King Comics

[CentaurMan]

Although they're barely collected today, in the 1970's the issues of King Comics from 1936-1937 were some of the most sought after comics of the time. These compilation issues have strips from tons of King Syndicate features, including Popeye, Jungle Jim, the G-Man, Henry, Brick Bradford in the Middle of the Earth, Ming Foo, Curley Harper, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Bringing Up Father, King of the Royal Mounted, and others.

 

Some of the stories are fantastic (the Popeye by Segar are phenomenal), and the artwork is consistently amazing (specifically Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, both by Alex Raymond, Brick Bradford by William Ritt & Clarence Gray, King of the Royal Mounted by Zane Grey, and Ted Towers Animal Master by Frank Buck).

 

I've been slowly (very slowly, as these books can be very tricky to find) putting together a collection of the earliest issues. I think these books are really the Golden Age of the Golden Age. Here are some scans:

 

 

 

[TheEyeSees]

Beautiful books CentaurMan... never let it be said that you lack range!! These books are very appealing ... they have that nice, "old comic book" feel to them. Segar Popeye's are a favorite of mine... he was such a master of the form. A great storyteller. And you can't beat Alex Raymond.

 

I only hope this doesn't start a whole new wing of collecting for me...

[CentaurMan]

Here are issues #4-#6:

 

 

 

 

The good thing is, for anyone looking to collect these comics, is that they're both hard to find yet relatively cheap (except for #1). That's a great combination, in my book. Challenging, rewarding, yet not going to make you sell your house.

[shiverbones]

I love the #3! I noticed a few early ones on ebay lately, but was unable to pull the trigger.

[selegue]

Wow, great stuff!

I'm sure you could find some people here who will explain why these are not "real" comic books! (Not me)

 

#2 and #3 are signed -- can you read the signature or do you know the artist's name? Something like Mufa or Musa?

 

Jack

 

 

Although they're barely collected today, in the 1970's the issues of King Comics from 1936-1937 were some of the most sought after comics of the time. These compilation issues have strips from tons of King Syndicate features, including Popeye, Jungle Jim, the G-Man, Henry, Brick Bradford in the Middle of the Earth, Ming Foo, Curley Harper, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Bringing Up Father, King of the Royal Mounted, and others.

 

Some of the stories are fantastic (the Popeye by Segar are phenomenal), and the artwork is consistently amazing (specifically Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, both by Alex Raymond, Brick Bradford by William Ritt & Clarence Gray, King of the Royal Mounted by Zane Grey, and Ted Towers Animal Master by Frank Buck).

[CentaurMan]

#2 and #3 are signed -- can you read the signature or do you know the artist's name? Something like Mufa or Musa?

 

It says "Musial", but he's not credited with doing any of the interior features. He sure did a great job of copying the styles of each individual strip's characters.

 

I'm sure someone here who knows more about the artists from back then can shed some light on him (hint, hint).

[selegue]

Answering my own question!

#6 is clearly "Musial"

 

http://www.toonopedia.com/katzen.htm

 

"Knerr died in 1949, and the strip [The Katzenjammer Kids] passed first into the hands of Doc Winner, and later to Joe Musial, who handled it for many years."

 

Tough job, handling his own characters and those of others on the King covers.

 

Jack

 

Wow, great stuff!

I'm sure you could find some people here who will explain why these are not "real" comic books! (Not me)

 

#2 and #3 are signed -- can you read the signature or do you know the artist's name? Something like Mufa or Musa?

[rodan57]

Very nice books with what sounds like dynamite contents. Is it possible to see any interior shots of the contents --maybe a digital photo to avoid scanning damage?

[CentaurMan]

Very nice books with what sounds like dynamite contents. Is it possible to see any interior shots of the contents --maybe a digital photo to avoid scanning damage?

 

Good idea. I'll try to take some interior shots this weekend. In the meantime, here's #8 and #9:

 

 

 

I like the Christmas cover with the characters as ornaments.

 

I don't have a #7, but I'm sure I'll find one eventually. Of the first dozen, I think the #2 and the #3 are easily the rarest. I was thrilled to finally find the #2.

