Pre-Golden Age (1933-38) - The Birth of the Modern Comic Book 0

[Monstro]

great thread

[CentaurMan]

Here's the 2nd Doll Man, issue #28, with his first cover appearance (side bar only):

 

[CentaurMan]

And here's the Doll Man's first full cover appearance in issue #30:

 

[ciorac]

And here's the Doll Man's first full cover appearance in issue #30:

 

 

Don't think I have ever seen this one outside of the photo journals. Thanks for posting!

[adamstrange]

How tough is it to obtain this book and is there much of a demand for it as interest in these early newspaper reprint books seem to have really dropped right off the planet?

 

Very tough to obtain, but it's not a bit expensive (unless you happen to get in the unlucky bidding war), as demand is quite low. But this isn't really a newspaper reprint book; there are a number of original stories inside, including some very early Clock (moved over from Centaur's Detective Picture Stories). Jon can certainly speak to this more informatively.

 

Issue #27 is the holy grail of the series. First Doll Man, and one of the toughest Golden Age mini-keys to find anywhere. Usually sells for 5x-10x guide if one becomes available.

 

 

Your post prompted me to go looking at the other Quality titles and Crack, Hit, Police, and National are all 1940 books whereas the first Dollman appearance was Dec 1939. I had never noticed that Dollman was their first superhero or appeared that much earlier than the big guys like Plas, The Ray, Black Condor etc.

[CentaurMan]

Yeah, these books are a bit out of the purview of this thread, but I couldn't think of another logical place to post them (I've had them for years, so no 'Have a Cigar', and 6 total books aren't worth starting a 'Post your Feature Funnies/Comics' thread).

 

It quickly becomes pretty easy to find Feature Comics after #45 or so, and it's not expensive in the least, but those first 4 dozen issues can be brutal. And as for #27, my lord that one's tough.

 

Early Doll Man stories were written by Will Eisner (under a pen name) and drawn by Lou Fine. You simply can't beat that for high quality early GA superhero action.

[ciorac]

Yeah, these books are a bit out of the purview of this thread, but I couldn't think of another logical place to post them .

 

Same was true about the Single Series #20 I posted, but it fits here better than any other place. Same is true for the fabulous books you just posted.

 

They are in the "spirit" of this thread.

 

[Theagenes]

Yeah, these books are a bit out of the purview of this thread, but I couldn't think of another logical place to post them .

 

Same was true about the Single Series #20 I posted, but it fits here better than any other place. Same is true for the fabulous books you just posted.

 

They are in the "spirit" of this thread.

 

 

Absolutely. There is always overlap and gray areas with these artificial "eras" we create decades after the fact.

[ciorac]

Wow, Famous Funnies 1-50, that's a hell of a goal. I thought my King Comics 1-12 was tough.

 

Here's Feature Funnies #1, not super tough but quite early:

 

 

Very cool book Win!

 

I am only half way home on the Famous Funnies though, so I have a long way to go. But the "getting there" is the fun part. I love the quest.

 

Here is a batch of Famous Funnies that arrived today. Thanks to Jim Payette!! This puts me exactly half way home on the first 50!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Monstro]

[selegue]

Holy Fudd! I am impressed.

Who's the little guy on this cover? He's a continuing character on these early issues and I don't know his name. Is he from a strip?

 

Jack

 

....

 

Here is a batch of Famous Funnies that arrived today. Thanks to Jim Payette!! This puts me exactly half way home on the first 50!

 

 

[ciorac]

Holy Fudd! I am impressed.

Who's the little guy on this cover? He's a continuing character on these early issues and I don't know his name. Is he from a strip?

 

Jack

 

....

 

Here is a batch of Famous Funnies that arrived today. Thanks to Jim Payette!! This puts me exactly half way home on the first 50!

 

 

 

Well the covers have nothing to do with the interiors, but, it appears he is "Mr. Smithers", the nebbish Boss of the cute little stenographer in "Somebody's Stenog".

[selegue]

I see -- and "Somebody's Stenog" was an early strip? Who drew it? He really takes a lot of abuse on the covers.

These interiors are all reprints, right?

Thanks for the info. (Don't get me started hankerin' for such old books!)

 

Jack

 

Who's the little guy on this cover? He's a continuing character on these early issues and I don't know his name. Is he from a strip?

 

....

