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53-450: Russian-born publisher Albert Lewis Kanter (1897–1973) recognizing the appeal of early comic books, believed he could use the new medium to introduce young and reluctant readers to " great literature ". In October 1941, with the backing of two business partners, he created Classic Comics for Elliot Publishing Company , its debut issue being The Three Musketeers , followed by Ivanhoe and The Count of Monte Cristo . In addition to

106-510: A Mystery in Space reprint, a 68-page A4-size magazine, between 1954 and 1956. It featured black-and-white reprints of DC's Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures stories with slightly adapted covers from the original Mystery In Space series. T & P published a hardback Mystery In Space Annual in 1968. Although it used the cover to Mystery In Space #95, the contents of the annual were complete random issues of remaindered comics from

159-425: A 68-page Avengers comic, with original art by Mick Anglo and Mick Austin consisting of four 16-page stories. Anglo also illustrated comics version of the television series Charles Rand and Danger Man . Between 1967 and 1970, T & P released an unusual line of 128-page comics called Double Double . Each issue was made up of four remaindered DC comics (with their covers removed) glued together with

212-835: A color comic book series based on the Laurel & Hardy animated TV series. In 1971, Warner's international distribution operations merged with Columbia Pictures to form Columbia-Warner Distributors . Thorpe & Porter moved its offices to the Columbia-Warner House in Soho , London ; as now part of Warner Communications, the Thorpe & Porter brand was mostly replaced by Williams Publishing . (Thanks to Gilberton World-Wide Publications, Williams had European-language divisions in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy,

265-536: A consequence, of the 181 British issues of Classics Illustrated , 13 never appeared in America (additionally, there were some variations in cover art). In July 1966, Thorpe & Porter went bankrupt, which left many of its clients being owed substantial sums. The company was purchased by Independent News Distributors (IND), the distribution arm of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). (Traditionally, IND distributed all DC publications, as well as those of

318-576: A few original stories) from 1951 to 1963; Pixi Tales , meanwhile, lasted 87 issues, from 1959 to 1963. UK issues of Classics Illustrated that were never published in the United States include Aeneid , The Argonauts , The Gorilla Hunters and Sail with the Devil . Mick Anglo adapted three stories — by Edgar Allan Poe , Oscar Wilde , and Wilkie Collins — for the T & P Classics Illustrated . The British Classics Illustrated adaptation of

371-439: A few rival publishers, such as Marvel Comics from 1957 to 1969, in addition to pulp and popular magazines.) In 1967, DC and IND were purchased by Kinney National Company , which in 1969 purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts and became Warner Communications . As a result of all this consolidation, by 1969 T & P's comics output became almost exclusively reprints of DC titles, as well as Larry Harmon 's Laurel & Hardy ,

424-430: A huge success, proven by the demand for reprints of issues 1, 2, 3, and 5; something never seen before in the comic book industry. (Eventually, all 169 titles of Classic Comics were reprinted, some up to 25 times.) The comics' success opened classic novels to a large audience of young people for decades. By the time of Classics Illustrated #4, in 1942, the title outgrew the space it shared with Elliot, and Kanter moved

477-611: A long-established independent fantasy & horror magazine. Because of the UK importation ban, in the 1940s and 1950s American comics typically arrived in the UK as ballast on ships. T & P got into the comics business — primarily with reprints — in the 1950s with a selection of romance , western , and war comics , reprinted in black-and-white from American companies like Gilberton , American Comics Group , Atlas Comics , Crestwood Publications , Dell Comics , and National Periodical Publications (now DC Comics ). Thorpe & Porter

530-477: A mix of comic strips and illustrated text stories. (The hardcover annuals tradition was a staple of the UK comics scene; the company most known for this type of publication was World Distributors , which started producing them in the 1950s.) Brown Watson's most popular, long-running annuals were Hanna Barbera Scooby Doo Where Are You ... (8 annuals, 1973–1980), Tarzan (7 annuals, 1972–1979), Laurel and Hardy (6 annuals, 1969–1980), Superman/Batman with Robin

583-483: A new cover. (Most covers were probably illustrated by UK artists.) 24 Double Double titles were published, mostly featuring Superman or Batman (and their associated supporting characters). The titles with the most issues were Action Double Double Comics (5 issues), Adventure Double Double Comics (4 issues), and Batman Double Double Comics , Detective Double Double Comics , and Superboy Double Double Comics (3 issues each). According to owners of some of

