Elliot Publishing

[mohammedali]

Here's a questions for the classic comic vetrans...

Does anybody know what happened to Elliot Publishing Co. (Classic Comics, Classics Illustrated etc from 1941)?

In particular, I'm curious as to what happened to the intellectual property of the company. Were the copyrights sold off? Was the company ever bought out? Is it still in existance?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Rob Allen]

I don't know the name Elliot. As far as I know, the publisher of Classics Comics and Classics Illustrated was a company called Gilberton. They lasted until the 1960s in the USA and another decade or two in Britain. I think I've read recently that someone has acquired Gilberton's intellectual property and plans to start re-issuing Classics Illustrated material.

[mohammedali]

I don't know the name Elliot. As far as I know, the publisher of Classics Comics and Classics Illustrated was a company called Gilberton. They lasted until the 1960s in the USA and another decade or two in Britain. I think I've read recently that someone has acquired Gilberton's intellectual property and plans to start re-issuing Classics Illustrated material.
From what I understand, Gilberton was started up by someone who originally worked in Elliot Publishing Co. (which used to publish Classic Comics). You're completely right in saying it's been acquired and restarted.

Actually, I'm more interested in character's like Wonder Boy and Kismet. Do you (or anyone else) know if the intellectual property for these characters was ever bought? Or what happened to the company if nothing else?

[Rob Allen]

Actually, I'm more interested in character's like Wonder Boy and Kismet. Do you (or anyone else) know if the intellectual property for these characters was ever bought? Or what happened to the company if nothing else?
I didn't know that the Classics company had any characters that they owned. When & where were Wonder Boy and Kismet published? I see that you're in London; were these British comics?

[mohammedali]

I didn't know that the Classics company had any characters that they owned. When & where were Wonder Boy and Kismet published? I see that you're in London; were these British comics?
It's a US comic company.

Here's what I've found out so far:
Elliot Publishing was formed in 1941 by Al Kanter and Bob Farrell (I think).
Other names for the company were J. R. Mahon (named after the publisher), Sunset Times, Malverne Herald, Neil Publishing Co. and Ajax-Farrell.
Affiliates were Gilberton Co. (a spin-off company that continued Classic Comics after Elliot Comics) and Igor Studios.
Elliot Comics published a few different titles including the Bomber Comics and first few Classic Comics (which then left them when Gilberton was formed).

The comics I'm more interested in are the Bomber Comics.
These ran for 4 issues and were published quarterly.
Credits for the comics are apparently as follows:
Al Kanter (co-owner and publisher)
Umar Tahan (writer)
Alex Blum (pen and ink)
Arnold Hicks (pen and ink)
Chuck A. Winter (pen and ink)

Wonder Boy was in the Bomber Comics.

What I'm trying to work out is who owns the rights to the character. I'm not aware of the company being sold on, but I don't really know what happened to the company after the 1940s/50s.

Please help if you know of any possible leads. Thanks.

[Rob Allen]

Wonder Boy was in the Bomber Comics.

What I'm trying to work out is who owns the rights to the character. I'm not aware of the company being sold on, but I don't really know what happened to the company after the 1940s/50s.


I don't have any idea, but I know who to ask. I'll make some inquiries. It may take a few days. Thanks for all the details; they help a lot!

One thing that just occurred to me - Bill Black's company, AC Comics, has made a habit of reviving obscure Golden Age comics heroes. I searched at accomics.com but could not find any mention of Wonder Boy or Bomber Comics. But Bill might know who owns the character.

[Rob Allen]

Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. I've been told that Elliot Publishing didn't own any of the characters they published. The contents of Bomber Comics were produced by the Iger shop, and owner S.M. "Jerry" Iger provided Wonder Boy stories to several publishers over the years. The character first appeared in National Comics, published by Quality Comics, then in Bomber Comics, and later in his own title, published by Ajax/Farrell. Some of these stories have been reprinted by AC Comics, according to this page on the AC website (http://accomics.anonwebhost.com/accomics/goldenage/foxfeatures.html), and some Wonder Boy material was in the Blackthorne anthology Jerry Iger's Golden Features in the mid-1980s. So it seems that Iger or maybe AC own the character today. There's also an unrelated DC character called Wonder Boy from the 1990s.

