Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: bminor on February 02, 2018, 05:22:12 PM
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Fellow DCM Members,
Just stumbled upon Gwandanaland Comics. They publish public domain comic books in 8.5"x11" paper back form.
Does anyone know any details about them?
B.
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Hi B,
Yeah, they are very active on the Fiction House Facebook page. I've asked and they have quickly agreed to add scanner credits and a url to DCM and/or CB+ where they are getting their scans from. I guess they are filling a hole for those that want to read physical copies of books shared on here.
-Yoc
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Yoc,
I am not surprised that you are all knowing in this topic!
What don't you know about comic related questions?
B.
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Hi B,
Oh, I'm far from that but I have got my toe in the Facebook stuff due to DCM and heard about the Fiction House page which I naturally gravitated into. But ask me a Dell or Charlton question and I'm not going to be much help.
-Yoc
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There's a thread on the Marvel Masterworks Message Board about public domain reprint collections, and there are plenty of informative posts from the man behind Gwandanaland on it.
Link to thread: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/marvelmasterworksfansite/public-domain-reprint-collections-t31027.html.
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Thanks for the link Shea.
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I have purchased two of theirs, both are Centaur based series (Magician from Mars and Air Sub DX), and they are ok. Nice looking and a reasonable price. I won't buy a lot of theirs cuz I collect Centaur based, but overall not bad for the two I have. I am thinking about their Amazing Man collection, but it's to high for me atm.
If you don't know how they print, they print exactly what you see scanned in, no restoration so it looks like a yellow comic page printed on white paper, with a white border. The paper that they print on is nice stock. The book itself is SC with glue binding.
So there are two ways of looking at why they publish them like this, the one I hope they lean to are what was mentioned earlier, for people that want a physical copy. That is the reason why I purchased those series and the fact that they was like 10 buck or so apiece.
One thing that they could add to their copyright page is like what Yoc mentioned: A small paragraph saying something that scans come from DCM and CB+ with respective url's and a blurb saying to visit and bookmark.
Again, this is just my opinion from purchasing a couple and what I think about them.
Blessing
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Hi BMH,
They did promise to credit us when I asked but I've never seen a collection to verify it was done. I think it's just good form to thank those people that provided the original scans as well when known. It's what I've always done when I've done any archives or collections.
Thanks for letting us know what you thought of the books themselves. So far you are the only buyer I've heard of.
-Yoc
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I've bought two collections so far - The Complete Funnyman, and the second is one I've ordered and I'm waiting on, the first six issues of Jumbo Comics. Obviously I haven't seen the Jumbo Comics book yet so I can't comment on it but the Funnyman book was good quality and I presume Jumbo will be the same.
One thing that they could add to their copyright page is like what Yoc mentioned: A small paragraph saying something that scans come from DCM and CB+ with respective url's and a blurb saying to visit and bookmark.
As far as crediting Digital Comic Museum and Comic Book Plus, they've started adding a blurb on the back cover mentioning both sites and encouraging their readers to visit them.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51LHAzYI0WL.jpg)
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Thanks for confirming this for us Shea. That page works for me.
:)
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Gwandanaland posted something on their Facebook page that I thought would be of interest here, so I'm cutting-and-pasting it because I don't know if you have to be on Facebook to be able to see it. The link to the post in its original context is here (https://www.facebook.com/gwandanaland/photos/a.272119736533270.1073741829.272000409878536/440642556347653/?type=3&theater).
As we wait for today's new releases to be approved, I think it is time for another general info post for all those who are new to Gwandanaland Comics.....
NOT-SO-SECRET SECRET WORDS: These words will quickly clue you in to some characteristic of Gwandanaland Comics volumes ---
COMPLETE: This means that the series contains all the original appearances of that character or comic title. If it is a character collection it may not contain reprints of that character's stories (but sometimes we include them if they are significant), and if they were rebooted in modern times by another company that's a separate series, but based on all our available information you can expect this to be complete.
TREASURY: This means it is not complete, and we either don't expect it to be complete in the near future or for copyright reasons it never can be. In many cases they are still the largest and most complete collection in print, so Treasuries are an important part of your reprint collection!
READER'S: This means that the interior is in B&W; the book might have been originally published in B&W or it may have been requested that way. Sometimes a book will have a color version as well as a B&W -- it will always be easy to tell which is which.
GIANT: Obviously this is a big book, but it also means that it was compiled from other Gwandanaland Comics books. For example, Doll Man Giant #1 is a compilation of Doll Man Volume 1 & 2. Someone wanted a bigger book or for some reason it made sense to create a combined book. We'll let you know in the description where it came from so you don't buy duplicate material.
