So, yesterday I received in the mail DC's new fancy-dancy hardcover reprint of New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1, originally cover-dated February 1935.

This is the first ever reprint of the first ever comic published by one of the companies that would eventually become DC Comics.

It is also the first successful comic book to feature new strips, as opposed to reprints of newspaper comics.

This is a life-size reprint, which means it's gigantic. It was a few months before they decided that they didn't have to produce comic books that were the same size as newspaper features, and shrunk the books down to the present standard.

It's basically a bunch of one-page stories, generally the very beginnings of ongoing serials, so they don't necessarily have a lot of story to them. Eventually, they would realize that having to wait a month for the next page was a lot more annoying than having to wait a week as in the newspapers, and so they would cut the number of features and lengthen each individual feature to multiple pages. But this, of course, was the very early days.

It features introductions by the late Jerry G. Bails and Roy Thomas, as well as a nice piece on Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson by his granddaughter Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson.

So, yeah, I'm going to read this sucker, and talk a little bit about each feature in this thread. I hope it's both new and fun!

Looking forward to it EDE

FIRST FEATURE: JACK WOODS

So, one doesn't even have to open the magazine to be treated to its first comic strip! You get the beginnings of a story featuring Jack Woods, mysterious cowboy-type and sometimes Texas Ranger, right there on the cover of the issue! Wacky!

Jack is apparently out taking his horse for a stroll in the moonlight when he comes across Mexican cattle rustlers who insist that he go along with them! At the rustler's ranch he overpowers the rustlers, but we get the dramatic cliffhanger ending where he is about to have a knife thrown in his back! It really makes you want to open up the book to see what happens next, except... oh, yeah, the story isn't actually continued inside. Bummer.

Jack Woods would run for 35 issues of New/More Fun Comics, and a brief run in Adventure Comics. Then he disappeared, and, despite being technically the very first DC Comics hero, has somehow managed to avoid being gruesomely offed in some mega-crossover event or anything. So, yay!

Great stuff! Not bad for dc's (eventually) first hero. Terrific cliffhanger.

Keep ' em coming EDE. Looking forward to it.

FUN THE FANTASTIC

So, this comic is "hosted" by the elfish figure of "Fun the Fastastic", who introduces the new magazine and describes the exciting adventures that readers can expect in this and coming issues. Readers are appointed as "assistant editors" to help insure the quality of the magazine, and it includes a clippable coupon that can mailed back, listed one's favorite strips, and well as one's name and address, and, for some reason, the nearest movie theater.

The most curious thing about Fun is that he's a dead-ringer for one of the characters who will appear in a strip later in the book! More on that later!

That brought a much-needed smile to my face. Thanks, EDE.

Keep them coming.

Sad that DC couldn't find room for him in either Crisis as a cameo or Who's Who. The anniversary being celebrated was of that issue, so it would have been nice if someone (anyone) from that issue who had an ongoing feature that stretched into the era of acknowledged DC Comics characters was included.

I disagree.

I'm glad Jack Woods remains untainted by the tastelessness and incompetence of DC from 1983 on.

Well, a more tasteful and competent DC would've acknowledged these characters, so it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing.

Fair enough.

SANDRA OF THE SECRET SERVICE

Next up, we have a somewhat inauspicious opening to what is actually one of the coolest features in the book, Sandra of the Secret Service.

Sandra, apparently not yet of the Secret Service, is late for an appointment at the dressmakers, and so hops into her limo and tells her driver, naturally named "James", to step on it. At a red light, a well-dressed man hops in the car with her, and tells James to take them to a certain address. Pursued by gunmen in another car, they apparently manage to elude their pursuers (it's not shown how), and the mysterious gentleman thanks Sandra for her help.

Once at home, Sandra's butler Haskins announces that she has a gentleman caller, who turns out to the man she saved earlier, but just as he is about to explain who he is and what the deal is, a man with a gun enters the apartment, and... that's the cliffhanger.

So, Sandra of the Secret Service would also run until More Fun Comics #35. It's actually pretty cool that the lead inside feature of the book stars a female protagonist. And she would develop into a pretty kickass female character as well. Unfortunately you don't really get that in this issue, as she's pretty passive in this story so far. I'm betting she hurls a vase at the gunman or something in the next installment, though.*

Anyway, I've decided that Sandra is old friends with Diane Belmont and recruits her into the OSS for the duration of the war, as theorized in the A-SS re-read thread!




*I looked it up. It's actually a chair she hurtles at the gunman!

JIGGER AND GINGER

So, this is a really curious little feature. I read the first installment as intended as a kind of teen comedy, but sources on the internet describe it as an adventure/mystery feature.

Jigger has a date with Ginger. Kip, his rival, overhears, and convinces "the boys at the fraternity" to kidnap Jigger for an initiation so that Kip can date Ginger instead. Kip picks up Ginger, angry at having been stood up by Jigger. Meanwhile, the fraternity leave Jigger stranded in the road as the last step in his initiation. But, soon, Kip and Ginger drive by, Ginger insists on picking up Jigger, and Kip ends up chauffeuring them around. Not the greatest gag, but okay.

This feature would only last one more issue, and the second installment apparently ends on a cliffhanger of Ginger being kidnapped (probably the source of the adventure/mystery label), and thus I would assume makes it the oldest unresolved plot in DC history!

I love this.

I like the Sandra idea. Does she have a last name? I know that Phantom Lady was acquired by DC and not originally published by them, but maybe it could retroactively be "Knight".

Apparently her last name is "McLane" or "McClane". I'm not sure how well identifying her with PL would fit, but it's an interesting idea.

Barry O'Neill

Next up we have square-jawed adventurer Barry O'Neill, who has been summoned to the office of French Secret Police Chief LeGrande to discuss his arch-enemy, the criminal matermind Fang Gow. Unbeknownst to Barry and LeGrande, Fang Gow at that very moment is planning an assassination attempt, via a bomb designed to go off when he sits down in his car! Barry is saved because he causally tosses a dufflebag into the car from several feet away (as one is wont to do), triggering the bomb from a safe distance! Afterwards, he returns to his hotel, shaves, and then, as he is talking on the phone, a knife-wielding assassin sneaks up on him from behind! To be continued...

This series seems to be basically an attempt at the Yellow Peril/Fu Man-Chu genre. From what I can tell, we're never really given much in the way of background on Barry or his rivalry with Fang Gow, but he apparently travels around all over the world, LeGrande in tow, thwarting a variety of pulpy schemes. He's actually the longest running character introduced in NF#1, with his exploits lasting through #29 of More Fun, and then an additional run from Adventure Comics #31-#60. Fang Gow is apparently killed off eventually, but Barry and LeGrande have a couple of adventures after this.

In his last story, a wealthy uncles dies, leaving him a fortune, so it seems he most likely settles down at this point to a life of peace, hoping that no future DC writer discovers him and has him brutally murdered. And then, seventy-five years later, in an issue of Rebirth Batman, an elderly wealthy gentleman named Barry O'Neill is, you guessed it, brutally murdered!