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636-436: A number of companies including their covers, and not Mystery In Space stories. Other reprint titles with which T & P had some success included Blackhawk , Gene Autry Comics , Forbidden Worlds , Kid Colt, Outlaw , Tomahawk , and Young Romance . In October 1959, T & P began publishing MAD UK . The British version of Mad magazine received access to the publication's back catalog of articles and

689-543: A number of fellow British publisher Arnold Book Company 's reprint titles, including Justice Traps the Guilty , Young Brides , Young Eagle , and Young Love . (When T & P acquired Justice Traps the Guilty , it continued the numbering of the ABC version; with the other titles, T & P restarted the numbering at #1.) The T & P imprint Strato (originally created for its paperback line) published thirteen issues of

742-686: A publisher of lurid and sensationalist paperback books, originally in digest size and later in the more traditional format. T & P set up a number of imprints — Hermitage Publications , Knole Park Press , Beacon Publishing Co. Ltd. , Strato Publications , and Jewel Books — and in the period 1947 to 1953 published over 60 titles, by such authors as Frank Fawcett (writing under the pen name "Ben Sarto"), George C. Foster, Paul Renin , and Leslie A. Scott. T & P also distributed similar paperbacks from other publishers, including Muir-Watson and Robin Hood Press . The paperback craze died down in

795-570: A special cover giving the British price instead of the price in cents — and shipped across the Atlantic. (Marvel comics were issued with the covers altered [in the USA] to show a UK price instead of US price; whilst the cover month was removed. DC comics were franked with a circular UK price stamp after their arrival. A few Marvels were also price-stamped in a similar fashion.) Inside the front cover, with

848-525: Is currently president of Penny Press and its many magazine titles, including crosswords. Kanter's first born son, Hal Kanter, was writer-producer-director of films and television series and specials. All three of Albert and Rose's children were born in Savannah, Georgia. This profile of a comics creator, writer, or artist is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Thorpe %26 Porter Thorpe & Porter (widely known as T & P )

901-533: The Grand Comics Database : Seaboard published 5 issues of Fast Fiction , skipped a month[, and] then reprinted them in order as Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated , followed by 8 new issues. . . . Their format was identical to Classics Illustrated and [they used] the main Classics artist, Henry C. Kiefer , [for] at least 4 or 5 issues of [the title]. Gilberton . . . acquired Seaboard before

954-549: The James Bond film Dr. No was never published under the U.S. Classics Illustrated line (making it a collector's item in the States), but instead was sold to DC Comics , which published it as part of their superhero anthology series, Showcase . (The comic followed the plot of the film with images of the film's actors rather than Ian Fleming 's original novel .) In the period 1951 to 1953, Thorpe & Porter acquired

1007-458: The Netherlands (Classics), Norway (Illustrerte Klassikere), Sweden (Illustrerade Klassiker), and West Germany (Illustrierte Klassiker). (The Norwegian branch took over publishing Classics Illustrated from Serieforlaget). In 1959, Gilberton acquired the British publisher/distributor Thorpe & Porter (which had been distributing UK editions of Classics Illustrated since 1951). In 1962,

1060-560: The indicia , a sentence mentioned Thorpe & Porter as sole distributor in the UK market. Thus it was that brand new American-printed copies of Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #1, and countless others appeared in the UK. To aid in their comics distribution, Thorpe & Porter provided newsagents with T & P-branded spinner racks . Gilberton , the U.S. publisher of Classics Illustrated (which T & P had been distributing UK editions of since 1951), acquired Thorpe & Porter from Fred Thorpe in

1113-597: The 14th issue was published. Gilberton acquired not only the company name but also the 30 pages drawn for Red Badge of Courage , which they published in the 98th issue of Classics Illustrated . In addition to Classics Illustrated , Gilberton published its spin-offs Classics Illustrated Junior (1953–1962), Classics Illustrated Special Issue (1955–1964), and The World Around Us (1958–1961). The publication of new titles ceased in 1962 for various reasons. The company lost its second-class mailing permit; and cheap paperbacks, CliffsNotes , and television drew readers away from

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1166-471: The 1950s, Thorpe & Porter published a number of men's magazines of questionable taste, an early title being Clubman , and another being Comic Cuties . In the 1960s and 1970s, T & P and then Williams published a line of softcore pornography magazines with titles like Sex International News , True Love Stories , Cinema X , Cinema Blue , Parade , Game , Blade , Voi , and Sensuous . Many copies of those magazines were seized and forfeited in

