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| Image copyright DC COMICS (TIME WARNER) |
In 1955, MAD comic, with its 24th issue, changed from a comicbook to a magazine in a move that bypassed the COMICS CODE, which didn't apply to the latter format. (Though, despite some claims to the contrary, wasn't the reason for the switch.) So here's the cover of the first issue of the new Mad, which retained the numbering from its original incarnation - making it #1 and #24 at the same time. Mad, isn't it?
4 comments:
At least it was still called MAD - Journey Into Mystery became The Mighty Thor and kept the same numbering while Mighty World Of Marvel became Marvel Comic became Marvel Super-Heroes with no change whatsoever in the numbering, now that's what I call mad.
Yes, but before it became 'The Mighty Thor', it had become 'Journey Into Mystery With The Mighty Thor', so the dropping of the JIM part was a natural transition as the mag no longer carried back-up stories unrelated to Thor.
And IDW's Uncle Scrooge #1 and Mickey Mouse #1 are also #405 and #310, if you count their "legacy" numbering continued from previous publishers.
Similarly, there are six different E-Man #1 issues. The original Charlton series, the Modern Comics reprint series, the new First Comics (1980's) series, the First Comics reprint series, a Comico one-shot, and a Comico mini-series. There have been other comics that were dropped by one publisher and picked up by another, or acquired by a new publisher when the old one went out of business. Sometimes they continue the old numbering (Badger, Nexus, Uncle Scrooge), sometimes they start over (E-Man, Donald Duck Adventures).
US postal regulations also led to new titles with the old numbering. Apparently, publishers had to pay a fee for some sort of permit to mail at second class rates whenever they started a new volume or title. To evade the fee, they would change the title and continue the same numbering. So Crime Patrol became The Crypt of Terror became Tales From the Crypt, All-American Comics became All-American Western became All-American Men of War, Saddle Romances became Weird Science, and so on.
Then there were Marvel's anthologies that became superhero split books, then became self-titled solo series. Tales of Suspense became Captain America, Tales to Astonish became Incredible Hulk (second series).
Some collectors may look for a comic that never existed (like Tales From the Crypt #1), and some may still be trying to figure out the gap between Hulk #6 and #102.
I suspected that the postal rates for subscriptions had something to do with continuing the numbering, TC, but I wanted to check before saying so. Thanks for saving me the work. Another example is Marvel's Amazing Adventures, which became Amazing Adult Fantasy, then just plain Amazing Fantasy - all in the space of a mere 15 issues.
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