 | |
| Founded | 1962 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Owner | Western Publishing |
Gold Key Comics was animprint of American companyWestern Publishing, created forcomic books distributed to newsstands. Also known asWhitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.
Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its parent,Western Publishing Company, switched to in-house publishing rather than packaging content for branding and distribution by its business partner,Dell Comics.[1] Hoping to make their comics more like traditional children's books, they initially eliminated panel line-borders, using just the panel, with its ink and artwork evenly edged, but not bordered by a "container" line. Within a year, they had reverted to using inked panel borders and oval balloons. They experimented with new formats, includingWhitman Comic Book, a black-and-white, 136-page, hardcover series consisting of reprints,[2] andGolden Picture Story Book, atabloid-sized, 52-page, hardcover containing new material.[3] In 1967, Gold Key reprinted a number of selected issues of their comics under the titleTop Comics. They were packaged in plastic bags containing five comics each and were sold at gas stations and various eateries. Like Dell, Gold Key was one of the few major American comic book publishers never to display theComics Code Authority seal on its covers, trading instead on the reputation of its child-friendly stories.[4]
Gold Key featured a number of licensed properties and several original titles, including a number of publications that were spun off from Dell'sFour Color series, or were published as stand-alone titles. Gold Key maintained decent sales numbers throughout the 1960s, due to its offering of many titles based upon popular TV series of the day, as well as numerous titles based on bothWalt Disney Studios andWarner Bros. animated properties.[1] It was also the first company to publish comic books based upon the then current NBC TV seriesStar Trek.[5] While some titles, such asStar Trek andThe Twilight Zone, were published for many years, many other licensed titles were characterized by short runs, sometimes publishing no more than one or two issues. Gold Key considered suing over the similarly themed television seriesLost in Space for its resemblance to the preexistingSpace Family Robinson, but decided their business relationship withCBS andIrwin Allen was more important than any monetary reward resulting from such a suit; as a result, the Gold Key series adopted the brandingSpace Family Robinson Lost in Space with issue #15 (Jan. 1966), though its narrative had no connection to the TV series.[6][7]
Editor Chase Craig stated that Gold Key would launch titles withHanna-Barbera characters with direct adaptations of episodes of the program because "[t]he studio had approval rights and the people there could get pointlessly picky about the material ... but they rarely bothered looking at any issue after the first few. Therefore, it simplified the procedure to do the first and maybe the second issue as an adaptation. They couldn't very well complain that a plot taken from the show was inappropriate".[8]
Over the years, Gold Key lost several properties, including theKing Features Syndicate characters (Popeye,Flash Gordon,The Phantom, etc.), toCharlton Comics in 1966, numerous, but not all, Hanna-Barbera characters also to Charlton Comics in 1970,[9] andStar Trek toMarvel Comics in 1979.
The stable of writers and artists built up by Western Publishing during the Dell Comics era mostly continued into the Gold Key era. In the mid-1960s, a number of artists were recruited by the newly formedDisney Studio Program and thereafter divided their output between the Disney Program and Western. Writer/artistRuss Manning and editorChase Craig launched theMagnus, Robot Fighter science-fiction series in 1963.[10][11]Jack Sparling co-created the superheroTiger Girl withJerry Siegel in 1968,[12] drew the toyline tie-inMicrobotsone-shot,[13] and illustrated comic book adaptations of the television seriesFamily Affair andAdam-12.[14][15]Dan Spiegle worked onSpace Family Robinson,[6]The Green Hornet,The Invaders,Korak, Son of Tarzan,Brothers of the Spear, and many of Gold Key's mystery/occult titles.[16][17] Among the other creators at Gold Key were writersDonald F. Glut,Len Wein,Bob Ogle,John David Warner,Steve Skeates, andMark Evanier; and artistsCliff Voorhees,Joe Messerli,[18]Carol Lay,Jesse Santos,[19] andMike Royer. Glut created and wrote several series includingThe Occult Files of Dr. Spektor,[20]Dagar the Invincible,[21] andTragg and the Sky Gods.[22] Also in the 1970s, writerBob Gregory started drawing stories, mostly forDaisy and Donald. Artist/writerFrank Miller had his first published comic book artwork inThe Twilight Zone for Gold Key in 1978.[23]
Diana Gabaldon began her career writing for Gold Key, initially sending a query that stated, "I've been reading your comics for the last 25 years, and they've been getting worse and worse. I'm not sure if I could do better myself, but I'd like to try." Editor Del Connell provided a script sample and bought her second submission.[24]
According to former Western Publishing writerMark Evanier, during the mid-1960s, comedy writerJerry Belson, whose writing partner at the time wasGarry Marshall, also did scripts for Gold Key while writing for leading TV sitcoms likeThe Dick Van Dyke Show. Among the comics for which he wrote wereThe Flintstones,Uncle Scrooge,Daffy Duck,Bugs Bunny,The Three Stooges, andWoody Woodpecker.[25]
