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122-411: Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its parent, Western Publishing Company , switched to in-house publishing rather than packaging content for branding and distribution by its business partner, Dell Comics . Hoping to make their comics more like traditional children's books, they initially eliminated panel line-borders, using just the panel, with its ink and artwork evenly edged, but not bordered by

244-492: A 1971 Plymouth Satellite . Starting with the fifth season, and for the rest of the series, Adam-12 used a 1972 AMC Matador . "1-Adam-12" is an LAPD call sign that combines three elements: the unit's patrol division, the type of patrol unit, and the daily assigned reporting district. The "1" means the patrol car operates in Division 1 (Central Division), serving Downtown Los Angeles . The LAPD assigns two-officer patrol units

366-412: A "container" line. Within a year, they had reverted to using inked panel borders and oval balloons. They experimented with new formats, including Whitman Comic Book , a black-and-white, 136-page, hardcover series consisting of reprints, and Golden Picture Story Book , a tabloid -sized, 52-page, hardcover containing new material. In 1967, Gold Key reprinted a number of selected issues of their comics under

488-399: A "pin-up" on the back cover". In June 2001, DIC Entertainment announced they would purchase Golden Books Family Entertainment for US$ 170   million (equivalent to $ 293 million in 2023) and take it out of bankruptcy. However, DIC would pass off the purchase due to high costs and instead Golden Books Family Entertainment was eventually acquired jointly by Classic Media , owner of

610-616: A 1989 television film about an LAPD detective teaming up with his former partner to stop a dangerous gang in Nashville, Tennessee , starred Milner and McCord. Though the pair being former partners in the LAPD is a nod to Adam-12 , the characters have different names, and the show is not otherwise mentioned or referenced. Milner and McCord would make two appearances in a revival of Adam-12 that ran over two seasons from 1990 to 1991. In one episode, both actors made cameo appearances as store owners. In

732-473: A Little Too Hard", guest-stars Dick Sargent (Darrin Stephens #2 of Bewitched ) and Jacqueline Scott (who played Donna Taft, the sister of Dr. Richard Kimble, in four episodes of The Fugitive ). Episode 26, "Log 22: So This Little Guy Goes into This Bar, and..." guest-stars Harry Dean Stanton as a welfare hustler. Episode 43, "Log 24: A Rare Occasion" stars David Cassidy of The Partridge Family as

854-824: A New York City real estate investor, for $ 75 million plus the assumption of certain liabilities later thought to be $ 40 million. Bernstein reincorporated the firm as the Western Publishing Group; Western Publishing Co., now a subsidiary, continued to be based in Racine. Bernstein oversaw the introduction of eight videocassettes that featured Golden Books characters in 1985. A total of 2.5 million were shipped. Western developed and produced games under license for Tonka and Hasbro , and developed storybooks containing company logos as promotional items; Bernstein referred to this as "sponsored publishing". In 1986, Penn Corporation, which produced party paper and advertising specialities,

976-430: A YouTube interview with Carlos Collects Comics. Gold Key Entertainment is currently working with creators to produce new titles. Several classic Gold Key titles have been archived in high quality Hardcover Collected editions : Beginning with Dark Horse comics in 2007 The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor Western Publishing Western Publishing , also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company ,

1098-559: A crossover that begins in "The Radical"). Sergeant MacDonald appears in the Dragnet episode "Personnel: The Shooting". The Adam-12 episode "Lost and Found" was set at Rampart General Hospital and featured the Emergency! cast. Malloy and Reed appeared in the Emergency! pilot movie, "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act". Despite the apparent relation between these shows, Adam-12 is shown to be a television show in one Emergency! episode, contradicting

1220-508: A different character, though in the final episode of Adam-12 — the two-part "Something Worth Dying For" — Reed mentions applying to join the Detective Bureau. A revival of Adam-12 by The Arthur Company , titled The New Adam-12 , aired in first-run syndication in tandem with The New Dragnet , another revival of a Jack Webb series. Like The New Dragnet , The New Adam-12 had different characters, music, and presentation compared to

1342-434: A different role, as well as several episodes of Emergency! as a Sheriff's Detective. Episode 16, "Log 62: Grand Theft Horse?", guest-stars Tim Matheson as a horse thief. Episode 19, "Log 51: A Jumper, Code 2", stars Hal Smith of The Andy Griffith Show . Episode 22, "Log 152: A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone", stars Barry Williams ( Greg Brady of The Brady Bunch ). Episode 25, "Log 92: Tell Him He Pushed Back

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1464-518: A larger offset press and added electrotyping and engraving departments. Wadewitz was approached by the Hamming-Whitman Publishing Company of Chicago to print its line of children's books. Unable to pay its bills, Hamming-Whitman left Western with thousands of books. As a result, Western acquired Hamming-Whitman on February 9, 1916, and formed a subsidiary corporation, Whitman Publishing Company . It employed two salesmen and, in

1586-644: A leader in craft kits and a manufacturer of laboratory science sets for children based in Chicago, for 100,000 shares of common stock in 1968. In 1970, Western's sales reached $ 171.5 million but net profit fell to $ 3.9 million caused by the acquisition of a computerized typesetting facility and an eleven-week strike. As a result, the Hannibal plant was closed and the number of employees was reduced by 1,500 in mid-1974. Profits rose that year to $ 10.1 million; sales topped $ 215 million. In 1971, Western entered into an agreement with

1708-474: A million copies, and more than 400 of the 1,000-plus Golden Book titles were in print in thirteen languages. The 16-volume Golden Book Encyclopedia , published in 1960, enjoyed sales of 60 million copies in two years, while sales of Golden Press books reached almost $ 39 million in 1960. In the same year, the name Western Publishing Company was adopted and common stock was issued with some eighty percent owned by management or employees. At this point Western had

1830-475: A neighbor of Reed's who falls victim to a drug pusher. Episode 53, "Loan Sharks", guest-stars Eve McVeagh , film actress of High Noon , Tight Spot , and television series The Clear Horizon and Faraway Hill . Episode 57, "Cigarettes, Cars, and Wild, Wild Women", features Tony Dow (Wally from Leave It to Beaver ) as a young United States Marine who is a victim of a car theft ring. Episode 58, "Log 55: Missing Child", guests stars Jodie Foster as

