The big whoop of September 1940, hitting stands on the 9th of the month, was, of course, the debut of
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories from Dell Publishing. While Disney may be the House of the Mouse in other media, in comics it's always been all about the ducks. In fact, the legend goes that after Dell took a look at how well Donald's solo outing in its "Four Color" series of one-shots sold back in January of this year, it decided to relaunch its monthly
Mickey Mouse Magazine to include the irascible waterfowl. Thus, no surprise it's Donald, and not Mickey, who graces this first issue.
Today, WDC&S is American's third-longest-running comic book series, behind only DC's Action Comics and Detective Comics. However, with both of those titles having restarted their issue numbering in October 2011 as part of DC's line-wide "New 52" reboot, WDC&S can boast the highest sequential numbering of any comic book series, with Issue No. 723 scheduled to hit stands this month.
Despite its long run, or perhaps because of it, WDC&S has migrated through seven different publishers. On the strength of aggressive subscription sales and duck work by the legendary Carl Barks, WDC&S was, by the early 1950s, America's best-selling comic book of all time, reportedly moving more than three million issues per month. However, comic book sales started to nose-dive in the 1960s — for all books, not just WDC&S — by which time Western Publishing had ended its longstanding deal with Dell, taking over publishing, as well as the packaging of its books. It put out WDC&S from Issue No. 264 (on-sale July 26, 1962) through No. 510 (April 19, 1984), first under the Gold Key brand and later, from No. 474 (Jan. 24, 1980), as part of its Whitman imprint.
After laying fallow for couple of years, WDC&S found new life under fans-turned-publishers Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran, who founded Gladstone Comics — named after Donald's cousin Gladstone Gander, blessed with a peculiar brand of pecuniary prowess — and relaunched the title with No. 511 (cover-dated Oct. 1986). Following a brief spate in which Disney dabbled in self-publishing, from No. 548 (June 1990) to No. 585 (July 1993), Gladstone — by now down one Cochran — guided WDC&S through No. 633 (Feb. 1999). The title was then picked up as a labor of love, much as it had been with Hamilton, by Diamond Distributors head honcho Steve Geppi. He published the book in a prestige squarebound format not unlike the latter-day Gladstones, from Issue No. 634 (July 2003) to No. 698, in Nov. 2008, by which time the cover price had reached $7.99.
BOOM! Studios than had a short-lived run with the title as part of its BOOM Kids line, from Issue No. 699 (cover-dated Sept. 2009) through No. 720 (June 2001). One might have thought that with Disney having since purchased Marvel Comics, Donald & Co. might return courtesy of the House of Ideas, but we can only assume Disney remains gun-shy following its 1990s experience. Plus, Marvel has rarely found luck with lines aimed toward younger readers. And besides, while there's been a relative dearth of Disney comics domestically in recent years, the characters have remained strong sellers in Europe, where Denmark-based Egmont Group controls the Disney license. Therefore, it seems much easier for Disney to simply allow some other American company to reprint stories originally prepared for the overseas market, while pocketing the licensing fees, than to try producing new comics at Marvel. Beginning in July, IDW Publishing has done just that, relaunching WDC&S with No. 721 in July. While IDW gave new first issues to Donald, Mickey and Uncle Scrooge, it chose to honor the venerable history of WDC&S by preserving its so-called "legacy numbering."
The other titles put out by Dell this month included Crackajack Funnies #28 (on sale Sept. 3), The Funnies #48 (Sept. 15), Popular Comics #56 (Sept. 3), and Super Comics #29 (Sept. 15) — all containing comic strip reprints by and large — as well as an issue in its "Four Color" line (No. 11, exact day of publication uncertain). The latter was dedicated to Smitty, an office boy who starred in a newspaper strip by cartoonist Walter Berndt from 1922 to 1973, a pretty healthy run that lasted long after office boys were a thing.
Crackajack was largely strip reprints, some at least a couple of years old, such as cowboy Red Ryder, Don Winslow of the Navy, and adventurer Wash Tubbs. However, it does contain some original material, including the fourth appearance of Batman knock-off The Owl, who would eventually take over the cover spot of this title from No. 30 (on-sale Dec. 1, 1940) through the run of the series, excepting only the final issue, No. 43 (Dec. 15, 1941).
The Funnies started out as another book of strip reprints, but by this point, like Crackajack, was featuring original, albeit short-lived, super-heros amid the newspaper collections. In this case, the cover feature was Phantasmo, sub-titled as "The Master of the World." A product of Tibet, which was then churning out super-hero origins like Hong Kong makes Happy Meal trinkets. Phanty made his debut in No. 45, making this just his third outing. He could create super-sized astral projections of himself and do about 1,001 other things as required by any given plot. His costume held to the very Spectre-like cape-and-swim trucks motif, although the coloring of this month's cover makes it look like he's skinny dipping with some kind of rhythmic gymnastic ribbon as his only nod to normal modesty. Phanty commanded the cover of The Funnies through No. 56 (April 30, 1941), when he gave way to aviator Captain Midnight. Both disappeared with No. 64 (March 2, 1942) when Dell changed the format to focus on the Walter Lantz stable of characters — first Andy Panda, then, with increasing frequency, Woody Woodpecker. Dell changed the title to
New Funnies with No. 65, and
Walter Lantz New Funnies with No. 109 (Feb. 1, 1946). A few late issues would sport the title
Walter Lantz New TV Funnies, or just
Walter Lantz TV Funnies. The last issue, No. 288, appeared on newsstands Jan. 11, 1962, not surviving the Dell/Western split.