[PUNYHUMAN]

What a great thread!! Those covers are so cool , esp # 3 & the Christmas cover. Having grown up on those old Popeye cartoons, brings back wonderful memories. I still love'em . & these comics have Alex Raymond art also, you can't beat that. He & Hal Foster , Masters both!! Definately looking forwards to those scans you will be posting. I might even start collecting some of these comics myself in the future after seeing them on this thread.

[Scrooge]

My early favorite is # 4, with the great job that Musial did in juxtaposing all the different styles on the cover.

 

The main character of the cover is Popeye who should be an easy study for Musial before he ghosted the strip at some point in his career, according to the Comic Strip Project -

Linky (my first source choice for strip credit).

 

"Musial, Joseph

b.1905, Yonkers, NY

st. Pratt Inst.

asst Billy DeBeck

ghost cs "Popeye"

ghost cs "Pete the Tramp"

ghost cs "Tillie"

cb work

cs "The Katzenjammer Kids" 1957-76

d. 1977

r. NCSA"

 

Also, about King of the Royal Mounted, according to the Toonopedia, was first pencilled by Allan Dean, then Charles Flanders in 1936 (who worked on The Lone Ranger) and finally Jim Gary became the long-tenured artist on King from 1939 to 1955.

[Psiknight]

Am I wrong or is King's Comics #1 a pretty stinkin' hard to find book? I remember reading that it only comes up for sale a few times a decade.

[CentaurMan]

Am I wrong or is King's Comics #1 a pretty stinkin' hard to find book? I remember reading that it only comes up for sale a few times a decade.

 

Overstreet used to list King Comics #1 as "rare with fewer than 25 copies thought to exist", but a few years ago he took that designation off the price guide. I don't think it's super tricky to find, not like #2 or #3, but I'll agree that it doesn't come up for sale often.

 

Here are issues #10-#12:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all that info you guys dug up about Musial! Sounds like the man was a rock-solid artist who didn't care about getting the credit, with all those ghost citations to his name. He'd probably be happy to think that 30 years after his death, we're talking about him.

[Scrooge]

I love that Lion on # 12. Very close in style to what was in the Katzenjammer Kids and then Musial went on that feature for a long run later. Excellent run. I hope it doesn't overshadowed by the Action 1 you posted elsewhere.

 

Here's my vote for # 1 GA poster of the Summer (at least)

[Psiknight]

 

 

Thanks for all that info you guys dug up about Musial! Sounds like the man was a rock-solid artist who didn't care about getting the credit, with all those ghost citations to his name. He'd probably be happy to think that 30 years after his death, we're talking about him.

 

 

Animal cruelty! www.peta.org

[jbcomicbox]

Win- Looked like you were missing #7.......

[CentaurMan]

Yup! I assume there's nothing tougher about #7 than the rest of the 1-12 run, and as such I'll run across one eventually. These things certainly aren't in terribly high demand; the primary problem is that they don't exist.

 

Ok, that's it for my my run. 1-12, minus #7. I'll post pictures of the interiors next, assuming they come out ok (I haven't tried the digital photo thing much yet). Anyone else with King Comics, post away!!

[generic user]

I'm loving this topic so far, and can't wait for pictures of the interiors. The earliest King I've managed to snag so far is #25, so I bow down before your collection. Do you also collect Magic or Ace?

[CentaurMan]

No, for some reason I don't collect the other anthology books. Probably because my first major comic purchase (>$500) years ago was King Comics #1, and as such the series became special to me. Also, I'm entranced by Segar's sense of humor in the Popeye strips. Those things haven't aged at all. Just classic.

[CentaurMan]

Ok, these posts are unfortunately going to stretch the screen. But I took a number of interior shots today that I can post.

 

A typical King Comics is set up so that each strip gets 4 full pages. Pages 2 and 3 front each other, while pages 1 and 4 share their centerfold with another strip. Here's an example of page 4 of Ted Towers Animal Master and page 1 of King of the Royal Mounted: