double action comics #1 3 3

[JJBEE2001]

If it does exist, take a pic so we can finally put this to bed

[MutantKeys]

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

 

Where is the #1?

Doesnt Overstreet state that two copies exist??

[FFB]

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.

 

The US Patent and Trademark Office is for filing patents (inventions) and trademarks (marks used to distinguish goods in the marketplace). The ashcans would have been filed with the USPTO to trademark the superhero names and comic book titles. The books had copyright protection as soon as they were created. No filing is necessary, although registration gives extra protections.

 

I did a search of the USPTO online and there is no record of Double Action Comics being filed with the USPTO. There is a record of Action Comics being filed on 12/01/1937.

[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.

 

The US Patent and Trademark Office is for filing patents (inventions) and trademarks (marks used to distinguish goods in the marketplace). The ashcans would have been filed with the USPTO to trademark the superhero names and comic book titles. The books had copyright protection as soon as they were created. No filing is necessary, although registration gives extra protections.

 

I did a search of the USPTO online and there is no record of Double Action Comics being filed with the USPTO. There is a record of Action Comics being filed on 12/01/1937.

 

Boy, law school was so long ago! I totally forgot that these were just cobbled together to protect the titles and such not the actual content which would be copyright.

[JJBEE2001]

Nice research FFB. I looked my book up, but got no results.

[Timulty]

Went to the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) online and found no records of Double Action Comics. Though, I believe that they are still entering information on that book. Action, Detective and Whiz were found easily as well as some of the more unusual titles.

[Moondog]

I'm still unsure about the Patent Office and Library of Congress and how it all sorts out. I was contacted by a dealer of vintage newspapers back in the early 90's who periodically purchased truckloads of old newspapers after they had been micro-fiched. He would sell the newspapers to people for all sorts of reasons: birthday gifts, famous events, etc.

 

Well, in one batch he found a copy of the Champion Comics ashcan. He sent me a fax of a photocopy of the front cover. I contacted him and offered him $500. I never heard from him again. I followed up many times and ultimately he went out of business and I never found out what happened to the book (I subsequently secured a copy from the daughter of the publisher - the only one known to still exist).

 

The Wonder Woman ashcan has written in pencil on the front cover: "Registered U.S.P.O. 1942."

 

So, obviously ashcans were sent to the USPO for trademark purposes. They also may have been sent to the LOC for content copyrights or they ended up there after they had been registered with the USPO. That's what I'm not sure about. I mean, if they sent the Action Comics ashcan to the LOC it would be to copyright the contents and the idea of Action Comics. They would also need to send it to the USPO to trademark the title, since the copyright has to do with ownership of ideas (original works of art), and trademarks with the ownership of images, names and titles.

 

I've never contacted any of these entities directly. I would be interested in knowing what they have now and what they have a record of. It was cool to see the 12/37 registration for Action Comics!

[ciorac]

I'm still unsure about the Patent Office and Library of Congress and how it all sorts out. I was contacted by a dealer of vintage newspapers back in the early 90's who periodically purchased truckloads of old newspapers after they had been micro-fiched. He would sell the newspapers to people for all sorts of reasons: birthday gifts, famous events, etc.

 

Well, in one batch he found a copy of the Champion Comics ashcan. He sent me a fax of a photocopy of the front cover. I contacted him and offered him $500. I never heard from him again. I followed up many times and ultimately he went out of business and I never found out what happened to the book (I subsequently secured a copy from the daughter of the publisher - the only one known to still exist).

 

The Wonder Woman ashcan has written in pencil on the front cover: "Registered U.S.P.O. 1942."

 

So, obviously ashcans were sent to the USPO for trademark purposes. They also may have been sent to the LOC for content copyrights or they ended up there after they had been registered with the USPO. That's what I'm not sure about. I mean, if they sent the Action Comics ashcan to the LOC it would be to copyright the contents and the idea of Action Comics. They would also need to send it to the USPO to trademark the title, since the copyright has to do with ownership of ideas (original works of art), and trademarks with the ownership of images, names and titles.

 

I've never contacted any of these entities directly. I would be interested in knowing what they have now and what they have a record of. It was cool to see the 12/37 registration for Action Comics!

 

If anybody would know, it would be Gary!

 

Hey Gary, whatever happened to the Action Funnies #1 ashcan that Malette was pedaling for a while? I know it ended up with Marnin and Scott Whaley at one point, but I haven't seen it since.

[ciorac]

Here is a picture I took back in around 1993 or 94 of a young Matt Nelson and Jack Mallette with the Action Funnies ashcan. Anyone seen this book in recent years?