Popular, like its sister publications, began as a strip reprint series, but in the post-Superman era it had a harder time finding its own super-hero, even a crappy one. After trying out Martan the Marvel Man from Nos. 47-49 and 52, Popular tried an "invisible detective" in the form of The Voice in No. 53, the more traditional crime feature Gangbusters in Nos. 50, and 54-56, before returning to Martan for Nos. 57-59. Then came Supermind (no, really, that was his name!) for Nos. 60-66. After that, Dell gave up and returned the cover to focus on strip reprints, primarily in the form of aviator extraordinaire Smilin' Jack. Felix the Cat, or a rough approximation thereof held the cover from Nos. 118-142. The title, having lost whatever popularity it once had, died with No. 145 (June 1, 1948).
Super Comics is the one title out of everything in the Dell stable you'd think would have been most conducive to the super-hero fad of comics' Golden Age. Instead, it remained a showcase for Dick Tracy strip reprints, remaining in that stead through its final issue, No. 121 (Jan. 11, 1949). That said, Smilin' Jack got the honors for this month's issue as part of a run that alternated the big Dick with Jack, adventurer Jim Ellis, super-hero Magic Morro, and even Errol Flynn, in his role as the Sea Hawk. One presumes sales of the Jack issues helped him secure the Popular cover spot a few months later.
One final Dell book this month was something of an oddity and probably not actually put out by Dell at all, even though that's the claim across much of the internet. Hi-Spot Comics No. 2 had begun life in July as Red Ryder Comics No. 1, and would take on that logo again with No. 3 come May 1941, remaining thusly titled through the last gasp of the western craze and the end of the series with No. 151 (technically titled Red Ryder Ranch Comics), on stands Feb. 26, 1957. Ol' Red was nowhere to be seen on the roster for Hi-Spot, however. The listed publisher for this issue is actually not Dell, but Hawley Publications. Apparently a company connected to Western Publishing via its Whitman imprint, where it helped produce the Zane Gray line of pulp mags, Hawley is credited by the Grand Comics Database as publisher of eight comics, including this issue and Issues 1 and 3-5 of Red Ryder, which then switched to Dell. The other Hawley comics were two issues of Sky Blazers, based on CBS radio show, and a single issue reprinting Captain Easy strips. The first Red Ryder book says on its cover that it's "A Hi-Spot Comic," and my guess is that was intended to be the brand of a Hawley line of comics, perhaps contracted by Western in competition with Dell. Hi-Spot No. 2, the only other Hawley book to sport the logo, "A Hi-Spot Comic," must have been intended as the flagship title, before the company reverted to Red Ryder (continuing the same numbering throughout to save on postal permit costs, I'd assume), before giving up, at which time Western must have gone hat-in-hand to Dell and said, "Hey, you mind continuing to fund and distribute this title for us?" Of course, that's all speculation. The interesting thing about this title is that it features the character David Innes, who traveled less famously to Earths' core while Tarzan went to Africa and John Carter to Mars. The script and art here are actually by Burroughs' son, John Coleman Burroughs. The final 20 pages of a 32-page adventure (the first 12 were published here) would not see print until 1968 in a booklet put out by Greystroke Press.
The other big deal for comic book fans in September 1940 must have been the debut of the Human Torch in his own title from Marvel Comics, or Timely Comics as it is now identified during this era of its existence. Company publisher Martin Goodman went through about a thousand DBA's until the 1960s, often several simultaneously, presumably for tax purposes, or perhaps more correctly, tax avoidance purposes.
For example, The Human Torch, which started with Issue No. 2 (we'll get to that) on Sept. 25 of this month, was credited to Timely Publications through No. 3 (on sale March 31, 1941), then to Timely Comics from No. 4 (July 11, 1941) through No. 9 (Sept. 25, 1942), including two issues of No. 5 (again, coming to that). Afterward, the title was "published" by Select Publications for No. 10 (Dec. 30, 1942), then Snap Publishing from No. 11 (April 15, 1943) to No. 25 (Dec. 6, 1946), and finally by Cornell Publishing from No. 26 (Feb. 28, 1947) to its final issue, No. 35 (Dec. 10, 1948). A brief revival, from No. 36 (Jan. 11, 1954) to No. 38 (May 10, 1954), was claimed by Chipiden Publishing, although most fans now refer to that era of the company as Atlas Comics.
If Stan Lee had stuck with the 1954 effort, which also included brief new runs for Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, who knows, he might have inspired, rather than merely reacted to, DC's Silver Age revival. Of course, had that happened, there might never have been a Fantastic Four, and Jim Hammond might never have ceded his codenom de guerre to Johnny Storm
The Johnny Storm version of the Human Torch got own series that lasted eight issues, from June 25, 1974 to Aug. 26, 1975. That series merely reprinted stories featuring Johnny that originally appeared 12 years earlier in Strange Tales. However, Johnny later got a series of all-new adventures in a third titular title published from April 9, 2003, through No. 12, April 28, 2004.
So, I guess if Marvel wanted to try a fourth time with the Torch, and had a mind to be true to actual issues published, it'd start with Issue No. 59.
