Western

1922 - 1993
Publishing Began:
1907
Comics Publishing Began:
1922
Publishing Ended:
2001
Comics Publishing Ended:
1993
Country:
United States
Indicia / Colophon Publishers:
14
Brand Groups:
5
Brand Emblems in Use:
12
Total Number of Series:
675
Total Number of Issues:
6311
Show Covers by Month:
using on-sale date or using publication date
Show Issues by Month:
using on-sale date or using publication date
Creator Checklist:
via linked story records
Notes:
In 1907, Edward Henry (E.H) and Al Wadewitz bought West Side Printing Co. of Racine, Wisc. They incorporated the new company in 1910 as Western Printing & Lithographic Co. In 1916, they acquired the assets of the failed publisher Hamming-Whitman Publishing Co., which they made a subsidiary of Western under the name Whitman Publishing Co.

Under the Whitman publishing wing, Western produced Big Little Books beginning in 1932 and Little Golden Books beginning in 1938. Over these years Western began to acquire the licenses to produce publications featuring the stars of the Disney, Warner Bros., M-G-M, and Walter Lantz studios.

Around 1936, Western began to work with Dell, printing their established comics titles like The Funnies and Popular Comics at Western's Poughkeepsie, New York printing plant. Not long after starting to produce comics of their own, such as Super Comics and Crackajack Funnies, Western also assumed complete production duties over these Dell titles in 1939. In 1944 Dell and Western formalized their partnership to produce a line of standard newsstand comic books with Dell generally providing the financing and distribution, while Western produced the contents and printed the comics. Many of these comics featured the characters licensed by Western. Some of these licensed comics, however, were wholly produced and financed separately from Dell by K. K. Publications, Inc. When licensing agent Kay Kamen sold Western a licensing deal with Disney, he arranged a special partnership agreement that resulted in the formation of this publisher. These comics were produced and printed by Western and distributed by Dell, but technically published by K. K. Publications. Since K. K. Publications' titles Red Ryder and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories are commonly thought of as Dell comics due to the Dell logo on the covers after 1948, these comics can be found in this database under the Dell master publisher. This arrangement between Western and Dell lasted until 1962.

During this period, Western also produced without Dell other products not distributed through newsstands, but rather through the book market or as giveaways distributed through retail outlets. These items can be found under this master publisher.

In 1958 Western entered into a joint publishing effort with Pocket Books under the name Golden Press, Inc. Just a few years later, Western bought out Pocket Books' interest and made Golden Press one of their primary divisions. Many of Western's comic products were packaged for the book market under this Golden Press division.

After ending their arrangement with Dell in 1962, Western began their own line of newsstand comics, again utilizing their many licences, under the brand name Gold Key. Gold Key's New York office had two editors in 1968, one of whom was Paul Kuhn. The 2nd editor from 1966 to 1970 isn't known. Del Connell was editor at the LA office during this period. In 1971, Western began distributing versions of their newsstand comics exclusively for the book market under the brand Whitman. Western discontinued their Gold Key line in 1980, but continued their Whitman line into 1984.

In and about 1977, Western's Golden Press division also published under the "Golden All Star Books" brand. These books were illustrated text stories that were bound like comic books and are sometimes referred to as comic books. They were often written and illustrated by creators who were also working on their regular comic book series.

Behind the scenes in those later years, Western was sold to Mattel in 1979, and then sold again at the end of 1983 to a private investor. Over the next several years the various assets of Western were reorganized or re-sold several times before a final bankruptcy auction in 2001.

(Some of the information for the above from Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books by Michael Barrier and Mark Evanier's "News from Me" blog [http://www.newsfromme.com/iaq/iaq07/])


******* 'Canadian' price variants of 1968 *******
Doug Sulipa, a comics dealer in Manitoba, Canada since 1970, has confirmed that about 90% of all 63 titles of Gold Key Canadian titles are confirmed to exist with cover dates from April 1968 through August 1968 for both 15 cent covers and 12 cent covers.

Joe Torcivia, a comics collector and professional, has confirmed that at least several titles were sold in Flushing, Queens, New York with 15 cent covers while sold elsewhere with 12 cent covers. A few months later (September or November issues, depending on dating), ALL Gold Key Comics carried the 15-cent cover price and no further 12 cent issues were sold again.

These issues do not have a currency qualifier on the covers, so it is not certain whether they were priced in Canadian or United States currency, or both.

These issues appear to meet comics researcher John McClure's definition of Type 1a variants: “Cover Price Variants intended for foreign distribution with limited regional distribution, published simultaneously with standard or regular editions." However, in addition to foreign distribution, they appear to have also been sold as a test market for an impending price increase in the United States.


