From our great friend Austin Kelly (by way of the also-great GeoX) comes THIS AMAZING NEWS!
Obviously, I have no idea how successful (or not) this launch will be but, as an original "Gold Key Kid", I wish them all the good fortune in the world - nay, universe - and I will be there to support their product!
If their intent is to recreate as much of the "Classic Gold Key" as possible, consider the possibilities... like maybe the next home of regular Disney comics?
I tend to doubt they'd be able to get the STAR TREK license, as it would likely be too expensive at this point (with Paramount going full-bore on making it a multi-series streaming franchise), but I'd certainly be on board as a consumer for a new BORIS KARLOFF title, or TWILIGHT ZONE!
Note the (non) "gold key" on that TWILIGHT ZONE COVER! And, in the comics they inspired, Karloff and Serling can live forever!
Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera are sewed up by DC who, with the exception of the wonderful BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES...
...frankly isn't doing all that much of note with some of the greatest properties of all time... ya know, like THESE!
But there are also other former Gold Key licensed properties not presently beholden to larger publishers such as TOM AND JERRY and WOODY WOODPECKER...
...Just waiting to be plucked from their undeserved comic-book obscurity!
Wherever it goes, it'll be interesting... and, if their efforts live up to the great GOLD KEY name, they will have my support every step of the way!
...Just don't revive the "Gold Key Comics Club"... PLEASE!
10 comments:
Tom and Jerry, Barney Bear, Droopy, Spike and Tyke and Mouse Musketeers (who are also Tom and Jerry) are also under the WB umbrella at the moment. Star Trek is currently at IDW, but seeing as how many of their other properties have changed hands, maybe it may not be entirely out of the realm of possibility for them to end up at Gold Key again. Little Lulu was another long-time Dell/Gold Key property that may not be entirely impossible.
Deb:
But, unlike the Warner Bros. characters (in a bi-monthly, half-reprint book) and Hanna-Barbera characters (occasionally used in odd looking titles like THIS ONE - and a bi-monthly, half-reprint SCOOBY-DOO title), NOTHING has been done by DC with the MGM characters.
MGM may be another, separate license and perhaps one “New Gold Key” could pick up if they desired. Imagine Harvey Eisenberg reprints, and one new story per issue! STAR TREK probably would not happen for reasons mentioned in the post but, yes, LITTLE LULU is another one that could be done.
Lest I sound too critical of DC (and there ARE reasons I should be), I must reiterate that THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES was TRULY GREAT, and representative of the type of comics *I* like best! Especially the final issue by Sholly Fisch of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP fame!
…But it is/was a 12-issue limited series, which has just ended this month… More’s the pity!
This is such weird news! Getting licensed properties is going to be tough, so I wonder what original titles Gold Key had? All those Valiant Comics characters were originally owned by Gold Key, no? All I can think of is Brothers of the Spear and O.G. Whiz, but then someone else might own those now.
JoeC:
Weird and truly unexpected news, I’d say!
Magnus, Dr. Solar, and the like were original Gold Key titles – maybe even Turok (not certain as I never read it). There is also The Little Monsters, which I would like to see brought back. It had a fairly long run, from the mid-sixties thru much of the seventies – and, as popular culture keeps reminding us, there’s just something appealing about a family of monsters!
The question is, did these hearty souls only buy the Gold Key name and emblem, or did they also acquire some or all of the properties that were owned and copyrighted by Gold Key/Western Publishing? Did those properties come with the “Gold Key name and emblem”, or were those licenses scatted to the winds once Gold Key/Western was liquidated? I don’t really know the answer to that question.
Outside of Star Trek (which, again, I don’t see happening), the only properties specifically mentioned were Boris Karloff and Twilight Zone – the former exclusively published by Gold Key, and the latter published by Gold Key by far the longest and most prolifically. Both would be a great start for the new line.
But the hint is there of “recreating the classic Gold Key”, and that would include a LOT of things including TV shows that (while not as enduring as Twilight Zone) still have followings to this day. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (which was reprinted in hardcover a few years back), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (spies never die), The Munsters (that “family of monsters” thing again), and others. They *could* also revive Space Family Robinson – but dare I dream finally of a regular, ongoing series for the still amazingly popular TV version of Lost in Space. Even that had a limited series as recently as 2016.
The possibilities are endless, even if I fear that our collective wish list will far exceed the eventual reality.
Speaking as a survivor of the Disney Implosion, my enthusiasm is guarded. The biggest problem as I see it is that Gold Key's original target audience essentially doesn't exist anymore. I work with teens every day, and I can attest that comic books are not part of their scene--not even the superhero output of Marvel and DC. Everything is online, and mainly consists of posted videos and video games, plus endless "social media." Of course, there are exceptions. It is not impossible to find a young person who is as nostalgic as some of us long-time collectors for the "glory days" of comics--but such a person is more the exception than the rule in these times.
So the new Gold Key's target audience is going to have to be old-school collectors, at least for the time being. And if the intent is to "find" young people to rekindle an interest, marketing will have to be aggressive and will have to place the comics in places where kids actually go. (And since COVID more of them are centered around home than ever before.) Even Barnes & Noble no longer has a comic book rack. The ONLY place comics are sold in my area is in comic book specialty shops, and nowhere else. Not supermarkets, not drug stores, not any of the traditional locations where as kids we could always find a supply of comics on sale.