1952-425: A number of publications that were spun off from Dell's Four Color series, or were published as stand-alone titles. Gold Key maintained decent sales numbers throughout the 1960s, due to its offering of many titles based upon popular TV series of the day, as well as numerous titles based on both Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. animated properties. It was also the first company to publish comic books based upon

2074-421: A partnership with Dell Comics , which also handled the distribution and financing of the comic books. In 1962, Western ended this partnership and published comics itself, establishing the imprint Gold Key Comics . As Murphy explained the split: With regard to a Western-Dell separation, this was by mutual agreement so that each company would be free to explore the potential business in the comics market without

2196-402: A popular Western board game introduced in 1985. Sales fell from $ 118 million to $ 42 million. In fiscal 1991 (ending January 31, 1991) sales had declined to $ 491 million with earnings of only $ 8 million. By late 1991, Western's share price had dropped to $ 9 from a high of $ 28. In 1992, Western celebrated the 50th anniversary of the introduction of Little Golden Books publishing a boxed set of

2318-533: A printer at the Racine Journal Company. At the end of its first year sales were $ 5,000 and the company increased its staff of four to handle a growing number of commercial jobs. It installed a cylinder press , two smaller presses, and an automatic power cutter. In 1910, the company changed its name to Western Printing and Lithographing Company after the purchase of its first lithographic press . By 1914, sales were more than $ 127,000. The company installed

2440-461: A publisher of Catholic books, religious greeting cards, and gift wrap, was purchased in the early 1950s. In 1955, a new specialty printing plant was built in Hannibal, Missouri . Western achieved sales of $ 63 million in 1957, the year of its 50th anniversary. In the same year the company acquired Kable Printing Company, a large rotogravure magazine printer. With partners Dell and Simon & Schuster,

2562-745: A script sample and bought her second submission. According to former Western Publishing writer Mark Evanier , during the mid-1960s, comedy writer Jerry Belson , whose writing partner at the time was Garry Marshall , also did scripts for Gold Key while writing for leading TV sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show . Among the comics for which he wrote were The Flintstones , Uncle Scrooge , Daffy Duck , Bugs Bunny , The Three Stooges , and Woody Woodpecker . Leo Dorfman , creator of Ghosts for DC Comics , also produced supernatural stories for Gold Key's similarly themed Twilight Zone , Ripley's Believe it or Not , Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery , and Grimm's Ghost Stories . One of Gold Key's editors at

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2684-417: A trademark registration for a logo identical to the original Gold Key logo. Later that year the trademark registration was purchased by the newly-formed Gold Key Entertainment LLC. Gold Key Entertainment LLC consists of comic book enthusiasts Lance Linderman, Adam Brooks, Mike Dynes, and Arnold Guerrero. Linderman describes trading a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 to Willis for the rights to Gold Key, in

2806-628: A wide variety of games, playing cards, crayons, and gift wrap. Western also had a Canadian subsidiary (established in 1959) and a French company (established in 1960). In 1967, the Justice Department charged Golden Press and seventeen other publishers with illegally fixing prices of library editions of children's books. Each agreed to the terms of a consent judgment forbidding them from submitting rigged bids or conspiring with wholesalers to fix prices of sales to schools, libraries, or government agencies. Western purchased Skil-Craft Playthings, Inc.,

2928-515: Is a bachelor who has at least five girlfriends (not simultaneously) over the course of the series. Reed is married to a woman named Jean (played by several actresses, including Mikki Jamison and Kristin Nelson ); in the second season, they are shown to have a son, Jim Jr. (or Jimmy). Occasionally, Malloy and Reed are depicted socializing outside their work, but such scenes are rare. Although both characters are serious-minded and “by-the-book” officers, Malloy

3050-495: Is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television . The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol Los Angeles in their police cruiser , assigned the call sign "1-Adam-12". Adam-12 stars Martin Milner and Kent McCord , with several recurring co-stars,

3172-484: Is more realistic when dealing with non-violent offenders while Reed is more rigid. Overall, their personalities complement each other well, resulting not only in a trusted partnership, but also a close friendship. The police cars used in the series were central to the show; Webb "wanted the vehicle itself to be considered a character". As patrol officers, Malloy and Reed spent most of their time in their cruiser, and scenes set in or relating to their cruiser were central to

3294-667: The Children's Television Workshop to produce Golden Books featuring the Muppets of Sesame Street . In 1974, Dell Publishing Company signed a ten-year printing contract with Western worth more than $ 50 million. That same year construction began on a distribution and game-and-puzzle assembly center in Fayetteville, North Carolina . Direct marketing accounted for twenty-five percent of Western's consumer product sales by 1976. This represented seventy percent of total sales. Driven by products such as

3416-536: The Gold Key Comics and Dell Comics catalogs, while Random House gained Golden Books' book publishing properties. The H. E. Harris stamp and coin company bought Whitman Coin Products from St. Martin's Press in 2003 and renamed it Whitman Publishing. On July 23, 2012, Classic Media was acquired by DreamWorks Animation for $ 155 million and renamed DreamWorks Classics . On July 1, 2013, Random House merged with

3538-544: The Golden Guide nature guides were published with the Golden Press name. Western Publishing Company Inc. owned dozens of trademarks over the years, many of which have now expired. A sampling of Western's trademarks follows. Some like "Golden" for example were registered multiple times for different uses (separated by "/"). Refer to the website cited for a complete listing of all trademarks. Adam-12 Adam-12

3660-580: The Great Depression between 1929 and 1933, Western introduced new products: The Whitman jigsaw puzzle became very popular during this period as did a new series of books called Big Little Books . Brought out in 1932, the 10-cent Big Little Books became very popular with people looking for inexpensive entertainment. The first Big Little Book was The Adventures of Dick Tracy. Western won exclusive book rights to all Walt Disney licensed characters in 1933, and in 1934 established an eastern printing plant at

3782-738: The Jesse Marsh drawn Tarzan ; and some of the Russ Manning -produced Tarzan series. They started several revivals of characters under Jim Shooter , including Doctor Solar , Magnus , Turok , and Mighty Samson . The Checker Book Publishing Group, in conjunction with Paramount Pictures , began reprinting the Gold Key Star Trek series in 2004. Hermes Press reprinted the three series based on Irwin Allen 's science-fiction TV series, as well as Gold Key's Dark Shadows , My Favorite Martian , and

