In a previous installment of Comics Down Under, we looked at the possible myriad sources for the translated Spanish comic strips which appeared in Australian comic books during the 1970s.
You could be forgiven for thinking that identifying the 'supply chain' for American comic strips appearing in Australian reprint titles during this same period would be comparatively easy.
After all, it would be fair to assume that DC Comics was the sole supplier of all the DC material appearing throughout Sydney publisher KG Murray's line of reprint comics, which were published under Murray's 'Color Comics' and 'Planet Comics' imprints during the 1960s and 70s.
By the same token, you would think that Marvel Comics were also responsible for supplying their editorial content which was reprinted in Australia, firstly by Newton Comics, then followed by Page Publications, during the 1970s and early 1980s.
But there is some anecdotal, and, admittedly, inconclusive evidence which suggests that another company may have 'on-sold' comic features, originally published by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, to Australian publishers, not just during the 1970s, but as far back as the 1950s.
Transworld Feature Syndicate may an unfamiliar name to most Australian comic collectors, but this company may have been responsible for providing Australian publishers with access to wide range of American comic book inventory.
For instance, a quick glance at my copy of The Amazing Spider-Man No.12, published by Melbourne firm Newton Comics in November 1975, contains the following information on the title page: "Published by Newton Comics of 1 Newton Street, Richmond VIC by authority of Transworld Feature Syndicate Inc."
While Marvel Comics is listed in this same passage as the copyright and trademark owner of all the characters and content appearing in this issue, that single sentence implies that Transworld Feature Syndicate, and not Marvel Comics, supplied Newton Comics with their editorial content.
This isn't the first time I've seen the name Transworld mentioned in connection with Australian comic books.
Back in 2004, I interviewed Jim Shepherd, Managing Director of Frew Publications, about how Frew secured the rights to produce a locally-drawn version of the American superhero character Catman, back in the early 1950s - and here's what he had to say:
"I can only imagine that [Frew co-founder] Ron Forsyth, who was a fairly regular visitor to the United States, saw the title and liked it. I have no idea whether he negotiated directly with [American publisher] Continental Magazines, or whether he worked through a now-defunct, New York-based organisation known as Transworld Features, with whom he worked closely for many years."
Transworld appears to have been acting as an agent for American comics material being printed outside the United States.
An article discussing the British comics publisher Alan Class, appearing in From The Tomb No. 18 (Christmas 2005), states that Class obtained photostats of original American comic artwork from "Trans World Features and other outlets."
These British titles, such as Sinister Tales, Astounding Stories and Creepy Worlds, were almost exclusively comprised of black & white reprints of Timely/Atlas Comics' horror and suspense stories from the mid-to-late 1950s and were published in Britain throughout the 1960s and 70s.
Nor did Transworld appear to restrict themselves to English-language markets like Australia and the United Kingdom.
The cover of X-Men No.1 reproduced here (courtesy of Mile High Comics) is for a Spanish-language edition published in 1966, possibly for the Mexican market.
Interestingly, Mile High Comics lists Transworld Features Syndicate as the publisher - and not Marvel Comics, who originally launched this title in America in 1963.
Which brings us to another interesting question: Was Transworld Features Syndicate the sole supplier for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics content being reprinted in Australia, from the late 1950s onwards?
For instance, Sydney publisher Horwitz Publications launched its own line of US reprint comics in the mid-to-late 1950s, with much of the content drawn from 1950s era Timely/Atlas Comics titles.
If local publishers such as Frew Publications had already been dealing with Transworld Features as far back as the early 1950s, could it be that Transworld also supplied companies like Horwitz Publications?
That's entirely possible, given that Horwitz continued to issue American reprint titles through to the mid-1960s, which included the 'new look' Marvel Comics superhero characters, such as Daredevil, Iron Man and The Fantastic Four.
And it sounds even more plausible when we remember that Transworld Features were also listed as the primary supplier of Marvel Comics material to Newton Comics during the mid-1970s.
But what about KG Murray, which largely concentrated on Australian reprints of DC Comics material, from the 1940s to the 1980s? What connection, if any, did they have with Transworld Features Syndicate?
It's worth noting that, between Horwitz's cancellation of its Marvel reprint line in 1965-66, and the launch of Newton Comics in 1975, KG Murray did reprint several Marvel Comics characters, on an ad hoc basis, in some of their anthology titles.
A good example is Super Giant, which appeared between 1972-76, which reprinted episodes from then-current Marvel Comics' superhero and horror titles, such as Iron Man, Werewolf By Night and The Mighty Thor.
Another example from this period was Savage Tales , which included reprints from Marvel's then-burgeoning line of 'adult' black & white horror/fantasy magazines, including the original version of Savage Tales, as well as 'regular' colour comics like Conan the Barbarian.
While there is no documentary evidence to suggest otherwise, it's worth speculating whether Transworld Features were also responsible for supplying KG Murray with the DC Comics material featured in their Australian line of reprint titles.
Admittedly, there was (at least to my knowledge) no printed reference to Transworld Features Syndicate in the publication information listed in any KG Murray reprint comic title.
And, as we've seen here, Transworld Features appears to have largely dealt with syndicating material from the Timely/Atlas/Marvel Comics imprints, both in Australia and overseas.
Yet, if as Jim Shepherd of Frew Publications suggests, Transworld also syndicated material from other American comic publishers, even as far back as the early 1950s - is there a chance they were the exclusive agents for DC Comics content being reprinted in Australia as well?
The answer to this question, like so many others concerning the origins and publishing histories of Australian comics, is probably lost to us forever.
But if anyone out there has some further information regarding Transworld Features Syndicate, then they are welcome to share it with an appreciative audience at this online forum.
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