Anyway, back to that No. 2 first issue thing. The indicia (that's the small print inside the comic that details all the legalese) says this first issue was actually No. 2. That's because it picked up the numbering from Red Raven Comics No. 1, which hit stands May 29, 1940. Reportedly, sales on that title tanked, although one would think that a 2nd, 3rd and possibly even 4th issue of the title would have been produced before sales data was in hand, with which to make a cancellation decision. Because Red Raven No. 1 contains no advertising for No. 2 in the "Next Issue" blurbs at the end of each story — that space dedicated instead to hawking other Timely titles — some speculate Red Raven was killed before he ever got out of the nest. It was, after all, Joe Simon's first editorial effort after leaving Fox Features, and the material in Red Raven No. 1 might have been stuff he brought with him, that Fox might have wanted some coin for had it suspected the material had been produced on his dime. Regardless, the conventional wisdom is that Goodman tried to save himself the cost of a new postal permit for Human Torch by using the one he'd already purchased for Red Raven. Swapping titles but keeping the same numbering was a common practice in the comics industry, reportedly for this very reason, through the 1970s. Helping highlight that Goodman was trying to get away with something is the fact that Human Torch No. 1 contains no issue number on its cover, replacing it instead with the comparatively cryptic, "Fall Number." The third issue would read No. 3 on the cover, but No. 4 in the indicia. The next issue lists itself as No. 5 inside, but omits any number on its cover. Both numbering systems would match starting with No. 5.
This first issue also featured stories of the Sub-Mariner, the golden age Angel and the appropriately named (for this title anyway) Fiery Mask, in addition to the Torch himself, who, because it was a union requirement at the time, here gained a teen-aged sidekick in the form of Toro. So, happy 75th birthday, Toro!
Timely's only other issue out this month, released on Sept. 17, was Marvel Mystery Comics No. 13, which also featured the Torch on the cover, along with Sub-Mariner, The Angel, and "sensational new feature" The Vision. Electro the robot, Ka-Zar the savage, and some dude name Terry Vance round out the issue.
The Human Torch was just Timely's fifth title, following Marvel Mystery (No. 1 on sale as Marvel Comics Aug. 31, 1939), Daring Mystery Comics (Oct. 30, 1939), Mystic Comics (Jan. 15, 1940), and the aborted Red Raven. Keep in mind, at this point in Sept. 1940, we're still two months away from the debut of Captain America Comics (Dec. 20, 1940), while Sub-Mariner won't get his own title until March 1, 1941.
By contrast DC Comics, has six titles on the stands this month alone, including Action Comics (No. 30, on-sale Sept. 24), Adventure Comics (No. 55, Sept. 5), All-American Comics (No. 20, Septt 19), Detective Comics (No. 44, Sept. 3), Flash Comics (No. 11, Sept. 17), and Superman (No. 7, Sept. 10). Other titles in the DC stable at this time, although not out this month due to bi-monthly and quarterly schedules, include All-Star Comics, Batman, and More Fun Comics.
The Superman story in this his month's Action features the final appearance of Daily Planet editor George Tyler, who would not show up again until No. 484, out on March 27, 1978, while this month's Superman issue has the debut of Perry White. There's a little overlap there, the Superman issue hitting stands before the Action comic. But of course, the newspaper Clark Kent worked was called both the Daily Star and the Daily Planet under Tyler's tenure. By Issue 484, it would have been worked out that Tyler/Star was the Earth-2 combo, while White and the Planet graced Earth-1.
Rounding out this month's Action along with Superman are athlete Pep Morgan, buccaneer the Black Pirate, aviating pals the Three Aces, adventurer Tex Thompson (later the whip-weilding hero Mr. America), reporter Clip Carson, and magician Zatara. The Superman issue is, naturally enough, all Superman, and includes one story in which Supes seems to have progressed from leaping tall buildings to actual flying, although that giant leap is a bit in the future still, officially.
For what it's worth, I was at an auction in Biddeford, Maine, recently, where a VG-minus copy of Superman No. 7 sold for $700.
Adventure features Hourman and Sandman, both only a couple of months away from founding the Justice Society of America over in All-Star, while the same can be said of Green Lantern and the Atom, who grace All-American, GL in just his fourth appearance this month, and the Atom in his second (albeit first in costume). In reality, most of the DC heroes had made their debuts so recently when the JSA was founded, one has to wonder if the team up was really reader-demanded, or decided in house.
Joining the Adventure roster of features are yellow menace combatant Barry O/Neil, explorer Mark Lansing, the crime-busting Federal Men, adventurer Cotton Carver, boxer Socko Strong, and Steve Conrad, also an adventurer.
Meanwhile, the All-American crew includes aviator Hop Harrigan (popular enough to warrant his own movie serial), military buddies "Red, White, and Blue," and cartoonist Scribbly, along with some comic strip reprints (a relative rarity for DC, but then, this comic was actually published by Max Gaines' All-American Comics, which had not yet fully merged with DC). One thing I think All-American had going
for it was the striking GL covers by Sheldon Moldoff, which I'm certain must have acted like a magnet on the dimes of young readers of the era.
Also technically an All-American title was Flash Comics, which featured the original Flash, Hawkman and Johnny Thunder (who until this issue had been headlined as "Johnny Thunderbolt"), along with disguise artist The King, Mexican hero The Whip, Special Agent Cliff Cornwall, and the futuristic Rod Rian of the Sky Police.
