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.
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.
Originally Posted by Eryk Davis Ester
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.
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.
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. [quote=Eryk Davis Ester]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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!
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?
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.
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!
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.
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!
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
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!
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...
It's interesting that so early in the company, they had recognised the need for Antennae Lad.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
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!
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