While I applaud the idea and the sentiment--it would seem comics have become irrelevant except for those of us who collect and remember the "good old days." If the new Gold Key can bring back interest and can revive a long-lost franchise, I say more power to them...but as I said at the outset, I can't get too excited about it just yet.
By the way, apologies for my long absence...but I, too, have been "horrifically busy" of late.
Haven’t we all, Scarecrow, haven’t we all! Only two posts in March is never a good sign – and this one fell under the umbrella of “breaking news”, so there was no delay in getting it out.
I do agree with your reservations, even as I wax enthusiastically, as illustrated by the closing line of my prior comment: “The possibilities are endless, even if I fear that our collective wish list will far exceed the eventual reality.” But, in the absence of any concrete announcements, there’s nothing wrong with a little hope.
With the number of times we’ve been burned just over American Disney comics, I should be sitting in a cold, isolated castle, surrounded by an alligator-stocked moat and a lot of cobwebs, with some stale bread, mumbling to myself a la Charles Foster Kane! Yet, hope springs eternal… until it’s dashed, so let’s wait and see what comes.
“So the new Gold Key's target audience is going to have to be old-school collectors, at least for the time being.”
That would HAVE to be the plan, or else why acquire the Gold Key name and logo? If you just wanted to revive a bunch of old titles that people like, you could call yourself anything! Stonegems? Moob! Studios? IWD? But, GOLD KEY (and those who love it) seem to be the driving force.
That said, I’ll continue to monitor the situation as best as someone who’s not plugged into social media can. Anyone who learns something, is welcome to pass it on.
Sorry I missed this post! I’ve also been “horrifically busy” of late.
This is exciting news indeed!
It’s worth noting that the new Gold Key has a website, which shows that the folks who bought the name are seriously committed to reviving it. Here’s their website: https://goldkeycomics.com. It’s pretty sparse on details right now, but it looks cool (or should I say groovy?). Plus, it gives you a chance to sign up for their newsletter to be among the first to know about new developments.
In addition to the possibilities mentioned in the article you link to and in your blog post, many Dell comics are now in the public domain, as attested to by comicbookplus.com. All Dell books now in the public domain seem to me to be low-hanging fruit just waiting to be picked, and I hope the new Gold Key will take advantage of this!
On another note, Scarecrow is undoubtedly, and unfortunately, correct that, by and large, young people today just aren’t into comic books. You can put newspaper comic strips in the same boat. Austin Kelly is among the exceptions he describes, as am I.
That said, this needn’t be the case. The popularity of “memes” on social media shows that young people appreciate visual humor, so I think the potential is there for comics to find a new audience. What is needed is people with the savvy to make comics “work” on social media. Perhaps the new owners of Gold Key will be some of those people. As you say, hope springs eternal.
Sergio:
Egad! There is a veritable rash of “horrific busyness” lately. I sure hope it’s not a “cause and effect thing”, due to my virtually (if not actually) coining the phrase “horrifically busy”, popularizing it through this humble Blog, and everyone falling victim to its relentless energy-sapping!
The problem you mention is a real one, but the only possible way to solve it would be with a greater diversity of subject matter (which was Gold Key’s “stock-in-trade”) and high-quality end product, the type of which David Gerstein and I have been involved with – or that of Sholly Fisch.
THANK YOU for supplying the Gold Key website information! I’ve already visited and subscribed to their newsletter – and I urge EVERYONE to do the same!
Here are Sergio’s links for you reading pleasure:
Gold Key Comics
Comicbookplus
Joe: I read about this and literally RAN over (digitally!) to TIAH to see if you'd posted anything... and, naturally you had!
Whatever comes from it, what a delightful "full circle" for those of us who were around in the Gold Key era, and what a delight for new readers to discover that special magic of opening a Gold Key comic!!
Whatever the future plans are, I hope they'll have the good sense to bring you on board in a significant capacity to launch. A return of the "core four" to Gold Key in some format would be some honest-to-Junior-Woodchuck GREAT news in times of unsteady headlines. Bugs, Daffy, Scooby, Yogi and Mr. Spock would be welcome additions, as well.
Hope to speak to you soon, and wishing EVERYONE at the house of Torcivia the best of health and happiness for 2022 – Dan
Dan:
Thank you for the good wishes, and same to you and yours!
…And, c’mon! If *I* didn’t post on THIS news, you might as well begin searching for my gravesite! And, maybe even THERE I’d be addressing it somehow!
At this point, I have provided my e-mail address for the newsletter and offered a small summary of my background and what I could do for them, should there be a need, but no reply (expected) and no newsletter (not expected – because I thought they’d have one ready, if it’s being offered) have materialized.
Then again, I haven’t the faintest clue as to what a publishing-startup might involve, so I am neither critical nor disappointed – and figure that all will come in good time. So, everyone… DO sign up for the newsletter. Show them any sign of support you can! I think we all will be the better for it!
As mentioned, I don’t believe that many of those licenses are available or attainable, but I expect MANY good things to flow from folks dedicated enough to revive the GOLD KEY brand and show the enthusiasm seen at their website.
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