Meanwhile, back at DC proper, the eponymous Detective Comics featured Batman and Robin, naturally, along with the newly-costumed Crimson Avenger, who might
have been a founding member of the JSA and still revered today if only writer Gardner Fox had taken two heroes from every DC title to fill the roll call. Rounding out the book are spy Bart Regan, private detective Larry Steele (whom E. Nelson Bridwell surprisingly never linked to Cliff Steele), Detective Speed Saunders (who had held Detective's lead spot until Bats showed up), district attorney Steve Malone, trouble-sleuther Cliff Crosby, and hard-nosed detective Slam Bradley. Of the lot, only Slam survived the Golden Age, which is a shame, because almost all of these characters worked jobs that could make them convincing supporting players in the world of Gotham City.
In addition to WDC&S and Human Torch, a third title made its debut this month, although it would only last two issues. Wham Comics No. 1 (on-sale Sept. 5) does not star George Michael. But, even better, it features The Sparkler, a super-hero with a special costume that allows him to turn invisible. However, he explodes into a kaleidoscope of bright lights "for several minutes" after he reappears, due to "the light rays that have been broken coming back together." He's basically a cross between Invisible Kid and The Dazzler. In fact, the entire series seems predicated on the notion that criminals are not only a cowardly and superstitious lot, but also easily frightened by bright lights.
Wham appears to have been hastily put together by Centaur Publications, which would not survive the year. Many of the features star characters who has previously appeared in only one or two tales, sometimes as much as four years earlier. It seems probable that Centaur, sensing the end was near, slapped this title together as a way to make whatever it could on unused inventory. One feature, starring railroad engineer Speed Silvers, ends abruptly here, with no ending published in Issue No. 2. The story ends with what is obviously meant to be a "next issue" blurb blanked out, possibly because series creator Paul Gustavson had moved on without leaving a concluding chapter.
Also out this month from Centaur, exact on-sale dates uncertain, were
Fantoman No. 5 (final issue),
Masked Marvel No. 3 (final issue),
Super Spy No. 2 (also, do you sense the pattern, final issue). Finally, there was
Amazing-Man Comics No. 17 (on-sale Sept. 5), which was actually published by Comic Corporation of America in a deal not unlike the DC/All-American construction. That would allow the title to survive Centaur's demise until its final issue, No. 26, on stands Dec. 11, 1941.
Fantoman started out in
Amazing Mystery Funnies as Fantom of the Fair, a mash-up of Batman and the Phantom of the Opera. He initially guarded the New York World's fair from evil-doers, but had to find a new calling, and codename, once the fair ended. The stories in his solo title were actually reprints from earlier outings in AMF. The other features in Fantoman, including Duke in Gorilla Land (not me), the Circus and Sue, Doctor Darkness, Dick Huston, and the Red Blaze, along with Mad Ming and Joey — which did not feature Ming the Merciless battling Joey Tribianni, so it was not nearly as awesome as it sounds — appear to have been original. The Masked Marvel stories were a mix of new tales and reprints. Both he and Fanty would be revived decades later in
The Protectors, from now-defunct Malibu Comics.
While Super Spy never reappeared, Amazing-Man, another product of Tibetan monks, joined Fantoman and the Masked Marvel in the Malibu-verse.
Also continuing to appear long after the company that launched them folded its tent are the characters of the Quality Comics line. This month sees the adventures of Doll Man in
Feature Comics No. 38 (on-sale Sept. 25), Uncle Sam in
National Comics No. 5 (Sept. 6), and The Ray in
Smash Comics No. 16 (Sept. 18), although the cover of that one goes this issue to espionage agent Black X.
Also, readers in September 1940 were treated to what, for my money, may be the greatest comic book cover of all time, in the form of a Lou Fine drawing of the Red Bee battling for his life against a great, green shark on the front of
Hit Comics No. 5 (Sept. 4).
Feature featured a host of forgettable character alongside Doll Man, the first shrinking hero, who first appeared in Issue No. 27 (Nov. 1, 1939). After taking over the cover with No. 30, Doll Man would hold it, but for a handful of outings by humorous honey Lala Palooza, until No. 140 (Sept. 16, 1949). The title would then adopt a move conventional tone for its final five issues, starring Stunt Man Stetson. Doll Man would have better luck in his own title, which debuted Aug. 15, 1941 and lasted all the way to No. 47, on-sale July 3, 1953. So, when you think about it, the poor l'il dude just barely missed the Silver Age. Heck, if he could have just hung on another three years, he might have joined Blackhawk in making the transition to DC Comics. Had that happened, not only might he have prevented Ray Palmer from ever digging up a white star fragment, he might even have helped to found the Justice League of American! This issue features Doll Man, still pseudonymously credited to his creator, Will Eisner, becoming a "government detective," which would be his raison d'etre for the balance of his Golden Age run. Doll Man would, of course, reappear as a member of the Freedom Fighters when DC tried reviving the Quality characters in the mid 1970s. He's made sporadic appearances since then, but his codename seems dated today, and even when DC pumped out a series of trademark-retaining titles a few years ago, he had to be content to appear in
Phantom Lady rather than in a title of his own.