Well, Sandra Knight was based in Washington, had an adventurous spirit, and was friendly/familiar with scientists who work on unusual projects. Having some sort of secret career as a government agent before becoming a super-heroine wouldn't be out of character and probably not hard to retrofit to her backstory.

Is this Fang Gow the same Fu Manchu figure who is featured on the code of Detective Comics # 1?

Yeah, it might work. Giving her a secret service career in 1935 makes her a bit older than I would normally think of her as being, and I'm not sure how well having a father who is a Senator would fit with this Sandra, but, again, it's an interesting idea.



I don't remember if that guy is named, but, from what I recall, he has a very distinctive tall build, so it wouldn't really fit. One could probably connect the organizations, though.

Just had a look back at Rebirth Batman Annual #1. Yeah brutally murdered indeed, and apparently just to introduce a new villain (although his years of generosity do get a speech from Gordon and a philosophical pondering from Bruce).

Is there anything to indicate that it actually is the same character from NF#1? It seems unlikely that the re-use of the name is just a coincidence.

The Magic Crystal of History

Now this is a delightful little feature! A young boy and girl, Bobby and Binks, are caught out in a rainstorm, and take refuge in a spooky looking old abandoned house. In the darkness of the house, they are attracted to the light from a strange glowing crystal ball. As they touch the ball, it seems to grow bigger, and draw them into it, and suddenly they find themselves in Egypt! Only... the pyramids are still being built, so Bobby concludes that they've gone back 6000 years to 4000 B.C.! What will happen to them? We've got to buy the next issue to find out!

So, I guess this is officially DC's first time travel series. I had previously thought that honor belonged to Sheldon Mayer's "The Strange Adventures of Mr. Weed" from New Comics (later Adventure) #1. Apparently, their adventure in Egypt lasts for the first year of the series, and, after they returned home, the format changes so that the crystal simply shows the kids historical events rather than transporting them to them. In this format it lasts until #50.

This is a pretty cool premise even if we don't really get much of it this issue. There's definitely potential for a cool story crossing over with the Legion, or maybe an older Bobby and Binks could face off against Per Degaton twelve years later. Or could the Magic Crystal actually be the Orb of Nabu?

New Fun certainly living up to its title.

Dial O for Orbuculum!

This thread is a BLAST, Edie! For me, it would be frustrating to buy it and only get a page per story, but I like how you describe them and give us a look ahead at the feature's future!

Yeah, even with the GA-style writing which packs a fair amount into each page, the one page per story thing is frustrating. The main value of this really is just seeing what the first DC comic looked like.

Honestly, part of the reason for this thread is that posting about each feature makes it a lot more fun for me to read, so I'm glad other folks are enjoying it.

Not definitively. He is introduced by Bruce Wayne at a charity event saying that he is one of Gotham's greatest philanthropists, having the aim of staging a major charity event each year and having given away all his money by the time he dies. In the later comments by Bruce to Duke we learn that he has being doing this for a long time, was praised by Bruce's mother and is over 90 years old.
So the age puts him in the right time frame and his wealth fits well with his last appearance in Adventure. Apart from a couple of comicbook sites that make the link I haven't found anything from DC that confirms it but it would certainly be a hell of a coincidence if not intentional.
Oh and the mysterious villain that murders him is the main villain in the DC/Dynamite Batman/Shadow crossover by the same writer artist team where Barry's murder is briefly mentioned as a clue.

Please keep going. I am quite enjoying it.

Another thing to note is that the story is written by Steve Orlando, who, from what I've seen, seems to have a pretty deep knowledge of obscure DC minutiae. I would bet money that these two characters are meant to be one and the same.

WING BRADY: SOLDIER OF FORTUNE

So, next up we have the adventures of Wing Brady, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion in Northern Africa. He and his fellow Legionnaire Slim are at camp when he sees, in the distance, a flashing light signalling that several of their men are under attack by Bedouins! There's no way to get there in time, except by taking an airplane! A warning from the Captain ("No fooling") and a reference by Slim to "the last time we got in a scrape is was your fault" provide hints of a backstory. The plane rushes to the location of the flashing light, and the Bedouins open fire on it. Wing orders: "Power Dive!!! Slim! I'm going to warm their pantaloons!" and they open fire on the Bedouins with the plane's guns. The plane is hit, and I had a bit of amusing failure of comprehension in one panel where Slim says that the "The motor is missing!" It took me a second to realize that it was referring to the engine sputtering and that it hadn't fallen out or something. Anyway, they crash land to be surrounded by the Bedoun tribes, and that is our cliffhanger.

Anyway, Wing Brady would help enforce French colonial policy in North Africa through More Fun #52, mostly fighting and saving beautiful damsels from Bedouins and pirates, but apparently there's one Count of Monte Cristo inspired serial where's he falsely imprisoned for three years, and then has to take down those responsible upon his release. It's kind of a shame it didn't continue on longer, because I bet he could have had some interesting wartime adventures. This isn't really a genre that I'm all that excited by, but I actually enjoyed this installment quite a bit.

IVANHOE

Next up we have an adaptation of the classic Sir Walter Scott novel Ivanhoe. We meet the Jester Wamba and the Swineherd Gurth, employees of Cedric the Saxon, who are discussing the fact that someone has been crippling dogs by cutting their claws. A band of horsemen, including the Norman Pryor Aymor and his companion Brian, stop and ask the way to Cedric's. Taking a dislike to them, Wamba misleads them, but they eventually come across another stranger who points them in the right direction in exchange for a horse. Their presence annoys Cedric, who nonetheless politely receives them. Wamba enters and informs Cedric of the crippling of the dogs, and Cedric vows revenge! The entrance of the lovely Lady Rowena is announced, but we don't get to meet her until next issue!

This seems like a pretty faithful adaptation of Ivanhoe from what I remember of it, though I don't recall the dog plotline at all. I haven't talked much about the art in this book, which for the most part has been serviceable, but not anything particularly noteworthy. This has a pretty detailed style that I tend to associate with these sort of Classics Illustrated type features. This adaptation would run through More Fun #27, apparently skipping an issue along the way somewhere, as the final installment is listed as "Episode 26". I kind of wish these comic adaption of literary works were still a thing.

I was wondering about the creators of these tales and looked up the info on the DC Fandom wiki. I was interested to see that in many cases the same creator is credited as writer, penciler and inker. Very different from our modern trend to specialisation.

Yeah, there's some nice little blurb biographies on each of the creators at the end of this reprint, None of them are really names I recognize, and I really only skimmed through them.

OSWALD THE RABBIT

So, on each of the pages thus far there has actually been an additional 3-panel per page strip running along the bottom. This strip features the character of Oswald the Rabbit. Basically, he's trying to ice skate on a frozen pond, and keeps falling. Eventually, he crashes into a "Danger" sign, and then takes that sign to make a sled and has a much better time. Not really that exciting.