 

[esquirecomics]

Here is a picture I took back in around 1993 or 94 of a young Matt Nelson and Jack Mallette with the Action Funnies ashcan. Anyone seen this book in recent years?

 

This one?

 

 

EsquireComics.com Acquires Rare Action Funnies

Industry News, Scoop, Friday, December 09, 2005

 

 

Scoop has learned that attorney Mark S. Zaid, owner of EsquireComics.com, has acquired a copy of the historical ashcan comic, Action Funnies. The copy was purchased from a private collector and is one of only three known copies of the Action Funnies ashcan that have ever been available to the public. The other two known copies are both owned by Gary Colabuono, a long-time ashcan collector and expert.

 

"I was ecstatic to obtain the copy of this book which is not only historically significant to the creation of comic books but also holds important legal meaning which to me, as an attorney, is a double prize," said Mark.

 

Ashcans were prototype books produced by publishers to secure the trademark for a particular title and never to be offered for sale. At most a few copies would be produced and, they were not intended to survive the passage of time.

 

The ashcan for Action Funnies, which was the original name for what ultimately became National Periodical's flagship Action Comics, features black and white artwork for what eventually was used as the cover for Action Comics #3. The interior contains ten pages of stories from Detective Comics #10.

 

The public existence and history of this book was first brought to light in 1985 by Comic Buyer's Guide. This particular ashcan copy has a unique history. The cover is marked lightly in pencil with the notation "Detective Comics, Inc" and "872-A", and is stamped "Property of Stephen Browne" and dated "Feb 15 1957" in small blue letters on page one. Mr. Browne, then a college student, was given the book in the 1950s by officials at D.C. in gratitude for a thesis he authored in response to Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent.

 

The book will be added to Mark's private collection that includes several ashcans including the only known copy of the 1940 ashcan comic Crack Comics #1.

 

For more information visit: http://www.esquirecomics.com/index.php?page=collection&collection=4.

[Comicdey]

Here is a picture I took back in around 1993 or 94 of a young Matt Nelson and Jack Mallette with the Action Funnies ashcan. Anyone seen this book in recent years?

 

This one?

 

 

EsquireComics.com Acquires Rare Action Funnies

Industry News, Scoop, Friday, December 09, 2005

 

 

Scoop has learned that attorney Mark S. Zaid, owner of EsquireComics.com, has acquired a copy of the historical ashcan comic, Action Funnies. The copy was purchased from a private collector and is one of only three known copies of the Action Funnies ashcan that have ever been available to the public. The other two known copies are both owned by Gary Colabuono, a long-time ashcan collector and expert.

 

"I was ecstatic to obtain the copy of this book which is not only historically significant to the creation of comic books but also holds important legal meaning which to me, as an attorney, is a double prize," said Mark.

 

Ashcans were prototype books produced by publishers to secure the trademark for a particular title and never to be offered for sale. At most a few copies would be produced and, they were not intended to survive the passage of time.

 

The ashcan for Action Funnies, which was the original name for what ultimately became National Periodical's flagship Action Comics, features black and white artwork for what eventually was used as the cover for Action Comics #3. The interior contains ten pages of stories from Detective Comics #10.

 

The public existence and history of this book was first brought to light in 1985 by Comic Buyer's Guide. This particular ashcan copy has a unique history. The cover is marked lightly in pencil with the notation "Detective Comics, Inc" and "872-A", and is stamped "Property of Stephen Browne" and dated "Feb 15 1957" in small blue letters on page one. Mr. Browne, then a college student, was given the book in the 1950s by officials at D.C. in gratitude for a thesis he authored in response to Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent.

 

The book will be added to Mark's private collection that includes several ashcans including the only known copy of the 1940 ashcan comic Crack Comics #1.

 

For more information visit: http://www.esquirecomics.com/index.php?page=collection&collection=4.

 

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful image.....

[Aman619]

I feel this hunt is a bit like the game Batleship. Isnt it now very probable that Double Action Comics is one of those mythical imaginary comics that are supposedly sprinkled throughout the Guide since day one to serve as "legal land mines" to protect Bob's proprietary pricing data from being copied and published by someone else? We all believe thats true right? So, we could have stumbled on one of them here.

 

Bobs non denial denial (as in the bygone Nixon days) sounds consistent with what Bob might say to a question about the specifics of such an imaginary entry in his Guide. Unless he can actually describe it in detail in a followup question..

[ciorac]

Here is a picture I took back in around 1993 or 94 of a young Matt Nelson and Jack Mallette with the Action Funnies ashcan. Anyone seen this book in recent years?

