I was always interested in the indexing of comic books, as was my buddy Mike Tiefenbacher when we first met in the early '70s. Among our projects i was intrigued by the IW-SUPER comics line, which had to be one of the great mysteries of comic history. I spent a lot of time going over these books and trying to uncover what I could.
Mike once said he had seen them distributed in plastic bags and sold in secondary outlets -- book shops, resale shops, etc. In going over the entries of this fascinating discussion, I saw a mention of the posta requirements being suggested as why there were so many 1#'s. That could not be. These book were never sold as subscriptions, and never went through the mail. To do so, they would have had to publish an annual statement of ownership and circulation, and there never were any.
In trying to break down when the books came out, the earliest ones were dated 1958, and later ones were dated 1963 and 1964. But to understand the order that was used in publishing the comics, you have to ignore the numbers and look at the indicias on the inside front cover. Here is an analysis I did back in August of 1980 that appeared in APA-I...
IW-Super Comics Indicias
One of the great mysteries of the IW/SUPER COMICS line has always been its numbering. How could you figure out what is going on when BLAZING SIX-GUNS has #1,8-12 and 15-18? And ROBIN HOOD goes #1,2,9-11,15,17? And STRANGE WORLDS only has a #5! In an effort to understand, I have broken down part of the comics by the indicia on the inside front cover of each. In doing this, the numbering, especially the SUPER issues, makes a little sense.
ONE TYPE A: "... is published by I.W. Enterprises, Inc., 521 Fifth Ave., New York 17, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. Copyright 1958 by I.W. Enterprises, Inc." This appeared in #1 (KID KOKO), #2's (LITTLE EVA, KRAZY KROW), and some books in both #1 and #2 (SUPER BRAT, SUPER RABBIT, WACKY DUCK).
TWO TYPE B: "... is published by I.W. Enterprises, Inc., 521 Fifth Ave., New York 17, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A." The copyright date was taken off, otherwise this is the same as indicia type A. This was in more #1's (APACHE, COWBOYS N' INJUNS, INDIAN BRAVES, MAN O'MARS), more books with both #1 and #2 (THE BRAIN, GREAT WESTERN, RED MASK, ROBIN HOOD) a #2 (SHARPY FOX) and a #3 (LITTLE EVA)
THREE TYPE C: "... is published by I.W. Enterprises, Inc., 20 E. 46th St., New York 17, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A." The address is different in this batch. This is in a further #1's (BUCCANEER, FANTASTIC TALES, HUMAN FLY, SPACE MYSTERIES, TOP JUNGLE, WILD WESTERN ROUNDUP), a couple more with a #1 and a #2 (MUGGSY MOUSE, SILVER KID WESTERN) another #2 (UNDERSEA COMMANDOS), a #3 (THE BRAIN), and both of the books that only published a #5 (SENSATIONAL POLICE CASES, STRANGE WOLDS).
FOUR TYPE D: "... is published by I.W. Enterprises, Inc., 62 West 47th Street, Room 206, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A." Another new address. This indicia had the last of the #1's, all of the #7's and some of the #8's. #1's with this were (DYNAMIC COMICS, FIGHTING DANIEL BOONE, GREAT ACTION, KAANGA, SPACE DETECTIVE, STRANGE PLANETS, U.S. PARATROOPS, U.S. TANK COMMANDOS, WILD BILL HICKOK), one book with a #1 and a #2 (EERIE), a single #2 (TOP ADVENTURE), one with a #1 and a #7 (LITTLE EVA), more #7's (COWBOYS N'INJUNS, WACKY WOODPECKER), and plenty of the #8's (BLAZING SIX-GUNS, BUCCANEERS, DREAM OF LOVE, FIREHAIR, LOVE AND MARRAIGE, TEEN AGE TALK, TOM TOM THE JUNGLE BOY, WAMBI, ZIGGY PIG).
FIVE TYPE E: "... is published by I.W. Enterprises, Inc., 62 West 47th Street, Room 206, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. by the Eastern Color Printing Co., Waterbury 20, Conn." The same address, but the added the name of the printer. This was in the rest of the #8's and all of the #9's. These were the #8's (PURPLE CLAW, RED MASK, SPACE COMICS, U.S. TANK COMMANDOS). One book with a #8 and a #9 was (DYNAMIC ADVENTURES). The #9's were (DARING ADVENTURES, JUNGLE COMICS, ROBIN HOOD, SPACE MYSTERIES, TEEN AGE TALK, REALISTIC ROMANCES, TELL IT TO THE MARINES, TOP DETECTIVE, U.S. FIAGHTING AIR FORCE, GREAT WESTERN).
SIX TYPE F: "... is published by Super Comics, Inc. 62 West 47th Street, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. 1963." Same address, by the new name is Super Comics. These were the first ones with a date since the 1958 batch. All of the #10's, #11's and #14's were here as well as some of the #12's All of these had the Super Comics round insignia, except for it being left off of three #10's (PEE WEE PIXIES, THREE RASCALS, WACKY DUCK). To avoid a bit of typing, this indicia was in all the #10's, #11's and #14's that I've checked, and these #12's (BLAZING SIX-GUNS, DARING ADVENTURES, FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, FOXHOLE, GUNFIGHTERS).
SEVEN TYPE G: "... is published by Super Comics, Inc. 62 West 47th Street, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. 1964." Same as the previous indicia, except the date is the following year. This appeared in the rest of the #12's (DANGER, THE SPIRIT, JUNGLE ADVENTURES, STRANGE PLANETS, U.S. FIGHTING MEN, WILD BILL HICKOK) as well as all of the #15's and #16's I've checked. This was also in some of the #17's (POLICE TRAP, STRANGE MYSTERIES).
EIGHT TYPE H: "... is published by Super Comics, Inc. 62 West 47th Street, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. 1964. National Distributor: Harry Williams, 4304 Dexter Street, Philadelphia, Pa." Same as the previous indicia, except the name of the distributor was added. This version was in most of the rest of the #17's that I checked, except for those two mentioned above.
NINE TYPE I: "... is published by Super Comics, Inc. 62 West 47th Street, New York 36, N.Y. ... Reprinted in U.S.A. National Distributor: Harry Williams, 4304 Dexter Street, Philadelphia, Pa." Same as the previous indicia, except the date was taken out. This last version was in all of the #18's that I checked.
All of this data is as of what I knew back in 1980, but I think if someone broke down all the books according to these indicia types, it would give us a listing of the books as they were released. Any comments on this suggestion?
I have a number of books that are IW/SUPER COMICS and the books they were reprinted from. I will try to scan them if I can find'em.
Jerry Sinkovec (Wisc Pack Rat)