The thing is that this one strip is the main reason why this comic has never been reprinted before. You see, unlike the other characters featured herein, Oswald was not an original creation. He was actually created by Walt Disney, while Walt was working for Universal Pictures. When Walt struck off his own, he realized he didn't own his creation, which is one reason he became so fastidious about the copyrights on later characters created for his own corporation. Universal later licensed out the character to various other outlets, including to Major Wheeler-Nicholson when he was putting together this comic. So, long story short, it took something like 20 years for DC's legal team to figure out that the terms of Wheeler-Nicholson's licensing agreement plus the terms of the bankruptcy agreement by which DC has the rights to all the material of the companies that went in to forming DC actually gives them the right to republish the Oswald strip free and clear.

And here we are.

JUDGE PERKINS

This strip was a little confusing. It begins with Judge Perkins, newly elected judge of Doodleville for the third time, standing in front of a mirror engaging in self-affirmation and deterimined to be successful by minding his own business and being alert to his surroundings. He cranks up his old car and drives down the road, where he encounter a bull in the middle of the road. He gets out of the car, and while wielding a stick, admonishes the bull: "Young man make haste. See what's comin'?" The bull, predictably, charges him. He retreats into his car, the bull butts the car, sending it rolling down over the hill into a lake, where the judge is "caught" by a fisherman. I kept feeling like there was a punchline to this strip that I wasn't getting, like there was supposed to be some irony in his failing to heed his own self-help advice, but I'm not seeing what that is. I don't know.

Anyway, the first few panels of him being all Stuart Smalley seemed to have quite a bit of potential, though the rest of the strip didn't quite live up to it. Judge Perkins would, like Jigger and Ginger, would make his last appearance in New Fun #2, so I guess contemporary readers must have been as puzzled as I was.

DON DRAKE ON THE PLANET SARO

Now we move on to a bit of Science Fiction. So, Don and Betty are in what looks like a deep-sea diving bell attached to a balloon, when suddenly they find themselves having risen beyond the pull of Earth's gravity with the balloon having fallen away. I dunno... just go with it. After *hours* of tumbling through space, they crash land on a planet. After exiting with their oxygen masks, they discover the air is breathable. Their presence, however, seems to annoy some nearby "midget men", though they seem to be too small to hurt them. But, as they start toward the midget men... POW! Nets are sprung, capturing them. The chief (?) midget man stands checks them out, but one of fellows begins shouting in alarm! A giant lobster creature, apparently called a "bandar", approaches, and it followed by another one. The midget men flee, but Flash and Dale, er... Don and Betty lie helpless still entangled in the nets. What will happen? Got to check out next issues to find out!

So, this is obviously a pretty blatant Flash Gordon rip off. It would last until More Fun #17, and along the way Don and Betty would meet lots more weird giant creatures and a couple of primitive civilizations, before their adventures ended abruptly on a cliffhanger. I can't say it's exactly awe-inspiring, but as one of DC's first sci-fi features, it deserves to be remembered. Maybe someone else could wind up on Saro and discover what happened to Don and Betty?

LOCO LUKE: NOPE HE DIDN'T GET HIS MAN

We begin with the titular western character riding his horse at great speed while trading bullets with someone off-panel. After telling his horse to stop, he turns towards the reader asking us to tell him "Where-de-go?" I'm not sure how we're supposed to help since we haven't even seen the bad guy, yet. But Luke explains that he's after Black Dan, who's been giving him the run around all day. Next Luke walks up next to a tree with a wanted poster, and saying how much he could use the $5000 reward. Next we see Black Dan, who has cleverly moed in front of his own picture on the wanted poster getting the drop on Luke. Dan makes Luke strip to his undergarments, and relieves him of his gun and ammunition, hats, pants, and boots, and leaves him stranded. Luke vows to keep coming after him, and turns to the reader and says, "Dog-my-cats! He shore did shuck me clean!" Meanwhile, there has been a Native American hiding behind the rocks, observing the situation for the last few panels. We're promised that we will find out more about that next issue, which has more grief in store for Loco Luke!

So, I don't know about this strip. Like most of the other comedies in this issue, it pretty much falls flat. The one kind of clever bit where Dan appears in front of the wanted poster isn't as well-executed as it should be. I'm pretty sure I've seen it done a lot better in animation. Mostly he's just a loser that I'm not really sure we're given a reason to root for, however.

Anyway, Loco Luke would run through New Fun #4, even scoring a cover appearance for his last issue. He apparently has trouble with the Indians before being robbed of his clothes (including his undergarments this time) once more by Black Dan, and we last see him being chased by the Natives after trying to pursue a romance with the Chief's daughter.

SPOOK RANCH

So back in the day comic books generally included prose stories alongside the illustrated features. I've read about why this is the case before, but don't remember the exact details. I think it has something to do with the fact that the token prose stories allows them to be classified in such a way that makes the distribution/sales of them work better? I don't know.

Anyway, "Spook Ranch" is a story that is included in New Fun #1 and concluded in the next issue. It concerns the cowboy "Vic" Riley, weary from his travels, comes across an old spooky farmhouse, and stops hoping to find lodgings for the night. He finds more than he bargained for, with a dog that has been grazed by a bullet and a living room that has been ransacked. In the darkness a knife barely misses him, and he soon discovers an old man's body in a closet. Deciding that his best course of action lay in getting out of the house as quickly as possible, he hesitates when he sees a group of ranch hands apparently returning home. Thinking it would be best if he is not found there with the body, he hides in a pantry. But after the ranch hands come to investigate, the dog starts sniffing at the pantry door, and the ranch hands realize there is someone hidden inside. The ranch hands demand that he come out with his hands up, and the story is continued next issue!

I really liked this story. It does a really good job of building tension as Vic slowly investigates the spooky, darkened house filled with strange noises. And we have a pretty solid protagonist, kind to the injured dog and just trying to survive in an unusual situation. The author is "Roger Furlong", which is presumably a pseudonym, but there's no more information about him in the book. But, yeah, it's good stuff.

SCRUB HARDY

So this strip is about Scrub Hardy, who is in either high school or college. He's short, but wants to be a basketball player. He goes to tryouts/practice, knowing the beautiful Letty will be in attendance. The older, taller boys decide to "give him the works". Scrub is playing okay, thinking that he might even make the team, when there's suddenly a mad-scramble for the ball, and all the kids pile up on top of it. As one of the big kids recovers the ball and tosses it towards the basket, they suddenly realize that they've tossed Scrub, who curled up under the pile, into the basket instead. Letty rushes over to care for Scrub, scolding his "big brute" of a rival, Spike, for having endangered him.

This is decent for a comedy strip. In the first panel, Spike refers to Scrub as "atom", something that would later be used in the first Al Pratt story. Apparently the author of this strip, Joe Archibald, would go on to write a number of sports themed novels, which makes sense. Alas, Scrub Hardy himself would only last one more issue. To think of the difference a chance encounter with Joe Morgan might have made in his life!

