K.G. Murray Publishing Company
| Company type | Private (until 1973), then part of Australian Consolidated Press |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Founder | Kenneth "K. G." Murray |
| Fate | Sold to Australian Consolidated Press in 1973 |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
| Products | Magazines, comic books (notably DC comics reprints) |
K.G. Murray Publishing Company is an Australian publishing house recognized primarily for its reprints of DC comics. Established in 1936 in Sydney by Kenneth "K. G." Murray, the firm remained under family ownership until it was sold to Australian Consolidated Press in 1973.
History
Before founding his company, Murray worked in advertising with Gordon and Gotch. His inaugural publication, the men's magazine Man, was launched in December 1936. This 100-page magazine featured glossy card covers and was printed on thick art paper, retailing at two shillings.
That same year, K.G. Murray introduced Man Junior, a compact 96-page magazine free of advertisements. This was followed by The Insider, a journal focusing on international affairs, and Cavalcade, a digest covering general news topics. In 1938, the company added the Digest of Digests to its lineup.
The outbreak of World War II forced the suspension of Man Junior and Cavalcade, leaving only Man and Digest of Digests in circulation. After the war, both Man Junior and Cavalcade resumed publication, while The Insider was discontinued.
In 1946, the company launched Adam, a pulp magazine showcasing stories of action, sports, and adventure. Its distinctive painted covers—often portraying semi-nude women in dangerous scenarios—were created by artists such as Phil Belbin and Jack Waugh.
December 1948 marked the release of Australian House and Garden, which was developed in less than four months with Beryl Guertner as its founding editor. Guertner remained at the helm until her retirement in 1973, coinciding with the company's sale.
In 1951, Publishers Holdings Ltd acquired K.G. Murray and listed it on the Australian Stock Exchange. Throughout the 1950s, facing competition from American imports, the publisher expanded its range of men's magazines with titles like Gals and Gags, Man's Life, Adventure Story, and Man's Master Detective. The company also diversified into niche publications covering hunting, fishing, motor racing, and agriculture.
Kenneth Murray stepped down as Managing Director on 1 February 1972 but continued serving on the board until 1974. On 30 June 1973, Australian Consolidated Press Ltd purchased K.G. Murray. The flagship magazine Man ceased production in 1974.
Comics
During the late 1930s, Australia's comic market was saturated with reprints of popular American strips sourced from women's magazines such as The New Idea and The Woman's Mirror, alongside low-cost overseas Sunday comic pages and supplements. By 1939, political opposition to this influx grew, prompting the Australian Government to prohibit American comics and foreign syndicated reprints in June 1940.
Following World War II, with paper restrictions eased and US embargoes lifted, K.G. Murray began producing original Australian black-and-white comics starting in 1946. Notable titles included Flameman by Moira Bertram, Albert De Vine’s High Compression, and Hart Amos’s The Lost Patrol.
In 1947, K.G. Murray introduced full-color comic books with the launch of Climax All Color Comic. Despite higher production costs, this move positioned KG Murray as a market leader and applied pressure on competitors. Early editions included reprints of US DC superheroes such as Zatara. The publisher also released other US reprint titles like Blackhawk and Captain Triumph, characters that later became part of DC’s portfolio after acquiring them from Quality Comics following its closure in 1956.
Midway through 1947 saw the debut of Murray’s first dedicated full DC reprint series: Superman All Color Comic. This title dominated Australian comic sales with peak circulation reaching approximately 150,000 copies. The "Color Comic" label became synonymous with Australian black-and-white DC reprints during this era. In 1949, the company introduced Adventure Comics featuring Superboy, which was eventually renamed simply Superboy. Additional titles included Batman Comics—soon shortened to Batman—and Super Adventure Comic, which featured stories drawn from various DC properties.
K.G. Murray issued DC reprints under a variety of imprints including Climax Comics, Blue Star, Planet Comics, and Murray Comics. However, after import restrictions were relaxed in 1959 allowing direct entry of US publications into Australia, demand for locally produced American-style comic periodicals declined significantly.
When K.G. Murray was acquired by Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in 1973—part of the Packer group—the company underwent branding changes following Kerry Packer’s takeover of ACP in 1974. A new "Murray Publishers" logo appeared in 1979 before being replaced by "Murray the Cat" branding in 1980. By 1983, Kerry Packer privatized ACP and divested its comics division to Federal Publishers.
References
- Hetherington, John. "The Paperback Phenomenon: The House That Built It." Age, 13 April 1963, p. 22.
- Johnson-Woods, Toni. "Unraveling the Enigma of Carter Brown: The True Fate of the Australian Author." Australian Literary Studies, vol. 21, no. 4 (2004): 74-88.
- --- Pulp: A Collector's Compilation of Australian Pulp Fiction Covers. Canberra: National Library of Australia (2004).