SPECIAL: This means someone has specifically requested this book in this form. It might mean an unusual collection of stories, and like the giant it might mean it duplicates material from other Gwandanaland Comics -- we'll make sure you know.
Most of our books are 8 1/2 X 11, which using margins allows us to approximate the original size of most comics. We do have some digest-sized books and a few which are odd sized because that best fit the original material.
Book are all full-color unless they are specifically stated B&W.
Our books are taken directly from the scans of comics which are decades old, sometimes up to 80 years old. This means that they will have signs of age and wear. We work hard to make the pages look as good as possible without losing their authenticity. While other companies may strip the material down to its bare lines and recolor it, we're not going to do that; we will make minor adjustments to brightness and contrast to bring out the colors and lines, but we do it with the goal of keeping the book looking like an old comic - because that's what it is!
We are constantly working to update and upgrade books, as we find issues we were missing, find books with better-looking pages, etc. If that upgrade is significant, we will let you know that it is available for a free exchange. For example, anytime that a book which was previously incomplete becomes complete, you can exchange your incomplete copy for a complete one. If we made a significant errors in a book and it is corrected, you will get an updated copy. In order to stay in business we cannot exchange every time we make an improvement, but when it's significant we'll always make sure you have the best book possible. It's a book-by-book situation, but we're always trying to make things better!
All our books are available on Amazon.com --- but if you prefer to order direct from us you can enjoy a 20% discount and free shipping. As you know, Amazon offers very fast shipping, usually 2-4 days. I wish we could be that fast, but it's impossible. Their books and our are produced at the same plants, and they always get priority, so we can only look for 7-10 days. It could be a little faster or a little slower, but lately it has been in that range, with very few orders taking longer. Our Paypal address is gwandanaland@yahoo.com ---- and if you order 5 books or more at a time you discount could be larger, so let me know what you want!
We have a catalog which contain all our books, updated about every two weeks. It's a simple spreadsheet, nothing fancy, but that way we can keep up with it. It contains basic info about each book, and both Amazon and direct prices. We would love to have a full-color illustrated catalog, but with over 1600 collections and over 2200 titles (including individual issues), to have that would require someone working on it full time, and there's no way to keep it from being expensive . . . so for the time being, we're working with this simple thing.
We do not currently have a Website. We have tried a few in the past but they did not suit our needs, and so instead of struggling with something that didn't work we're waiting for the right site and the right person to handle it. Between email and Facebook, I promise you can find out anything you want to know.
Although I occasionally have a good idea, most of our books are done because someone requested it. If it is legal to do (public domain) and available, we'll do it for you! Whether it is a character you want to see collected into his/her own book, a title you want reprinted, or any other feature, we're happy to do it all! Challenge me! If there are a couple books you want combined into a larger volume, we'll do it. If there's a larger book you prefer to have split into smaller books, we'll do that. If you have a special request that seems, to you, to be unusual, I guarantee someone else will want it, too! Our request list can get long at time, so it might not be overnight, but do not be shy!
If you have a comic that we are missing and can use for one of our volumes, and are either willing to scan it or to loan it to me for scanning, you can earn free Gwandanaland Comics books. Many of our books contain issues, stories and pages available nowhere else because one of our readers made it possible – and we love that!
If you attend comic conventions or other events, contact us about getting some of our promotional material; if you'll take it with you and spread the word, we'll pay you in Gwandanaland Comics books!
There are a few other ways to get Gwandanaland Comics books without spending money:
--- We are always looking for low-grade and even coverless comics from the 40s, 50s and 60s. If you have a pile of these lying around, stuff gathering dust, send them to us! Some we can use and some we can't, I know, but I can always find a home for them, and I love sorting and discovering. Where I can use some books to improve existing volumes and fill in gaps I will, and those I cannot use I will move along the pipeline. A few of our readers have expanded their Gwandanaland Comics collection this way. Write to me!
Do you have a reprint from another company, but would prefer the Gwandanaland Comics version? Well, we cannot exchange those free (we'd go under), but if you exchange one of theirs for our version of the same book, you can take 35% off the price of ours. I guarantee ours is better quality and more complete.
I am sure that I have forgotten something important ----- but we're always open, so just write anytime!
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In July I purchased my first book from Gwandanaland, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Vol. 1. I like it but it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. I asked the publisher to add the first Sheena strip from Wags and he did. But he didn't know that color scans for the cover and first page of Jumbo Comics #9 were on DCM. This was my biggest disappointment with the book. Also there was a typo on the back cover. The publisher is now aware of these and has updated this book so the next customer who buys it will get a superior version than mine. I'm hoping someone will be able to replace those fiche scans from the issues of Jumbo that are currently online with some nicer paper scans. Only then will I be able to replace my copy with a better one.