Having spoken to Scrub Hardy in his rest home, he said "well, at least I avoided that Joe Morgan All Star Squadron Annual."

Jack Andrews, All-American Boy

Here we find Jack Andrews, football player, in the locker room at half-time, giving a pep talk to his fellow players, in a game in which they are behind 7-0. As they exit the locker room for the field, a man stops Jack, and offer him a bribe to throw the game. Like any All-American Boy, Jack punches the guy out. In the second half of the game, Jack makes some unusual plays after a conversion fails when the ball strangely veers from its course. Jack's teams wins, but when asked by the coach why he didn't use any forward passes, Jack replies that someone was shooting at the ball to knock it off course. Jack vows to find out who is responsible. And that's it for this issue.

So, this series is apparently a pretty blatant knockoff of the radio series Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy, which I've never listened to. Sports stories aren't really my thing, but they seemed to have been pretty popular back in the day. Anyway, Jack Andrews would last until Fun Comics #6, and I have no idea if he ever solved the mystery of who was shooting the ball. Which, come to think of it, seem like a really impressive bit of marksmanship. Perhaps of Jack Andrews, All-American Boy, had proved more popular, he could have starred in All-American Comics?

That's one tough ball, or all those BB gun ads on the backs of comics were for pretty lame products.

This thread has been categorised as ... Spiffy.

BATHYSPHERE-- A MARTIAN DREAM

The next page features a short text piece describing that fancy new contraption, the Bathysphere, which would seem like something from Mars to any fisherman who caught it in a net. We're told that even a Martian might be puzzled by it, however. Considering that Mars was generally thought to be a barren, desert world at the point, I'm sure any Martian would indeed be puzzled by a Bathysphere. Anyway, we're told how Dr. Beebe had recently used it to set a new world record for exploring the depths of the ocean, and given a bit of description of the things he saw (this is disappointingly vague, however). We're treated to a nice description of the contents of Dr. Beebe's "compact laboratory", and Dr. Beebe's wish that he had a whole fleet of Bathyphere's rather than just the one is recounted.

So, William Beebe and the engineer Otis Barton, who designed the Bathysphere, used it to explore the underwater depths off Bermuda in the early 30s, so it was pretty cool cutting edge scientific exploration in those days. A few years later there would be a Superman radio serial featuring a Bathysphere. The world record for deepest dive would hold until Barton himself bested it with his Benthoscope (basically a more advance Bathysphere) in 1949.

Anyway, this was a neat little feature.

THE INSULT THAT MADE A MAN OUT OF "MAC"

Below that Bathysphere feature, we have a little strip featuring this fellow "Mac". He and his girl Grace are on the beach, when a big fellow runs by kicking sand in their direction. Mac tell him to quit, but the big bully grabs him by his tiny arms and tells him that he'd smash his face in if he weren't so skinny. Waling away, the bully gives a quick "See you later" to Grace, who then tells Mac that she'll be "pretty busy" and won't be able to see Mac again. What will Mac do? "Sick and tired of being a scarecrow", Mac decides to gamble 2 cents for a stamp to send away for a free book from Charles Atlas, who says he can give him a "real body". Not long after, Mac admires his new muscular physique in the mirror, walks to the beach where the big bully is showing off in front of Grace and several other girls. Mac randomly punches the bully, and Grace admires him for being "a real man after all"! And you too can order the dynamic-tension system that changed 97 pound weakling Charles Atlas into "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man"!

It's kind of cool that we see the most stereotypical of comic ads in this first DC Comic!

And this, of course, went on to become the inspiration for Grant Morrison to create Flex Mentallo during his Doom Patrol run. Then the character was spun off into his own Vertigo mini-series by Morrison and Frank Quitely, which is one of my favorite comic book stories of all time.

I think you might enjoy that mini-series, EDE.

^^Thanks for the recommendation.

SPORTS

The next page gives us a feature on Hockey (by Joe Archibald, famed creator of Scrub Hardy!) We learn that pictures of a game resembling hockey have been found on Greek murals, that it began be played on ice in the eighteenth century, and lots more details about its history and some of its famous players. And Canadians are really good at it.

JACK "PUTS ONE OVER" ON HIS BOY FRIEND

So this is a much less interesting variant of the same idea as the Charles Atlas ad on the previous page. Jack is talking to his friend Bill about how Helen is mooning over he-man Bob. Six months ago, Bob was as skinny as they were, but Helen tells Jack that Bob sure has changed since he took the George Jowett course. So Jack takes Helen's advice, and a mere two months later, he's impressing Helen with his physique, and has a date with her. Bill is amazed that George Jowett did that for Jack, but Jack confirms that he added 3 inches to his his chest and two inches to his biceps, just as advertised!

Definitely *not* as memorable as the Charles Atlas ad!

OTHER ADS

We are also told that we can make money at home by growing mushrooms in our basement or shed! We can "earn up to $25 a week or more!", which is a humorously meaningless claim. I wonder what kind of mushroom they are?

We are also given the opportunity to become a successful detective via the National Detective System! "Trained men and women in demand everywhere for secret investigation and confidential work." We can write for a free detective paper and particulars! I think I'd investigate my neighbor who is growing mushrooms in his shed!

I used to sell Grit to pay for my Charles Atlas course. But that was before I started selling 'shrooms out my basement and taking the George Jowett course. I'm as skinny as ever but everyone's too stoned to care!

ON THE RADIO

So, next up we have a text feature where FUN discusses what's on the radio these days. Apparently a lot, because FUN wishes it had fifty ears to hear all the shows it wants to hear, and asks the reader to send in their recommendations. But there are three series it singles out as recommendations:

1) Buck Rogers, who is "whirling through the ether at incredible speed-- even faster than the radio waves that bring the program to you".
2) Bobby Benson and his Western Adventures, so realistic you "can really smell the cactus and exhilarating air of the wide range".
3) Thrills of Tomorrow, which "gives you a vivid glimpse of science as its going to be in the years to come", with features based on "actual scientific fact", such as seadromes, combination airplanes, and gold from the ocean floor!

Included are pictures of the "new young star" of Thrills of Tomorrow, Spike Butler, aka Walter Tetley, and the cast of Buck Rogers. Also included is a picture of Pelion the Penguin (more on him later), because I guess they couldn't get one of Bobby Benson?


Anyway, how are you to listen to the fantastic radio shows? FUN has conveniently included an appropriate ad on the page! You can order your very own 1935 Midwest Super Deluxe 16-Tube Radio, with Deluxe Auditorium-Type Speaker, for the world's greatest radio value of $57.50! This is a savings of between 30 to 50%!

A quick consultation of an inflation calculator reveals that this is over $1000 in today's money, so pretty fancy for something to be advertising in a funny book!


In a completely unrelated ad, you can order 25 Probak Junior blades for 59 cents. According to baseball legend Dizzy Dean, they are the "sharpest blade I've ever used". And they are backed by the Gillette name and preferred by million of men, so they must be good!

