The main reason I'm amazed the so-called Holyoke One-Shots were published is that paper was rationed during the war and the books really don't seem designed to sell. Of course, in 1944 comics might have been like movies and the demand for escapist fare simply outstripped the demand. Some of the worst movies ever made were released in 1944 and usually broke even if not turning out to be profitable, and the Holyoke One-Shots might have been printed for the same reason.