Star Comics #8 or #9? Composite scan?

[Henry Andrews (fox_centaur)]

Hi folks,
  I was trying to complete (minus the missing pages) the GCD index for Star Comics (Ultem, 1937 series) #9, and realized that things don't add up.  Here's the link to the scan:
http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=12093

The scan appears to be mostly complete, missing pages 31-34 and 61-62 (numbering from the front cover as page 1).

The GCD index for both #8 and #9, like many early indexes that haven't been touched in many years, appear to be direct transcriptions from Howard Keltner's Guide.  Both are short many pages, as is often the case with Guide indexes as some sorts of features either weren't tracked by Keltner, or were omitted by his sources (I don't know which).

At first I thought that the index to #9 was just particularly sparse, but then I realized that several of the largest features in the scan, such as the 5-page Claire S. Moe story, were missing, which was odd- usually it's fillers and fact pages, although in late 30's comics, the difference between "filler" and "story" can be slight.  As it turns out, Keltner (and the GCD) list the Moe story, "The Pardon", and several other stories in the scan under #8.  Further investigation reveals a tangled mess.  There's no obvious dividing point in the scans between the #8 and #9 stories, assuming Keltner is correct.  The missing pages don't seem to correspond to the break points.  And of course some features appeared in both.  And the GCD index even has one one-pager that doesn't correspond to anything in either the scan or in Keltner- the Guide lists that feature as appearing only much earlier in the series.  So there are probably multiple error sources here.

I notice that this scan is credited to Henry Peters with a note that it was uploaded by Sam, so I'm not sure who is best to contact about this.  If either still have the comic available and could comment on its state, that would be ideal.  It sounds like it is probably a loose comic in several pieces, which could easily have come from two sources.  Or Keltner's index could be wrong- when it is wrong, it's usually in more straightforward ways, but it's always possible that Keltner's sources had issues that were mixed up, or got mixed up in communication.

Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this.
-henry

[Yoc]

I'll pass this along to HP for you Henry.

[Henry Peters]

Henry,
Anything is possible.  I pulled my paper and it matches the scans.  My copy doesn't appear to be assembled from multiple sources.  If it is they did a darn good job trimming and putting it together.  About the only thing I can suggest is finding someone with another copy of the book.  Maybe check on the CGC forums?  There should be multiple folks there with copies of this book.  At least one of them should be willing to help. 

It's good to know somebody is actually reading these things after all these years.  These scans go back to 2005, and I don't remember anyone asking about them before. 

[Henry Andrews (fox_centaur)]

Thanks, Henry!  Good to know about the trimming and assembly- usually when I find jumbled books there's a fairly obvious paper difference of that sort.

And I just thought of something obvious that I can't believe I missed yesterday- at this point, all of the Chesler-produced books have a table of contents of a sort.  Not in order, and no credits, but all of the features are listed on the title page, which clearly identifies the issue as #9.  Looking at the table of contents, it's pretty clear that your scan really is #9.  Or at least clear enough from the distinct features that having some of the others spliced in from #8 becomes a very unlikely stretch :-)  Interestingly, the table of contents frequently ignores the quirky spellings of some of the feature names and "corrects" them.

Thanks again for checking, and for scanning in the first place!  My current project is researching the reprints that Centaur used from the early Chesler, Ultem and Comics Magazine Company books (and also that Chesler reprinted himself later on).  So I'm definitely reading them, and they're both fascinating and a huge help!  I just need to get my scanner set up again so I can add Star Comics #1 to the collection.  I thought I'd lost it, but I recently found it again after a move :-)

[Yoc]

I just need to get my scanner set up again so I can add Star Comics #1 to the collection.  I thought I'd lost it, but I recently found it again after a move :-)

WOW!  Please do Henry!
 

[Henry Andrews (fox_centaur)]

As a bonus, I think I can add a few pages to the partial Star Comics #6 scan as well.  My mother found most of a coverless copy in a used bookstore for a few dollars and picked it up assuming I'd want to see it :-)  The woman at the counter apparently said she never expected to sell it- I kind of wonder how long it sat there.

[Yoc]

You've got yourself an amazing Mom there Henry!

[narfstar]

Sounds like I would be checking out that books store. I would also like to see Henry's collection. Some real gems there.

[Henry Andrews (fox_centaur)]

I'm pretty sure there's nothing else hiding in that store.  My mother knows how to shop :-)  But I am hoping to get as much of my collection scanned as I can over this next year.  It's not a large collection at all, but I can plug a few more holes here and there and as of this weekend am finally out of the various holes I found myself in (or managed to put myself in) over the past year.  Now I just need to work through my project backlog, of which this is one.