Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 17, 2003 - Page 11 ■ ObserverMelbourne Collectables Feature ‘Harken to thee, faithful ones’

readership from 9000 to 20,000 per By Robert Thomas This week is the 34th birthday edition. He left in 1964 to become of the Melbourne Observer. founding editor for Rupert Murdoch's There were some interesting sales in The newspaper was re-launched new national broadsheet, The Austra- the Australian comic book market on on September 18 last year. lian. eBay last year. The Observer was founded in He resigned a year later after a dis- A frenzied bidding war resulted in 1969 by Gordon Barton, but its pute with Rupert Murdoch and began the record sales of the following comic most colourful owner was self-publishing a profitable newsletter, books: Maxwell Newton. Incentive (dubbed 'Invective' in some ● Amazing Spider-Man #1, $360 Part of the ‘empire’ was a comic journalistic circles), dealing with poli- ● F antastic Four #1, $204 publishing enterprise, whose tics and economic policy. ● X-Men #1, $204 products make more today as ● Incredible Hulk #1, $202 collectables, than they did in Gap ● Silver Surfer #1, $112.00 the mid-1970s. In 1970 Maxwell Newton began The Comic Buyer's Guide currently publishing the Melbourne Observer, values a near mint copy of Amazing stances. A scholarship in 1951 to later renamed the Sunday Observer, Spider-Man #1 at $US20,000, so why study economics saw him attend Clare seizing the opportunity to fill a gap is $A360.00 considered a record? College, Cambridge, UK, where he after the previous owner of the paper More like a bargain price surely? passed his exams and achieved the had closed it down, leaving Melbourne That would be true if referring to the award for outstanding economics without a Sunday newspaper. original Marvel version from the graduate of the year and was made After the first few struggling years United States. honorary scholar. he achieved respectable circulation for However this version is the Austra- After graduation he secured a job of Australia House in London. In 1954 the Sunday Observer, achieving at its lian comic reprint. $360 for a 30c larising both in equal measure by in the Australian Public Service work- he was recalled to Australia to work their loyalty or loathing of him. At height print runs of up to 200,000 a black-and-white reprint? A 1200-fold ing as a clerk in the Treasury section in the Canberra office of the Treasury. copy. price increase on something produced the heights of his career he rubbed After a year he applied for and ob- shoulders with politicians and Prime However, competition reared its on the cheap by a comic company that tained a position in the research de- head when a rival paper, the Sunday lasted little over a year? A more re- Ministers, captured the attention of partment of the Bank of New South thousands of readers through his Press, began publishing in 1973. Max's cent listing on eBay saw F antastic Wales. Boredom quickly set in and as newspaper was being printed on "baby F our #1 for auction with an asking newspapers, fought the establish- an outlet for his active mind, Maxwell ments of the newspaper industry and presses" (i.e. small suburban company price of $800! So what's the story wrote a series of letters to The Sydney presses) throughout the Melbourne here? commanded the respect of his peers Morning Herald on political and eco- with his influential economic and po- district. Genius nomic issues, which brought him to Concerned that the competition litical columns. the attention of its editors. By contrast, the depths of his ca- may deny him secure printing con- The story begins with the Perth- They were impressed enough to tracts and facilities for his newspaper, born journalist and newspaper entre- reer were equally extreme. While con- contact him and, after an interview stantly battling the life-long demons Maxwell bought and took over Regal preneur Maxwell Newton and the where Maxwell bluffed his way into Press, giving him the capacity to print company in question was Newton of booze and prescription drugs, he achieving a higher salary, offered him would endure bankruptcy, accusations the Sunday Observer on his own. Comics, which during 1975 - 1976 was the job of the Herald's political corre- Maxwell moved his premises to 1 licensed to reprint Marvel Comics for of espionage and police raids on his spondent. offices. Newton Street (the street name is a co- the Australian market. Thus began Maxwell's roller- incidence) and heavily upgraded the Maxwell Newton (1929-1990) has He also briefly boasted the largest coaster entry into the world of jour- brothel and pornographic publishing printing facilities and plant operations been described as brilliant, complex, nalism and politics. As an astute of Regal Press, allowing him to pub- creative, driven, gifted, a genius, ex- house Melbourne had ever seen prior writer he would formulate policy and to his self-imposed exile to the US in lish colour magazines and newsprint. cessive, extreme, erratic, passionate, speeches for opposition Labor leaders, In a rush of extravagance he hired unorthodox and, sadly, ultimately self- the 1980s. 'Doc' Evatt and Arthur Calwell. He Maxwell Newton's hectic career a 727 jet to import the equipment destructive. ● Max Newton: proprietor was later appointed Managing Editor began in relatively quieter circum- from Germany. He made friends and enemies, po- of Newton Comics of the Financial Review, building the ● Turn to Page 12 CHAPTER 1 BOOKS & COMICS