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3904-545: The Los Angeles Police Department 's Central Division, Adam-12 follows police officers Pete Malloy ( Martin Milner ) and Jim Reed ( Kent McCord ) as they patrol Los Angeles. The plots of most episodes follow Malloy and Reed as they handle the various calls for service that they are assigned to or come across, ranging from intense incidents such as pursuits , standoffs , shootouts , hostage-takings , gang violence , terrorism , and undercover assignments , to

4026-680: The Penguin Group , forming a new company called Penguin Random House . In April 2016, the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation (owner of DreamWorks Classics) by NBCUniversal was announced. Historian Michael Barrier has lamented the apparent loss of Western's business records for future use by researchers. With licenses for characters from Walt Disney Productions , Warner Bros. , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Edgar Rice Burroughs and Walter Lantz Studio , Western produced comics based on these characters, as well as original works. The editorial staff at

4148-535: The San Fernando Valley . The garage used tow trucks from the LAPD's North Hollywood Division that was located near Universal Studios. The police station used in the series was the Rampart Police Station, located at 2710 West Temple Street. The station was built in 1966, two years before the series began, and could thus be considered "state of the art" for most of the series' run. Rampart Police Station

4270-492: The 1920s and 1930s, Western published a wide range of children's books (puzzle books, coloring books, Tell-a-Tale books, Big Little Books ), mostly under the Golden Books and Whitman Publishing brand names. The Little Golden Books was a very popular series. Lucille Ogle helped develop the format for these low-priced books, which told simple stories and were among the first children's books with full-color illustrations. The first

4392-455: The 1970s, the entire comics industry experienced a downswing and Gold Key was among the hardest hit. Its editorial policies had not kept pace with the changing times, and suffered an erosion of its base of sales among children, who instead of buying comic books, could now watch cartoons and other entertainment on television for free. It is also alleged by Carmine Infantino that in the mid to late 1960s, DC Comics attempted to pressure Gold Key from

4514-488: The 1987 anime Bubblegum Crisis , the call sign of an AD Police helicopter is "Adam-12". Adam-12 , Dragnet , and Emergency! are set in the same universe and depict different aspects of the public safety infrastructure of Los Angeles. Each series has several crossover episodes with characters from other Mark VII shows. Malloy and Reed appear in the Dragnet episode "Internal Affairs: DR-20", as well as The D.A. episode "The People vs. Saydo" (the conclusion to

4636-522: The 1990s to launch Valiant Comics ' fictional universe. Dark Horse Comics (and later, Dynamite Entertainment ) have published reprints, including several in hardcover collections, of such original Gold Key titles as Magnus, Robot Fighter ; Doctor Solar ; Mighty Samson ; M.A.R.S. Patrol ; Turok: Son of Stone ; The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor ; Dagar the Invincible ; Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery ; Space Family Robinson ; Flash Gordon ;

4758-544: The 30-year-old son of German immigrants , worked at the West Side Printing Company in Racine, Wisconsin . When the owner of that company was unable to pay Wadewitz his wages, Wadewitz took the opportunity in 1907 to purchase the company for $ 2,504, with some of the funds provided by his brother Albert. Knowing that the company needed staff with more knowledge of the business than he had, Wadewitz hired Roy A. Spencer,

4880-658: The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Program, a monthly mailing of recipe cards to millions of customers, sales grew to $ 237.3 million in 1976 with net income of $ 10.8 million. In 1979, Western ceased to be an independent company when Mattel Inc. purchased the company for $ 120.8 million in a cash/stock deal. By the late 1970s, Western was one of the largest commercial printers in the United States. It had four manufacturing plants and two distribution centers between Kansas and Maryland. It boasted of installing some of

5002-500: The Central Division. The unit was not a standard patrol unit and was only assigned to officers who demonstrated "outstanding duty performance". It is unknown if the unit is still active as of 2023. Milner and McCord made cameo appearances as their Adam-12 characters in several episodes of the fifth season of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In , including one that parodied the series' in-cruiser dialogue scenes. Nashville Beat ,

Gold Key Comics - Misplaced Pages Continue

5124-654: The Dell Comics era mostly continued into the Gold Key era. In the mid-1960s, a number of artists were recruited by the newly formed Disney Studio Program and thereafter divided their output between the Disney Program and Western. Writer/artist Russ Manning and editor Chase Craig launched the Magnus, Robot Fighter science-fiction series in 1963. Jack Sparling co-created the superhero Tiger Girl with Jerry Siegel in 1968, drew

5246-405: The Gold Key imprint at that time as the comics could no longer be found on the newsstands, but in department, variety, and grocery stores. Our new management assumed that comics could be treated like coloring books or puzzles. That proved an ill-fated decision. The following years were characterized by delays and erratic distribution. Eventually, arrangements were made to distribute these releases to

5368-658: The Invincible , and Tragg and the Sky Gods . Also in the 1970s, writer Bob Gregory started drawing stories, mostly for Daisy and Donald . Artist/writer Frank Miller had his first published comic book artwork in The Twilight Zone for Gold Key in 1978. Diana Gabaldon began her career writing for Gold Key, initially sending a query that stated, "I’ve been reading your comics for the last 25 years, and they’ve been getting worse and worse. I’m not sure if I could do better myself, but I’d like to try." Editor Del Connell provided

5490-671: The LAPD varying in each episode. Starting with the third season, the series was organized chronologically, and Reed completed his probationary period, with him and Malloy remaining partners. Throughout the series, and especially in later seasons, Malloy and Reed began patrolling other divisions and working on different assignments (such as divisions assigned to patrol neighborhoods like Venice and Hollywood , airport detail , Metropolitan Division , Air Support Division , and even desk duty), occasionally explained as them filling in for other officers or being part of police experience programs. Malloy sometimes fills in for Sergeant William MacDonald as

5612-463: The Matador. Though the "1-Adam-12" radio call sign identified it as a Central Division unit, the police station Malloy and Reed worked from belonged to Rampart Division , which serves sections west of Downtown and uses "2" as its prefix number. There was also never a standard patrol unit with the call sign of "1-Adam-12", as all LAPD reporting districts are odd-numbered. Universal Studios co-produced