 

This one?

 

 

EsquireComics.com Acquires Rare Action Funnies

Industry News, Scoop, Friday, December 09, 2005

 

 

Scoop has learned that attorney Mark S. Zaid, owner of EsquireComics.com, has acquired a copy of the historical ashcan comic, Action Funnies. The copy was purchased from a private collector and is one of only three known copies of the Action Funnies ashcan that have ever been available to the public. The other two known copies are both owned by Gary Colabuono, a long-time ashcan collector and expert.

 

"I was ecstatic to obtain the copy of this book which is not only historically significant to the creation of comic books but also holds important legal meaning which to me, as an attorney, is a double prize," said Mark.

 

Ashcans were prototype books produced by publishers to secure the trademark for a particular title and never to be offered for sale. At most a few copies would be produced and, they were not intended to survive the passage of time.

 

The ashcan for Action Funnies, which was the original name for what ultimately became National Periodical's flagship Action Comics, features black and white artwork for what eventually was used as the cover for Action Comics #3. The interior contains ten pages of stories from Detective Comics #10.

 

The public existence and history of this book was first brought to light in 1985 by Comic Buyer's Guide. This particular ashcan copy has a unique history. The cover is marked lightly in pencil with the notation "Detective Comics, Inc" and "872-A", and is stamped "Property of Stephen Browne" and dated "Feb 15 1957" in small blue letters on page one. Mr. Browne, then a college student, was given the book in the 1950s by officials at D.C. in gratitude for a thesis he authored in response to Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent.

 

The book will be added to Mark's private collection that includes several ashcans including the only known copy of the 1940 ashcan comic Crack Comics #1.

 

For more information visit: http://www.esquirecomics.com/index.php?page=collection&collection=4.

 

Thanks Mark, but that is not the copy Jack is holding in the picture. So, I guess Gary most own it then?

[Moondog]

According to the MATS (Moondog Ashcan Tracking System) I'm sure the book that Jack's holding is the copy that Mark now owns.

 

Right, Mark?

[ciorac]

According to the MATS (Moondog Ashcan Tracking System) I'm sure the book that Jack's holding is the copy that Mark now owns.

 

Right, Mark?

 

I don't recall Jack's copy having any writing on it, and I thought it was higher grade than that. Maybe my memory is failing...

[Theagenes]

I feel this hunt is a bit like the game Batleship. Isnt it now very probable that Double Action Comics is one of those mythical imaginary comics that are supposedly sprinkled throughout the Guide since day one to serve as "legal land mines" to protect Bob's proprietary pricing data from being copied and published by someone else? We all believe thats true right? So, we could have stumbled on one of them here.

 

Bobs non denial denial (as in the bygone Nixon days) sounds consistent with what Bob might say to a question about the specifics of such an imaginary entry in his Guide. Unless he can actually describe it in detail in a followup question..

 

It seems like I read somewhere once, probably here, that someone attempted to put together a list of the fake guide listings. Does anyone know about this or have a link to it?

[esquirecomics]

According to the MATS (Moondog Ashcan Tracking System) I'm sure the book that Jack's holding is the copy that Mark now owns.

 

Right, Mark?

 

Well it is definitely one of the two of us unless there is another copy we don't know about!

[Moondog]

I believe Jack got his copy from Bill Thailing. And the story behind it was the kid was given the book from DC because he was a crusader against Wertham. I'm not sure how Thailing ended up with it.

 

Marnin called me on this book 10 years ago after they bought it from Jack. Since I already owned two I passed on buying it (around 10 grand I believe...).

 

Still looks now like it did then!

[BR-migration]

Really enjoying this thread -- but frustrating, right?

 

Anyway, apologize if this is a *little* bit off-topic

but can definitely file under "Listed in Overstreet But Does It Exist?"

I do trust the Guide, but no one I've written about it asking for more info has ever written me back. Anyone know anything about this? I've been looking for it for over a year -- talk about frustrating

 

 

 

BR

www.lastson.greendoorfilms.com

[mrwoogieman]

Really enjoying this thread -- but frustrating, right?

 

Anyway, apologize if this is a *little* bit off-topic

but can definitely file under "Listed in Overstreet But Does It Exist?"

I do trust the Guide, but no one I've written about it asking for more info has ever written me back. Anyone know anything about this? I've been looking for it for over a year -- talk about frustrating

 

 

 

BR

www.lastson.greendoorfilms.com

 

I'd be more than happy to send you my copy of Taz's 40th Birthday Blowout, but several of the puzzles have been completed in pencil if that sort of thing bothers you...