''Big Shot Comics'' was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series published by

Columbia Comics Columbia Comics Corporation was a comic book publisher active in the 1940s whose best-known title was ''Big Shot Comics''. Comics creators who worked for Columbia included Fred Guardineer, on ''Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians''; and Ogden Whitne ...

during period in the 1940s that fans and historians refer to as the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. An anthology title, the series included a mix of superheroes, costumed crimefighters, crusading

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

s, heroic

magicians Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

and others, both in original stories and in reprinted

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comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

from the McNaught Syndicate, including ''

Dixie Dugan ''Dixie Dugan'' is best known as a long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip published from October 21, 1929 to October 8, 1966. The title character was originally modeled after 1920s film actress Louise Brooks and early stories followed Dix ...

'', '' Joe Palooka'', and the

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

-series spin-off ''

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

''.

Publication history

''Big Shot'' ran 104 issues, cover-dated May 1940 to August 1949. With issue #30 (Dec. 1942), the title was shortened to simply ''Big Shot''.

Overview

Original characters included

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

, Sparky Watts, Skyman, Brass Knuckles, Marvelo and Spy-Master. Although the character Skyman was intended to be the leader of the title, the character did not have the star power that the publisher hoped for. Sparky Watts, a superhero parody character created by Boody Rogers, started in issue 14, and judging by the number of covers and solo books, had the highest popularity.

References

* Comics magazines published in the United States 1940 comics debuts 1949 comics endings Magazines established in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1949 Golden Age comics titles {{comics-stub