Who's the rarest Batman of them all?

Many collectors seeking to answer this question might nominate Detective Comics No.27 (the debut of Batman), Batman No.1 (the debut issue of the first ongoing Batman title), or any number of issues introducing such iconic members of the "batman universe" as Robin, The Joker, or Catwoman, to name but a few.

But it's be fair to say that few Bat-fans would list Detective Comics No.243, published in May 1957, as an exceedingly rare, or sought-after Batman comic. But here in Australia, it seems, that this issue is an inadvertently "hot" item, because it forms the basis for Giant Batman Album No.14, which was published in Australia by Colour Comics Pty Ltd in 1968.

Actually, the Aussie version may have just as likely been a reprint of DC Comics' Giant Batman Annual No.5, published in the (USA) summer of 1963, which also featured the lead story, "The Giant Batman"

For reasons that remain unknown to collectors everywhere, it seems the mid-teen issues of this Australian reprint title (Giant Batman Album), are scarcer than rocking-horse poop. You actually stand a better chance, it seems, of scoring the 1st issue of this series, than you do of issue nos.13-16, or thereabouts.

Unconvinced? Well, today a copy of Giant Batman Album No.14 sold on eBay Australia for AUD$129.50.

Holy Mylar-sleeve with-backing-board, Batman!

Cleveland Publishing Online

You've probably seen a Cleveland western many times before, even if you've never read one in your life - odds are you'll always find a handful, occasionally even a small mound, of them in the corner of book exchanges and opportunity shops all around Australia. They're those pocket-sized, stapled 'pulp novel' westerns, which sport lurid, eye-catching covers, emblazoned with such memorable titles as Come Die in Diablo or Good Enough for Yuma.

What you may not realise is that these 'American' westerns are true-blue, dinky-di, Aussie productions. They've been published by the Cleveland Publishing Company in New South Wales since the early 1950s, and the "old firm" is still in business to this day, punching out a fistful of new and reprint titles, which sell at newsagencies for $3.75 a throw. Great value for an entertaining read, let me tell you.

Another thing is that just about all of those westerns were written by Aussie authors, too - including Paul Wheelahan, who thumped out nearly 1,000 individual novels for Cleveland between 1964-1995 - it was Paul's second career, after forging a name for himself as a comic book writer and illustrator on such titles as Davy Crockett - Frontier Scout, The Panther and The Raven during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Many of those great covers adorning Cleveland westerns during the 1960s-1980s were the work of the late Stanley Pitt, who also had a serious comics pedigree behind him, as the creator of the science-fiction comic strip, Silver Starr and the Flameworld, and other SF series, such as Captain Power.

Cleveland Publishing also made a sizeable contribution to Australian comic book publishing, too. Despite entering the game relatively late, the company launched such titles as The Twilight Ranger, El Lobo - The Man from Nowhere, and the eagerly sought-after Aussie/US reprint title, King Size Comics during the mid-to-late 1950s. They also published the successful 'Silhouette' digest comic libraries in the late 1950s, which included war, western and romance comic book series.

So, why am I telling you all this? Because Cleveland Publishing has recently launched its own website, where you can learn about the company's history, check out their latest release westerns and purchase a selection of their previous novels from the 'Bison', 'Cleveland Classic' and 'Larry and Stretch' series.

Okay, pilgrims, you know what you gotta' do. Saddle up, and mosey on over to the Cleveland Publishing website, pronto!