‘Buy - Sell - Exchange’ Classics & Collectables, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Sci-Fi, Romance, Childrens & First Editions

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Shop 2, 260 Dorset Road, Boronia (Inside the Boronia Arcade) Phone: (03) 97651 1330 ■ Fax: (03) 9762 5420 Write to us at: P.O. Box 79, Boronia, Vic. 3155 E-mail: [email protected] ■ Page 12 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, September 17, 2003 ObserverMelbourne Collectables Feature Marvel Comics in Australia: a comic book story

● From Page 11 Most kids had no idea they were Born in Casino, NSW, Marty The crowning piece was a giant reading reprints anyway and were Dougherty worked his way up the R oland colour press that cost happy just to marvel at the exploits journalistic ranks starting as a police $240,000. At the time it was the big- of Superman, Batman, Wonder rounds cadet for the Sydney Morning gest sheet-fed colour press in Victoria Woman, the Justice League, the Teen Herald in 1963. with the capacity to print 20,000 Titans and myriad other heroes with He worked on The Australian and glossy colour covers per hour. all their wild and imaginative adven- Sydney Morning Herald before be- Armed with secure and updated tures. coming managing editor of Newton's printing facilities Maxwell now had to Many comic collectors today were publishing vehicle, Regal Press. tackle the problem that many new introduced to their hobby through the T all, affable and easy-going, with an publishers face when publishing a KG Murray range of reprints. Particu- Irish-Australian shrewdness and socia- once-a-week newspaper. lar interest in these comics has grown bility, he would prove adept at bring- The Sunday Observer only saw the over the last decade and they are ing people together and securing deals. presses operating on weekends there- much sought after items at conven- He would later start his own suc- fore Maxwell needed to publish some- tions, collectibles fairs and eBay with cessful public relations consultancy, thing during the week to keep the price ranges varying from $5 to $40 Dougherty Communications, boasting presses running. and sometimes higher. an impressive clientele including Sir It was in this market that Maxwell Peter Abeles, Donald Trump, Rupert Collapse Newton would launch his own New- Murdoch and Kerry Packer. His solution was two-fold: he used ton Comics imprint in 1975, reprint- Dougherty Communications is still the presses to publish soft-core por- ing Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics operating to this day. nography, selling by mail order revolutionized the comic world in Instrumental the federal government enacted an through his newspaper. He printed 1963 with The Fantastic Four, Spider- adopted by writer Stan Lee and Martin Dougherty was also instru- and sold such titles as Bedside Plea- import ban on foreign comics, KG Man, Avengers and X-Men and other Murray Publishing had been success- thrilled to the dynamic artistry of mental in Warwick Fairfax's ill-fated sure, Eros, Colour Sexy Swingers and now heroic icons. attempted take over of John Fairfax fully reprinting National Periodical/ comic legends Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Kings Cross Whisper. Readers identified with the realis- John Romita and others. Ltd. in the late 1980's, serving as group Such was the success of these maga- DC comics from the US for the Aus- tic "heroes with problems" approach managing director for The Sydney tralian market in black and white. Stan Lee, ever the great communi- zines that Maxwell would concentrate cator and salesman, struck a rapport Morning Herald. solely on publishing pornography af- These included such titles as Tip Marty Dougherty always had a gen- T op, Superman Supacomic, Wonder with his readers with his irreverent ter the collapse of his newspaper busi- and firmly tongue-in-cheek Bullpen eral interest in comics from a reader's ness. (These titles are no doubt col- Comics, Mighty, Climax, Super Ad- point of view. venture, All Favourites and many oth- Bulletins letters page chock-full of lectibles today in some markets but hyperbole and hoopla, ushering in the Charged with the responsibility of that may be an article for another ers under the Planet Comics and later producing comics for Max Newton's Murray Comics banner. self-proclaimed 'Marvel Age' of com- time!). ics. R egal Press, Martin Dougherty traveled His other solution was to publish Such was the success of Planet to the US and met with Marvel execu- comic books, which would be cheap to Comics that the lifting of the import Phenomenon tives and publisher Stan Lee, securing produce, print and distribute. ban in 1959 had little effect on sales Marvel became the #1 comic pub- a licence to reprint Marvel comics in At a later bankruptcy hearing in when imports started trickling in. lishing phenomenon of the western Australia. 