Apparently, Gillette had just recently bought out competitor Probak after a nasty patent fight, that I suppose presages the future DC vs Fawcett legal battles!

It's interesting that so early in the company, they had recognised the need for Antennae Lad.

Fun bit of mystery/trivia coming up tomorrow!

Just who *was* the first DC Comics character to be adapted to a movie?

IN THE MOVIES

Next up, FUN gives us some recommendations for movies coming soon!

Among his recommendations are:

SEQUIOA, a story all about mountain lions and deer.
DAVID COPPERFIELD, a Dickens adaptation featuring Lionel Barrymore and W. C. Fields.
SQUARE SHOOTER, a Western starring Tim McCoy with a plot so mysterious that FUN had to promise not to tell us about it
LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, starring Gary Cooper as a British cavalryman in India.

But the most interesting recommendation is an upcoming serial, that FUN enjoyed "so much that we're using it right on the cover!" That's right! FUN urges us to go see the upcoming Universal serial starring Johnny Mack Brown as none other than JACK WOODS! The serial is supposed to be called "RUSTLERS OF RED GAP", and promises to be "as exciting as its title".

So, this is kind of cool. Jack Woods is apparently not only the first DC hero, but also the first to be adapted to the big screen!

Except... it seems to be a little more complicated than that. The serial that's being talked about here is actually titled RUSTLERS OF RED DOG, and features Johnny Mack Brown as a character called "Jack Wood", with no "s" on the end. The story is ultimately derived from a Buffalo Bill Cody novel called The Great West that Was. So, other than being a Western hero with a very similar name as the DC character, the connection is actually questionable. Maybe it was decided for legal reasons that the characters be kept separate? I don't know!

LEARN MUSIC THE EASY WAY

On the movies page we also have an advertisement for the U. S. Music School, which promises you the "shortest road to friends, popularity, good times

We see the story of a young lady who wasn't a hit at parties. In fact, she was a wallflower, and received fewer and fewer invitations. The she read about a new method for learning music that has made popular musicians of thousands! This method was as easy as A-B-C! Our young lady was a hit at Janet's party with her newfound piano playing ability, and would have no more lonesome evenings! She recently got engaged to Bill!

All you have to do is send away for this free course. You don't have to be talented or practice long hours learning your scales and stuff. It has an innovative method of telling you what to do, and then showing you what to do! And it's so fascinating!

So all I have to do is buy this course and I will instantly become popular? Boy have I been doing things the wrong way!

MODEL AIRCRAFT

Next we have a whole page feature on how to build a model of a Vought Corsair, "the fast plane used on our Naval carriers". It would be interesting to actually try to build, but probably not to interesting to talk about. There's also a coupon for subscription to "Model Airplane" magazine, and a promise that each issue of New Fun will feature a new model airplane design!

I'm no expert on aircraft, but as far as I can tell this is the O2U Corsair, apparently most famous for having protected New York from King Kong when he climbed the Empire State Building!

Interesting. I wonder how long the model airplane articles lasted?

I was curious about the same thing, and didn't see it listed online in the contents of future issues, but it's the sort of thing that might not be listed, so I'm not sure you can tell anything from that.

Based on a quick check of scans of future issues online, it looks like it survives at least a couple of issues, but is gone by the time it makes the transition to More Fun with #7.

The Young Lady also took the Charles Atlas course, and Bill fell in love with her 'pecs as much as her piano playin'

I suspect her mushrooms made her a hit at parties as well!

AVIATION

Next up we have a text feature on aviation, which begins with Wiley Post's attempts to push altitude records and fly through the stratosphere. It predicts that as planes begin to fly in the stratosphere, we will soon have passenger service from New York to LA in six hours, and from New York to London in twelve! It is noted that American companies are preparing for a Pacific Ocean flight, from San Francisco to Honolulu, and then to Tokyo! A bit of irony, since American planes would be flying to Japan in a much different contexts ten years later. Anyway, we're treated to a picture of one of the planes being prepared for trans-oceanic ship, called "Flying Clipper Ship No. 7", designed by Glenn Martin and Charles Lindbergh. This ship holds fifty passengers and will cruise at 163 mph for 3,000 miles (or 4,000 miles loaded only with mail). We're given a lot more specifications about the plane, and the article ends by asking, "Who knows how soon it will be before long fleets of silver planes will pass over the tramp steamers and modern liners that steam across the ripple surface of the waters?"

Anyway, this is nice as a look at pre-War optimism about the future of air travel, which will really take off (no pun intended) in the postwar era. Unfortunately, Wiley Post would perish later that year in a plane crash that also claimed the life of his passenger, Will Rogers.

..."I have REDUCED MY WAIST EIGHT INCHES WITH THE WEIL BELT!"... writes George Bailey"

That's just one of the testimonials we're given in favor of the Weil Belt, whose massaging action promises weight loss with "no drugs, no diets, no exercise." We get a cartoon of a poor fellow who suddenly realized that he had become fat. The boys kidded him about his paunch, at parties he became a "wall flower" that nobody wanted to dance with, children laughed at him in a bathing suit. And so he got the Weil Belt and soon had lost eight inches off his waist and 20 pounds off his weight. Soon, he qualified for insurance! Plus, he could work better, eat better, and play better! And a cute girl was on his arm! So, I think this is supposed to be George Bailey in the cartoon, but it would be an interesting twist if it was Bill from the learn music ad!

We also get a bit on the medical dangers of fat.

George Bailey would, of course, find himself a few years later on the verge of suicide on Christmas Eve, before a visit by a guardian angel showed him what the world would be like if he had never existed, and he would learn the lesson that no man is a failure who has friends.

Had George considered taking up the piano?


While a bikini was an unusual choice, he should own his body shape and be proud of his fashion decision.


Clearly after his bikini collection. The Premium Weil Belt Package offers a cute girl to go on dates to parties with you. This self esteem booster lets people think you're awesome. And in today's vacuous society, it's a quick two step to *being* awesome. Besides we promised no more lonesome evenings for piano playing Janet.


And for the friendless, remember, no man is a failure who has a steady income from advertorials.

HOW TO BUILD A MODEL OF HENDRIK HUDSON'S "HALF-MOON"

So, if you had fun building the model airplane a couple of pages back, you're now given almost two full pages of instructions on how to build a model ship! In this case, it's the famous Half-Moon, used by Henry Hudson in his exploration of the New World/Search for the Northwest Passage. And you've got plenty of drawings and instructions. The ship looks to me harder to build than the airplane, but I don't really know much about such things.

GEM RAZOR AD

The part of those two pages that's not taken up by shipbuilding instructions has an ad to join the "Shav-Easy Foundation", which provides you with "the only method of GUARANTEED shaving at a cost of less than two cents a week!" All you have to do is write to their president, Patricia, at her address in Connecticut! She wants to hear from the 10,000,000 new Gem Razor users, and ALL men who shave with safety blades or old fashioned razors.