Leo Dorfman, creator ofGhosts forDC Comics, also produced supernatural stories for Gold Key's similarly themedTwilight Zone,Ripley's Believe it or Not,Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, andGrimm's Ghost Stories. One of Gold Key's editors at the time told Mark Evanier, "Leo writes stories and then he decides whether he's going to sell them to DC [forGhosts] or to us. He tells us that if they come out good, they go to us and if they don't, they go to DC. I assume he tells DC the opposite."[26]
EditorFrank Tedeschi, who left in 1973 for a job in book publishing, helped bring in such new comics professionals asWalt Simonson, Gerry Boudreau, and John David Warner.[27]
During the 1970s, the entire comics industry experienced a downswing and Gold Key was among the hardest hit.[1] Its editorial policies had not kept pace with the changing times, and suffered an erosion of its base of sales among children, who instead of buying comic books, could now watch cartoons and other entertainment on television for free. It is also alleged byCarmine Infantino that in the mid to late 1960s, DC Comics attempted to pressure Gold Key from the comics business through sheer volume of output.[28] Among the original titles launched by Gold Key in the 1970s wereBaby Snoots[29] andWacky Witch.[30] By 1977, many of the company's series had been cancelled and the surviving titles featured more reprinted material, although Gold Key was able to obtain the rights to publish a comic book series based uponBuck Rogers in the 25th Century between 1979 and 1981. It also lost the rights to publishStar Trek-based comic books toMarvel Comics just prior to the revival of the franchise viaStar Trek: The Motion Picture, with the final Gold Key-publishedStar Trek title being issued in March, 1979.[31]
In this period, Gold Key experimented withdigests with some success. In a similar manner, to explore new markets in the mid-1970s, it produced a four-volume series, with somewhat better production values and printing aimed at the emerging collector market, containing classic stories of the Disney characters byCarl Barks andFloyd Gottfredson (Best of Walt Disney's Comics). In the late 1970s, somewhat higher-grade reprints of various licensed characters were also aimed at new venues (Dynabrites),[32][33] plusStarstream, a four-issue series adapting classic science fiction stories by authors such asIsaac Asimov andJohn W. Campbell.[34] Golden Press released trade paperback reprint collections such asWalt Disney Christmas Parade,[35]Bugs Bunny Comics-Go-Round,[36] andStar Trek: The Enterprise Logs.[37][38]
In the late 1970s, the distribution of comic books on spinners and racks at newsstands, drug stores, and supermarkets continued, but Western Publishing also sold packages of three comics in a plastic bag to toy and department stores, gas stations, airports, and bus/train stations, "as well as other outlets that weren't conducive to conventional comic racks".[39] The newsstand comics were returnable; the dealer could return unsold copies to the distributor for a refund, but the bagged comics were not. To discourage unscrupulous dealers from opening the plastic bags and returning the nonreturnable issues, Western published the newsstand versions under the Gold Key Comics label, and put the Whitman Comics logo on the bagged versions, although otherwise the issues were identical.[39]
Western, at one point, also distributed bagged comics from its rival DC Comics under the Whitman logo, as well as that of Marvel Comics, with its diamond (before the direct market even arrived).[40][41] Former DC Comics executivePaul Levitz stated, "[The] Western program was enormous — even well into the 1970s, they were taking very large numbers of DC titles for distribution (I recall 50,000+ copies offhand)."[39]
In 1979, Western ceased to be an independent company whenMattel Inc. purchased the company.[42] The new management stopped selling returnable comics at newsstands, preferring the nonreturnable bagged comics sold at toy stores.[43]
In a 1993 interview, Del Connell, the managing editor at Western's West Coast office in the late 1970s, recalled,
...the Western comics line was killed by distribution. Perhaps you know that by early 1980 our comics were only being distributed in bagged sets of three. The Whitman label replaced the Gold Key imprint at that time as the comics could no longer be found on the newsstands, but in department, variety, and grocery stores. Our new management assumed that comics could be treated like coloring books or puzzles. That proved an ill-fated decision. The following years were characterized by delays and erratic distribution.[44]
Eventually, arrangements were made to distribute these releases to the nascent national network of comic-book stores. Western also prepared a prospectus in the early 1980s for a deluxe Carl Barks reprint project aimed at the collector market that was never published.[45]
In December 1983, a struggling Mattel sold Western Publishing to real-estate investor Richard A. Bernstein.[46] Bernstein closed Western's comic-book publishing division in 1984.[44]
Three of Gold Key's original characters,Magnus, Robot Fighter,Doctor Solar, andTurok, Son of Stone, were used in the 1990s to launchValiant Comics' fictional universe.[47]