1978 Maxwell noted, "The basic prob- While the American originals had world, a position it enjoys to this day. An initial payment of $30,000 was lem we had was to keep our presses the novelty of full colour pages, their None of this however held any sig- made and Marvel released enough black going all through the week. These sales were not helped by the irregu- nificance for Maxwell Newton. It was and white proofs to begin printing the publications were produced for virtu- lar and limited availability of many unlikely he even knew what Marvel first few comics. A try-out run saw print ally the cost of the newsprint. You can titles. Comics were besides being a commod- in early 1975 as part of the Watcha-ma- crunch out comics at very low cost The Australian reprints still sold ity to feed his presses and generate callit Club colour supplement, edited by using your presses through the week." well against their American counter- cash. What he did do was employ cartoonist and illustrator, Peter Viska, The comics industry in Australia at parts, offering better value for money people who were in the know. One of in the Sunday Observer, reprinting this time was dominated by KG (3 stories and 68 pages for 25c) and these people was journalist and Conan, Fantastic Four and Dr Strange. Murray Publishing. Since 1940 when reliable publication. wheeler-dealer, Marty Dougherty. ● Turn To Page 14

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● From Page 12 Meanwhile about 500,000 unsold Oddly enough, these last printed is- After a few weeks an advertisement comics returned by the newsagents sues were printed on better paper was placed in the Sunday Observer had been dumped in a tin shed at the stock than their predecessors and are seeking an experienced comic enthu- old Richmond Bitter brewery grounds therefore more likely to turn up at siast to edit the upcoming Newton opposite the Sunday Observer offices. collectibles fairs in much the same Comics series. Assigned the task of sorting and re- condition as they were printed. R esponding to the advertisement distributing the comics back into the The Sunday Observer was bought was 19-year-old Melbourne Univer- market place was 19-year-old by publisher Peter Isaacson and con- sity engineering student John Melbourne University Commerce and tinued to be published for more than Corneille who was looking for a dis- Economics student and future career a decade until 1989. The paper was traction from his studies and got the media journalist, Ash Long. revived in 2002 as the Melbourne Ob- job. Ash Long today is the Editor of the server by its editor, Ash Long. John was already well-versed in Melbourne Observer and has kept Acclaim Marvel lore and comics fandom in gen- records of his brief association with eral and his knowledge would prove Newton Comics. Work began in Feb- Meanwhile, the unemployed and valuable to his position as editor. He ruary 1976 for six weeks with a team bankrupt Max Newton spent the next would remain involved in comic of fellow university students who few years operating a lucrative mas- fandom for many years as founding would bundle the comics in lots of 100, sage parlour and hard-core pornogra- editor for The Australian Comic Col- with a target to redistribute 20,000 phy business with weekly takings lector fanzine, and organizing comic comics each week. growing to about $12,000 per week. conventions. Heritage His journey back to journalistic Cut, paste Full page Planet Of The Apes colour credibility began in 1979 with articles ads were printed in the Sunday Ob- A label bearing the words 'Heritage in the Australian Penthouse on his John recalls, "The job was one day Ash Long commenting on his Me- server, and a special one-off colour lift- Series Cut Price Original Reprints' ever-favourite topic, politics and eco- a week. I pasted together the comics dia Flash web-site about the problems out supplement promoting the TV (not just any reprint, these are the nomics. juggling page numbers with the re- of bouncing staff pay cheques writes: series and the comics was issued in definitive original reprints!) was af- A weekly appearance on John quired in-house advertising and try- " all the cheques were bouncing, as the June 1, 1975 edition of the news- fixed over the original cover price. Singleton's interview program for ing to keep a reasonable coherence in they were for all pay packets at the paper. The comics were then reissued into Channel 10 in Sydney followed, and the story line. However we had a cer- company. There was even a TV commercial the market place with a 20 per cent Max was once more back in the jour- tain amount of material and if we did “I struck a deal with Max, citing an voiced by the distinctive gravel tones discount on the original price. Quite nalistic limelight. not have the art for a story we just eloquent economic argument about of stage and TV actor, Gus Mercurio often the resold comics sold better the In 1980 he left Australia to become had to skip it and work around it." 