Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Tom and Jerry Down Under

A line of Tom and Jerry comic books began publication in 1949 and continues to this very day. Originally the comics were simply reprints of Dell comics here in the United States. As the years past new material began to find its way into the books.

History:

Magazine Management (Rosnock) produced Tom & Jerry comics that reprinted Dell/Western material in black and white. Sometimes as Jumbo Edition. The numbering of the Rosnock comics is hard to fathom as they usually have 4 or 5 digit issue numbers, some times starting with an (R-) and even if you arrange every comic they produced by issue number, there is still giant gaps in the numbering.

Despite the change in title from "Tom and Jerry with our gang" to "Tom and Jerry comics" with Vol. 1, no. 5, the comic is still referred to as "Tom & Jerry with our gang" in small print in the publishing information at the bottom of the cover verso, until the 18th issue, where it's referred to as simply "Tom & Jerry" in that section. - Source

Tom & Jerry Cartoons produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Drawn and printed in Australia by Jayar Studios, Associated Newspapers Ltd., and Seaborn Printing Co.

Jayar Studios was in an in-house editorial/paste-up service which produced a staggering array of comics back in the 1940s and 1950s in Australia. - Source