double action comics #1 3 3

[Moondog]

I'm finally back from a long and exhausting 8 days in Vegas...

 

...and NO, it was all business, really!

 

I posted this in the General Section, but here it is again.

 

Tom called one morning before a meeting and we chatted about this. For years I've said that I believe no copies exist of Double Action 1. I've never seen one. I've spoken to no one who has ever seen one. And DC does not have a copy in their vault. As others here have speculated, if it existed we would probably have heard from the owner by now.

 

The copies of Double Action 1 (cover only?) that have been circulating through the hobby are nothing more than a good-natured hoax designed to get Ian and myself excited. I offered Harley Yee $50 for a copy but he said he wanted $500...

 

$500 for a photocopy of a fake cover? For $50 - I would play along. But $500? No way.

 

Anyway, I respect Bob's decision to stick with whatever information he has that substantiates the existence of the book, but I wish he'd share it with us. I know it may be buried in boxes of notes somewhere, but that may be the only answer to this puzzle.

 

As for the # 2's that are out there...I believe that they also are ashcans. Sol Harrison is on record as stating that they were considering the following titles:

 

Action Comics

Double Action Comics

Triple Action Comics

 

Who knows, maybe Double Action # 1 isn't Double Action # 1. Maybe it was Triple Action # 1?

 

 

And Aman is right (except for the copyright reference - they were created to secure trademarks - not copyrights), by definition ashcans were not circulated to the public. They were dummy copies sent to the U.S. Patent Office - later the Library of Congress - so the titles could be registered. Once they secured the title their job was done, but publishers often kept copies as a physical record of the process. There would be no reason for ashcans to show up in an original owner collection purchased off the newsstand.

 

I ran an ad in the Guide for over 15 years offering to buy authentic Golden Age ashcans.

 

I never got a single response.

[RareHighGrade]

There are at least a couple of copies of Double Action #2 that are well worn and did not come from the same source where the other copies were found. This has caused some people to believe that there might have been limited distribution of the book.

[action1kid]

That is true. I purchases a Double Action 2 in Fair condition back in the 1990s.

[JJBEE2001]

Want to sell it?

[Ashcan/Comics]

so is the fake cover that is around the ghoul cover that ian has or is it something else.

 

ashcan/comics

[Moondog]

I saw a G/VG copy of Double Action 2 for sale in Chicago at a swap meet at the YMCA in the late 70's. I agree that this book had some very limited distribution, probably similar to the manner in which Warren distributed copies of Eerie # 1.

 

What Warren did was to personally distribute a few hundred b/w photocopy editions of Eerie # 1 to newsstands in NYC near his offices.

 

I suppose DC could have done something similar in 1938/39. Heck, Max Gaines did that with Famous Funnies in 1933/34 - only they were full-color comics.

[Ashcan/Comics]

so moondog what is on the cover that harley yee is passing around the same as the ian levine ghoul cover.

 

ashcan/comics

[RareHighGrade]

I saw a G/VG copy of Double Action 2 for sale in Chicago at a swap meet at the YMCA in the late 70's.

 

Those were the days.

[action1kid]

Ashcan you want so bad for that Double Action 1 to exsist !

I hope you find you Grail....

[SignatureSelect]

I have just solved everybodies problem. Call the US patent office. Maybe esquire could help us on this one. If double action # 1 is truely an ashcan and it truely exist. The patent office should have some information on hand.

[Metarog]

I have just solved everybodies problem. Call the US patent office. Maybe esquire could help us on this one. If double action # 1 is truely an ashcan and it truely exist. The patent office should have some information on hand.

 

Good thought but the Patent office is for inventions not copyright which is what this would be. I am not a Patent attorney but copyrights are registered differently.

[JJBEE2001]

Don't let Moondog hear you say that!

 

Ashcans were used to secure Trademarks, not Copyrights. I'm not an expert, so I don't know the difference, but they are not the same thing.

[SignatureSelect]

I am sure this is on file with a govenment agency. If you really want to know and don't believe gary then do some research.

[action1kid]

Trademarks protect company insignias like the mcdonalds name.

Copyrights protect intellectual property like a book

[JJBEE2001]

That's the answer I was looking for!

 

That's why ashcans have the correct logo that would later be used on the production run, but the cover art and inside material was recycled & didn't matter.

Edited October 5, 2006 by JJBEE2001

[MutantKeys]

Ok, I havent read this thread at all but I keep on seeing something about it.So one question.

 

Does this book exist?

[JJBEE2001]

Oh man, you're taking us back to square one!!!

 

Basically, a lot of people (myself included) don't think so because no one has ever been able to physically produce the book. Although there's reasons for thinking that it may (or may have) existed also.

[MutantKeys]

Interesting..but a #1 aschan copy does exist....and a #2 aswell

[JJBEE2001]

Interesting..but a #1 aschan copy does exist....and a #2 aswell

 

Where is the #1?

[esquirecomics]

The Library of Congress would/should have copies of the ashcans. I've been meaning to check and will do so and report back any findings.