When comics change format 2 2

[thunsicker]

As the first superhero rush was dying down in the late '40's some previous super hero comics were taking on new formats.  Captain America became a horror title, Pep changed focus to Teen Humor, and Standard/Nedor started branching off to Jungle/Western comics.  These specific comics are of interest to me as they still have their superheroes on the covers, but are attempts to switch to the newer trends.  Can anyone think of any other examples?

[Scrooge]

Young Men has an interesting publication history:

Cowboy Romances begets Young Men with issue # 4

Young Men # 4 to 11 is an Adventure anthology

Young Men # 12 to 20 is a War comics

Young Men # 21 to 23 is a Hot Rod comics

Young Men # 24 to 28 is a Hero revival comics

Phew! Cover gallery here - https://www.atlastales.com/title/314

Man Comics also went from Adventure anthology to War to Kids Gang but had one fewer twist than Young Men did.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Scrooge

[sfcityduck]

The two best examples I can think of are Black Cat Western/Mystery/Mystic and Venus, as they changed genres a lot.  But many titles did, including Sensation, More Fun, Police, etc.

[thunsicker]

1 hour ago, sfcityduck said:

The two best examples I can think of are Black Cat Western/Mystery/Mystic and Venus, as they changed genres a lot.  But many titles did, including Sensation, More Fun, Police, etc.

Good ones.  Found these three with a superhero in a different genre (and actually there seem to be quite a few where Clover and Dover share the cover with Superboy or Green Arrow):

Edited September 3, 2019 by thunsicker

[adamstrange]

All-American (Adventure/Humor) then Green Lantern  and Superheroes. 

All-American Western

All-American Men of War

[thunsicker]

5 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

All-American (Adventure/Humor) then Green Lantern  and Superheroes. 

All-American Western

All-American Men of War

So there does appear to be an issue where it appears to be a western and green lantern is still there:

[thunsicker]

And I should make it clear, I'm not just looking for where comics change genre.  I'm looking for ones where comics change genre from superhero to something else and the superhero is still there on the cover in the new genre.  Kind of a last gasp of the golden age heroes thing.

Edited September 3, 2019 by thunsicker

[telerites]

Hi Tim

You mentioned the Nedor/Standard/Betters going to western/jungle.  Wonder Comics went from war superhero (Grim Reaper) to sci-fi along with Startling going to sci-fi but I know you know those.   The last few issues of FH's Jumbo went to horror. 

Not sure if this meets what you're looking for but the Green Hornets went from war to detective with Green Hornet Fights Crime.  He of course stays on the covers.

I'll try to think of others.

[telerites]

Blue Bolt (Novelty Pubs) is another one - started out as sci-fi and then kind of went everywhere.  Blue Bolt (Star) had a few adventure then went sci-fi and horror and then changed the title name to BB Weird Tales of Terror and then on to Ghostly Weird Stories.

[telerites]

The Seven Soldiers of Victory gave way to funny animals with Leading Comics.

Heroic Comics (Reg'lar Fellars) was superhero for the first 15 issues and then war and adventure type. Although these were title changes Reg'lar Fellars Heroic to Heroic to New Heroic.

[sfcityduck]

21 hours ago, thunsicker said:

And I should make it clear, I'm not just looking for where comics change genre.  I'm looking for ones where comics change genre from superhero to something else and the superhero is still there on the cover in the new genre.  Kind of a last gasp of the golden age heroes thing.

Edited September 4, 2019 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

21 hours ago, thunsicker said:

So there does appear to be an issue where it appears to be a western and green lantern is still there:

That's not a Western, that's a dog comic (like Rex) featuring Streak the Wonder Dog.  GL lost the cover to Streak in his own comic:

[sfcityduck]

And how about the strange saga of Moon Girl?

Moon Girl # 6

Moon Girl Fights Crime # 7 and # 8

A Moon, A Girl, Romance 

[KirbyJack]

Good one! I was thinking that Bill Gaines would be a star in this thread!

[sfcityduck]

MLJ's superheros died an earlier death than DCs and the titles underwent an earlier transition - like Top Notch to Top Notch Laugh:

[Pat Calhoun]

[BarristerBaker]

Another good one is Prize Frankenstein. At issue 18, it switches from humor to horror. Hard left. Great series.

No, not super-hero related, but a cool pivot towards what was hotter at the time.

 

[lou_fine]

6 minutes ago, BarristerBaker said:

Another good one is Prize Frankenstein. At issue 18, it switches from humor to horror. Hard left. Great series.

No, not super-hero related, but a cool pivot towards what was hotter at the time.

 

It's rather ironic that CC has pretty much the entire run of this Frankenstein series in their upcoming auction next week from issue #1 right through to issue #33, but yet somehow missing only this particular key issue here, along with Frankenstein 20.  

[lou_fine]

3 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

And how about the strange saga of Moon Girl?

Moon Girl # 6

Moon Girl Fights Crime # 7 and # 8

A Moon, A Girl, Romance 

 

I've always loved these later Moon Girl issues, but supposedly they are a bit tougher to find relatively to many of the later EC books.  

The other thing is that whenever they do show up in the marketplace, they generally tend to sell for rather healthy premiums to guide, if not even at multiples to guide in a few cases.  

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

I love this thread, but it’s sad, too. It’s childhoods end