Apparently, Patricia has found a new method for gaining popularity and not being a wall-flower! All you need to do is sell safety razors and soon you're corresponding with millions of clean-shaven men!


NEXT TIME: Back to actual comics!

Dear Sir,

I feel that this new format of periodical shall prove to be a foolhardy proposition, should the life affirming advertorials be interrupted further by the appearance of what are colloquially referred to, by the local street urchins, as "funnies."

Not yours,
(as this would be an improper suggestion)

Mr Broad Sheet

CAP'N ERIK

We begin with the square-jawed title character on the docks telling one of his men that they will sail with the morning tide, and that it's important that no one, especially Butch Ramsen, knows that they are headed to Kilitook Island to hunt seals. Unfortunately, since he says this out in the open on the docks, Butch Ramsen just happens to be standing around the corner and overhears. So Butch hurries to his own ship and gives an assignment to his man Spike. That night, Butch and Spike row out to Cap'n Erik's ship, and, while Spike knocks out the Watchman, Butch cuts the hawser holding the ship to the docks. Cap'n Erik's ship drifts until it crashed into an old freighter moored nearby! As Butch sails off, he taunts Cap'n Erik, who vows that he will get to Killtook Island first despite Butch's underhanded tactics! And the story ends there.

So I suppose we have to keep reading to find out if our noble hero can beat his nefarious rival to the island in order to be the first to club all the baby seals. Except Cap'n Erik is yet another title that only makes it to #2. It apparently also ends on a cliffhanger, which I suppose means it's tied with Jigger and Ginger for the longest unresolved plots in DC history. Longer lasting nautical themed character Cap'n Spinniker also debuts in #2, so I suppose there wasn't really a need for both.

BUCKSKIN JIM: THE TRAIL BLAZER

We begin with Jim Kenyon, bound for California, arriving in New Orleans, only to discover that the wagon train has already left, and he can only make them out as a small speck on the plain.

I'm already seriously confused by the first panel of this. New Orleans is nowhere near the plains, nor is it a typical place from which wagon trains departed. But, whatever...

Jim takes off walking across the plains, confident that he will somehow catch up to the wagon train. He hears someone calling for help. He discovers this old fellow and his horse sinking in quick sand. Fortunately, JIm has a rope, and saves them. Now riding the horse, they head to catch up with the wagon train. But... they spot smoke signals ahead. More determined than ever to catch up with the wagon train to warn them of an imminent attack by natives, they rush forward. They run right the path of the natives, however. The old fellow valiantly jumps down and vows to hold the native off with his rifle while Jim makes it to the wagon train, but Jim himself jumps down, and the old fellow tosses him a gun. And we have to buy the next issue to find out what happens next!

So, apparently in the next issue they shoot one of the natives, who thus holds the dubious distinction of being the first character killed in a DC comic. This series would last until More Fun #18, and along the way they would eventually join up with the wagon train, and Jim would rescue and fall in love with the old man's daughter. I'm honestly surprised that this series lasted so long, as it's really one of the weaker offering in this first issue. Both the writing and artwork are pretty weak compared to other stories. I don't get it.

POPULAR SCIENCE

After that brief interruption by comics, we return to text features! On this page devoted to scientific marvels of the modern era, we learn about a steamline train that "talks"! So, the story goes that as the train comes into a station, the train aims its beacon at a mirror in the station, and the operator speaks over a microphone that modulates the light beam, which can then be amplified at the station. So, it's something like this principle.

Next up we have a feature on scientists who are "putting the sun to work", through the use of "sunshine motors", that convert the sun's energy into power. So, yeah, solar power. Unfortunately, "it would take as many cells as would cover an area of 1500 square foot to produce a full horsepower of energy".

And there's also a lesson on how to perform a magic trick of making a coin disappear.

There's also an ad where you can mail in for books to get into the "big pay fields" of electricity or radio/television/talking pictures. Basically you get lessons in these fields, and then 'pay after graduation" once you start earning the big bucks! So, yeah, basically student loan debt.

Always liked the science articles in comics and magazines when I was a kid (still like them now it seems).

I never watched Mr Wizard but it looked like a cool show. That link was fun. Would have loved to do that when I was young or with my kids when they were growing up. Of course movie projectors are a little hard to come by these days and even if LP records have made a minor comeback in some circles it might be just a wee bit harder to do the wiring connection with today's digital circuit electronics.

I was curious about the "sunshine motors" in the article and that sent me looking into the timeline of the solar cell, since our modern cells rely on semiconductor technology which hadn't been invented then. It seems the first solar cells were created back in the 1880's using selenium and gold and experiments continued from there. Einstein won the Nobel Physics Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect. It wasn't until the 1940's during experiments leading to the transistor that the basis of our modern cells was discovered. These early cells had efficiencies below 1% which I suppose explains the huge area requirement.

We live in an amazing time in history, for all sorts of reasons.

Apparently the "using light to transmit sound" is a popular kid's science experiment. Most of the stuff I found on the topic seemed to be of that variety. I couldn't find anything on actually using it on trains, though.

Thanks for the history of solar power. I think it's cool that the idea was in the air in the 1930s, even if it wouldn't become practical until much more recently.

Why, that means that National's '30s stories of superpowers are just waiting for science to catch up! I'll just leap from this garage to test my powers of flight..... >thump< science...isn't... quite...there... yet... >ow<

STAMPS AND COINS

Next up we have a whole page on collecting stamps and coins!

Most of it is super-basic stuff. How do you start a stamp collection? Get people to write to you! And collect as many as you can! Later on you can figure out what you like and specialize in different types of stamps! We are shown examples of two recent cool stamps: one commemorating the Spanish-American Union Exhibition of 1930, and the other commemorating the Eucharistic Congress of Brazil in 1933.

In the coin section we are told about a California gold slug from 1851 that recently sold for auction for $150, and a four-dollar goldpiece from 1879 that sold for $108. There's an interesting paragraph on silver mining companies paying their workers in part with silver tokens that are "not legal tender", but are nonetheless valuable for their precious metal content. The writer of the articles actually possesses one of these.

There's also a big ad where you can send away for a large catalog pricing guide on various stamps and coins, for a mere 4 cents, from an R. Max Mehl who wants to buy them. One woman got $400 for a half dollar! And there's lots of other stories of that kind.

Oh, and if you don't have any stamps or coins, you can make 40 dollars a week selling bars of soap in another ad.

YOUNG HOMEMAKERS

So this page is a real curiosity. It's basically an article on home organization and kitchen management. We read about a home economics class that studies the number of steps taken in a kitchen, and finds that a poorly organized kitchen can require the homemaker to 500,000 steps per year than a better organized kitchen. The implication, of course, is that this makes the better organized kitchen preferable, but I look at it and think that a poorly organized kitchen would sure help in getting one closer to the 10,000 steps per day we're all supposed to get! We also get lots more advice on putting stuff near wear they are used (e.g. sauce pans should be stored near the stove). Also, it's important that tables be of the proper height so as to allow the homemaker to work with proper posture and not have to stoop over them.