5734-534: The Phantom. Bongo Comics published a parody of Gold Key in Radioactive Man #106 (volume 2 #6, Nov. 2002) with script/layout by Batton Lash and finished art by Mike DeCarlo that Tony Isabella dubbed "a nigh-flawless facsimile of the Gold Key comics published by Western in the early 1960s...from the painting with tasteful come-on copy on the front cover to the same painting, sans logo or other type, presented as

5856-541: The Walton Boys, Power Boys , Brains Benton , and Troy Nesbit mysteries. The series, published from the 1950s to the 1970s, also included a number of titles licensed from popular movies and television shows: Lassie , The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin , many television Westerns , and Walt Disney 's Spin and Marty and Annette (from the serial featuring Annette Funicello that aired on The Mickey Mouse Club . The company

5978-513: The West Coast office over the years included: Eleanor Packer, Alice Cobb, Chase Craig , Zetta Devoe, Del Connell and Bill Spicer . Bernie Zuber was an editorial artist, a position similar to that of a production artist , from 1957 until 1982. Oskar Lebeck , Matt Murphy and Wally Green are among those who oversaw the East Coast office. From 1938 to 1962, Western's properties were published under

6100-559: The Western Playing Card Company after purchasing the Sheffer Playing Card Company. In 1929, Western purchased a Chicago stationery and greeting card manufacturer, Stationer's Engraving Company. Another subsidiary was K.K. Publications, named after Kay Kamen , manager of character merchandising at Walt Disney Studios from 1933 to 1949. K.K. Publications became defunct during the mid/late 1960s. During

6222-458: The Whitman logo, as well as that of Marvel Comics, with its diamond (before the direct market even arrived). Former DC Comics executive Paul Levitz stated, "[The] Western program was enormous — even well into the 1970s, they were taking very large numbers of DC titles for distribution (I recall 50,000+ copies offhand)." In 1979, Western ceased to be an independent company when Mattel Inc. purchased

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6344-506: The annual kite safety title (which featured an array of licensed characters) published over a span of 32 years for power utility companies. Both series had print runs in the hundreds of thousands. In the 1990s, the Western/Gold Key characters Magnus , Turok and Dr. Solar were licensed to Valiant Comics , who published modified versions of the characters to great success. However, by the mid-1990s, Valiant's sales had slumped due to

6466-439: The black and white units made famous in such television shows as Adam-12 " . It was one of the shows that portrayed "the professionalism of the officers and police departments". Ronald Wayne Rodman pointed out that the theme of Adam-12 referred to a "military-style topic while portraying a sense of contemporary action". Douglas Rushkoff noted, " Adam-12 also marked [the] last gasp of the righteous style of cop TV." Their set

6588-591: The books could be sold for 25 cents each. In September 1942, the first 12 titles were printed and released to stores in October. Three editions totaling 1.5 million books sold out within five months of publication in 1942. During World War II , Western had a contract with the U.S. Army Map Service to produce maps for soldiers in the field and it also manufactured books and playing cards which were sent overseas. In 1945, Western acquired another major printing plant, Wolff Printing Company of St. Louis. Guild Press, Inc.,

6710-510: The catalog of United Productions of America (UPA) and book publisher Random House in a bankruptcy auction for the $ 84.4 million on August 16, 2001. In turn, Random House, and Classic Media gained ownership of Golden Books' entertainment catalog (including the family entertainment catalog of Broadway Video which includes the pre-1974 library of Rankin/Bass Productions and the library of Total Television ) as well as production, licensing and merchandising rights for Golden Books' characters and

6832-434: The catalog of United Productions of America , and book publisher Random House in a bankruptcy auction for the lower $ 84.4   million (equivalent to $ 145.2 million in 2023) on August 16, 2001. In turn, Random House, and Classic Media gained ownership of Golden Books' entertainment catalog (including the family entertainment catalog of Broadway Video which includes the pre-1974 library of Rankin/Bass Productions and

6954-427: The comics business through sheer volume of output. Among the original titles launched by Gold Key in the 1970s were Baby Snoots and Wacky Witch . By 1977, many of the company's series had been cancelled and the surviving titles featured more reprinted material, although Gold Key was able to obtain the rights to publish a comic book series based upon Buck Rogers in the 25th Century between 1979 and 1981. It also lost

7076-431: The company but retained his stock. It sold the adult books ( Golden Guide ) to St. Martin's Press in 1999. In June 2001, DIC Entertainment announced they would purchase Golden Books Family Entertainment for $ 170 Million and send them out of bankruptcy. However, DIC would pass off the purchase due to high costs and instead Golden Books Family Entertainment was eventually acquired jointly by Classic Media , owner of

7198-475: The company decided ultimately to run the departments itself. Bernstein wanted to sell Western's products in discount stores and supermarket and drugstore chains and spent $ 20 million to do so. The school book club, started in 1990, also lost money. The net effect was a $ 55.8 million loss on sales of $ 613.5 million for fiscal 1994 (ending January 1994). Three Golden Books Showcase Store locations were opened, which featured only Western Publishing products. The first

7320-568: The company had been acquired by Bernstein from Mattel in 1984. At this point he owned or controlled nearly 20 percent of the common stock, the Gabelli Group held about 17 percent, and Prudential Insurance Company of America owned 8.6 percent. Long-term debt was $ 249.8 million. By mid-1996, under the supervision of ex-Simon & Schuster executive Richard E. Snyder , it was renamed Golden Books Family Entertainment and focused on publishing children's books. Bernstein resigned all his positions at

7442-785: The company sponsored the Story Book Shop on Main Street, U.S.A. , in Disneyland which opened on July 17, 1955, and closed April 1, 1995. In addition it was one of the initial investors in the park by virtue of being a part-owner of Disneyland, Inc. Western and Pocket Books , Inc. formed Golden Press, Inc. at the end of 1958 following their joint purchase of all Golden Book properties from Simon and Schuster. The arrangement called for Western to continue to create and manufacture Golden Books which Pocket Books would promote, sell, and distribute. By 1959, over 150 Little Golden Book titles had sold at least

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7564-417: The company's revenue. The company's half-share in Golden Press, Inc. was a problem. It lost money in 1961 and 1962, and, in 1963, its sales sagged from $ 32.9 million the previous year to $ 22.5 million. Western bought Pocket Books' half-share in Golden Press in 1964 with 276,750 shares of its common stock valued at nearly $ 7.4 million. Odyssey took over the sales and distribution of adult Golden Books; Western did

7686-486: The company, Bernstein began a major restructuring of Western. Hasbro Inc. purchased the games and puzzles division for $ 105 million and the Fayetteville distribution center which handled them was put up for sale. Troll purchased the school book club division for $ 4.3 million. Ritepoint and Adtrend, parts of Penn Corporation's advertising specialty division, were sold as was its direct-marketing continuity-club business. Staff

7808-640: The company. Dick Simon , then head of Simon & Schuster, mentioned to Duplaix that he was interested in any new ideas for children's books. Duplaix had the idea to produce a colorful, more durable and affordable children's book than those being published at that time which sold for $ 2 to $ 3. With the help of Lucile Ogle, also working at the Guild, Duplaix contacted Albert Leventhal, a vice president and sales manager at Simon & Schuster, and Leon Shimkin , also at Simon & Schuster, with his idea. The group decided to publish twelve titles for simultaneous release in what

7930-493: The company. The new management stopped selling returnable comics at newsstands, preferring the nonreturnable bagged comics sold at toy stores. In a 1993 interview, Del Connell, the managing editor at Western's West Coast office in the late 1970s, recalled, ...the Western comics line was killed by distribution. Perhaps you know that by early 1980 our comics were only being distributed in bagged sets of three. The Whitman label replaced

8052-450: The decade's speculative boom collapsing, and the company ceased publishing in 1999. In 2004, Dark Horse Comics began reprinting some of Western's original comic book properties, which by then were owned by Random House , along with Tarzan from the Jesse Marsh era. In 2009, the company announced plans to launch new versions of various Gold Key characters, with former Valiant editor-in-chief Jim Shooter as head writer. Beginning in

8174-400: The distinction of being the largest creator and publisher of children's books, the largest producer/distributor of children's games made from paper or paper products, and the largest creator/producer of comic books. Western had operated at a profit every year since 1907, paid a dividend every year since 1934, and seen net sales increase from $ 40.5 million in 1950 to $ 123.8 million in 1960. During

8296-544: The distributor for a refund, but the bagged comics were not. To discourage unscrupulous dealers from opening the plastic bags and returning the nonreturnable issues, Western published the newsstand versions under the Gold Key Comics label, and put the Whitman Comics logo on the bagged versions, although otherwise the issues were identical. Western, at one point, also distributed bagged comics from its rival DC Comics under

8418-641: The emerging collector market, containing classic stories of the Disney characters by Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson ( Best of Walt Disney's Comics ). In the late 1970s, somewhat higher-grade reprints of various licensed characters were also aimed at new venues ( Dynabrites ), plus Starstream , a four-issue series adapting classic science fiction stories by authors such as Isaac Asimov and John W. Campbell . Golden Press released trade paperback reprint collections such as Walt Disney Christmas Parade , Bugs Bunny Comics-Go-Round , and Star Trek: The Enterprise Logs . In

8540-734: The first heatset web offset printing presses in the US. As well, Western had the largest offset, sheet-fed presses, some exceeding 78 inches wide, printing in five colors, and one of the largest bindery operations in the United States. Among other things, it printed mass-market paperback books under contract, and was the primary manufacturer and distributor of the board game Trivial Pursuit , as well as other tabletop games. It developed and printed specialty cookbooks, premiums, and material for many Fortune 500 clients. At one time, Western printed almost everything from "business cards to billboards", and employed over 2500 full-time employees. The year 1980 saw

8662-468: The first year, grossed more than $ 43,500 liquidating the remaining Hamming-Whitman books. In 1916, Sam Lowe joined Western. He convinced Western and Whitman to publish a 10-cent children's book in 1918 and convinced retailers that children's books could be sold year-round. Western introduced boxed games and jigsaw puzzles in 1923 after purchasing a 38-inch by 52-inch Potter offset press. By 1925, sales exceeded $ 1 million. Western added another subsidiary,

8784-475: The former Fiat factory site in Poughkeepsie , New York. The printing plant allowed a close relationship to develop with the publishers Dell Publishing Company and Simon & Schuster , Inc. From 1938 to 1962 Dell Publishing and Western produced color comic books featuring many of Western's licensed characters. In 1938, the first joint effort between Western and Simon & Schuster, A Children's History,

8906-486: The imprint Artists and Writers Guild Books and sold in general book and toy stores. Western's net sales recovered in fiscal 1992 to $ 552.4 million with net income of $ 13.7 million, and $ 649.1 million with $ 17.5 million net income in 1993. In 1993, Western decided to close the advertising specialty division and took a $ 21.8 million writedown . A further $ 10 million was spent setting up and running bookstores in Toys "R" Us stores;

9028-536: The late 1970s, after which newsstand distribution was discontinued in favor of distribution to toy stores under the "Whitman Comics" banner. The company stopped publishing comics in 1984, and all of its licenses have since gone to other publishers. Many of these new licensees have included among their offerings reprints of stories originally published by Western. Prior to 1962, in addition to comics published through Dell, Western published some comics under its own name, particularly giveaways such as March of Comics and

9150-436: The late 1970s, the distribution of comic books on spinners and racks at newsstands, drug stores, and supermarkets continued, but Western Publishing also sold packages of three comics in a plastic bag to toy and department stores, gas stations, airports, and bus/train stations, "as well as other outlets that weren't conducive to conventional comic racks". The newsstand comics were returnable; the dealer could return unsold copies to

9272-748: The launch of the Sesame Street Book Club and the relocation of the Skil-Craft manufacturing plant from Chicago to Fayetteville. Sales climbed to $ 278 million in 1981. Mattel's investment in Western soon soured. In fiscal 1983 (ending January 31, 1983) Western had sales of $ 246 million with an operating loss of $ 2.4 million after a $ 7.5 million charge relating to closing the Poughkeepsie printing plant. Mattel had its own financial issues and, strapped for cash, sold Western in December 1983 to Richard A. Bernstein,