Despite being disappointed with my initial purchase I have gone ahead and ordered two more books, Shock Gibson Vol. 1 and Doctor Nemesis. They haven't arrived yet. I'm hoping these will be better than the Sheena book.
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Thanks for letting us know CBG, let us know how the other books look when you get them.
-Yoc
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Gwandanaland has officially announced a recall on some of their Fawcett titles. It seems some of these comics are not public domain. You should check their Facebook page for details on just which books are public domain and which aren't. Many of the Marvel Family books are affected.
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Hmm, thanks for the head up CBG.
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In the past few weeks Gwandanaland has deleted more than just Fawcett books. Charlton and Quality Comics books apparently were also renewed. So I went ahead and ordered two Charlton books, The Blue Beetle Giant, which combines two previous books in one, and Charlton Heroes Vol. 2 before it was too late. I assumed both would be delivered at the same time and both would be new. I was surprised to hear each one was being delivered by two different states. The Blue Beetle Giant was jammed into my mailbox and I had to go to the post office to complain. I arranged to pick up packages at the post office. Well the Charlton Heroes book came the next day and I ran outside to talk to the carrier. She folded the book in half in my mailbox! I told her not to do that anymore. So my arrangement to pick up the book didn't work. Worse, I discovered I had purchased a used book printed in July that was somewhat nicked and damaged. Strangely, the book itself had the Modern Comics cover of one issue instead of the Charlton version. I let the publisher know about these issues I had and he was upset to hear Amazon sold me a used book when their website had no mention of it being used. He admitted to making a mistake when choosing the cover. Well today I got word that finally, due to the delay created by the Createspace and Kindle merger, my Shock Gibson and Doctor Nemesis books are now shipped. Time will tell whether I get them in good shape or not.
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Fingers crossed they are in good shape and your mail carrier doesn't fold them in half again.
I'm a fan of the Shock Gibson stories. What a great name! They had a unique look and feel about them that make me smile.
-Yoc
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People confuse Modern Comics with Charlton. Modern Comics published more than just Charlton reprints. They reprinted some King Features titles in a Treasury size format. They reprinted a Marvel Treasury comic. They released some rebound Archie comics in a square bound format. They had the license to publish Voltron. There was a checklist online.
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Today I got both books in a cardboard box protected further by crumpled paper. It was delivered by UPS not USPS. The books look good, much better than the Charlton books that are now unavailable. There are typos on the back of the Nemesis book, but that's a small complaint. This is much better.
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Congrats that they came through without damage this time for you. And that they are "new" this time.
- Geo
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I got some video flipthrus of their Psycho,Scream Crime Machine and Hell Rider collections.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGiX2lPHpA8nftMS-mS61tWwBJdT1YA_6
Also has one of the I think Charlton Horror mag collections in there. For B/w stuff they aint bad. Only color volume I got from them is a collection of all the Charlton Question stuff.
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I hate to be negative, but those considering purchasing the "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Vol. 1" book need to be warned. I updated my review recently and included photos. I find it suspicious that a second review of the book appeared on Amazon about the same time I got my updated copy. I guess Gwandanaland needed a 5 star review to counter my 1 star review to bring up their business's rating. The other review does not say verified purchase like mine does. https://www.amazon.com/Sheena-Jungle-Gwandanaland-Complete-Stories/dp/1545421021/ref=mp_s_a_1_25?dchild=1&keywords=sheena+queen+of+the+jungle+comic&qid=1603379024&sprefix=sheena+q&sr=8-25#
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Thanks for the topic. I had seen these and other publishers on Amazon over the years when looking for the Shazam and Plastic Man Archives and couldn't quite figure them out since it was some of same issues as in the hc books. I did wonder where there source material came from. The best I could do for "publishing" would be single sided pages Cerlox bound at Staples and don't think I could sell them for $10. There's Kindle editions now too and DVD collections on eBay.
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I'm not a fan of their products, but I recently created a web page for the EC reprints.
All the images on Amazon had streaks across them.
I thought about touching up the images to remove the streaks, but figured the quality is so poor that their actual product may have those streaks on them.
I decided to leave the images as they were. ^-^
http://comicchecklist.atwebpages.com/EC/Gwandanaland/Gwandanaland_EC_Reprints.html
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Defiant1, looking at your EC Reprint page I noticed you didn't have listings for these books which reprint some EC stories.
Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics! https://www.comics.org/issue/1244909/
From Aargh! to Zap! Harvey Kurtzman’s Visual History of the Comics https://www.comics.org/issue/1833373/ & https://www.comics.org/issue/1833374/
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Defiant1, looking at your EC Reprint page I noticed you didn't have listings for these books which reprint some EC stories.
Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics! https://www.comics.org/issue/1244909/
From Aargh! to Zap! Harvey Kurtzman’s Visual History of the Comics https://www.comics.org/issue/1833373/ & https://www.comics.org/issue/1833374/
I'm aware of "Foul Play" and I've been on the fence about which of Geisman's books should be included. I was flattered because he said some nice words about some of my content online and was actually looking for my site when I was forced to change out the free host I was using.
I'll add them.
I need to research the second one. It's new to me.
I'm trying to screen out publications that reprinted things like one page from Mad magazine or just one gag panel. I'd like for the content to include at least a full story.
For a collector that doesn't own all of this, it's been a huge undertaking.
Some things are elusive like Ballantine Books' reprinting of the New testament Picture Stories From the Bible. I know it exists, but no images are available online.
The foreign reprints are a huge challenge also, but they are very rewarding to discover.
The ENS Spanish language stuff published in the US and distributed in Mexico and other Spanish language countries is just fun to see.
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Foul Play reprints a full story related to the artist they did a biography of (Foul Play! after Jack Davis' bio, Corpse On The Imjin after Kurtzman's bio, etc.) and print a story that was intended for a never published book (Wanted For Murder intended for Crime Illustrated #3) which is probably of interest to EC fans.
From Arrgh To Zap does reprint a couple of full stories, but because the book is tabloid sized they reduce the size of the story's pages to fill less space so you can read the full story of Master Race, Superderman and Big If just smaller than the original publications. May not be the best way to read these stories, but the stories are full.
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Foul Play reprints a full story related to the artist they did a biography of (Foul Play! after Jack Davis' bio, Corpse On The Imjin after Kurtzman's bio, etc.) and print a story that was intended for a never published book (Wanted For Murder intended for Crime Illustrated #3) which is probably of interest to EC fans.
From Arrgh To Zap does reprint a couple of full stories, but because the book is tabloid sized they reduce the size of the story's pages to fill less space so you can read the full story of Master Race, Superderman and Big If just smaller than the original publications. May not be the best way to read these stories, but the stories are full.
Yep! Suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.
Here they are now..
Foul Play!The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics!
http://comicchecklist.atwebpages.com/EC/HarperCollins/HarperCollins_EC_Reprints.html
From Aargh! to Zap! Harvey Kurtzman’s Visual History of the Comics
http://comicchecklist.atwebpages.com/EC/Simon_and_Schuster/Simon_Schuster_EC_Reprints.html
Defiant1
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to CBG; I was looking into things on the Gwandanaland folks before buying and ran across this:
THE GWANDANALAND GUARANTEES
1) I guarantee you will be happy with the book; if not, I will make it right.
2) If the book is upgraded, you are eligible for a free replacement. Check out our Guidebook for details on upgrades and replacements.
Seems like, with respect to bullet item 2, you may want to contact them and upgrade your Jungle Girl volume.
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to CBG; I was looking into things on the Gwandanaland folks before buying and ran across this:
THE GWANDANALAND GUARANTEES
1) I guarantee you will be happy with the book; if not, I will make it right.
2) If the book is upgraded, you are eligible for a free replacement. Check out our Guidebook for details on upgrades and replacements.
Seems like, with respect to bullet item 2, you may want to contact them and upgrade your Jungle Girl volume.
I did get my replacement for the "Sheena" volume TWO YEARS AFTER I BOUGHT THE FIRST COPY. It took that bastard TWO YEARS to send me the upgrade and I still did not like it. I told him about the flaws and warped pages that curved inward and made reading the panels difficult. Some of the pages he 'upgraded' were fine in the first copy of the book, so he replaced perfectly readable pages with less readable pages. This was unnecessary. Since he asked me to delete my 1 star review in order to get his business rating up on Amazon, I seriously doubt he'll send me the next upgrade if I ask him. Also, he promised that if he couldn't deliver certain books by a certain month, they would be free. I ordered Captain Marvel and Catman books and I did not get them at all. So his promise to give me free books was a lie. I'm not on the best terms with him at the moment. I think I should just forget about GC. I should also figure out how to sell books on eBay so I can get some of my money back from all these books I bought that I no longer want. (I have DC Archives that I want to sell too.)