A rare copy of Glasgow-based Cartoon Art Productions Super Duper Omnibus Annual, published in 1949, featuring what appears to be the first ever British appearance of DC Comics superhero Batman, is up for sale on eBay.
Although, as we recently reported, Superman quickly made his debut in Britain shortly after his first appearance in Action Comics in the United States, wartime restrictions on the import of US comics probably contributed to a delay to Batman flitting after him across the Atlantic.
Batman’s “cameo” appearance in this late 1940s annual is, it seems, the first known appearance of Batman in Britain, in an annual, at least, as previously noted here on downthetubes.
A single frontispiece appearance by Batman, arms crossed, the page announcing the title as The Super-Duper Comicbus Annual, predates the original run of “Batman Comics” published by K.G. Murray, which began in June 1950, by, perhaps, as much as a year. (The earliest K.G. Murray issues were published in Australia, but distributed in the UK).
On offer from eBay seller Ewan Brownlow, who regularly sells vintage British classic comics, the rest of the annual – its dust-cover intact – includes several original humour and adventure strips commissioned by Cartoon Art Productions, also known as CAPtoons, including “The Mighty Power-Man” and “Electro Girl”, drawn by Malcolm Reader, “Rod Markham, Space Wanderer”, “Johnny Service, Crimebusting Incognito”, “Sky-Bolt Kid” and more.
Although the artist on this illustration for the super-rare original vintage hardback annual, is unidentified Ewan believes it is likely to be Dennis Malcolm Reader, the founder of CAPtoons, one of the first British strip cartoonists specialising in drawing super-heroes, or Paddy Brennan.
Ewan, a well-established collector on the Facebook Foreign Comic Collectors Forum, says he knows of only another three copies of this Annual in collections. “It’s fair to say, only a handful will still exist,” he says, “and most collectors, even Batman experts, are probably unaware of this book’s existence.”
UPDATE, with thanks to collector Dave Dustin: Technically speaking, it turns out the Annual isn’t the first appearance of Batman in a UK comic. Dave Dustin has discovered the hero features in a back page advertisement for the annual in another CAP title, Daredevil Rancher, which that came out before the annual. (Both, Dave feels, swipes, not authorised by DC Comics).
Cartoon Art Productions started life as International Comics and then became Transatlantic Comics, and then finally Cartoon Art Productions, and, notes Professor Chris Murray, seems to have operated out of several locations in Glasgow from the mid-1940s until at least 1950.
“Glasgow was a natural home for such an outfit,” he comments, “as there was a significant American naval base nearby and American comics often found their way into the hands of children on the West coast of Scotland via that route. The company reprinted American material, but also produced some original material that attempted to mimic the American style.
“These comics were smaller that standard British comics, looking more like American comic books, but they were often quite slim, sometimes running to just eight pages. Cartoon Art Productions also had a very clever but slightly dishonest marketing strategy, putting an American price on the cover (usually five cents) in order to give readers the impression that this was an authentic American comic, or that the company traded on both sides of the Atlantic.”
The Super-Duper Comic
The Super-Duper comic launched in 1946 and was published intermittently until 1960, for a total of 21 issues, plus this Annual (which, we should note, is dated 1950 on some sites). It featured several characters and strips by Dennis Reader, whose comics career began for publisher Gerald G Swan in 1944, when he submitted a four-page “Cat Girl” story to Swan, leading Swan to publish that, and more, recognising Reader’s talent for drawing superheroes in a style that matched those in American comics, which were at that time banned from import into the UK.
Together with submitting work to Swan, Dennis Malcolm Reader (born in Peterborough on 28th May 1927; died Woodnewton, Northamptonshire 31st March 1995), also founded CAPtoons, its output well suited to his style of pseudo-American work. It was a demanding time for the creator, who both wrote and drew many of the published crime and super hero stories, working late into the night, as well as working at a local newspaper during the day.
Exhausted by the demanding routine, it’s perhaps no wonder that by the 1950s, despite being offered a staff job as an inker in New York, he decided to give up comics and took charge of Perkins Engineering Art Department, as editor of their in-house magazine, Perkins Echo.
With the onset of health issues in the 1980s, Dennis retired from Perkins and became a freelance illustrator, producing work for training and sales books. He also started writing and illustrating his own children’s books, initially with A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts in 1989, published by Walker Books, followed by I Want One, Butterfingers, Fed Up, Job Useless and Into the Jungle in 1993. Two of his books were adapted for television.
• Check out Ewan’s Cartoon Art Productions Super Duper Omnibus Annual listing here on eBay
• Current items for sale from ewan_b on eBay
Head downthetubes for…
Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in the United States, published 30th March 1939, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. In the UK, Batman has been reprinted numerous times, from the 1950s onwards, if not earlier, and there’s a useful guide to British DC reprints here on the British Comics Fandom Wikia.
• downthetubes – Batman comics in Britain – a brief guide
• British Comics Fandom Wikia: Batman
• The Comic Book Price Guide UK: Batman Annuals Check List
• Lambiek Profile: Dennis Malcolm Reader (28th May 1927 – 31st March 1995)
• The Independent: Obituary: Dennis M. Reader by Dennis Gifford
• Dennis Reader remembered on the Woodnewton Village History web site – where he lived later in life
SUPERHEROES UK
Chris Murray revealed the largely unknown and rather surprising history of the British superhero in his book, The British Superhero, released in paperback in 2019 by University Press of Mississippi.
• Tracing Scottish Comics History by Chris Murray – Part One | Part Two | Part Three
• Buy The British Superhero by Professor Chris Murray (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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