Maple Leaf Checklist

Of all the WECA books, those produced by Maple Leaf Publishing out on the west coast of Canada are in the most demand and are the hardest to find. In this post I want to initiate the question of the  number  and dates of all the Maple Leaf issues… especially that murky last year—1946.  In that last year books were distributed both in Canada and Britain and some appeared only with the British 6 pence price on the cover perhaps indicating that they were distributed only in Britain. This last idea may be supported by the fact that some of these copies seem to turn up only in Britain.

Anyway, what’s below is only a first step that needs lots of correction and input from readers, but it is a necessary and much needed first step.

Better Comics

Here is the first Canadian comic, starting in March 1941 and running monthly for the first 7 issues up to September, 1941. From that time on it seemed pretty regularly a bi-monthly book, changing volumes after every ten issues until 1946. There is one book misdated in the indicia and that is Vol. 1 No. 10 which has Vol. 1 No. 6 in the indicia and is labeled as such, but incorrectly, by CGC.

The chart below is a provisional one but as accurate as I can make it and as with all the charts, I look forward to the opinions, amendments and suggestions from the people that read this post. The big question is whether or not an April-May 1946 issue was published.  There do seem to be two separate issues for June and July 1946 and maybe these account for the missing April-May issue. Without the April-May 1946 issue we do get the 38 individual issues of Better comics that the number of the final issue seems to indicate.

Lucky Comics

Lucky Comics was the second Maple Leaf title, first appearing in June of 1941 and becoming bi-monthly with the third issue which was dated Aug./Sep. 1941. The first two years/volumes of 10 issues each appear straightforward but again that last year seems to be a bit messed up. Here’s the best that I can come up with at this point. By final count there were 34 issues of this title put out.

Rocket Comics

The title: “Rocket” Comics was a result of a contest to find a name for a title of a new comic initiated in Vol. 1 No. 1 (Nov.-Dec. 1941) temporarily called “Name-It” Comics. With issue 2 on it was called Rocket Comics.  Rocket Comics seem to be unusual because they only have 8 issues in the first volume while the three others have 10.

The Rocket Comics chart below is the one that I need the most to be filled in after the second volume. If, falling in line with the other Maple Leaf titles, the number of the final issue indicates that there were 30, then there are the right number (12) of bi-monthly slots between the end of the second volume and the final issue No. 30 published Sep.-Oct. 1946. However, I’ve put question marks where I need to know the Volume and number. The other issues after the second volume, I’m sure of.

Bing Bang Comics

Again, Bing Bang Comics provides solid data on the first two volumes with ten issues in each. After that the usual uncertainty or craziness of numbering begins. The final tally of issues for Bing Bang Comics must be 31 with the Nov.-Dec. 1946 issue. This would make that specific issue the last published Maple Leaf Comics and must also mean that there were 11 issues published after Jan.-Feb. 1945 and that fits the  double month slots up to Nov.-Dec. 1946 nicely. I don’t know the volume or number of the March-April 1945 issue and I haven’t seen copies of the three July to Dec. issues so that numbering displayed is a proposed numbering.

I’d like to thank Jim Finlay, Stephen Lipson, and Kirk Wallace for their knowledge about these books shared with me.