Western
- Publishing Began:
- 1907
- Comics Publishing Began:
- 1922
- 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
- 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.
Editing
| 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 (14 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 1595 (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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