So, I'm not really sure who this feature is aimed at. Teenage girls who will soon need to know this kind of thing? Is there a thought that young housewives might actually read comic books? Maybe it's for young mothers who buy the comics for their kids? Former wallflowers that learned music the easy way? I'm not really sure. It just seems to stand out as somewhat different than most of the features in the book.


There's also an advertisement on this page for the Wilson Chemical Company, from which you can order rifles, watches, radios, guitars, banjos, and wagons! All of which seem a bit weird for a chemical company to manufacture, but whatever.

AFTER SCHOOL

So this is a comics strip about kids, maybe even a forerunner of the 'kid gang" strips. Lefty shows up for a club meeting, but Slim won't let him bring his "uncle", who looks to be a kid significantly younger than them, into the meeting. Lefty suggest that they let his uncle join the club as their mascot, and Slim decides to give him a test. Slim and Lefty would follow uncle around and see if he leads them to something lucky, like finding a quarter. So, they follow uncle around for awhile, but then end up getting in an argument with one another, and threatening one another with a fist fight. Just then, "mean old miser Spinks" starts yelling at them to cut it out, and, realizing that he is mean enough to call the cops on them, Lefty and Slim hightail it out of there. Once they get back to the clubhouse, they suddenly realize they forgot to bring Lefty's uncle along! But we have to wait until next issue to see what happened to Lefty's forgotten uncle!

So, I'm not sure what the deal is with the uncle who seems more like a kid brother, but other than that this strip isn't bad at all. It survived the New Fun Implosion of strips that were cancelled after #2, but only survived until #6. From what I saw of future synopses, the question of whether the uncle is lucky or not continues to be a main theme of the strip.

CAVEMAN CAPERS

This feature stars a family of cave people, with a little boy Ur and a little girl Wur. When we open the rest of the family are huddled around in the cave as it grows dark, wondering where little Ur has gotten to. Ur is out in the cold and unfriendly world, and has lost his way trying to get back home. As it get dark, he is scared. He worries about a dinosaur that sometimes comes around. Lightning flashes, which scares him more. The lightning causes fire, which gives Ur an idea. Putting a stick in the fire, he now has a torch, and runs home, because suddenly he now knows the way? Maybe he was lost because he couldn't see before? It's not clear. Anyway, he shows the fire to his parents and the rest of the cave people, who rejoice in its light and warmth. Then the dinosaur sticks its head in the cave and they all run. And that's it for this issue.

This story was okay, but nothing too special. It would last until #5, and apparently ends on a cliffhanger of Ur and Wur falling to their impending doom, but I like to think that maybe they survived in some sort of suspended animation and are out there just waiting for some future DC super-team to discover them and revive them in the present day!

Stunned that Ur didn't replace Anthro in Crisis on Infinite Earths. He must have survived the fall as he went on to have a Sumerian city/state named after him! What mythic heroics could have been behind that? What strange places did he and Wur visit when they fell through that gateway after #5?

UR to WUR: Where are you going?

WUR: Yes, I am.

UR: Okay, but where?

WUR: That's me.

UR: I just want to know where.

WUR: You already know me.

UR: No, I don't know!

UR and WUR: THIRD BASE!

Ur and Wur. Pioneers of civilisation and comedy routines!

Ur loves the music of Jamaic-Ur.

FUN FILMS: TAD AMONG THE PIRATES

So, this feature is actually super-annoying. It gives you a series of panels which the reader can cut out, attach end to end, and then by pulling them through the "stage" which can also be cut out, it's supposed to be like a film.

The panels feature the young boy Tad, whose mother lets him go out an play on the harbor, where he runs into pirates. Fleeing from the pirates, he hides onboard a ship, only to fall into the hold.

So, it's annoying enough that they are encouraging people to cut up the comic in order to make this lame film thing, but rather than having the flipside be something that it wouldn't matter if you cut up, there's an actual comic on the next page that will be destroyed if you want to make your "fun film"! Ugh. Plus, the whole method of "playing" this film seems suspect to me. A "flip book" would achieve the goal much better.

So, yeah, not a fan of this at all. Apparently, this feature would last until #3, however.

The reader's been had by Tad.

Liking pirates, my family cut out the panels on all 10 copies of this we bought. Great fun. It's not as though these funny books are worth anything.

I did find myself wondering if any of the surviving copies of this had the fun film panels cut out. It seems like people who would be likely to actually cut them out would also be likely to think of the comics as disposable, so it's unlikely that many of those survived, but...

Stranger things have happened!

BUBBY AND BEEVIL

To quote the first panel: "Meet happy-go-lucky Bubby with his clattering wooden shoes and big pointed cap, the friend of all good people, always ready to help the needy- he is like most unselfish people- modest, and makes himself unseen to anybody. He is followed closely by Beevil, the mischievous, gloomy bogie, who always tries his best ot throw a monkey-wrench into good old Bubby's doings. And now listen:"

So, we begin with Bubby, singing, doing his morning exercises, and excited for a new day. He decides to go look for someone doing a good deed. But Beevil observes him from a hole in tree and decides to follow. Bubby spies young Jacky, performing errands for his mother. When he returns home, Jacky's mother tells him to go do his schoolwork, but Jacky is tired, and falls asleep! So Bubby decides to sneak in and help out by finishing Jacky's schoolwork for him. "Good deeds, bah!" says Beevil, observing, and once Bubby leaves, Beevil sneaks in and spills ink on Jacky's assignment! What will happen? Stay tuned for next issue!

So, I found this a really charming little strip. Bubby is exactly the same design as "Fun the Fantastic" from the intro. page, so that's a bit weird. Apparently this title would only last through #3, which is a shame, and I want to blame that on all the kids who cut out their "Fun Films" on the previous page and never took the time to appreciate the grooviness of this comic. I'd totally retcon Bubby and Beevil to be DC's first 5th dimensional imps.

A 1954 study into US adult numeracy and literacy deficiency, found that the number one reason was Bubby doing all their homework in the '30s.

LOL. Just what I was thinking. Beevil is actually helping raise the numeracy and literacy ratings.

PELION AND OSSA

This is a funny animal strip, starring a young penguin and bear and their adventures in the Arctic. Pelion and Ossa walk to the top of a big snow drift to find a good place to sled. They slide down the hill, only to hit a bit of a cliff. As they land, the sled breaks and Ossa goes into a pond. Once Ossa emerges, he's not to disappointed about the sled being broken, but Pelion wants to get it fixed. They wander until they find a house in the North Pole section. They start to ring the bell, but the door mysteriously opens by itself. They enter, and find a nice warm fire. Pelion sees somebody coming out the window. They're flying! We are left with the cliffhanger of who it could be that's approaching!