******* "© Robert S. Callender" Explained *******
When Western Printing produced comic book content that was not a licensed property, it was copyrighted in the name of Robert S. Callender (or, sometimes, Oskar Lebeck, e.g. Animal Comics, a Lebeck project). Callender was not the writer. He was Western Printing's copyright holder.

Robert S. (Bob) Callender, b. 1913, youngest child of Gene Callender of Racine, Wisconsin society, was an executive at Western Printing. On Oct. 9, 1937 Mr. Callender married Wynnefred Wadewitz, b. 1916, daughter of Edward H. Wadewitz.

Robert S. Callender's father-in-law, Edward H. Wadewitz, had risen by initiative to be the secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company: he was a moving spirit in the development, enlargement and control of that undertaking.

Robert S. Callender (Mr. Wadewitz's son-in-law) was the Managing Editor and Business Manager for Whitman Publishing Co., Poughkeepsie, N.Y., owned by Western Printing and Lithographing Company of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Series Year Issues Covers Published
40 Big Pages of Mickey Mouse [m] 1936 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1936
55 Days at Peking [m] 1963 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery September 1963
77 Sunset Strip [m] 1962 2 issues (2 indexed) Gallery November 1962 - February 1963
Adam-12 [m] 1973 10 issues (10 indexed) Have 16 (Need 3) December 1973 - February 1976
Adventure in Disneyland [m] 1955 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1955
The Adventures of M-G-M.'s Lassie Presented by Red Heart Dog Food [m] 1949 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [December 20, 1949]
Adventures of Mighty Mouse [m] 1962 5 issues (5 indexed) Gallery October 1962 - October 1963
Adventures of Mighty Mouse [m] 1979 7 issues (7 indexed) Gallery March 1979 - January 1980
The Adventures of Tintin [b] 1959 6 issues (1 indexed) Have 4 (Need 4) 1959 - 1960
Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling? 1922 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1922
Alice in Wonderland [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [March 1965]
Alice in Wonderland Meets Santa 1950 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1950?
The Aliens [m] 1967 2 issues (2 indexed) Gallery September-December 1967 - May 1982
The Amazing Spider-Man [m] 1977 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1977
The Amazing Spider-Man in "Weather Forecast: Danger" [Giant Comics to Color] [m] 1976 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1976
Andy Hardy and the New Automatic Gas Clothes Dryer 1952 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1952
Andy Panda All Picture Comics [Tall Comic Book] [b] 1943 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1943
Annie Oakley and Tagg [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery July 1965
Astro Boy [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery August 1965
Atom Ant [m] 1966 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery January 1966
Au Dela Du Réel [m] 1972 7 issues (0 indexed) Have 5 (Need 3) 1972 - 1973
Augie Doggie [m] 1963 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery October 1963
The Avengers [John Steed Emma Peel] [m] 1968 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery November 1968
Baby Snoots [m] 1970 22 issues (22 indexed) Gallery August 1970 - [November 1975]
Bambi [m] 1984 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [1984]
Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles Flintstone [m] 1964 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery October 1964
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith [m] 1964 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery April 1964
Batman [b] 1989 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1989
Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder Battle the Joker in "Comedy of Tears" [Giant Comics to Color] [m] 1975 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1975
Batman and Robin the Teen Wonder Battle the Penguin in "Four Birds of a Feather" [Giant Comics to Color] [m] 1976 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1976
Batman the Animated Series: Plants of Peril [b] 1993 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1993
Battle of the Planets [m] 1979 10 issues (10 indexed) Gallery June 1979 - February 1981
Beep Beep the Road Runner [m] 1966 105 issues (88 indexed) Have 158 (Need 4) October 1966 - [1984]
Beep Beep the Road Runner Kite Fun Book [m] 1967 2 issues (0 indexed) Have 3 (Need 1) 1967 - 1967
Beep Beep the Road Runner Kite Fun Book [m] 1971 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1971
Beetle Bailey [m] 1962 15 issues (15 indexed) Gallery November 1962 - May 1966
Beetle Bailey [m] 1978 13 issues (13 indexed) Have 22 (Need 2) April 1978 - April 1980
Ben Casey Film Stories [m] 1962 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery November 1962
Ben Franklin Kite Fun Book [m] 1975 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1975
Beneath the Planet of the Apes [m] 1970 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [December] 1970
The Best of Bugs Bunny [m] 1967 2 issues (2 indexed) Gallery January 1967 - November 1968
The Best of Walt Disney Comics 1974 4 issues (4 indexed) Gallery 1974 - 1974
The Black Hole [a] 1979 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1979
Bonanza [m] 1962 37 issues (37 indexed) Gallery December 1962 - August 1970
Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery [m] 1963 95 issues (95 indexed) Have 134 (Need 4) April 1963 - February 1980
Boris Karloff Thriller [m] 1962 2 issues (2 indexed) Gallery October 1962 - January 1963
Boys' and Girls' March of Comics [m] 1946 488 issues (429 indexed) Have 1611 (Need 104) [1946] - April 1982
The Brady Bunch Kite Fun Book [m] 1976 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1976
Brer Rabbit in Ice Cream for the Party 1955 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1955
Brothers of the Spear [m] 1972 18 issues (18 indexed) Gallery June 1972 - May 1982
Buck Rogers [m] 1964 4 issues (4 indexed) Gallery October 1964 - October 1979
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century [m] 1979 11 issues (11 indexed) Gallery December 1979 - May 1982
Buck Rogers, Giant Movie Edition [m] 1979 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1979
Buffalo Bill Jr. [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery June 1965
Bugs Bunny [m] 1962 160 issues (160 indexed) Have 220 (Need 7) October 1962 - 1983
Bugs Bunny All Picture Comics [Tall Comic Book] [b] 1943 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1943
Bugs Bunny and Friends in Fly-Away for Energy Kite Fun Book 1983 1 issues (0 indexed) Have 1 (Need 1) 1983
Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery September 1965
Bugs Bunny Comics-Go-Round 1979 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1979
Bugs Bunny Kite Fun Book [m] 1968 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1968
Bugs Bunny Winter Fun [m] 1967 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery December 1967
Bugs Bunny [Dynabrite Comics] [m] 1979 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1979?
Bugs Bunny [Quaker Puffed Rice/Wheat - A Series] [m] 1949 5 issues (5 indexed) Gallery 1949 - 1949
Bugs Bunny [Quaker Puffed Rice/Wheat - B Series] [m] 1949 5 issues (5 indexed) Gallery 1949 - 1949
Bugs Bunny [Quaker Puffed Rice/Wheat - C Series] [m] 1949 5 issues (5 indexed) Gallery 1949 - 1949
Bugs Bunny's Kite Fun Book [m] 1959 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1959
Bugs le Lapin [m] 1972 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery Juin 1973
Bullwinkle [m] 1962 21 issues (21 indexed) Have 32 (Need 5) November 1962 - June 1979
Bullwinkle and Rocky [m] 1979 4 issues (4 indexed) Have 6 (Need 1) August 1979 - 1980
Buster Brown Goes to Mars [m] 1958 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1958
Buttons and Fatty in the Funnies [m] 1927 1 issues (0 indexed) Have 1 (Need 1) 1927
Camp Comics [m] 1942 3 issues (3 indexed) Gallery February 1942 - April 1942
Captain America in "The Challenge of Super Sport" [Giant Comics to Color] [m] 1976 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1976
The Captain and the Kids [A Famous 'Comics' Cartoon Book] [b] 1934 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1934
Captain Easy and Wash Tubbs [A Famous 'Comics' Cartoon Book] [b] 1934 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1934
Captain Nice [m] 1967 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery November 1967
Captain Ray-O-Vac's Adventure and Game Book 1952 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1952
Captain Sindbad [m] 1963 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery September 1963
Captain Venture and the Land Beneath the Sea [m] 1968 4 issues (4 indexed) Gallery October 1968 - [1969]
Cave Kids [m] 1963 16 issues (16 indexed) Gallery February 1963 - March 1967
Checkmate [m] 1962 2 issues (2 indexed) Gallery October 1962 - December 1962
Chester Gump Finds the Hidden Treasure 1936 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1936
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [m] 1969 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery February 1969
Choo Choo Charlie [m] 1969 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery December 1969
Christmas at the Ford Rotunda [m] 1955 2 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1961 - 1961
Christmas at the Rotunda [m] 1954 4 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1954 - 1956
Christmas Carol's Welcome to Hudson's Toyland Fun Book [m] 1958 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1958
A Christmas Dream [m] 1949 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1949
A Christmas Journey through Space [m] 1960 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1960
Christmas Story Book [m] 1953 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1953
Cinderella [m] 1965 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [August] 1965
Cinderella in Fairest of the Fair 1955 1 issues (0 indexed) Gallery 1955
City Surgeon [m] 1963 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery August 1963
Clash of the Titans 1981 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery 1981
The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril [m] 1970 4 issues (4 indexed) Gallery June 1970 - March 1971
The Colossal Show [m] 1969 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery October 1969
Comics to Color [b] 1992 7 issues (3 indexed) Have 6 (Need 1) 1992 - 1992
Cowboy in Africa [m] 1968 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery March 1968
Crackajack Funnies [m] 1938 43 issues (43 indexed) Gallery June 1938 - January 1942
Crackajack Funnies [m] 1939 1 issues (1 indexed) Gallery [1939]

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