Here's a chronology I culled from http://www.bipcomics.com/showcase/docs/ages.html :

1936 Former National employees, John Mahon and William Cook, start the Comics Magazine Company (The Comics Magazine #1, cd: May 1936)

1936 Everett M. "Busy" Arnold is contracted to print Comics Magazine Company titles

1937 Ultem acquires the Comics Magazine Company titles (September)

1940 Quality Comics begins publishing Wonder Boy material (National Comics #1, cd: Jul 1940)

1941 John R. Mahon re-enters the comics business with Elliot Publications and sells repacked remainders from other companies (Double Comics; 1941)

1942 Quality stops publishing Wonder Boy material (National Comics #26, cd: Nov 1942)

1944 Former Fox employee Robert Farrell launches Four-Star Publications (Captain Flight Comics #1, cd: Mar 1944)

1944 Elliot Publications (with ties to Robert Farrell?) begins publishing Wonder Boy by Iger Studios (Bomber Comics #1, cd: Mar 1944)

1951 Farrell re-enters the comics business (Lone Rider #1, cd: Apr 1951)

1954 Farrell comics begin using the Ajax logo (Jun-Jul 1954)

1954 Farrell [Ajax] starts publishing superheroes (Black Cobra #1, cd : Oct-Nov 1954)

1954 Farrell [Ajax] acquires rights to Fox's Flame, Phantom Lady and Samson and Iger's(?) Wonder Boy

1955 Farrell [Ajax] stops publishing superhero comics (Samson #14, cd: Aug 1955)

1958 Farrell [Ajax] stops publishing (Jun 1958)

[Rob Allen]

PS, as of 1990, the Iger shop material seems to have been owned by "Caplin-Iger Company". I haven't found any references more recent than that.

[mohammedali]

Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. I've been told that Elliot Publishing didn't own any of the characters they published. The contents of Bomber Comics were produced by the Iger shop, and owner S.M. "Jerry" Iger provided Wonder Boy stories to several publishers over the years. The character first appeared in National Comics, published by Quality Comics, then in Bomber Comics, and later in his own title, published by Ajax/Farrell. Some of these stories have been reprinted by AC Comics, according to this page on the AC website (http://accomics.anonwebhost.com/accomics/goldenage/foxfeatures.html), and some Wonder Boy material was in the Blackthorne anthology Jerry Iger's Golden Features in the mid-1980s. So it seems that Iger or maybe AC own the character today. There's also an unrelated DC character called Wonder Boy from the 1990s.
PS, as of 1990, the Iger shop material seems to have been owned by "Caplin-Iger Company". I haven't found any references more recent than that.
Wow, that is immensely helpful. I'm very impressed with your resourcefulness. You're definately the CBR go to man for Classic Comics!

OK. So Iger seems to own the rights to Wonder Boy. How about Kismet?
Also, how did AC manage to revive so many old characters? Do they own the rights to them, and if so, how do you acquire rights to such old characters?

[Rob Allen]

OK. So Iger seems to own the rights to Wonder Boy. How about Kismet?

Kismet seems to be an Iger property also, just a less popular character.

Also, how did AC manage to revive so many old characters? Do they own the rights to them, and if so, how do you acquire rights to such old characters?
As far as I know, they find the owners and negotiate a license, or, if no owners can be found, or if they can show that copyright was not registered or renewed, then they regard the old stories and characters as public domain and publish whatever they wish.

AC is a lot more careful about rights than IW/Super Comics were in the 1950s/60s - Waldman's way was to publish anything he could get hold of and see if anybody sued him.

As to exactly how AC acquires the rights to the characters, I don't know. We'd have to ask Bill Black, and I don't know if he would tell us.