 

 

 

 

Well the covers have nothing to do with the interiors, but, it appears he is "Mr. Smithers", the nebbish Boss of the cute little stenographer in "Somebody's Stenog".

[ciorac]

I see -- and "Somebody's Stenog" was an early strip? Who drew it? He really takes a lot of abuse on the covers.

These interiors are all reprints, right?

Thanks for the info. (Don't get me started hankerin' for such old books!)

 

Jack

 

Who's the little guy on this cover? He's a continuing character on these early issues and I don't know his name. Is he from a strip?

 

....

 

 

 

 

Well the covers have nothing to do with the interiors, but, it appears he is "Mr. Smithers", the nebbish Boss of the cute little stenographer in "Somebody's Stenog".

 

Hey these are cheap! Should be right up your alley. I love them. They can be had for small money, they are the linear first comic book series. Just cool stuff. The Buck Rogers alone make them worth having. But the other strips are fun too. Lots of humor, some detective stuff and the True Crime stories are cool too. Lots of strip reprints but plenty of original material too. Heck, even costume hero types other than Buck appear now and again. In the March 1937 issue (#32) a costumed hero named the Phantom Magician makes an appearance.

 

Somebody's Stenog was by A.E. Hayward.

 

You would also proably like the "Strange as it may seem" feature. It often had weird science factoids with cool illustrations.

[MutantKeys]

Nice books ciorac!!!

[selegue]

I see -- and "Somebody's Stenog" was an early strip? Who drew it? He really takes a lot of abuse on the covers.

These interiors are all reprints, right?

Thanks for the info. (Don't get me started hankerin' for such old books!)

 

 

Well the covers have nothing to do with the interiors, but, it appears he is "Mr. Smithers", the nebbish Boss of the cute little stenographer in "Somebody's Stenog". ....

Hey these are cheap! Should be right up your alley.

 

AWP! I resemble that remark!!

 

I love them. They can be had for small money, they are the linear first comic book series. Just cool stuff. The Buck Rogers alone make them worth having.

 

Suprising. Often "Buck Rogers" = "pricey"

 

 

But the other strips are fun too. Lots of humor, some detective stuff and the True Crime stories are cool too. Lots of strip reprints but plenty of original material too.

 

 

Interesting. I always pictured them as pure strip reprints.

 

Heck, even costume hero types other than Buck appear now and again. In the March 1937 issue (#32) a costumed hero named the Phantom Magician makes an appearance.

 

Somebody's Stenog was by A.E. Hayward.

 

You would also proably like the "Strange as it may seem" feature. It often had weird science factoids with cool illustrations.

 

NOW CUT THAT OUT! My want list is already long enough.

Thanks for all the info and the recommendation. As a Four Color fan, this does seem like a series I'd enjoy.

 

I know a fair amount about old strips but have never heard of Somebody's Stenog before.

 

Jack

[ciorac]

Nice books ciorac!!!

 

Thanks MK! I really enjoy these old glimpses back to the dawn of comics.

[CentaurMan]

As far as the birth of the modern comic book goes, I love the cul-de-sac DC took with its ill-fated Movie Comics run. If you haven't seen the interior of one of these at some point, you're missing out. Basically, DC took photo stills from various in-theater movies and pasted them onto comic backgrounds, attempting to tell the movie stories. Here are a few of the issues I have (#1, #2, and #5):

 

 

 

[Point Five]

Great books CM! I love those early Movie Comics, and have been tempted to pick one up before. I went through a phase of collecting 1950s "TrueVision" (3-D Effect) comics years ago...another similarly cool but similarly ill-fated comics experiment.

[Scrooge]

Somebody's Stenog was by A.E. Hayward.

 

Me neither despite its 20-year run. As per the Comic Strip Project,

 

Hayward, Alfred E.

b. 1885 Camden, NJ

st. Pa. Acad. F.A.

staff, Phila. Item 1906, Phila. Bulletin

staff, N.Y.Herald

cs "Pinheads" 1914-15

cs "Somebody's Stenog" 1918-38

cs "Great Caesars Ghost" 1913

cs "The Colonel" 1915-18

faculty - Penn. Acad FA

d. July 25, 1939

 

Coulton Waugh does mention Hayward's work on Pinheads in the New York Herald but that's it. The ever reliable Toonopedia has a page for this feature here. Gotta love the supporting character named Kitty Scratch and the real name of the stenog, Ms. Cam O'Flage.