Dark Horse Comics (and later,Dynamite Entertainment) have published reprints, including several in hardcover collections, of such original Gold Key titles asMagnus, Robot Fighter;Doctor Solar;Mighty Samson;M.A.R.S. Patrol;Turok: Son of Stone;The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor;Dagar the Invincible;Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery;Space Family Robinson;Flash Gordon; theJesse Marsh drawnTarzan;[48][49][50][51] and some of theRuss Manning-producedTarzan series.[52] They started several revivals of characters underJim Shooter, includingDoctor Solar,Magnus,Turok, andMighty Samson.[53] The Checker Book Publishing Group, in conjunction withParamount Pictures, began reprinting the Gold KeyStar Trek series in 2004.[54] Hermes Press reprinted the three series based onIrwin Allen's science-fiction TV series,[55] as well as Gold Key'sDark Shadows,[56]My Favorite Martian,[57] and the Phantom.[56]
Bongo Comics published a parody of Gold Key inRadioactive Man #106 (volume 2 #6, Nov. 2002) with script/layout byBatton Lash and finished art byMike DeCarlo thatTony Isabella dubbed "a nigh-flawless facsimile of the Gold Key comics published by Western in the early 1960s...from the painting with tasteful come-on copy on the front cover to the same painting, sans logo or other type, presented as a "pin-up" on the back cover".[58]
In June 2001,DIC Entertainment announced they would purchase Golden Books Family Entertainment forUS$170 million (equivalent to $302 million in 2024) and take it out of bankruptcy.[59] However, DIC would pass off the purchase due to high costs[60] and instead Golden Books Family Entertainment was eventually acquired jointly byClassic Media, owner of the catalog ofUnited Productions of America, and book publisherRandom House in a bankruptcy auction for the lower $84.4 million (equivalent to $149.9 million in 2024) on August 16, 2001.[61][62] In turn, Random House, and Classic Media gained ownership of Golden Books' entertainment catalog (including the family entertainment catalog ofBroadway Video which includes the pre-1974 library ofRankin/Bass Productions and the library ofTotal Television), as well as production, licensing, and merchandising rights for Golden Books' characters and the Gold Key Comics catalogs, while Random House gained Golden Books' book publishing properties.[63] Random House had previously acquiredDell Publishing through a series of mergers since 1976, effectively reuniting the remnants Gold Key Comics andDell Comics.
On July 23, 2012, Classic Media was acquired byDreamWorks Animation for $155 million (equivalent to $212 million in 2024) and renamedDreamWorks Classics.[64] On July 1, 2013, Random House merged with thePenguin Group, forming a new company calledPenguin Random House.[65] In April 2016, the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation byNBCUniversal was announced.[66]
In 2021, comics creator and hackerRobert Willis obtained a trademark registration for a logo identical to the original Gold Key logo.[67][68] Later that year the trademark registration was purchased by the newly-formed Gold Key Entertainment LLC. Gold Key Entertainment LLC consists of comic book enthusiasts Lance Linderman, Adam Brooks, Mike Dynes, and Arnold Guerrero. Linderman describes trading a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 to Willis for the rights to Gold Key, in a YouTube interview with Carlos Collects Comics. Gold Key Entertainment is currently working with creators to produce new titles.[69]
Several classic Gold Key titles have been archived in high quality
Hardcover Collected editions : Beginning with Dark Horse comics in 2007
The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor
Gold Key didn't sue, because it had some very lucrative licensing deals going with various TV producers and didn't want to upset any apple carts.
After abandoning licensing for a decade or so, Charlton re-entered that field in 1967, by picking up the titles of King Comics —Flash Gordon,Popeye,The Phantom,Blondie,Jungle Jim, andBeetle Bailey...In 1970, most of the Hanna-Barbera characters, includingYogi Bear andThe Flintstones, went from Gold Key to Charlton.
Russ Manning also created...Magnus, Robot Fighter (1963-68) for the Gold Key comic books. EspeciallyMagnus, stood out for its excellent artwork.
Tiger Girl's comic was drawn by Jack Sparling...The writer was no less a personage than Jerry Siegel, who co-created Superman himself.
He also did fillers and issues ofSpace Family Robinson,Magnus Robot Fighter,Maverick,Tarzan,Brothers of the Spear,Flipper, andLassie. When Russ Manning left Dell in 1967, Spiegle took over theKorak title.
He began an association with Western Publications in 1970...and illustrated Gold Key titles likeBrothers of the Spear,Dagar,Dr. Spektor, andTragg.
Dr. Adam Spektor, a researcher of the supernatural, was introduced inMystery Comics Digest #5 (July, 1972)...The story was written by Don Glut...and drawn by Dan Spiegle.
Dagar started as a non-series character, the hero of a story that writer Don Glut...wrote for Gold Key'sMystery Comics Digest.
Writer Don Glut...and artist Jesse Santos...supplied the comic, in which aliens from interstellar space had a profound effect on a tribe of Stone Age people.
Baby Snoots, a Gold Key original launched with an August, 1970 cover date, was a young elephant...Snoots lasted a respectable 22 issues.
Wacky ran 21 issues, ending with a December, 1975 cover date.
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!["Gold Key & Charlton [News]"](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2f3.bp.blogspot.com%2f-k3LU_mn6j74%2fUyZYTR-S5rI%2fAAAAAAAACgo%2fv8LSY3Ckj_I%2fs1600%2fcomcreader96-eman.jpg){kind=link}
