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Key Publications was an American comic-book company founded by Stanley P. Morse that published under the imprints Aragon Magazines, Gillmor Magazines, Medal Comics, Media Publications, S. P. M. Publications, Stanmor Publications, and Timor Publications.
| Status | defunct 1956 |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Stanley P. Morse |
| Country of origin | United States of America |
| Headquarters location | New York City, New York |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Fiction genres | Adventure, Crime, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Teen Humor, War, Western, , |
| Imprints | Aragon Magazines Gillmor Magazines Medal Comics Media Publications S. P. M. Publications Stanmor Publications Timor Publications |
Stanley P. Morse's[1] Key Publications, based variously at 1775 Broadway,[2] 280 Madison Avenue,[3] 175 Fifth Avenue,[4] and 261 Fifth Avenue[5] in New York City, New York, published comic books from 1951 to 1956.[6] The first, an action-adventure series starring the titular Mister Universe published under the Media Publications imprint, ran for only five issues cover-dated from July 1951 to February 1952, while the second, a horror anthology titled Mister Mystery, ran 19 issues cover-dated September 1951 to October 1954, and featured much early work by the art team of Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.[7]
Artist Steve Ditko, the future co-creator of Spider-Man, began his professional comics career at Key in early 1953, illustrating writer Bruce Hamilton's science-fiction story "Stretching Things" for Key's Stanmor Publications, which sold the story to Ajax/Farrell, where it finally found publication in Fantastic Fears #5 (Feb. 1954).[8][9] Ditko's first published work was his second professional story, the six-page "Paper Romance" in Daring Love #1 (Oct. 1953), published by Key's Gillmor Magazines.[10]
Historian Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote of Morse:
His titles often changed publishers from one issue to the next as he dodged creditors or changed partners, and would sometimes have cover art taken from a story from a different issue as deadlines were missed. If he came up a story short, he would simply reprint something. If he couldn't get an artist for a particular slot, he'd have his editor cut up and rearrange the art from an old story to make a new one.[1]
During the 1950s boom in horror comics, Morse "produced several acutely vile horror comics", wrote one historian,[11] and "some of the grossest and most vile" of the time, concurred another.[1] Interviewed for a 2008 book on 1950s horror comics, Morse said, "You did what you had to do — what moved 'em off the racks. ... I don't know what the hell I published. I never knew. I never read the things. I never cared."[11] At their peak in 1955, Morse's combined imprints published 56 comics across 18 titles, more than contemporary publishers such as Ace Magazines, Ajax-Farrell, EC Comics, Magazine Enterprises, or Prize Comics.[12]
Source:[6]
Aragon
- Battle Fire #1–4, #6 (April 1955 – May 1956; no issue #5)
- Mister Mystery #7–19 (September 1952–October 1954); continued from Media Publications
- Mutiny #1–3 (October 1954 – February 1955)
- Navy Task Force #1–6, #8 (December 1954 – April 1956; no issue #7)
- Weird Tales of the Future #5–6 (January 1953–March 1953); continued from S.P.M.
Gillmor
- Action Adventure Comics #2–4 (June–Oct. 1955)
- Climax #1–2 (July–Sept. 1955)
- Daring Love #1 (Oct. 1953) / Radiant Love #2–6 (Dec. 1953 – Aug. 1954)
- Real Adventure Comics #1 (April 1955)
- Super Fun #1 (Jan. 1956)
- Weird Mysteries #1–12 (Oct. 1952 – Sept. 1954)
- Western Rough Riders #1–4 (Nov. 1954 – May 1955)
Key Publications / Medal Comics
The "Medal Comics" imprint appears on the covers of Diary Confessions #14, Navy Patrol #4, and Flying Aces #3 & #5.
- Diary Confession #9–12, #14 (May 1955–April 1956; no #13); continued from Ideal Romance
- Flying Aces #1–3, #5 (July 1955–May 1956; no #4)
- Hector Comics #1–3 (November 1953–March 1954)
- Ideal Romance #3–8 (April 1954 – February 1955); continued from Tender Romance, see Diary Confessions
- Navy Patrol #1–4 (May 1955–November 1955)
- Peter Cottontail #1–2 (January 1954–March 1954)
- Peter Cottontail Three Dimensional Comics #1 (February 1954)
- Prize Mystery #1–3 (May 1955–September 1955)
- Silver Kid Western #1–5 (October 1954–July 1955)
- Tender Romance #1–2 (December 1953–February 1954); see Ideal Romance
- Warpath #1–3 (November 1954 – April 1955)
- Weird Chills #1–3 (July 1954–November 1954)
Media
- Mister Mystery #1–6 (September 1951–July 1952); see Aragon
- Mister Universe #1–5 (July 1951–April 1952)
S. P. M
- Junior Hopp Comics #1–3 (Jan.–July 1952)
- Weird Tales of the Future #1–4 (March 1952–November 1952); continued under Aragon
Stanmor
- Battle Attack #1–8 (Oct. 1954 – Dec. 1955)
- Battle Cry #1–20 (May 1952 – Sept. 1955)
- Battle Squadron #1–5 (April 1955 – Dec. 1955)
- Pete the Panic #1 (Nov. 1955)
Timor
- Algie #1–3 (Dec. 1953 – April 1954)
- Animal Adventures #1–3 (Dec. 1953 – April 1954)
- Blazing Western #1–5 (Jan.–Sept. 1954)
- Crime Detector #1–5 (Jan.–July 1954)
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