Bill Hillman's

Weekly Online Fanzine
Volume 044

BIG LITTLE BOOKS & COMICS

During this period there also were soft cover books made from the hardback versions which were marketed as premiums. These books were made for promoting  products from various companies - Cocomalt, toothpaste, gasoline were all plugged. These premiums caught on, with the children prompting mom to buy certain products so they could have the books to add to their collection.
 

Whitman books set the standards for similar books by other publishers:
Dell - Cartoon Story Books and Fast-Action Stories)
Engel-van Wiseman - Five-Star Library Books
Fawcett - Dime Action Books
Goldsmith - Radio Star Series
Lynn - A Lynn Book
Ottenheimer-Saalfield - Little Big Books and Jumbo Books
Whitman - Big Little Books and Better Little Books
Waldman - Moby Books
World Syndicate - High Lights of History Series
Assorted Premiums and Related Items: Ice Cream Cup Lid Books - Top Ten Books - Wee Little Books - Penny Books - Nickle Books - Karmetz and Perkins Books - Big Big Books - countless  puzzles, cards, games toys...
 

Most Whitman BLBs  were 3 5/8" x 4 1/2" x 1 1/2" in  size and 432 pages in length. The outstanding feature of the books was the captioned picture opposite each page of text. The books originally sold for a dime (later 15¢). Many children learned to read and have an appreciation for all books because of their experiences with BLBs. The source material for the books was drawn mostly from radio, comic strips, and motion pictures.

The first BLB, The Adventures of Dick Tracy, came off the presses just before Christmas in 1932. It preceded the first true comic book by a year, and the subsequent BLB production spanned more than a half century. Within the span, there are historical patterns which clearly define three  major periods of publication.

The Golden Age (1932 to mid-1938) is a description reserved for the most interesting, influential, and memorable production of the  books. These were the true Big Little Books. During this period, the effects of the depression were still being felt, and numerous  publishers besides Whitman produced  inexpensive BLB-type books.

The Silver Age (mid-1938 to 1949) was influenced by the growing comic book market and paper shortages during WWII. Only Whitman maintained a continuous output of books through the war years. It used the "flip-it" feature extensively to attract buyers, and as these years went by, the books gradually contained fewer and fewer pages.

The Modern Age (1950 to the present) is characterized by more than 40 years of sporadic and short-lived attempts to revive the books in different  forms and with different content: New Better Little Books, BLB TV Series,  the hard cover 2000-Series,  and the soft cover 5700-Series.  Whitman was taken over by the Western Publishing Company.

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 SUNDAY & DAILY STRIPS

"Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan (of the Apes, #138-)." Gold Key, numbers 132,
      11/1962 - 206, 2/1972 (continues Dell issue numbering).

"Tarzan." DC (National Periodical Publications), numbers 207, 4/1972 - 258
      2/1977 (continues Gold Key numbering).

"Jungle Tales of Tarzan." Charlton Comics, 1, 12/1964 - 4, 7/1965

"Tarzan." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 6/1977 - 29, 10/1979.

"Tarzan Annual." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 1977 - 3, 1979.

"Tarzan of the Apes." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 7/1984 - 2, 8/1984 (mini-series)

All issue numbers are from the Gold Key/DC series, unless otherwise specified.

1. Tarzan of the Apes: 155, 12/65  (reprinted # 178, 8/68)
                                   207, 4/72 - 210, 7/72
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                                   Tarzan of the Apes (Marvel) 1, 7/84 - 2, 8/84

2. The Return of Tarzan: 156, 2/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                            219, 4/73 - 223, 9/73

3. The Beasts of Tarzan: 157, 4/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

4. The Son of Tarzan: 158, 6/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

5. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar: 159, 8/66 - 161, 10/66
        Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
        1 (Marvel - "Freely Adapted"), 6/77 - 6, 11/77,
        8, 1/78, 10, 3/78, 11, 4/78

6. Jungle Tales of Tarzan: Tarzan's First Love: Tarzan Annual 1, 1977
       (also in Tarzan: Love, Lies...and the Lost City, #1, 1992, Malibu Comics)
        The Capture: Jungle Tales of Tarzan 1, 12/64
                                                              169, 7/67
                                                              212, 9/72
       The Fight for the Balu: JToT 1, 12/64
                                            213, 10/72 (reprinted 252, 8/76 - 253, 9/76)
        The God of Tarzan:  JToT 3, 5/65
                                            169, 7/67
                                             9 (Marvel) 2/78
          Tarzan and the Black Boy: 170, 8/67
           The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance: none
           The End of Bukawai: Tarzan Annual 1, 1977
           The Lion: JToT 4, 7/65
                                               12 (Marvel) 5/78
           The Nightmare: JToT 3, 5/65
                                               214, 11/72 (reprinted 257, 1/77)
           The Battle for Teeka: JToT 2, 2/65
                                               14 (Marvel) 7/78
           A Jungle Joke: JToT 4, 7/65
                                              170, 8/67
                                              13 (Marvel), 6/78
         Tarzan Rescues the Moon: JToT 2, 2/65
                                             7 (Marvel), 12/77

7. Tarzan the Untamed: 163, 1/67 - 164, 2/67
                                 Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                                  250, 6/76 - 256, 12/76

8. Tarzan the Terrible: 166, 4/67 - 167, 5/67
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

9 . Tarzan and the Golden Lion: 172, 10/67 - 173, 12/67
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

10. Tarzan and the Ant Men: 174, 2/68 - 175, 4/68
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

11. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: 176, 6/68 - 177, 7/68
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

12. Tarzan and the Lost Empire: 194, 8/70 - 195, 9/70
                                    Paul Norris

13. Tarzan at the Earth's Core: 179, 9/68 - 181, 12/68
                                     Doug Wildey

14. Tarzan the Invincible: 182, 2/69 - 183, 4/69
                                     Doug Wildey

15. Tarzan Triumphant: 184, 6/69 - 185, 7/69
                                     Doug Wildey

16. Tarzan and the City of Gold: 186, 8/69 - 187, 9/69
                                     Doug Wildey

17. Tarzan and the Lion Man: 206, 2/72
                                                  231, 6-7/74 - 234, 12/74-1/75

18. Tarzan and the Leopard Men - none

 19. Tarzan's Quest: 188, 10/69 - 189, 12/69

20. Tarzan and the Forbidden City: 190, 2/70 - 191, 4/70

21. Tarzan the Magnificent - none

22. Tarzan and "The Foreign Legion": 192, 6/70 - 193, 7/70
                                    Paul Norris

23. Tarzan and the Madman - none

24. Tarzan and the Castaways: 240, 8/75 - 243, 11/75
                                    Paul Norris

25. Tarzan and the Champion: 248, 4/76 - 249, 5/76
                                    Paul Norris

26. Tarzan and the Jungle Murders: 245, 1/76 - 246, 2/76
                                    Paul Norris

27. Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins: 196, 10/70
                                     Mike Royer