9394-459: The left and right cameras would film Milner and McCord, respectively, on a cross-angle. All three cameras were remote-controlled and would roll simultaneously. For the pilot, Webb did not like the reflections of the sky on the windshield (which made Milner and McCord difficult to see), so the windshield of the vehicle was removed; however, this made the actors' hair blow and caused issues with the audio recording equipment. The prop department's solution

9516-571: The letter "A"; in the LAPD phonetic alphabet , the letter "A" is spoken as "Adam". The "12" comes from the daily assigned reporting district, or beat . Adam-12's "shop number"—a fleet vehicle identification number custom to the city government , located below the city seal on vehicle front doors—from the first season to the third season was "80817" on the Belvedere, "83012" on the Satellite, and "85012" on

9638-425: The library of Total Television ), as well as production, licensing, and merchandising rights for Golden Books' characters and the Gold Key Comics catalogs, while Random House gained Golden Books' book publishing properties. Random House had previously acquired Dell Publishing through a series of mergers since 1976, effectively reuniting the remnants Gold Key Comics and Dell Comics . On July 23, 2012, Classic Media

9760-642: The most frequent being William Boyett and Gary Crosby . The series ran over seven seasons from September 21, 1968, until May 20, 1975. Like Webb's other series, Dragnet and Emergency! , Adam-12 was produced in cooperation with the actual department it was based on, in this case, the LAPD. Adam-12 aimed to be realistic in its depiction of policing and helped familiarize the American public with police procedures and jargon. A syndicated revival by The Arthur Company aired from 1990 to 1991 for two seasons, featuring new characters and an updated setting. Set in

9882-458: The mundane (and far more common) routine happenings like traffic stops , disputes, disturbances , narcotics crimes, DUI arrests, fights, and thefts . The series is set in a time before mobile radios were widespread with law enforcement officers, resulting in Malloy and Reed using available private or public telephones to call assistance when they are away from their patrol car. At the start of

10004-464: The name was changed to Walt Disney's Magazine and the focus shifted to contemporary Disney movie and television productions. In a similar vein, they printed Gulf Oil 's Wonderful World of Disney premium (1969-1970) which was edited by Disney's George Sherman . During the 1960s, Western published The Golden Magazine for Boys and Girls with Cracky the Parrot as its mascot. For many years Golden Press

10126-501: The nascent national network of comic-book stores. Western also prepared a prospectus in the early 1980s for a deluxe Carl Barks reprint project aimed at the collector market that was never published. In December 1983, a struggling Mattel sold Western Publishing to real-estate investor Richard A. Bernstein. Bernstein closed Western's comic-book publishing division in 1984. Three of Gold Key's original characters, Magnus, Robot Fighter , Doctor Solar , and Turok, Son of Stone , were used in

10248-684: The officers prevent a rumble between two Latino gangs. Lopez would also appear the following year as "Steve Hernandez" in Episode 95: "The Parole Violator". Episode 69, "Log 66: The Vandals", guest-stars Robert I. Clarke as the father of a teenage girl. Episode 77, "Log 88 - Reason to Run", guest-stars Randolph Mantooth as "Neil Williams"; and in an Emergency! cross-over episode as a paramedic, "John Gage", Episode 106, "Lost and Found". This episode also guest-starred Linda Kaye Henning of Petticoat Junction . Episode 80, "The Million Dollar Buff", guests-stars Lindsay Wagner ( The Bionic Woman ) as

10370-400: The officers' physical appearances. Several years after Adam-12 's finale, Kent McCord was to appear in a planned third series of Dragnet , playing Sgt. Friday's partner, but the project was canceled due to Jack Webb's sudden death in December 1982. Since none of the scripts Webb wrote for the project were ever produced or released, it is not clear if he intended for McCord to play Jim Reed or

10492-1135: The original series, and starred Ethan Wayne as Officer Matt Doyle and Peter Parros as Officer Gus Grant (seemingly unrelated to the Motor Officer Gus Grant seen in the original show, played by William Elliott ). Fifty-two episodes were aired over two seasons. The first season aired from September 24, 1990, to March 18, 1991; the second season aired from March 25, 1991, to September 16, 1991. Many famous performers and some who achieved fame later appeared in various episodes of Adam-12 . Episode 2, "Log 141: The Color TV Bandit", stars Cloris Leachman and Melody Patterson . Episode 8, "Log 72: El Presidente", guest-stars James Sikking , later of Hill Street Blues fame (Lt. Howard Hunter), and other various character roles as an armed robber. Episode 10, "Log 132: Producer", stars Karen Black ( Easy Rider , Five Easy Pieces , Airport 1975 , Dogtown ) and James McEachin (DJ in Play Misty for Me ). McEachin also appeared in five additional episodes, each time in

10614-765: The people there could get pointlessly picky about the material ... but they rarely bothered looking at any issue after the first few. Therefore, it simplified the procedure to do the first and maybe the second issue as an adaptation. They couldn't very well complain that a plot taken from the show was inappropriate". Over the years, Gold Key lost several properties, including the King Features Syndicate characters ( Popeye , Flash Gordon , The Phantom , etc.), to Charlton Comics in 1966, numerous, but not all, Hanna-Barbera characters also to Charlton Comics in 1970, and Star Trek to Marvel Comics in 1979. The stable of writers and artists built up by Western Publishing during

10736-481: The playmate of a missing child. Episode 60, "Log 105, Elegy for a Pig" guest-stars Mark Goddard (Major Don West of Lost in Space ) as Malloy's friend and police academy classmate, Officer Tom Porter; and shows a great deal of Malloy's backstory, as well as what happens when an LAPD officer is killed in the line of duty. Episode 66, "Log 115: Gang War", guest-stars Trini Lopez as a local Latino priest who tries to help

10858-399: The production of the show were purchased from local dealerships and outfitted by the prop department to accurate LAPD cruiser specifications. The driving scenes were filmed on public streets using a dedicated camera platform mounted to the cruiser's hood, which was towed by a station wagon. The platform held three cameras: the center camera would film both Milner and McCord in one shot, while

10980-512: The rights to publish Star Trek -based comic books to Marvel Comics just prior to the revival of the franchise via Star Trek: The Motion Picture , with the final Gold Key-published Star Trek title being issued in March, 1979. In this period, Gold Key experimented with digests with some success. In a similar manner, to explore new markets in the mid-1970s, it produced a four-volume series, with somewhat better production values and printing aimed at

