comicdonna Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 They were clearly advertizing it on issue #12 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markseifert Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Actually... huh. Action 10 -- March '39 Superman 1 -- Summer '39 Action 13 -- June [NY World's Fair '39] Action 15 -- August Superman 2 -- Fall Action 17 -- Oct Superman #3 -- Winter Action 19 -- Dec This is quick and dirty, but the Action covers are pretty neatly staggered with the other Superman comic appearances. So it almost looks like they were deliberately pacing his exposure throughout 1939, and then in 1940 cranked it up another notch with monthly Action covers and moving Superman to bi-monthly (from quarterly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aman619 Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Hearing all the comments and points of history, Id date this flyer as being shipped with whichever issue was leaving the presses when the sales results of #7 (or maybe #10 if they shelved the decision for one more test cover) came back. Figuring a 3 months delay, the flyers might have ben prepared as early as issue 11, or 14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. Keep this quote from David Bachman in mind... Superman #1 was not, in fact, Superman #1. It bore no number and no date (except a copy-right date), either on the cover, or in the indicia. More significantly, it bore no notice of second-class mail permit in its indicia, an item that must be carried by any publication that will be published periodically and sent to subscribers via second-class mail. The house ad in Action Comics #13 referred to it as "a big complete Superman book" rather than as a new title. And the house ad for Superman #2 in Action Comics #17 stated, "Your overwhelming approval of the first magazine has prompted us to publish this second one...." Cumulatively, these items convince me that the publication we refer to as Superman #1 was actually intended to be a one-shot publication. Its "overwhelming" success, then, apparently prompted two reactions by its publisher: (1) publication of a second printing, and (2) a decision to initiate a new quarterly title featuring only Superman stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. Keep this quote from David Bachman in mind... Superman #1 was not, in fact, Superman #1. It bore no number and no date (except a copy-right date), either on the cover, or in the indicia. More significantly, it bore no notice of second-class mail permit in its indicia, an item that must be carried by any publication that will be published periodically and sent to subscribers via second-class mail. The house ad in Action Comics #13 referred to it as "a big complete Superman book" rather than as a new title. And the house ad for Superman #2 in Action Comics #17 stated, "Your overwhelming approval of the first magazine has prompted us to publish this second one...." Cumulatively, these items convince me that the publication we refer to as Superman #1 was actually intended to be a one-shot publication. Its "overwhelming" success, then, apparently prompted two reactions by its publisher: (1) publication of a second printing, and (2) a decision to initiate a new quarterly title featuring only Superman stories. excellent work Batman . Ah, I mean Jeff that is something I forgot about that Supe 1 was really a one shot book and due to popularity became a new title. Would make sense then that perhaps the ad for Supe in Action did surface post Supe 1 but pre Action 20 era. Although, the ad clearly markets Action Comics---makes me think that the ad was out pre Supe 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markseifert Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'll scan this later, but I see from that section on promo flyers in Overstreets Gold & Silver Quarterly #1 that there was a flyer/letter for Superman #4 that also mentions the "Remember Superman is in every issue of Action!" kind of line. So it's obviously something they were focused on for quite a while. Interesting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicdonna Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. Keep this quote from David Bachman in mind... Superman #1 was not, in fact, Superman #1. It bore no number and no date (except a copy-right date), either on the cover, or in the indicia. More significantly, it bore no notice of second-class mail permit in its indicia, an item that must be carried by any publication that will be published periodically and sent to subscribers via second-class mail. The house ad in Action Comics #13 referred to it as "a big complete Superman book" rather than as a new title. And the house ad for Superman #2 in Action Comics #17 stated, "Your overwhelming approval of the first magazine has prompted us to publish this second one...." Cumulatively, these items convince me that the publication we refer to as Superman #1 was actually intended to be a one-shot publication. Its "overwhelming" success, then, apparently prompted two reactions by its publisher: (1) publication of a second printing, and (2) a decision to initiate a new quarterly title featuring only Superman stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ameri Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. The machinations are fascinating, but looking at DC titles by month and year, it shows that Action wasn't the only title with alternating hero covers. January 1940 is the defining month where all titles switched to superhero covers with Detective 35, Adventure 46, and Action 20 starting that trend. If the Spectre had already been created, we would include the More Fun title, but his first appearance wasn't till Feb 1940. At any rate, there were no alternating covers on More Fun after 51. Same with Green Lantern as he simply didn't exist till July 1940 (although there was Ultra Man before him, but not technically a costumed hero). The last pre-hero cover or last gasp might well have been More Fun 51 or even Double Action 2, unless we consider an All American before #16. So it seems like an intentional effort for DC to go all hero, regardless of title, starting with Jan 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markseifert Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 The machinations are fascinating, but looking at DC titles by month and year, it shows that Action wasn't the only title with alternating hero covers. January 1940 is the defining month where all titles switched to superhero covers with Detective 35, Adventure 46, and Action 20 starting that trend. If the Spectre had already been created, we would include the More Fun title, but his first appearance wasn't till Feb 1940. At any rate, there were no alternating covers on More Fun after 51. Same with Green Lantern as he simply didn't exist till July 1940 (although there was Ultra Man before him, but not technically a costumed hero). The last pre-hero cover or last gasp might well have been More Fun 51 or even Double Action 2, unless we consider an All American before #16. So it seems like an intentional effort for DC to go all hero, regardless of title, starting with Jan 1940. Fascinating observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ameri Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 One wonders why DC would even assemble a throwback like Double Action 2 after the push was clearly superhero product. Perhaps they thought there was still a market for non-costumed heroes to tap into as those kind of strips were their bread and butter since 1935. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibou Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. Keep this quote from David Bachman in mind... Superman #1 was not, in fact, Superman #1. It bore no number and no date (except a copy-right date), either on the cover, or in the indicia. More significantly, it bore no notice of second-class mail permit in its indicia, an item that must be carried by any publication that will be published periodically and sent to subscribers via second-class mail. The house ad in Action Comics #13 referred to it as "a big complete Superman book" rather than as a new title. And the house ad for Superman #2 in Action Comics #17 stated, "Your overwhelming approval of the first magazine has prompted us to publish this second one...." Cumulatively, these items convince me that the publication we refer to as Superman #1 was actually intended to be a one-shot publication. Its "overwhelming" success, then, apparently prompted two reactions by its publisher: (1) publication of a second printing, and (2) a decision to initiate a new quarterly title featuring only Superman stories. This is the first time, I've seen this or heard about it... that is very cool! I never thought about Superman #1 NOT being #1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I love that "Here is a small reproduction of the cover" line... also used in the house ads for Batman #1. Because superhero comics were so in their infancy, they were seemingly afraid kids might be on the lookout for a digest format rather than the standard one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 The machinations are fascinating, but looking at DC titles by month and year, it shows that Action wasn't the only title with alternating hero covers. January 1940 is the defining month where all titles switched to superhero covers with Detective 35, Adventure 46, and Action 20 starting that trend. If the Spectre had already been created, we would include the More Fun title, but his first appearance wasn't till Feb 1940. At any rate, there were no alternating covers on More Fun after 51. Same with Green Lantern as he simply didn't exist till July 1940 (although there was Ultra Man before him, but not technically a costumed hero). The last pre-hero cover or last gasp might well have been More Fun 51 or even Double Action 2, unless we consider an All American before #16. So it seems like an intentional effort for DC to go all hero, regardless of title, starting with Jan 1940. Fascinating observation. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I love that "Here is a small reproduction of the cover" line... also used in the house ads for Batman #1. Because superhero comics were so in their infancy, they were seemingly afraid kids might be on the lookout for a digest format rather than the standard one. setting time machine back for May 18, 1939 flux capacitor flexing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibou Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I love that "Here is a small reproduction of the cover" line... also used in the house ads for Batman #1. Because superhero comics were so in their infancy, they were seemingly afraid kids might be on the lookout for a digest format rather than the standard one. setting time machine back for May 18, 1939 flux capacitor flexing You're lucky. All I could do was 'right click-save'... Knightsofold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. The machinations are fascinating, but looking at DC titles by month and year, it shows that Action wasn't the only title with alternating hero covers. January 1940 is the defining month where all titles switched to superhero covers with Detective 35, Adventure 46, and Action 20 starting that trend. If the Spectre had already been created, we would include the More Fun title, but his first appearance wasn't till Feb 1940. At any rate, there were no alternating covers on More Fun after 51. Same with Green Lantern as he simply didn't exist till July 1940 (although there was Ultra Man before him, but not technically a costumed hero). The last pre-hero cover or last gasp might well have been More Fun 51 or even Double Action 2, unless we consider an All American before #16. So it seems like an intentional effort for DC to go all hero, regardless of title, starting with Jan 1940. DC certainly was in the drivers seat, with Timely barely into their third issue of Marvel Mystery and Cap still about a year away from being created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primetime Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I love that "Here is a small reproduction of the cover" line... also used in the house ads for Batman #1. Because superhero comics were so in their infancy, they were seemingly afraid kids might be on the lookout for a digest format rather than the standard one. setting time machine back for May 18, 1939 flux capacitor flexing You're lucky. All I could do was 'right click-save'... copies were already sold out but ran into some nice kid in Nebraska who gave me his extra barn copy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevenrams Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Can someone please--pretty please with cherries on top--give me the GPA for Action Comics 17 in 4.0? Thanks in advance. SLR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 A 4.0 sold a year ago for $2376. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxtrot70 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Quite possible from these findings and comments from you all that this ad might as well had its infancy beginnings as far as Action 7 and could have been out in a drug store as early as Action 11 (April 1939) or Action 13 (June 1939) to cross market the new Supe title and continuing appearances in Action Comics...still curious if the popularity was a hit in late 38, why the supe consecutive covers didn't start til 19--even with slow gathering of sales data. Fun stuff to investigate. Would be cool if anyone could find a real drug store pic with this ad next to the comics I was wondering about this as well... I wonder if they were initially worried that having the Superman comic AND regular Superman-covered Action would be too much...? But thinking about it further... look at what happened around Jan-Mar 1939: The newspaper strip launched, they moved to squash the competition with DC v Bruns, and they were prepping for the Superman comic -- and of course, by the end of the year there were monthly Superman Action covers. So that fits with the all sail and no anchor quote for fall '38. They were preparing to blow things up in '39, and they did. The machinations are fascinating, but looking at DC titles by month and year, it shows that Action wasn't the only title with alternating hero covers. January 1940 is the defining month where all titles switched to superhero covers with Detective 35, Adventure 46, and Action 20 starting that trend. If the Spectre had already been created, we would include the More Fun title, but his first appearance wasn't till Feb 1940. At any rate, there were no alternating covers on More Fun after 51. Same with Green Lantern as he simply didn't exist till July 1940 (although there was Ultra Man before him, but not technically a costumed hero). The last pre-hero cover or last gasp might well have been More Fun 51 or even Double Action 2, unless we consider an All American before #16. So it seems like an intentional effort for DC to go all hero, regardless of title, starting with Jan 1940. From what I can tell, Adv 49 (April 1940) w Pirate cover (in my top 3 fav) is prob last actual pre-hero adventure style genre cover for DC?? I would guess there is some pragmatic reason, such as covers were already drawn and paid for and in queue for publication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