'survival of the fittest': he was either (father of a certain Strictly Ballroom second time around. a financial columnist for Rupert Marty Dougherty was keen to emu- impressed with the logic or the chutz- dancer) to promote Newton comics. Occasionally the 'Heritage Series' Murdoch's New York Post. In 1983 late the up-beat Marvel style bulletin pah! Max Newton flooded the market labeled issues appear at collectibles New York Times Books published Max and letters pages and so John “He'd pass over the cheques half- with thousands of comics. The heavy fairs and eBay today. Newton's first book, The Fed, about Corneille became 'Gentle John', the an-hour before those given to rest of promotion paid off with sales of up to When told of recent high prices paid the US central banking system, to editor and respondent for the Marvel the company's staff and we'd 'high- 30,000 recorded for the first issues, at auction for Newton Comics on wide critical acclaim. Mailbag letters page. John recalls, tail' it to whatever bank and branch dropping to around 20,000 for the sec- eBay, Ash Long commented in the Sadly, this short-lived comeback "The name 'Gentle John' was coined was being used that week." ond and third issues. Further titles Melbourne Observer, "In a dreamy ended in a final self-destructive urge by Marty. I still cringe when I hear Ash remembers those days in sum- were added to the publishing sched- moment this week, I calculated to seemingly tear down all he had it!" mary: "They were extraordinary days ule including Dr Strange, Dracula, today's price of that unwanted pile of achieved in America. The letters published in the comics at an extraordinary company. I was 19 Conan, Silver Surfer, X-Men and Cap- comic books - most of which we asked He invested and lost hundreds of were a mixture of real and fake with years of age. Equally as extraordinary tain America. for just 24 cents each. Based on the thousands of clients' money in an ill- some being lifted directly from the US growth multiple of 510 that comic is the fact that I have kept these conceived financial venture. Shortly Marvel originals, except with new Special pile is now worth $61.2 million. records for more than 25 years!" before his death he returned to the names and addresses, or penned by A special issue of Science Fiction “ Perhaps our 1976 crew should Receivers abuses of alcohol which ultimately John himself. As John explains, "I have asked for more than $3 per took its toll. Max Newton passed was published in August to coincide Max Newton voluntarily called in used real letters wherever possible with the first World Science Fiction hour!" away in 1990, his death marked by but, of course, made up and answered the receivers to get his newspapers obituaries and tributes across Austra- Convention ever to be held in Austra- Heritage and finances in order, only to be dis- my own letters if needed to get a par- lia. lia. Meanwhile the end days for Max missed as manager of his own com- ticular point across." Comic fans were treated to a wide Newton's publishing empire were in pany by telegram from the receivers R obert Thomas lives in Sydney and works at Typical of some of 'Gentle John's' cross section of Marvel history with sight. Burdened by millions of dollars in April 1976. a local hospital as a medical office manager. Marvel mannerisms were such artists Jack Kirby (F antastic Four and He therefore has far too much spare time to worth of climbing debt, Max's For the second time Newton Com- colourful phrases as: "Harken to me Avengers) and Steve Ditko (Spider- indulge in comics, books, movies and articles faithful ones! Hallelujah and Odin behaviour became more bizarre and ics were halted as a scheme of ar- like this. He can be contacted at Man) from Marvel's hey-day begin- [email protected] be praised! Bow down oh mortal desperate. He fell into a destructive rangements for the Newton group nings, to more contemporary artists ones! Go to it pilgrims! and Stan cycle of booze and prescription drugs, companies was announced and it was R eferences like Barry Windsor Smith (Conan), Lee's signature sign-off, "Excelsior!" exhibiting wild and drunken reported that Max Newton's enter- ● Comics In Australia & New Zealand Gene Colan (Dracula), Frank prises were $6 million in debt to some T oby Burrows and Grant Stone John would also contribute a regu- behaviour. The Haworth Press, Inc. 1994 lar Comics Corner column for the Brunner (Dr Strange) and Mike Ploog Ash Long witnessed such an event, 60 creditors. On one occasion the debt Watcha-ma-callit Club section of the (Planet Of The Apes). commenting in his self-published book collectors turned up at the Sunday ● Heralds and Angels Gavin Souter, Penguin Books, 1992 Sunday