The "Funny Book" thread

[Bonds25]

 

Sweet books!

[bobpfef]

Stanley did a lot of work for the East Coast based Dell books in the 40s. He did many of the stories in New Funnies for all the different characters (Woody Woodpecker, Oswald, Eightball, Andy Panda, etc) from issue 84 - 128 or so. I like his Woody Wooderpecker the best, it is really wild and looney. Plus he drew most of these in his very loose and fluid cartooning style. He also did some Woody FCs which I haven't tracked down myself so I am not sure how well his stuff works in the longer format. Most of Stanley's stories were shorter and he rarerly did epic "book length" stuff - the notable exceptions being the FC Oswalds and the wonderful Nancy and Sluggo Summer Camp Giants. As far as the FC Oswalds, they are pretty good, but not the best Stanley stuff. It seems at times as they are a bunch of funny bits in search of a plot, and whoever did the artwork seems to have been rushed.

 

Stanley also worked on Animal Comics, Raggedy Ann and Andy, New Terrytunes, Nancy. All of these contain hidden gems, imo.

 

In the 60s Stanley moved on to working on characters he created, including Melvin Monster, Dunc & Loo and Thirteen. All are worth reading, and I particulary like Thirteen.

 

Bob

 

 

My contribution. Another full lenght John Stanley Oswald story

 

 

 

 

I never thought about John Stanley's work other than in the context of his work on Little Lulu and then some unusual horror work. What do you think of Stanley's work on Oswald? What kind of stories are they.

 

BTW, I love the OSWALD logo with the flowers and pinstripes. Thanks for posting!

[adamstrange]

Thanks, BP!

 

I'll bet I've read some of the Woody Woodpeckers when I was kid -- in GK reprints. I'm not certain they were Stanley, but I did enjoy them. I'll keep my eye for some of the others that you recommend.

[adamstrange]

Not politically correct, but germane to the thread.

 

[adamstrange]

[Forbush-Man]

Sgt. Bilko's Pvt. Doberman # 1

 

[Forbush-Man]

The Kilroys # 7

 

[adamstrange]

Nice book!

 

I never noticed the little CBS eye before!

[esquirecomics]

Can't get much earlier than this for funny humor books, or even any comic books!! From my own personal collection (not for sale).

 

[esquirecomics]

[esquirecomics]

[adamstrange]

Those are all absolutely CLASSIC funny books!

[lou_fine]

Can't get much earlier than this for funny humor books, or even any comic books!! From my own personal collection (not for sale).

 

 

Mark;

 

Wow, that is an absolutely amazing condition for a book from that time period. Looks like it should have graded higher except possibly for some staining on the LLC of the spine. Just checked the CGC census and was really surprised to find five HG copies of this book slabbed with two copies in 8.5 and three copies in 9.0 along with a restored 9.4 copy.

 

Was there a minor warehouse find of this particular issue or something since none of the other early Eastern Colour books appear to have any HG copies at all in the census? I have a copy of this particular book, although mine's is nowhere close to your copy condition wise since mine is only around mid-grade at the most.

 

Do you have the other funny book that is even earlier than this book, namely Funnies on Parade also from 1933. I was lucky enough to pick up both of these classic books from a private collector during my first trip down to SD in the early 90's. I guess I was really into the books that spawned the birth of the comic books back then since I also managed to pick up the Wildenberg file copies of Famous Funnies #1 - #5.

 

Unfortunately, nobody seems to appreciate these historical books anymore, since they have not really gone up in value over the years. I remember when OS first came out and newspaper strip reprint books such as these were near the same level in value as super-hero books. Needless to say, the entire collecting community seems to have gone super-hero centric since then.

[adamstrange]

Sounds like some great books, LF. When are you going to post 'em

 

I don't think that it's just the super-hero centricity of the hobby (which is very real) that is the only reason for why these early books have less relative interest in the hobby. I think the fact that many of these early books are reprints from newspapers plays against them. Other factors include the scarcity (they are really too scarce to collect except by a handful of collectors), many of the covers of even those containing original material is not that exciting, the interiors were often black and white, a single high-grade copy of many of the ones that are cool will often cost 6k and up. I think there's a subtle dampening of enthusiasm because many of the books that have original material also have some reprint material. I personally am most interested in original material for comics especially when the artists broke away from the limitations of the syndicated strips and really developed the visual art form of comic books.

 

Please don't think I'm knocking these issues as I'm interested in all comics, I was just trying to give some possible answers to your question.