11102-962: The same for children's titles. Western Printing & Lithographing, the largest company unit, accounted for about 40 percent of sales in 1965. Artists & Writers Press, Inc., one of fourteen active subsidiaries, created books for publishers and commercial customers including Golden Books, Betty Crocker cookbooks, the Arts of Mankind series for Golden Press, and the four-volume Harper Encyclopedia of Science for Harper & Row. Capitol Publishing, purchased in 1961, originated and produced educational materials and games for children, as well as toys and novelty products. The Kable Printing division produced over 125,000 monthly magazines, other periodicals, and catalogs. The Watkins-Strathmore Co., acquired in 1957, produced children's books and games, including Magic Slate . Meanwhile, Whitman published nearly every type of juvenile and adolescent books, numismatic books, coin cards,

11224-576: The same period, net profit had increased from $ 3.1 million to $ 7.4 million. In 1961, Western opened another printing plant, in Cambridge, Maryland , and in 1970 acquired several companies, including Odyssey Press, a high school and college textbook publisher. By 1963, 65 percent of Western's total revenues derived from juvenile literature (including games), 25 percent from commercial printing, and 10 percent from books produced for other publishers and miscellaneous activities. Whitman accounted for 35 percent of

11346-595: The schools and libraries. Offices were set up in Wayne, New Jersey, and the reinforced library books were warehoused in Wayne and distributed from that location. There were about 80 sales representatives in the United States under the general manager, Roy Spahr. From the 1940s to the 1980s, Western published several series of books for older children and young teenagers, initially under its Whitman line. Girls' mystery series included Trixie Belden , Ginny Gordon , Donna Parker , Meg Duncan and Trudy Phillips. Boys' series included

11468-429: The season one episode "Crack House", Milner guest-starred as Malloy, now a captain; in the following episode, "R.T.D. 211", McCord guest-starred as Reed, now a lieutenant. In 1999, Mattel produced a die-cast toy police car based on Adam-12 as part of their "Star Car" series. In a scene from The Matrix Reloaded , "1-Adam-12" can be heard over a police radio feed. In the fourth OVA episode ("Revenge Road") of

11590-399: The self-imposed restrictions which formerly required Western and Dell to work exclusively with one another. In our previous relationship, Western Publishing Co. secured the rights, created the comics, printed them and shipped them out for Dell. Dell acted as the publisher and distributor and did the billing and paid Western for its creatively manufactured products. This imprint continued until

11712-440: The series be continued with Officer Ed Wells, played by Gary Crosby, replacing Malloy, who would be written off with a promotion to Sergeant at another division. However, the birth of Kent McCord's son three days before the seventh season's finale aired took McCord off the show as well, forcing the series to end with the seventh season. The police vehicles were central characters in that "mobile patrol units [became] associated with

11834-557: The series, Malloy, seeking to resign after the death of his previous partner, is assigned to field train Reed, an inexperienced rookie. After Reed disobeys Malloy's orders but singlehandedly arrests a group of armed suspects during a high-risk shooting call, Malloy sees potential in Reed and decides to remain on the force to guide him through his nine-month probationary period . The first and second seasons are not chronological, with Reed's stated time in

11956-411: The series. Most officers in the series drove recent-model sedans , while Sergeant MacDonald always used a station wagon version of Adam-12's vehicle. In the pilot episode, Adam-12 used a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere ; for the rest of the first season, a 1968 Plymouth Belvedere was used instead, later updated to a 1969 Plymouth Belvedere for the second and third seasons. In the fourth season, Adam-12 used

12078-442: The short-lived television series The Swiss Family Robinson , taking him off Adam-12 . Several options were tested during this season, which would allow the series to continue should the production of a proposed eighth season move forward. Jo Ann Pflug , Mark Harmon , and Michael Warren were tested for their potential to replace Milner in episodes where McCord served as their training officer or partner. Another idea proposed that

12200-573: The show with Mark VII Limited . The series' first episode, "Log 1: The Impossible Mission", was filmed in September 1967, a year before the pilot was picked up. The production of Adam-12 involved showing all aspects of correct police procedures. Police cruisers played a central role, as "Webb wanted the vehicle itself to be considered a character". The show's routine use of police radio communications and jargon helped reinforce "the sound of radio as an anti-crime technology." The police vehicles used in

12322-478: The then current NBC TV series Star Trek . While some titles, such as Star Trek and The Twilight Zone , were published for many years, many other licensed titles were characterized by short runs, sometimes publishing no more than one or two issues. Gold Key considered suing over the similarly themed television series Lost in Space for its resemblance to the preexisting Space Family Robinson , but decided their business relationship with CBS and Irwin Allen

12444-442: The time told Mark Evanier, "Leo writes stories and then he decides whether he's going to sell them to DC [for Ghosts ] or to us. He tells us that if they come out good, they go to us and if they don't, they go to DC. I assume he tells DC the opposite." Editor Frank Tedeschi , who left in 1973 for a job in book publishing, helped bring in such new comics professionals as Walt Simonson , Gerry Boudreau, and John David Warner. During

12566-498: The title Top Comics . They were packaged in plastic bags containing five comics each and were sold at gas stations and various eateries. Like Dell, Gold Key was one of the few major American comic book publishers never to display the Comics Code Authority seal on its covers, trading instead on the reputation of its child-friendly stories. Gold Key featured a number of licensed properties and several original titles, including

12688-766: The toyline tie-in Microbots one-shot , and illustrated comic book adaptations of the television series Family Affair and Adam-12 . Dan Spiegle worked on Space Family Robinson , The Green Hornet , The Invaders , Korak, Son of Tarzan , Brothers of the Spear , and many of Gold Key's mystery/occult titles. Among the other creators at Gold Key were writers Donald F. Glut , Len Wein , Bob Ogle , John David Warner , Steve Skeates , and Mark Evanier ; and artists Cliff Voorhees , Joe Messerli , Carol Lay , Jesse Santos , and Mike Royer . Glut created and wrote several series including The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor , Dagar

12810-416: The twelve original titles for $ 19.95. Special editions of all-time favorites, and new books by popular artists and illustrators of children's books were also published to mark the occasion. The Golden Little Nugget Book line was introduced and sold more than 1.9 million units in six months. Golden management decided to publish trade books for children for the first time in 1993. These titles were published under

