story of Cowboy Comics, Thriller Comics and Super Detective Library FLEETWAY PICTURE LIBRARY INDEX VOLUME 2 1