Uncle Sam, of course, led the FF, and has since headlined a couple of team reboots, as well as his own prestige-format limited series, surviving relatively unchanged from how he's depicted here. Sam would headline National Comics through Issue No. 41 (Feb. 4, 1944), after which he'd give way to comedy/adventure strip The Barker. You'd think Uncle Sam would've sold more comics in the heat of World War II, but apparently not, as he was off the roster for good with Issue No. 45 (Oct. 11, 1944), barely making it past D-Day. His own title, which lasted eight issues, had faded a year earlier. Of note
this particular issue of National is the first appearance of Quality's own super-speedster, Quicksilver. He outlasted Sam by a longshot, keeping up the pace through Issue No. 71 (Feb. 2, 1949), with an additional appearance in No. 73 (June 1, 1949). It may seem surprising then that Quicksliver didn't make the 1970s Freedom Fighters revival — he outlasted about all of the Quality heroes save Doll Man and Phantom Lady — but by then Marvel had a Quicksilver of its own. Plus the revival seems to have focused on characters who had been cover features, and Quicksilver never warranted more than a sidebar headshot. Even so, he would enjoy a higher profile in the DC Universe than any hero who did make the FF cut, with a long 1990s run ("run" get it?) in
Impulse as mentor to Bart Allen, albeit with a better-safe-than-sued name change to Max Mercury. It's somewhat surprising to me that, given the gusto with which it went after imitations of Superman, DC apparently never pressed suit against other copies. I mean, Quicksilver was a LOT more derivative of The Flash than Wonder Man (the Fox Features version) was of Superman.
Black X had been in Smash from the beginning, but The Ray did not come along until Issue No. 14, making this issue just his third appearance. Although one of the more popular Quality characters today, having spawned two limited series and an ongoing out of DC, albeit starring different dudes under fin-tipped hood, The Ray's Golden Age tenure was fairly brief, lasting only through Issue No. 40 (Dec. 18, 1942). Interestingly, DC never bothered to do a revival of Bozo the Robot, if you can imagine such a thing is possible.
Two other companies put out four titles, each, this month — Fox Features and Fiction House. From the former we got
Fantastic Comics No. 12 (on-sale Sept. 10),
Mystery Men Comics No. 16 (Sept. 15),
Weird Comics No. 8 (Sept. 15), and
Wonderworld Comics No. 19 (Sept. 27).
Fantastic starred strongman Samson for its entire run, from Oct. 5, 1939, to No. 23, Aug. 8, 1941. Apart from lifting stuff over his head Superman-style on almost every cover, Samson looked like a blond Tarzan. Still, despite not even lasting to America's entry into World War II, Sam did manage six issues of his own series, from Aug. 10, 1940 to July 2, 1941.
Mystery Men had a slightly longer run, from June 15, 1939 (featuring the debut of the original Blue Beetle) to No. 31, Dec. 15, 1941, also featuring the Beetle. Despite the cancellation of MMC, Blue Beetle fought on in his own comic, which actually beat
Batman No. 1 (a character DC also inexplicably seemed unwilling to defend in court) to the stands by nearly four months. Following its debut on Jan. 2, 1940),
Blue Beetle lasted until No. 11, out Nov. 21, 1941. Issues No. 12 (cover-dated June 1942) through No. 30 (February 1944) were put out by Holyoke Publishing, one of Fox's printers, who assumed a number of its titles when the company went bankrupt. Fox was a phoenix, however, and came back to life, regaining the rights to the Beetle and taking back the title with No. 30 (May 12, 1944) to No. 60 (June 2, 1950).
Weird launched on Feb. 6, 1940, and had a little trouble finding its star, finally settling on The Dart and his kid sidekick Ace. It was a fairly generic Batman and Robin rip-off, differing only in that The Dart was a ancient Roman revived from suspended animation who, while he could not quite fly, could "dart" through the air. He and Ace — who didn't quite seem to get the point of his mask, since he used his own name while fighting crime — held the cover through No. 13 (Feb. 13, 1941), and again for No. 15 (April 16, 1941), when they gave way to The Eagle, who flew into Weird from
Science Comics, and commandeered the cover though the end of the series at No. 20 (Oct. 15, 1941) amid Fox's financial downfall. Although a number of heroes who fell into the public domain have been revived in recent years, first at AC Comics and more recently through Dynamite Entertainment, I'm not aware that either
The Dart or The Eagle ever got pulled out of the limbo to which they were consigned.
Having more luck was The Flame, star of Wonderworld, who has been a part of Dynamite's Project Superpowers line. Wonderworld was simply Wonder Comics for its first two issues, but presumably got elongated to sidestep ramifications of the Wonder Man/Superman lawsuit. The Flame graced every cover of Wonderworld from No. 3 (May 28, 1939) except for the final two issues, which featured patriotic hero U.S. Jones. The title ended at No. (Nov. 28, 1941).
Meanwhile, Fiction House boasted a line that lasted long into what we now call the Atom Age of comics — that period nestled in between the end of the Golden Age and the start of the Silver. The period derives its name from the science fiction and atomically-created monsters that were the staple of the era. Romance and westerns also garnered much rack space, but Fiction House's forte through all eras was fighting men and jungle girls. This month saw the publication of
Fight Comics No. 10 (on-sale Sept. 19),
Jumbo Comics No. 21 (Sept. 17),
Jungle Comics No. 11 (Sept. 17), and
Wings Comics No. 3 (Sept. 12).
