The Adventures of Bob Hope

The Adventures of Bob Hope is an American celebrity comics comic book series that was published by National Periodical Publications (an imprint of DC Comics). The series featured stories based on comedian Bob Hope, as well as assorted other humorous stories. The series ran for 109 issues from 1950 through 1968.

The Adventures of Bob Hope
Cover to issue #1 (February–March 1950).
Publication information
PublisherNational Periodical Publications
ScheduleBi-monthly
FormatOngoing series
Publication date1950-1968
No. of issues109
Creative team
Written byArnold Drake
Artist(s)Neal Adams
Owen Fitzgerald
Bob Oksner

Publication history

As 1950 neared, sales for superhero themed comics were declining. National Periodical Publications wanted to diversify its titles and so began licensing the right to use celebrity images, including Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Alan Ladd, and Bob Hope.[1] Issue #1 (cover dated February–March 1950) set the tone for most of the 1950s. The lead story would feature Hope in a misadventure similar to his film roles; the back up stories tended to revolve around movie-related themes or characters. For example, issue #1 had a story on Rhonda Fleming, Hope's co-star in the 1949 film The Great Lover.[2]

By the 1960s, sales for the Hope series began to flag. The editors attempted to add some contemporary humor by introducing the character Super-Hip in issue #95.[3] Despite the changes, the series was canceled with issue #109 (March 1968).

Artists and writers

The first four issues featured photographs of Hope on the cover; subsequent covers were illustrated. Owen Fitzgerald was the original artist for the series.[4] He was eventually replaced by Bob Oksner, who provided the majority of the artwork for the run of the series.[5] Oksner was replaced by Neal Adams for the final four issues.[6]

There were no story credits, though some sources credit Cal Howard with writing some early scripts.[7] Beginning with issue #88 (Sept. 1964), Arnold Drake received a byline, and would go on to write most of the scripts for rest of the series run.[8]

See also

References
  1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  2. Shaw, Scott. "The Adventures of Bob Hope #1". "Oddball Comics" (column), Comic Book Resources. Last accessed 4 April 2007. Dead link as of at least December 12, 2010
  3. Archive of Shaw, Scott, "Adventures of Bob Hope #99" "Oddball Comics" (column) #1022, Comic Book Resources, June 25, 2004. Last accessed 4 April 2007. Original page.
  4. Owen Fitzgerald Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics. Last accessed 4 April 2007.
  5. Robert Oksner Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics.
  6. Mort Drucker Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics.
  7. Adventures of Bob Hope, The #2 at the Grand Comics Database. Last accessed 4 April 2007.
  8. Arnold Drake Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics. Last accessed 4 April 2007.
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