This was okay. Interesting that, like Oswald the Rabbit earlier in the issue, this funny animal story was centered around sledding. This strip would last through More Fun #20, and I suppose is the first DC Comic officially set on Earth-C, so that's kind of cool. Maybe they could show up in a future incarnation of the Zoo Crew?

We're also treated to a bonus strip of Beevil, who is poking his head up out of the ground looking all sour, until the wind blows an issue of New Fun his way. He begins reading, and starts laughing, his sour disposition gone!

PELION AND OSSA

This is a funny animal strip, starring a young penguin and bear and their adventures in the Arctic. Pelion and Ossa walk to the top of a big snow drift to find a good place to sled. They slide down the hill, only to hit a bit of a cliff. As they land, the sled breaks and Ossa goes into a pond. Once Ossa emerges, he's not to disappointed about the sled being broken, but Pelion wants to get it fixed. They wander until they find a house in the North Pole section. They start to ring the bell, but the door mysteriously opens by itself. They enter, and find a nice warm fire. Pelion sees somebody coming out the window. They're flying! We are left with the cliffhanger of who it could be that's approaching!

This was okay. Interesting that, like Oswald the Rabbit earlier in the issue, this funny animal story was centered around sledding. This strip would last through More Fun #20, and I suppose is the first DC Comic officially set on Earth-C, so that's kind of cool. Maybe they could show up in a future incarnation of the Zoo Crew?

We're also treated to a bonus strip of Beevil, who is poking his head up out of the ground looking all sour, until the wind blows an issue of New Fun his way. He begins reading, and starts laughing, his sour disposition gone!

2023 SUPER-POLICE

Here we have a nice slice of science fiction, set in the far off future of 2023! We open with Rex talking to Professor Shanley, asking if the new plane is ready. And it turns out that the new vehicle, the "Hi-Lo", a stratosphere-submarine that can function as either an airplane or submarine is ready for service for the Super-Police! It's just in time, as they have a mission in the Galapagos Islands, where five U. S. Ships have mysteriously disappeared.

Rex asks about the Professor's daughter Joan, but is told that she is at her aunt's house, and will have to sit this trip out, as it's too dangerous (for a girl!)! But, a third character who isn't identified (he's originally wearing a lab coat as though he's the Professsor's assistant, but then later dons a Super-Police uniform) calls Joan to tell her they will be leaving in fifteen minutes. Joan rushes to the airfield to try to catch the plane, but forgets to pay her taxi driver! She and the taxi driver both end up hanging from the planes wing, but at some point begin to fall off! The professor spies them, and Rex takes the controls and somehow manages to catch them. Back on board the plane, Rex picks up a "photo-light" S.O.S. from a ship sinking near the Galapagos! They speed there in the Hi-Lo! Will it get there in time? Find out next issue!

Okay, the whole bit of Joan hanging off the plane is pretty goofy, but it's an interesting set-up nonetheless. Apparently Rex's full name is Rex Cosmos, and his fellow Super-Policeman is named Axel Yoke! They encounter such colorful villains as Captain Kiddaw, the wizard-pirate and Renee, the Queen of Fortune. But alas, they last only until More Fun #14. Perhaps as we approach the actual year 2023, DC will make plans to revive this classic series?

Anyway, this is actually the last page of New Fun #1. But wait... there's more! Because we still have the back cover! But, yeah, just a couple of more things to talk about.

Ahh penguins in the Arctic. Wrong! Funny how having penguins depicted in the North always rubs me the wrong way but I am perfectly fine with talking anthropomorphised animals. And Pingu is very funny.

Actually one species of penguin is found in the Northern hemisphere (just) on the Galapagos Islands. Also "penguin" was originally another name for the Great Auk (now extinct Northern Hemisphere flightless sea bird) and when sailors first saw the Southern Hemisphere birds they thought they resembled the auks and so called them penguins.

I have seen penguins in the wild. Not far from Melbourne at Phillip Island is a large colony of Little Penguins whose nightly return to their burrows is a significant tourist attraction.

Yeah, I meant to say something about penguins being in the wrong place, but completely forgot about it when I was actually writing that bit.

NEW EASY WAY TO LEARN AVIATION

The inside back cover is devoted to an ad from Ideal Aeroplane and Supply Co., which basically sells model airplane (and ship) kits. So, if the previous features on building model airplanes and ship from scratch proved too difficult, and you've got the money to spare, you can order the catalogue for these fancy kits! It's got a lot of pictures of various airplane models you can build, Apparently, you can operate the controls in cockpit of these models and learn the principles of flying!

TOM MIX AND HIS RALSTON STRAIGHT SHOOTERS

And, finally the back cover. This features a comic/advertisement for the Ralston Purina Company, featuring Western film/radio star Tom Mix. In it, youngsters Jimmy and Jane are passing an open window when they happen to overhear smugglers planning on ambushing Tom Mix at his ranch house. Jimmy and Jane ride to town to warn Tom Mix, but are too late, as Tom and his wrangler have already set off towards home and the ambush! Jimmy and Jane ride as fast as they can in an attempt to head Tom off, but can't catch up with him! They finally arrive at the house, just as Tom is starting up the front porch. Knowing that if they call out, the smugglers will open fire and kill Tom, Jimmy and Jane try to think of some way they can warn Tom of the danger. Fortunately, Jimmy has with him his "Zyp Gun", a spring-loaded device that fire a "bullet" with a rubber suction cup attached to the end of it (basically a plunger), and uses it to send a note warning Tom and the wrangler of the danger. Prepared, Tom and the wrangler burst in the house with guns drawn and the smugglers surrender without a fight. Jimmy and Jane bring the troops from a nearby Fort, who are grateful because they'd been after the smugglers for years. Tom says that the credit belongs to Jimmy and Jane, and the wrangler muses that every boy and girl will want a zyp gun after seeing how it saved Tom's life.

And... guess what? All you have to do is buy a box of Ralston cereal, made of whole wheat to keep you strong like Jimmy and Jane, and rich in vitamins and minerals (and "double rich" in Vitamin B!), and send in a box top to get a free zyp gun of your own! Well, you're supposed to send in the coupon that you clip off the back of the comic as well, but if you don't have a coupon, or don't want to cut up your sure-to-be-valuable in the future historically important first comic by the company that will later become known as DC Comics, you can actually just write "zyp gun" on the box top and you don't need a coupon at all! Whoever thought of that alternative must have been a real straight shooter who regularly ate his Ralston cereal, which is not only healthy, but tastes really good!

Thanks EDE. Reading these has been fun and I am sad to see the end of it.

That Ranch House must have had a lot of steps, if Jimmy had time to write a note of warning. I saw Purina and wond?red how glossy fur and a cat diet was going to help the kids.

Thanks. I definitely enjoyed reading this book overall, even if the features were a bit of mixed bag.

I have another review project planned, which is really a bit of continuation of something I started years ago!

That was fun. Thanks EDE.

Like others have said, this was great fun. Thank you, EDE. Looking forward to your next review project.