Observer, promoting the In contrast to their somewhat staid L ong Shots: "I was working in the press Observer offices with a crane. comic books and discussing Marvel Murray Publishing/Planet Comic ri- room and saw the difficulties first hand Max was reported to comment: "Ev- ● L ong Shots vals, Newton Comics provided novelty as Max drunkedly urinated over the ery now and then people came around www.mediaflash.com.au comic history in general. Ash Long, Ash Long Media, 2001 Launch value with their 'free' colour posters, reels of newsprint, ready to print." (Ar- with a crane to repossess something, swap cards, super-hero tee-shirt of- chivists should note: yellowing of news- in fact that's the last resort of the fi- ● Maxwell Newton: A Biography The first Newton Comics titles fers, subscription service, Marvel nance companies - the crane. They Sarah Newton print is not always necessarily a symp- Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1993 rolled off the presses in May 1975 ac- Mailbag pages, toy prize competitions tom of its age). came around the day before yesterday companied by the biggest advertising and discount offers on merchandise. He was dealing in 'contra' where ad- and I gave them $9000 to get rid of ● No Return Ticket campaign for comic books ever seen Novelty value however was not them." Clyde Packer vertising in his newspapers was paid Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1984 in Australia. enough to sustain sales. Increases in for in goods and services. Max became A later irreverent comment, typi- The first titles published in fort- printing and postage costs saw a page known as the 'contra king' and his cal of Max Newton under pressure: ● Operation Dynasty: How Warwick Fairfax nightly rotation were The Avengers, "We've only had three cars repossessed T ook Over John Fairfax Ltd cut to 36 pages with a price rise to 35c. T oorak Road mansion, furnished from Trevor Sykes F antastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, (Max Newton took the Whitlam La- the proceeds of contra, became known - a light week." Greenhouse Publications, 1989 Incredible-Hulk and Planet Of The bor government and the postal service as 'Contra Castle'. Stopped ● Reading American Comics: An Australian Apes. soundly to task in his newspaper edi- His marketing men would make V iew. Dr Tony Didio Marvel Comics in the US stopped Comic Book Marketplace #58 The 44-page comics sold for 30c and torials over the 5c increase in postage creative deals with local businesses to Gemstone Publishing, Inc 1998 the supply of proofs when no more were published in black and white stamps). raise cash and stave off the debt col- ● Sunday Observer, May 1975 payment was forthcoming. Newton John Sorell, editor with colour covers and colour super- After a few months sales had lectors. One such transaction saw a Comics underwent a further consoli- ● National Times, June 1976 hero posters in the centre. dropped to 6000 - 8000 per issue. It fleet of American cars bought from an Christopher Webb, columnist Planet Of The Apes was promoted as dation of titles when printing re- soon became apparent that sales pro- auto dealer paid for by full page ads Correspondence and acknowledgements the flagship title, capitalizsing on the in the Sunday Observer. The cars were sumed in August 1976 using whatever jections were grossly overestimated, supplies of proofs were left. T oby Burrows, John Corneille, Stephen popularity of the movies and TV series. with print runs being too high and then sold to another dealer and the Corneille, Marty Dougherty, Ash Long, Kevin money raised paid the wages bill. Titles were amalgamated into giant P atrick, Peter Viska, Tom Weston returns from newsagents also being 84 page and 100 page titles: Newton substantial. Triple Action (featuring Conan, Marty Dougherty returned from Avengers and X-men), Newton Four- the 1975 Christmas holiday break to In-One (Spiderman, Hulk, Iron Man find Max Newton had closed the ven- and Thor) and Newton Spectacular ture down during his absence. On his (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Silver return, Marty Dougherty persuaded Surfer and Submariner). Max Newton to resume publishing Planet Of The Apes and Dracula with a revamp of titles and schedules. maintained their 84-page status but In a move designed to save on print- all other titles were subsequently ing and colour costs, the fortnightly dropped. publishing schedule was changed to October 1976 was the last hurrah monthly and the free colour posters for Newton Comics as the last remain- dropped from many titles. ing proofs were used up and previ- New titles Deadly Hands of Kung ously released issues were recycled Fu, Monsters Unleashed, Iron Man, into special giant-sized 100 page edi- Daredevil, Thor and Submariner were tions. added to the publishing schedule. Ex- 'Gentle John's' Marvel Mailbag page isting titles Planet Of The Apes, was dropped, as were the competi- Conan and Dracula increased in size tions, prizes, merchandise and issue to 84 pages for 75c. numbering.