More Fun Comics

More Fun Comics, originally titled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine a.k.a. New Fun Comics,[1] was a 1935–1947 American comic book anthology that introduced several major superhero characters and was the first American comic book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of newspaper comic strips.[2] It was also the first publication of the company that would become DC Comics.

More Fun Comics
More Fun Comics #52 (Feb. 1940), debut of the Spectre; cover art by Bernard Baily.
Publication information
PublisherNational Allied Publications
ScheduleMonthly:
#1–4, #7–90, #108–126
Bi-monthly:
#5–6, #91–107, #127
FormatOngoing series
Publication dateFebruary 1935 – November/December 1947
No. of issues127
Main character(s)Doctor Occult, The Spectre, Doctor Fate, Johnny Quick, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Superboy, "Jimminy and the Magic Book"

Publication history
Cover photo of the first issue of the series.

In the latter half of 1934, having seen the emergence of Famous Funnies and other oversize magazines reprinting comic strips, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications and published New Fun #1 on January 11, 1935[3] (cover-dated February 1935). A tabloid-sized, 10-inch by 15-inch, 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover, it was an anthology of humor features, such as the talking animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger", mixed with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the "yellow peril" adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu-styled villain, Fang Gow.[1] The first issue also featured humor strip "Caveman Capers", an adaptation of the 1819 novel Ivanhoe, spy drama "Sandra of the Secret Service", and a strip based on an early Walt Disney creation Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.[2]

Most significantly, however, whereas some of the existing publications had eventually included a small amount of original material, generally as filler, New Fun #1 was the first comic book containing all-original material. Additionally, it carried advertising,[4] whereas previous comic books were sponsored by corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Kinney Shoes, and Canada Dry beverages, and ad-free.[5][6]

The first four issues were edited by future Funnies, Inc., founder Lloyd Jacquet,[1][7] the next, after a three-month hiatus, by Wheeler-Nicholson himself.[8] Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought the comic-book debuts of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the future creators of Superman, who began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval" (doing the first two installments before turning it over to others) and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", the supernatural adventurer Doctor Occult.[9] They would remain on the latter title through issue #32 (June 1938), following the magazine's retitling as More Fun (issues #7–8, Jan.-Feb. 1936),[10] and More Fun Comics (#9-on).[11]

In issue #101 (Feb. 1945), Siegel and Shuster introduced Superboy, a teenage version of Superman, in a new feature chronicling the adventures of the Man of Steel when he was a boy growing up in the rural Midwestern United States.[12]

With issue #108 (March 1946), all the superhero features were moved from More Fun into Adventure Comics. More Fun became a humor title that spotlighted the children's fantasy feature "Jimminy and the Magic Book".[13] The book was canceled with issue #127 (Dec 1947).

Features include

See also

References
  1. New Fun #v1#1 (Feb. 1935) at the Grand Comics Database. The entry notes that while the logo appears to be simply Fun, the indicia reads, "New FUN is published monthly at 49 West 45th Street, New York, N.Y., by National Allied Publications, Inc.; Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, President ... Inquiries concerning advertising should be addressed to the Advertising Manager, New FUN,...."
  2. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  3. "New Fun Magazine for Juveniles Out". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 11, 1935.
  4. Newbold, Jamie (2018). The Forensic Comicologist: Insights from a Life in Comics. McFarland & Company. p. 127. ISBN 978-1476672670.
  5. Yezbick, Daniel F. (2014). "Children's Comics". In Booker, M. Keith (ed.). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 71. ISBN 978-0313397509.
  6. Davin, Eric Leif (2005). Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965. Lexington Books. p. 169. ISBN 978-0739112663.
  7. New Fun #v1#4 (May 1935) at the Grand Comics Database.
  8. New Fun #v1#5 (Aug. 1935) at the Grand Comics Database.
  9. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2010). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
  10. More Fun at the Grand Comics Database.
  11. More Fun Comics at the Grand Comics Database.
  12. Superboy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017.
  13. "Jimminy and the Magic Book" at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on December 14, 2011.

Further reading
  • Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books by Ron Goulart (ISBN 0-8092-5045-4).
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