12932-632: The voices coming from the police radio, which Milner and McCord would respond to. The director and the sound man would sit in a rear-facing seat in the back of the station wagon towing the police car. Most scenes in the older seasons were filmed at the Universal Studios Lot , mostly in Courthouse Square and Colonial Street . Starting with the third and fourth seasons, the series gradually shifted to filming in actual locations in Los Angeles and

13054-611: The watch commander in the show's final season. At the same time, Reed finds himself partnered with probationary officers, mirroring Malloy's original role as his field training officer . In the series finale, Reed receives the Medal of Valor for saving Malloy's life and completes an examination to become a detective , while Malloy is set for a promotion to sergeant . The personal lives of Malloy and Reed came up on occasion and were often tied into their duties, though they rarely extended past conversations, episode subplots, or brief scenes. Malloy

13176-438: Was acquired by DreamWorks Animation for $ 155   million (equivalent to $ 206 million in 2023) and renamed DreamWorks Classics . On July 1, 2013, Random House merged with the Penguin Group , forming a new company called Penguin Random House . In April 2016, the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation (owner of DreamWorks Classics) by NBCUniversal was announced. In 2021, comics creator and hacker Robert Willis obtained

13298-471: Was also the original American publisher of The Adventures of Tintin , issuing six titles in English translation in 1959 and 1960, before discontinuing further releases because of what were considered disappointing sales. In 1937, Western, at the request of Kay Kamen (who oversaw licensing and marketing at Disney), assumed production of the newsstand version of Mickey Mouse Magazine , which, in October 1940,

13420-685: Was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin , best known for publishing the Little Golden Books . Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products. The company had editorial offices in New York City and Los Angeles, California. Western Publishing became Golden Books Family Entertainment in 1996. Little Golden Books remains as an imprint of Penguin Random House . Golden Guides and Golden Field Guides are published by St. Martin's Press . Edward Henry Wadewitz,

13542-545: Was closed in 2008, and Rampart Division moved to the newer and larger Rampart Community Police Station. The old station was renovated to serve as the headquarters for the LAPD Metropolitan Division . The renovated building, now known as the LAPD Metropolitan Division Facility, opened in 2016. In 1974, during the production of the seventh season, Martin Milner signed to play Karl Robinson on

13664-484: Was more important than any monetary reward resulting from such a suit; as a result, the Gold Key series adopted the branding Space Family Robinson Lost in Space with issue #15 (Jan. 1966), though its narrative had no connection to the TV series. Editor Chase Craig stated that Gold Key would launch titles with Hanna-Barbera characters with direct adaptations of episodes of the program because "[t]he studio had approval rights and

13786-495: Was not a squad room or an office, but the actors "watched the changes in American culture through the windshield of their squad car". "12", a slang nickname for police , likely originated from Adam-12 , in a manner comparable to the similar nickname "five-O", which originated from Hawaii Five-O . In 2003, the Los Angeles Police Department activated an actual unit with the 1-Adam-12 call sign, in service with

13908-816: Was opened in the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois , in November 1992; the second in CityWalk Center outside Universal Studios Hollywood during June 1993; and the third store was opened in Rockefeller Center in New York City during April 1994. They have all since closed. By the mid-1990s, most of its printing plants were closed and its print operations consolidated in Racine. These losses raised Western's debt to $ 250 million; its negative cash flow caused its bonds to be downgraded to junk status. Unable to sell

14030-540: Was published in 1942. Beginning as the "Whitman Famous Classics", and later renamed the "Golden Press" imprint, Western published a series of (public domain) classics, such as Little Women , Little Men , Black Beauty and Heidi . In the late 1960s, Golden Books were bound in the Goldencraft reinforced library bindings and sold to schools and libraries in the United States by a group of independent sales representatives. The library bound books were very popular with

14152-581: Was published. In the 1930s, Western formed the Artists and Writers Guild Inc., located in New York City, to develop new children's books. Western expanded to the West Coast in the early 1940s, opening an office in Beverly Hills to make it easier to do business with studios that owned the characters the company licensed. Georges Duplaix replaced Sam Lowe as head of the Artists and Writers Guild in 1940 when Lowe left

14274-413: Was publisher of Betty Crocker cookbooks. Often these were issued in a three-ring binder format so recipe pages could be removed for easy consultation while cooking. Western produced games such as Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary until Hasbro bought that division in 1994. The company published the children's science books The World of Science and The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments , while

14396-536: Was purchased for $ 108 million. Bernstein took Western public in April 1986 and made more than $ 70 million on his original $ 5 million investment; he retained twenty-one percent of the stock. The company continued to prosper. For the fiscal year ending January 31, 1989, sales were $ 551 million produced earnings of nearly $ 30 million. In 1990, sales dropped to $ 508 million and earnings fell to $ 23 million. Analysts attributed some of this decline to falling sales of Pictionary ,

14518-498: Was reduced by 28 percent. Bernstein continued the concept of developing book sections within stores and introduced 100 Just For Kids sections in Walmart locations which sold video and music along with books. Western lost $ 11.6 million on revenues of $ 303.9 million during the first three quarters of 1994. Its common stock, which had traded as high as $ 21 a share in 1993, had fallen to below $ 10 in April 1995. No dividend had been paid since

14640-437: Was succeeded by the comic book Walt Disney's Comics and Stories . 1936-1954 Story Parade, Inc. (a Western subsidiary) published Story Parade: A Magazine for Boys and Girls with a children's literature orientation. Then in late 1955, Western initiated Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club Magazine with content produced by Disney Studio staff members. It was intended to promote The Mickey Mouse Club television series. Eventually

14762-493: Was to be called the Little Golden Books Series. Each book would have forty-two pages, twenty-eight printed in two-color, and fourteen in four-color. The books would be staple-bound. The group originally discussed a 50-cent price for the books, but Western did not want to compete with other 50-cent books already on the market. The group calculated that if the print run for each title was 50,000 copies instead of 25,000,

14884-412: Was to reinstall the windshield and build an overhead shield that extended over the hood and windshield of the car to block the reflections. Sides were added to create a large "black box" over the front of the vehicle with both ends "open", which allowed for more controlled filming circumstances. During filming, the script supervisor would lie on the floor in the back of the car to read script dialogue for

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