1219-526: The Apes , Larry Harmon 's Laurel & Hardy , House of Hammer , and Forbidden Worlds . T & P's most prominent imprints were Top Sellers Ltd. and Brown Watson. Thorpe & Porter operated from 1946 to c. 1979. Entrepreneur Fred Thorpe started with a newsagent's shop in Leicester , where he recognized the appeal of American pulp magazines and comic books . After World War II , however,

1272-477: The Babani brothers of Brown Watson retained the various licenses for their hardback annuals, and in 1979 formed a new company, Grandreams , to continue publishing them. Grandreams lasted through at least 1996. After his stint at Marvel UK , in 1982 Skinn started Quality Communications and revived House of Hammer (as Halls of Horror ); he continued the magazine until 1984. Thorpe & Porter started out as

1325-552: The Boy Wonder Annual (5 annuals, 1974–1978), and Planet of the Apes (3 annuals, 1975–1977). Artists who worked on the annuals included John Bolton , Ian Gibson , and David Lloyd . Brown Watson was run by the brothers Brian Babani and Peter Babani. Most of T & P's other publications in the 1970s were listed under the Top Sellers Ltd. imprint. Formatted like American comics, with 32 pages of content,

1378-612: The Hills by Frank Belknap Long (1965). In the period 1959 to 1966, Brown Watson published T & P's war comics series Conflict Picture Library (200 issues, 1959–1966) and Romance in Pictures (235 issues, 1960–1966), the latter of which featured stories reprinted and translated from Spanish romance comics . Other long-running titles from the 1960s included Pocket War Library and World Illustrated (reprints from Gilberton 's World Around Us series). In 1966, T & P published

1431-688: The Netherlands, and Sweden; most of these publishers were sold off around 1979.) In 1976, British editor Dez Skinn was brought in to expand the comics arm of Williams Publishing. He took over editing MAD UK , Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes , Edgar Rice Burroughs' Korak, Son of Tarzan , and the Laurel & Hardy comic. He also launched House of Hammer . Warner sold its publishing division, including Thorpe & Porter, to W. H. Allen & Co. in 1977, which in 1978 decided to close it down (with Skinn almost immediately moving on to

1484-539: The T & P titles Justice Traps the Guilty , Kid Colt, Outlaw Young Brides , and Young Romance from that point until 1958, when ABC shut down. (T & P later published a second volume of 13 issues of Justice Traps the Guilty .) In 1959, with the lifting of the UK ban on importation of American periodicals, Thorpe & Porter became the sole UK distributor of both DC and Marvel (as well as Dell , Charlton , and American Comics Group ) comics. The comics were printed on American printing presses — along with

1537-630: The UK was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned the direct importation of American periodicals. In 1946, Thorpe joined with the local builders merchants' company the Porter Group to form Thorpe & Porter as a publisher. In 1953, T & P seems to have acquired the Arnold Book Company (ABC) as a separate line (ABC was owned by Arnold L. Miller, the "Son" in the British reprint publisher L. Miller & Son, Ltd. ). Arnold Book Company appears as an imprint on

1590-627: The United Kingdom ( Thorpe & Porter , 1951–1963). Translated versions of the series became popular in Brazil (Editora Brasil-América Limitada, 1948–1961), Greece (Ekdóseis Pechlivanídi, the period 1951–1990), Mexico (Editora de Periódicos La Prensa, 1951–1973), and Norway (Serieforlaget, 1954–1956, before being taken over by a Gilberton branch). Classics Illustrated' s success spawned imitators, including Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated , published by Seaboard Publishing . As detailed on

1643-595: The age of sixteen, and worked as a traveling salesman for years. He married Rose Ehrenrich in 1917 and moved to Savannah, Georgia . They had three children, named Henry (Hal), William, and Saralea. Kanter worked in real estate in Miami , but the Great Depression put an end to it, and Kanter moved his family to New York City . He worked for Colonial Press and then Elliot Publishing Company (which may have been an imprint of Malverne Herald ). Elliot got into

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1696-466: The careers of a number of British comics creators, including Steve Moore , Brian Bolland , John Bolton , and David Lloyd . Skinn and Brown Watson line editor John Barraclough often used some of the same artists for their comics properties. House of Hammer was given the 1977 Eagle Award for "Favourite Specialist Comics Publication — Pro." Mad UK , meanwhile, won the 1977 Eagle Award for "Favourite Black & White Comicbook — Humour." Starting in