Fight featured a bevy of apt action-orientated features, with "daredevil Jap-
smashing 'chute trooper" Rip Carter leading the charge from No. 19 (April 10, 1942). He followed a failed attempt by Fiction House to latch onto the patriotic super-hero schtick with Super-American. Still, by Issue No. 27 (May 19, 1943) FIght had latched onto the women-in-peril theme, thus helping to usher in the "good girl" era of comic book art. This evolution probably tells us that the Fiction House mags were enjoyed as much by American soldiers overseas as by American boys back on the homefront. With Issue No. 49 (Jan. 1, 1947) Fight became another one of Fiction House's jungle mags, starring Tiger Girl from that point through Issue No. 81 (April 10, 1952), when Rip returned to retake his old cover spot. However, he only lasted there for four outings, giving way for Fight's final round, No. 86 on Dec. 28, 1953, to Tigerman (no relation to Tiger Girl). Despite lacking a costume, Tiger Man was billed as "the one-man atom squad" as he busted chops.
Jumbo was Fiction House's first title, and actually built from books created by Will Eisner's shop for the U.K. market. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, was there when the first issue hit stands on July 12, 1938, and did her vine-swinging thing on the cover of every issue from No. 18 (June 11, 1940) through No. 160 (April 10, 1952), when she got relegated to a corner box in favor of more generic women-in-peril until the final issue, No. 167 (Jan. 15, 1953).
About the time Sheena took control of the Jumbo cover, Fiction House, recognizing a sure thing sales-wise, launched Jungle Comics (Oct. 6, 1939). Sure, it starred Kaanga, Lord of the Jungle, but his helpmate Ann Mason was right there alongside him, in increasingly suggestive leopard-print poses though the title's demise, with No. 163 (June 18, 1954), outlasting Sheena even as the title took in Tigergirl.
Finally, Wings lasted a surprisingly long time, considering the aviation fad had hit its zenith in 1927 with Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight and pretty much run its course by the time the title launched on June 14, 1940. True, early comics seemed almost contractually obliged to feature at least one two-fisted aviator, but the genre was already largely grounded when Wings launched. Even so, perhaps aided by its own good girl era, Wings lasted well past development of the jet engine, not landing until Issue No. 124 (June 18, 1954), when all Fiction House guys and gals met their greatest foe in the form of Dr. Fredric Wertham.
From here, we come to companies that only issued one or two titles in September 1940. Or three. David McKay publishing was one of the first in the field and stuck pretty exclusively to comic strip reprints, featuring the Katzenjammer Kids on Ace Comics No. 44 (on-sale Sept. 27), Popeye on King Comics No. 55 (Sept. 20), and Mandrake the Magician on Magic Comics No. 15 (Sept. 4). Ace would last until No. 151 (Aug. 31, 1949), switching to feature The Phantom on its cover for the final 10 outings. King was Popeye's domain for its entire run, though No. 155 (Sept. 21, 1949), while Magic bailed on Mandrake with No.
25 (July 9, 1941) to feature instead the Bumstead family, generally favoring Dagwood over Blondie, until it, too, folded, with No. 123 (Oct. 12. 1949).
Archie Comics was still MLJ Magazines at this point and fully ensconced in the super-hero fad, featuring The Shield on
Pep Comics No. 9 (Sept. 15), and Steel Sterling on
Zip Comics No. 9 (Sept. 10).
Steel, who was calling himself the "Man of Steel" long before a certain Kryptonian somebody, made his debut in Zip No. 1 (Jan. 2, 1940) and he featured on every cover through cancellation of the series at No. 47 (May 16, 1944). However, he soon found himself sharing prime real estate, first with Blackjack (Nos. 20-27), then The Web (Nos. 27-35), the Applejack Family (No. 36-38), Senor Banana (No. 38-39), and Red Rube (No. 40-47). Of the group, only The Web gets any love from Archie Comics today.
Meanwhile, Pep, perhaps because it's where Archie Andrews got his start (in No. 22, on-sale Oct. 15, 1941), lasted much longer. The Shield held the cover from No. 1 (Nov. 16, 1939), sharing the space with sidekick Dusty the Boy Detective (on Nos. 11-17), The Hangman (Nos. 17-40) — often with Dusty in tow — and then with Archie and the gang (Nos. 41-50). Archie then took over completely, not only by assuming the cover with No. 51, but the company name with No. 56 (Feb. 11, 1946) when MLJ became Archie Comics Publications. Pep would drop the "Comics" part of its title with No. 137 (Nov. 20, 1959), but would not lose its fizz until No. 411 (Jan. 1, 1987), when the company canceled and relaunched a number of long-running titles.
Fawcett Publications was, of course, the primary challenger to Superman's dominance in the late 1940s and early 1950s, until the courts took care of that. Still, this month saw just two titles from the company, in the forms of
Master Comics No. 7 (Sept. 4) and
Whiz Comics No. 10 (Sept. 25).
Whiz, where the Big Red Cheese got his start, would last until No. 155 (March 6, 1953), while Master, home to Captain Marvel Jr. from No. 22 (Sept. 5, 1941), would fold at No. 133 (Jan. 7, 1953). Prior to Junior coming along, Master muddled though from its launch on Feb. 14, 1940, with Master Man (Nos. 1-6) — whom DC never bothered to revive so far as I know —Bulletman (Nos. 7-11, 13, 15, 17-21), and Minuteman (Nos. 12-14, 16-18).
