Micron Combat Library

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Adam Eterno
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Micron Combat Library

Post by Adam Eterno »

colcool007 wrote:
01 Oct 2019, 08:08
Just going through the comics I picked up from the Swapmeet and I find that I have doubled my colection of Micron Combat Library by picking up Issue 70. Looking around the interweb thingy and I find that these text libraries lasted to at least issue 76. The one other fact I can add from the indicia is that they were published on the fifteenth of each month.

Does anyone know the definitive final issue? Or any additional information on these text libraries which appears to be the last hurrah of this format?
Are these the ones that followed on from the GM Smith versions? Starting at #53 or #54ish? Have you got a scan of your #70 please as it will help me know which ones. There were so many around at that time!

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colcool007
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Re: What comics did you buy today?

Post by colcool007 »

Adam Eterno wrote:
01 Oct 2019, 09:30
colcool007 wrote:
01 Oct 2019, 08:08
Just going through the comics I picked up from the Swapmeet and I find that I have doubled my colection of Micron Combat Library by picking up Issue 70. Looking around the interweb thingy and I find that these text libraries lasted to at least issue 76. The one other fact I can add from the indicia is that they were published on the fifteenth of each month.

Does anyone know the definitive final issue? Or any additional information on these text libraries which appears to be the last hurrah of this format?
Are these the ones that followed on from the GM Smith versions? Starting at #53 or #54ish? Have you got a scan of your #70 please as it will help me know which ones. There were so many around at that time!
Yes, they continue on as the name change was from G M Smith Publishing to Micron Publishing at some point between 1960 and 1961. How many have you got now? With those that you have got, can you check what month each one was published in? As this will give me data points to figure out if they were published two or three per month.

As it started in 1959 and finished in 1962, the slightly hard part will be to find out how many were published each month. No 70 states it was published in January 1962 and that they were released on the 15th of each month.

And it was great to meet you at long last.
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

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colcool007
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by colcool007 »

Doug made the suggestion that I contact the Commando and British Weekly Comics group to see if anyone else had information on the Combat Library and Boy! Did that pay off!

First up James Connolly advised that he is also a collector of these and has managed to put together a list of all but 8 of the titles up to issue 76.

Steve Holland added in that this title ran for 86 issues and the publication cycle was two issues per month.

Mark McLauchlan, a collector from Adelaide then tells us he has issue 88 which also features titles for 89 and 90!

For my interest in all things Micron and G M Smith publishing, I can thank pawbroon for breaking through my resistance in collecting picture libraries other than Commando, Starblazer and Football.
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

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Re: Micron Combat Library

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colcool007 wrote: For my interest in all things Micron and G M Smith publishing, I can thank pawbroon for breaking through my resistance in collecting picture libraries other than Commando, Starblazer and Football.
Paw Broon!!!!! Now there's a name from the past. According to his 'Viewing Profile' he has not been active on this platform since Wednesday 27 June 2018, roughly a year and a quarter. He was a pleasant guy who usually had interesting comments to make, and was happy to join in discussions, so hopefully he is still well. Confirmation awaited.

granpaw broon
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by granpaw broon »

Phoenix, Thank you for the nice words. As the site wouldn't let me sign in or change my p/w - and given my advanced years, I've re-registered as granpaw broon.
I've been involved with CB+ for years and it sometimes takes up a lot of time. Plus, my embracing of digital has had me following all sorts of obscure internet trails, finding and corresponding with a few guys who have a love for old Euro comics. Not wishing to offend anyone's sensibilities, I wont go into the researching and digital compiling of old newspaper strips. So much done we thought - so very much more to discover and do, we realise.
Colin, thanks for the name check. Pocket libraries do seem to have something to suit everyone, don't they? As I don't collect war libraries, my collection is much smaller than that of others but my selection of European pocket libraries does boost the number a bit. But Micron and GM Smith, well, that'll take a long time to collect even a good percentage of the output.
Don't know how you're doing with Famepress but I enjoy Radar, an Italian strip translated for the UK market published by Famepress and printed in Italy and, fascinatingly for me, later reprinted by Arthur White (AW) retitled as Wonderman.

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colcool007
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by colcool007 »

The Micron collection is building slowly but surely. Now that I have almost completed my run of Commando (only 3 to go so if anyone has 370, 458 or 4193 for a swap, I am very interested!), I am sure that I will find another rabbit hole to go down. I even picked up my very first Micron Romance Picture Libraries last weekend!
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

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colcool007
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by colcool007 »

The Micron collections are building nicely and I have found a few like minded souls on Facebook. We are going to try and put together a full list of Micron Combat, Cowboy and eventually Romance Picture libraries. If anyone can help to fill any gaps in the listings, that will be appreciated.

These are the issues where we are missing titles for the Combat PLs

226 301 397 400 455 469 510 511 666 701 708 731 778 821 823 824 831 837 864 890 898 899 955 957 960 964 967 972 1009 1017 1029 1030 1043 1046 1053 1068 1074 1080 1084 1089 1105 1114 1132 1184 1201

For the Cowboy PL, we are missing so many, it is easier to ask which ones we have!
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

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stevezodiac
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by stevezodiac »

There are some Micron Picture Libraries on eBay now including a batch of ten Cowboy issues.

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stevezodiac
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by stevezodiac »

Has anyone acquired any of these?

https://www.comics.org/series/72316/covers/
Last edited by stevezodiac on 14 Apr 2020, 18:16, edited 1 time in total.

Captain underpants
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by Captain underpants »

I got a facsimile set of the titbits picture library’s about five years ago from Byron Wnitworth nice sci if comic strips, I believe it’s quite a rare set of comics not often seen any of the issues for sale in nice condition.

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colcool007
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by colcool007 »

I have never seen these before. Another one to add to the list...
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

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Adam Eterno
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by Adam Eterno »

stevezodiac wrote:
14 Apr 2020, 17:10
Has anyone acquired any of these?

https://www.comics.org/series/72316/covers/

I have four of them but they are very difficult to find. I’ve been looking for the last two for years now. There is also a 7th issue that was only produced in France.

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stevezodiac
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by stevezodiac »

I must admit when I saw these the first person I thought of was colcool. GCD has them as digest size but they look like American comic size. I presume they are slightly elongated like the Pearson libraries?

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stevezodiac
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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by stevezodiac »

Just checked Commando on GCD and pleased to see almost every issue has been indexed. Someone has been busy. It takes me over an hour to index a single British comic issue when they have twenty or more different strips like Whizzer and Chips.

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Re: Micron Combat Library

Post by stevezodiac »

I picked up Combat picture library 193 today. I have indexed it onto Grand Comics Database but they have the cover listed as an Overseas Edition. Looking at their image gallery I see some issues are priced at 1/3 whereas most are 1/-. Am I right in assuming the 1/3 issues are overseas copies?

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