1749-472: The comics market in 1941; one of their first titles was Double-Up Comics , which was made up of remaindered superhero comics from other publishers (like Harvey 's Pocket Comics and Speed Comics ). Recognizing the appeal of early comics, Kanter believed he could use the burgeoning medium to introduce young and reluctant readers to " great literature ". In October 1941, with the backing of two business partners, he created Classic Comics . The title became

1802-673: The comics, the oddest thing about the Double Double line was, "not all issues had the same four comics inside. It was possible to purchase two copies of Double Double Detective #3 and find different coverless DC issues within. It was even possible to sometimes find a Marvel comic mixed in with the DCs!" In the 1970s, the Brown Watson imprint was known for the hardback comics annuals it published based on popular film, television, animation, and comics properties. The annuals featured

1855-479: The company's most successful comics launched during this period included the long-running titles Funny Half Hour , Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes , Edgar Rice Burroughs Korak, Son of Tarzan , and the various Pocket Library titles, particularly Western Library , Chiller Library , and Romance Library . Skinn's House of Hammer was a horror -themed magazine of all original content, which combined text articles with comic strips, and helped launch

1908-579: The declining popularity of pulps in the U.S. — and also with Galaxy Publications and Quinn , licensing British reprint editions of their new digest format magazines, T & P published reprints in this capacity from 1949 to 1960 under their Strato Publications imprint so long as they maintained this, and then under the parent Thorpe & Porter imprint, most notably with the titles Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures (Ziff-Davis), Beyond Fantasy Fiction , Galaxy Science Fiction (Galaxy), and If (Quinn, then Galaxy), and also Weird Tales ,

1961-426: The early 1970s, Classics Illustrated and Junior had been discontinued. Albert Kanter's son William Ehrenreich Kanter and daughter Saralea Kanter Emerson worked for Classics Illustrated for many years, and Saralea was an editor of the company's crossword puzzle publications, eventually owned, operated, and named as Penny Press by William and his wife (creator) Penny Kanter, and their sons. William's son Peter Kanter

2014-474: The fall of 1959. Gilberton had launched Gilberton World-Wide Publications as a European branch in 1956, and T & P became part of its stable of European publishers. (After the sale, T & P's offices moved from Leicester to London .) In 1962, the production of new issues of Classics Illustrated shifted from Gilberton's New York offices to Thorpe & Porter, with Gilberton's founder's son, William E. Kanter overseeing everything beginning in 1963. As

2067-598: The line because of poor distribution. By the early 1970s, Classics Illustrated and Junior had been discontinued, although the Classics Illustrated branding would be used on a number of made-for-television films in the period 1978–1982, including The Time Machine , Donner Pass: The Road to Survival , and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow . Since the series' demise, various companies have reprinted its titles. Albert Lewis Kanter Albert Lewis Kanter (April 11, 1897 – March 17, 1973)

2120-465: The literary adaptations, the comics featured author profiles, educational fillers, and ads for the coming titles. In later editions, a catalog of titles and a subscription order form appeared on back covers. Ruth Roche created the first Muslim superhero , Kismet, Man of Fate , published in Gilberton's Bomber Comics #1-4 (1944). By the time of Classics Comics #4, in 1942, the title outgrew

2173-879: The operation to different offices, creating the corporate identity Gilberton Company, Inc. Classic Comics later became Classics Illustrated in March 1947, with the release of " The Last Days of Pompeii ", the 35th issue. In addition to Classics Illustrated , Kanter presided over its spin-offs Classics Illustrated Junior , Specials , and The World Around Us . Between 1941 and 1962, sales totaled 200 million. The publication of new titles ceased in 1962 for various reasons. In 1967, Kanter sold his company to Twin Circle Publishing Co. and its conservative Catholic publisher Patrick Frawley , whose Frawley Corporation brought out two more titles but mainly concentrated on foreign sales and reprinting older titles. By

Gilberton (publisher) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2226-518: The page from 25,000 copies by hand before the book could be distributed in Great Britain. MAD UK was published by T & P from 1959 to 1979, and then continued on with other publishers until 1994, producing 290 issues in all. The Brown Watson imprint, launched in the early 1950s, originally published genre paperbacks like Sinister Forces by Alvin Westwood (1953) and The Horror from