Harvey Comics was still a few months away from entering the comic book field in Sept. 1940. Many sources confuse the publisher's debut by listing
Cyclone Comics and
O.K. Comics, both of which see their final issues this month, as Harvey titles. They're not. They were instead published by a VERY short-lived publisher: Worth Carnahan. The confusion arises because Leo Greenwald, who worked for Worth's distributer, PDC, continued the company's one other title,
Champion Comics for a few issues before selling it to Harvey. This final month for Worth includes Cylone No. 5 and O.K. No. 2 (exact on-sale dates unknown).
Cyclone features Tornado Tom, the Human Whirlwind, although the title refers to Tom being a cyclone of fisticuffs, rather than a super-speedster. Clearly, Worth was not planning to go out of business as the
last panel of Tom's story promises "Coming! Tornado Tom saves America!" Sadly, that tale, if it was ever produced, has yet to appear. That's too bad as the art,
by Jon Small, later of Superman and Seven Soldiers fame, was pretty good. Other decent features which never again saw the light of day were jungle goddess Koroo the Black Lion, detective Mister Q, state trooper Sgt. Buzz Sawyer (not to be confused with the conservation comic strip), soldier of fortune Ted Cameron, Lilliputian adventurer Robo of the Little People, sci-fi epic Kingdom of the Moon, jungle boy Jag (with Mala, his pet jaguar), crusader Reynard the Fox, and the closest thing Cyclone had to a super-hero, Volton the Human Generator. A version of Volton by the same creator,
Charles M. Quinlan, would later appear in
Catman Comics, which sometimes causes the Worth titles to get lumped in with Holyoke comics, rather than Harvey. Such confusion is bound to happen when your company's entire output was only 17 issues of three titles.
O.K. featured Little Giant, a boy orphan injected with a special serum called impruvogen, which gave him super-strength, -speed, and -durability. Also granted a special suit that allowed him to resist gravity, Little Giant was seemingly a much closer knock-off of Superman than any character actually sued over alleged infringement. Rounding out O.K. were Argonaut wannabe Jason McCoy, cowboy Sunset Smith, adventurer Phantom Knight, military strip Devil Digs in China, super-hero Mister Mist (another product of Tibetan Monks), and detective Shuteye Johnson, along with the Terrible Turk, the Teller Twins and heroic lifeguard Kip Jaxon.
Novelty Press never pumped out a huge volume of titles, but was in the field for a fair amount of time (from 1940 to 1949), which might be expected, given it was an imprint of Curtis Publishing, which also put out the
Saturday Evening Post, then a staple of American suburban life. Novelty's issues this month were
Blue Bolt No. 6 and
Target Comics No. 10, both of which are maddening in that they used volume numbers. Thus, the last issue of Blue Bolt (No. 101, on sale July 13, 1949) is technically, Volume 10, No. 2, while Target's last outing (No. 105, June 8, 1949) is Volume 9, No. 10. Both titles would be continued by Star Publications, a company founded by legendary artists L.B. Cole, after Curtis decided to bail on comics.
Blue Bolt's titular hero, created by Joe Simon, of Simon & Kirby fame, could shoot lighting bolts and, for the sake or redundancy, possessed a gun that could do the same. Novelty was pretty quick to dump super-heroes as the fad faded and Blue Bolt quickly lost his gun, cape, fin-tipped helmet, and even his super-powers, as he evolved into a standard adventure hero. For much of its run, Blue Bolt cover-featured instead boy athlete Dick Cole, dubbed "America's number one school star." After Star took over Blue Bolt got a brief return to heroic togs, but the title was soon spearheaded by Basil Wolverton's Spacehawk as the title turned to sci-fi, promising "Weird, fantastic stories of the unknown." But even that did not last as Star jumped genres again, changing the title to
Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror with No. 111 (Sept. 1, 1951). The title would change once more, to
Ghostly Weird Stories with No. 120 (July 1, 1953), prior to cancellation at No. 124 (July 1, 1954).
Unlike Blue Bolt, it took Target until this month, 10 issues into its run, to come up with an eponymous character, The Target, who fought crime in a bullet-proof costume naturally adorned with a bullseye chest icon. The Target lasted on covers, albeit often in a top-left headshot, longer that Blue Bolt, but he, too, soon lost top billing, first to a variety of humor and adventure strips, then with increasing regularity to military cadet Kit Carter. Star didn't waste any time switching genres when it took over Target, however, renaming it
Target Western Romances with its first issue (No. 106, Aug, 24, 1949). Two issues later, the title became
Flaming Western Romances (although the book was not nearly as Brokeback as it sounds) for one final issue. That one, on-sale in Jan. 1950, was a No. 3, as it counted the first two Star issues as Nos. 1 and 2.
Finally, bringing up the rear of Sept. 1940, with one title, each, are Ace Magazines, with
Super-Mystery Comics No. 4; Columbia Comics with
Big Shot Comics No. 7; Eastern Color Press with the grandpappy of them all,
Famous Funnies, now at Issue No. 75; Standard Comics with
Thrilling Comics No. 10; and, United Features, with Single Series No. 22.