[lou_fine]

Sounds like some great books, LF. When are you going to post 'em

 

I don't think that it's just the super-hero centricity of the hobby (which is very real) that is the only reason for why these early books have less relative interest in the hobby. I think the fact that many of these early books are reprints from newspapers plays against them. Other factors include the scarcity (they are really too scarce to collect except by a handful of collectors), many of the covers of even those containing original material is not that exciting, the interiors were often black and white, a single high-grade copy of many of the ones that are cool will often cost 6k and up. I think there's a subtle dampening of enthusiasm because many of the books that have original material also have some reprint material. I personally am most interested in original material for comics especially when the artists broke away from the limitations of the syndicated strips and really developed the visual art form of comic books.

 

Please don't think I'm knocking these issues as I'm interested in all comics, I was just trying to give some possible answers to your question.

 

Adam;

 

No offence taken since I think they are all valid points.

 

I guess my collecting cycle followed the same pattern as I started with pre-hero books, then moved into Batman books prior to the first movie, then into Captain America followed by early Fox books, and finally into minor keys and classic covers. Of course, all the time trying to focus on only high grade unrestored copies.

 

No idea where I am now since I can no longer afford even the minor keys. I guess I am probably trying to find the odd undiscovered classic cover here and there.

[adamstrange]

Expensive tastes now, but much more affordable at the time you were looking. I got into Batman around the time of the movie -- SA Batman If only...

 

I still think there are undiscovered classics, even with Gerber. The Gerber images are quite tiny -- some books that look good in full size, aren't impressive in Gerber. Then there are the Gerber no-shows and the 50s books (although it sounds like you really go after the GA).

[esquirecomics]

Wow, that is an absolutely amazing condition for a book from that time period. Looks like it should have graded higher except possibly for some staining on the LLC of the spine. Just checked the CGC census and was really surprised to find five HG copies of this book slabbed with two copies in 8.5 and three copies in 9.0 along with a restored 9.4 copy.

 

Was there a minor warehouse find of this particular issue or something since none of the other early Eastern Colour books appear to have any HG copies at all in the census? I have a copy of this particular book, although mine's is nowhere close to your copy condition wise since mine is only around mid-grade at the most.

 

LF, I wish I knew where the HG copies suddenly came from though I am grateful they appeared! Heritage, which is where I purchased my copy from (at a ridiculously low price I might add ) has sold two 9.0 copies, an 8.5, a 7.5 and two 7.0s during the last 2 years. ComicLink has an 8.5 and 7.5 currently on its site. The images are too small for me to tell if they are the same copies as from Heritage. I had tried to purchase both of those books before I snagged mine, but the sellers would not budge on their prices. Then I saw the Heritage auction and I ended up spending less money for a higher graded copy!

 

Do you have the other funny book that is even earlier than this book, namely Funnies on Parade also from 1933. I was lucky enough to pick up both of these classic books from a private collector during my first trip down to SD in the early 90's. I guess I was really into the books that spawned the birth of the comic books back then since I also managed to pick up the Wildenberg file copies of Famous Funnies #1 - #5.

 

I wish. I echo AdamStrange. Post em!

 

Unfortunately, nobody seems to appreciate these historical books anymore, since they have not really gone up in value over the years. I remember when OS first came out and newspaper strip reprint books such as these were near the same level in value as super-hero books. Needless to say, the entire collecting community seems to have gone super-hero centric since then.

 

AdamStrange raised some good points about why perhaps these books are not as sought after, but I, like you, just simply love them. It is not the content that I actually care about, but the historical importance of the books. To think this is the second comic book ever made, that it is over 70 years old but yet is in such fantastic shape (hell, it is in better shape than some of the books I purchased off the stands just 25 years ago!!!), well, it leaves me speechless.

 

Interestingly, perhaps for the first time (I'll need to go back and check old OS guides), New Book of Comics #1 entered the top 50 GA books for value. Came in as #40. The Famous Funnies book falls just outside the top 100.

 

In fact, this discussion gives me an idea for a new thread.

[generic user]

This is not in the same league as the books esquirecomics has been posting, but I like it. Hope someone else does too. As you can tell from this book, I am not a condition freak. High-grade for me means the book is complete

 

[adamstrange]

Welcome to the boards!

 

We love people to post whatever they like in whatever condition they have. One advantage with some of the lower grade books is the ability to scan a page that you particularly like. It's not just about the covers.

 

Speaking of the covers, that one is funny! I love the frantic look on the kid's face as he is leafing through the first aid book!

[generic user]

Here's the splash page from Cookie #1, as well as a story page. Cookie and Jitterbuck have some strange obsession with mannequins.