2279-458: The period 1951 to 1953, partly as the result of Home Office clampdowns on "obscene and objectionable publications;" and by the end of 1953, T & P was no longer in the paperback publication business. Next, T & P moved into the realm of pulp and digest format science fiction and fantasy magazines. Setting up relationships with American publishers Ziff-Davis and Columbia Publications — which were eager to license their content due to

2332-458: The production of new issues of Classics Illustrated shifted from Gilberton's New York offices to Thorpe & Porter, with the publisher's son Bill Kanter overseeing everything beginning in 1963. As a consequence, some of the planned, unpublished issues of the U.S. Classics Illustrated appeared in some foreign editions. Bill Kanter was very involved with Gilberton World-Wide Productions; in 1965, Gilberton's Swedish branch, Illustrerade Klassiker,

2385-444: The series. Gilberton's last new issue was Classics Illustrated #167 Faust (August 1962), although other issues had been planned. In the period 1956–1957, when the popularity of Classics Illustrated was at its height, the company created Gilberton World-Wide Publications , establishing a number of Northern European branch companies to translate Classics Illustrated into their languages — in Denmark (Illustrerede Klassikere),

2438-557: The space it shared with Elliot, and Kanter moved the operation to different offices, changing the corporate identity to the Gilberton Company, Inc. Reprints of previous titles began in 1943. Wartime paper shortages forced Kanter to reduce the 64-page format to 56 pages, and, in 1948, rising paper costs reduced books to 48 pages. With issue #35 in March 1947 ( The Last Days of Pompeii ) the Classic Comics series' name

2491-489: The top position at Marvel UK ). This spelled the end of most of T & P's titles, except for MAD UK and the Brown Watson line. Former T & P production editor Ron Letchford acquired the rights to MAD UK . He formed Suron International for this purpose, eventually selling the license to London Editions , which later merged with Fleetway Publications . MAD UK finally ended its run in 1994. For their part,

2544-399: Was a British publisher, importer, and distributor of magazines and comic books . At first, the company was known for repackaging American comics and pulp magazines for the UK market. Later on, it became a publisher of original material. The company released more than 160 comics titles in the UK, the most prominent being Classics Illustrated , MAD UK , Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of

2597-523: Was also encouraged to produce its own localized material in the Mad vein. Essentially, T & P repackaged Mad to a 32-page monthly from a 48-page-eight-times-a-year U.S. publication. Conflicts over content occasionally arose between the parent magazine and its international franchisee; when a comic strip satirizing the English royal family was reprinted in a Mad paperback, it was deemed necessary to rip out

2650-657: Was changed to Classics Illustrated . In 1946, the founder's son William E. "Bill" Kanter (born 1923) became an editor at Gilberton. Kanter was instrumental in getting Classics Illustrated distributed nationally in the U.S. through Curtis Circulation , alongside magazines like The Saturday Evening Post , Ladies' Home Journal , Holiday , The Atlantic , and Esquire . Beginning in 1947, Classics Illustrated began to be distributed internationally, in English-speaking countries like Australia (Ayers & James, 1947–1953), Canada (via Gilberton, 1948–1951), and

2703-443: Was one of the first British publishers to print its own clean versions of the comics, "using blocks made from imported American matrices." Right off the bat, Thorpe & Porter's most successful comics title was Classics Illustrated and later the spinoff title Pixi Tales (the company's new name for Classics Illustrated Junior , which featured fairy tale adaptations). T & P published Classics Illustrated reprints (and

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2756-945: Was reorganized into Williams Förlag AB — one theory is that the Williams name was derived from William Kanter. In 1966, after going bankrupt, Thorpe & Porter was sold off to National Comics Publications (i.e., DC Comics ); this sale included all the Gilberton World-Wide Productions European branches. A few years later, in 1971, all those branches — now in the hands of Warner Bros. — were renamed some variation of Williams Publishing . In 1967, Kanter sold Gilberton to Catholic business magnate Patrick Frawley 's Twin Circle Publishing Co., which brought out two more issues of Classics Illustrated but mainly concentrated on foreign sales and reprinting older titles. After four years, Twin Circle discontinued

2809-699: Was the creator of Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior . Kanter began creating Classic Comics with " The Three Musketeers " in October 1941. His renditions of classic novels in comic book form popularized classic tales for a younger audience. Kanter was born in Baranovitch in the Russian Empire (now Belarus) and immigrated to the United States in 1904. He then lived in Nashua, New Hampshire , for some time. He left high school at

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