Ace, product of the husband-and-wife publishing team of A.A. and Rose Wyn, had been pumping out pulp magazines since 1928. It was in comics from 1940 to 1956, just missing the Silver Age, with Super-Mystery it's longest running title. featuring Magno the Magnetic Man (which we're certain Stan Lee never read), it ran from April 22, 1940 until No. 48 (April 30, 1949), although the cover feature switched from Magno and his boy pal Davey (yet another costumed sidekick who fought crime using his actual name) to crime-busting couple Bert and Sue Slueth with No. 33 (Nov. 15, 1946)
Columbia was founded by the McNaught Newspaper Syndicate with the help of former DC Comics editor Vin Sullivan, credited as the guy who took a chance on Superman for
Action Comics No. 1, after so many others had rejected the idea. Columbia was designed to publish McNaught strips like Charlie Chan and Joe Palooka in comics form, but Big Shot, while it did feature those characters, as well as Dixie Dugan, also spotlighted original characters such as aviating hero Skyman, monster-masked crime-fighter The Face. Big Shot lasted until No. 104 (July 8, 1949) when Columbia folded.
Eastern Color, of course, is credited with largely creating the comic book industry with Famous Funnies. It published relatively few titles, however, with only three, FF, Heroic Comics and Jingle-Jangle Comics, lasting more than 40 issues. FF outlasted them all, continuing to reprint newspaper funnies, as well as a few adventure strips, such as Buck Rogers, through No. 218 (May, 1955).
Standard had a publishing history far too complicated to recount here. Suffice it to say that Thrilling, which featured Dr. Strange (another book Stan Lee never saw), had a decent run. The cover feature switched to jungle heroine Princess Pantha with No. 58 (Dec. 6, 1946), and then to cowboy detective Buck Ranger with No. 72 (April 5, 1949) before cancellation with No. 80 (Feb. 2, 1951).
And last but not least, Single Series, from United Features, is a collective title assigned by collectors, in similar fashion to Dell's "Four Color" line, because, although the title changed with ever issue, each advanced the same numbering patter. Thus, was we call
Single Series No. 22 is, going by the indicia alone, actually
Iron Vic No. 22. The issue is odd in that it is the only outing in the entire Single Series series, to feature an original character. United Features, like Dell, had decided to jump on the super-hero bandwagon and it's efforts, like
Phantasmo, were largely forgettable. The only adventure strip done by Bernard Dibble, most famous for Katzenjammer doppleganger The Cap'n and the Kids, Vic was simply an amnesiac dude found by a couple of mad scientists who injected him with a super-hero formula, thus pre-dating, in a way, Captain America's famous origin. Vics' powers were pretty Cap like, but he fought without a secret identity (since he had none that he knew of), eschewing the traditional long underwear costume for a tuxedo and cape. After making is debut here, Vic transferred over to UF's Tip-Top Comics, where he soon got out of super-heroing and became a baseball star. Apparently, doping up enhanced athletic abilities was not frowned upon back then. After a short stint as U.S. Marine during World War II, Vic returned to the baseball diamond, lasting in Tip-Top through No. 84 (March 2, 1943). The Grand Comics Database records on Tip-Top are not complete, but Vic appears to have been retired by No. 96, published 13 months later.
Data Errata
for September 1940
48 comics from 17 publishers.
Dell Publishing (7 titles - 14.6% of the market): Crackajack Funnies #28, Four Color #11 (Smitty), The Funnies #48, Hi-Spot Comics #2, Popular Comics #56, Super Comics #29, Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #1
DC Comics/All-American (6 - 12.5%): Action Comics #30, Adventure Comics #55, All-American Comics #20, Detective Comics #44, Flash Comics #11, Superman #7
Centaur Comics (5 - 10.4%): Amazing Man Comics #17, Fantoman #4, Masked Marvel #3, Super Spy #2, Wham Comics #1
Fox Features (4 - 8.3%): Fantastic Comics #12, Mystery Men Comics #16, Weird Comics #8, Wonderworld Comics #19
Fiction House (4): Fight Comics #10, Jumbo Comics #21, Jungle Comics #11, Wings Comics #3
Quality Comics (4): Feature Comics #38, Hit Comics #5, National Comics #5, Smash Comics #16
McKay Publishing (3 - 6.3%): Ace Comics #44, King Comics #55, Magic Comics #15
Archie Comics/MLJ (2 - 4.2%): Pep Comics #9, Zip Comics #9
Fawcett Comics (2): Master Comics #7, Whiz Comics #10
Worth Publishing (2): Cyclone Comics #5, O.K. Comics #2
Marvel Comics/Timely (2): Human Torch #2, Marvel Mystery Comics #13
Novelty Press (2): Blue Bolt #6, Target Comics #10
Ace Magazines (1 - 2%): Super-Mystery Comics #4
Columbia Comics (1): Big Shot Comics #7
Eastern Color Press (1): Famous Funnies #75
Standard Comics/Nedor (1): Thrilling Comics #10
United Features (1): Single Series #22 (Iron Vic)
Genres (8): Super-Hero (29 covers - 60.4% of issues out this month), Action/Adventure (7 - 14.6%), Comic Strip Characters (4 - 8.3%), War (3 - 6.3%), Jungle (2 - 4.2%), Crime (1 - 2%), Funny Animal (1), Humor (1)
Cover Price (average and median): 10¢ ($1.70 in 2015 dollars)
Page Count (average and median): 64
Come back on the following dates for the remainder of this review:
Sept. 6 — 1945 (70 years ago)
Sept. 8 — 1955 (60 years ago)
Sept. 10 — 1965 (50 years ago)
Sept. 15 — 1975 (40 years ago)
Sept. 17 — 1985 (30 years ago)
Sept. 22 — 1990 (25 years ago)
Sept. 24 — 1995 (20 years ago)
Sept. 29 — 2005 (10 years ago)
Or, go even further back in time with:
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