I love this project, but I really want to get out of the More Fun/New Comics ghetto to series that are still with us today, if not outright superhero material. So let's take a shortcut. 9 comics, one panel apiece.
From "Blood Pearls: Episode 1" by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Munson Paddock, New Comics #8 (Sep 1936)
I believe this is the first instance of a DC Comic spreading a strip's installment over more than 2 pages. Blood Pearls (and later in the same issue, Federal Men) goes to a whopping 4 pages (while still being a serial) as we slowly pave the way towards longer and more complete action-adventure stories. Sorry about the clumsy erasing, but that really was the best panel (#18 for those who have a hard time following along), and it was integrated into a larger montage. (A problem for me as layouts get more interesting?)
From Federal Men: "The Unknown Enemy: Part 2" by Siegel and Shuster, New Comics #9 (Oct 1936)
Remember when this was about the FBI? Well, still is, but I think the primeval DCU is slowly being born, with the potential for crazy science joining Dr. Occult's magic in the mix. Unless those files haven't been declassified, of course.
From Dr. Occult: "Koth and the Seven" by Siegel and Shuster, More Fun #16 (Dec 1936)
Famously, one of the rungs on the ladder of Superman's creation is that episode in Dr. Occult's life where he wore a red cape and flew! It all happened in a mystical dimension that really took the character out of his real-world supernatural mystery stories, but it did happen. (Oh and sorry about skipping some issues of More Fun, just couldn't find clear images for them. True of some issues to come as well, sorry about that.)
From "17-20 On the Black: Chapter 10" by Tom Cooper, New Comics #10 (Nov 1936)
I'm pretty sure I've seen that expression used in conjunction with Nova Scotia's Schooner beer label. Maybe not.
From Slim and Tex: "The Dude Ranch: Part 3" by Alex Lovy, New Comics #11 (Dec 1936)
It's not what you THINK!
Also, this marks the last issue of New Comics before it turns into New Adventure Comics. And you know what New Adventure Comics becomes? That's right, plain old Adventure Comics, a title that will last decades and be important to a number of characters.
From Pep Morgan: "Fox and Hounds" by Creig Flessel, More Fun #17 (Jan 1937)
Inspiration for that memorable scene in Superman The Movie? Of course not, but you gotta admit...
From Federal Men: "Federal Men of Tomorrow" by Siegel and Shuster, New Adventure Comics #12 (Jan 1937)
Okay, every time I look in on Federal Men, I recognize it less and less. (Wait... Jor-L?)
From Dale Daring: "The Tsin Lee Incident: Part 2" by Alex Lovy, New Adventure Comics #13 (Feb 1937)
I'm "velly sorry" too, though for a different reason. (At least be consistent with your racist lolling R's, 1937.) But yeah, also an awful lot of "yellow peril" material in this issue, a definite sign of the times. Dale Daring, Sandor, Blood Pearls, Steve Conrad, Jim Gale, Castaway Island, and The Golden Dragon all feature "exotic" enemies, most of them Asian, and two of those strips are ABOUT the yellow peril outright. And speaking of yellow peril, our next entry has a Fu Manchu type right on the cover.
From Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Rhanqwa Pearls" by Sven Elven, Detective Comics #1 (Mar 1937)
We made it! Detective Comics #1! Oh yeah, SORRY non-comics nerds, Batman doesn't show up until issue 27. Ooops! Still, it's the first appearance of Slam Bradley (more yellow peril, covered HERE, which is why our choice panel isn't from that story) and a format that supports, for the first time, much longer stories (6 pages is the norm, but it can go up to 13).
As for our chosen panel, he could have been a contender: Cosmo - The Phantom of Disguise! British aristocrat and master thespian, he starred in the first 37 issues of 'Tec, but nothing came of him later. Not celebratory cameos in Batman's anniversary comics, not a Who's Who half-page. Ah well. That'll teach him for appearing in a single issue of All-America while being English.
So, did you like this shortcut through some 6 months of early Golden Age action? Should this series be moving faster, or do you already miss the leisurely pace? Let me know, and might adjust the cruise control.
I believe this is the first instance of a DC Comic spreading a strip's installment over more than 2 pages. Blood Pearls (and later in the same issue, Federal Men) goes to a whopping 4 pages (while still being a serial) as we slowly pave the way towards longer and more complete action-adventure stories. Sorry about the clumsy erasing, but that really was the best panel (#18 for those who have a hard time following along), and it was integrated into a larger montage. (A problem for me as layouts get more interesting?)
Remember when this was about the FBI? Well, still is, but I think the primeval DCU is slowly being born, with the potential for crazy science joining Dr. Occult's magic in the mix. Unless those files haven't been declassified, of course.
Famously, one of the rungs on the ladder of Superman's creation is that episode in Dr. Occult's life where he wore a red cape and flew! It all happened in a mystical dimension that really took the character out of his real-world supernatural mystery stories, but it did happen. (Oh and sorry about skipping some issues of More Fun, just couldn't find clear images for them. True of some issues to come as well, sorry about that.)
I'm pretty sure I've seen that expression used in conjunction with Nova Scotia's Schooner beer label. Maybe not.
It's not what you THINK!
Also, this marks the last issue of New Comics before it turns into New Adventure Comics. And you know what New Adventure Comics becomes? That's right, plain old Adventure Comics, a title that will last decades and be important to a number of characters.
Inspiration for that memorable scene in Superman The Movie? Of course not, but you gotta admit...
Okay, every time I look in on Federal Men, I recognize it less and less. (Wait... Jor-L?)
I'm "velly sorry" too, though for a different reason. (At least be consistent with your racist lolling R's, 1937.) But yeah, also an awful lot of "yellow peril" material in this issue, a definite sign of the times. Dale Daring, Sandor, Blood Pearls, Steve Conrad, Jim Gale, Castaway Island, and The Golden Dragon all feature "exotic" enemies, most of them Asian, and two of those strips are ABOUT the yellow peril outright. And speaking of yellow peril, our next entry has a Fu Manchu type right on the cover.
We made it! Detective Comics #1! Oh yeah, SORRY non-comics nerds, Batman doesn't show up until issue 27. Ooops! Still, it's the first appearance of Slam Bradley (more yellow peril, covered HERE, which is why our choice panel isn't from that story) and a format that supports, for the first time, much longer stories (6 pages is the norm, but it can go up to 13).
As for our chosen panel, he could have been a contender: Cosmo - The Phantom of Disguise! British aristocrat and master thespian, he starred in the first 37 issues of 'Tec, but nothing came of him later. Not celebratory cameos in Batman's anniversary comics, not a Who's Who half-page. Ah well. That'll teach him for appearing in a single issue of All-America while being English.
So, did you like this shortcut through some 6 months of early Golden Age action? Should this series be moving faster, or do you already miss the leisurely pace? Let me know, and might adjust the cruise control.
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