anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

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 ...

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

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 ...

Black Condor Black Condor is the superhero name used by three different fictional characters in the DC Comics universe. All three incarnations of Black Condor have been members of the Freedom Fighters and each has been featured in Freedom Fighters comic bo ...

Captain Triumph Captain Triumph is a superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #27, published in January 1943 by Quality Comics. He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949). The character was ...

Madame Fatal Madame Fatal (sometimes referred to as Madam Fatal) is a fictional character and a comic book superhero active during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Madame Fatal was created and originally illustrated by artist/writer Art Pinajian and the debut o ...

Red Torpedo Red Torpedo is the name of two fictional characters, one originally published by Quality Comics and another currently owned by DC Comics. The original is a superhero named Jim Lockhart while the second is an android created by T. O. Morrow. Jim Lock ...

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...

Alfred Andriola Alfred James Andriola (May 24, 1912 – March 29, 1983) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''Kerry Drake'', for which he won a Reuben Award in 1970. His work sometimes appeared under the pseudonym Alfred James. Andriola wa ...

George Brenner George E. Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist in the mid 20th-century. He created comics such as '' The Clock'', ''Bozo the Iron Man'', and ''711''. Brenner was first employed by the Comics Magazine Company before moving to Everett ...

Gill Fox Gilbert Theodore Fox (November 29, 1915 – May 15, 2004) was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editing, editor, and animator. Biography Fox began his career in animation at Max Fleischer's studio, but left due to labor unr ...

Paul Gustavson Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the An ...

Klaus Nordling Klaus Nordling (May 29, 1910 – November 19, 1986)Klaus Nordling
at the Art Pinajian. Quality Comics published 62 issues of ''Crack Comics'' from 1940 to 1949; the title was temporarily revived in 2011, when the

Next Issue Project The Next Issue Project is a series of American comic-book anthology one-shots published by Image Comics beginning in February 2008. The multi-title project, edited by Erik Larsen, creator of Savage Dragon, features comic book characters that have ...

published issue "#63".

Publication history

''Crack Comics'' started off as a monthly anthology of 68 pages, often with as many as 15 features. At first edited by Ed Cronin, much of its material was originally "packaged" by the

Eisner and Iger Studio Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Many of comic books' most significant c ...

. " The Clock", as well as such newspaper strip reprints as "

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

's Side Show", " Jane Arden", and "Ned Brant", moved over from Quality's ''

Feature Comics ''Feature Comics'', originally ''Feature Funnies'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Quality Comics from 1939 until 1950, that featured short stories in the humor genre and later the superhero genre. Publication history T ...

''. The first use of the publisher name "Quality Comic Group" was on the cover of ''Crack Comics'' #5 (Sept. 1940). With issue #26 (Nov. 1942), at the height of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the title dropped down to a bi-monthly schedule due to wartime paper shortages; with issue #33 (Spring 1944) it became quarterly, also reducing its page-count to 60. It was around this time that publisher Arnold dropped Eisner & Iger as a "packager" and began producing much of the material in-house. The syndicated newspaper strip reprints " Jane Arden" and "Ned Brant" disappeared during this period, as well as such recurring features as "

Black Condor Black Condor is the superhero name used by three different fictional characters in the DC Comics universe. All three incarnations of Black Condor have been members of the Freedom Fighters and each has been featured in Freedom Fighters comic bo ...

", "Don Q", and "Snappy". Cartoonist

George Brenner George E. Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist in the mid 20th-century. He created comics such as '' The Clock'', ''Bozo the Iron Man'', and ''711''. Brenner was first employed by the Comics Magazine Company before moving to Everett ...

became editor of ''Crack Comics'' with issue #31 (Oct. 1943) (Cronin having left the post in Feb. 1942), a few issues before Brenner's character The Clock stopped appearing in the book's pages.Markstein, Don
"The Clock"
Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed Nov. 15, 2011. Beginning with issue #42 (May 1946) the title went back to a bimonthly schedule, which it maintained until its cancellation with issue #62 (during this time, the title also gradually reduced its page-count from 60 to 52 to 36). Brenner stayed on as editor almost to the end, leaving the post after issue #61 (July 1949).

''Crack Western'' and ''Jonesy''

As comics readers' tastes changed in the years following World War II, Quality publisher Arnold responded. Starting with issue #63 (Nov. 1949), ''Crack'' became a

Western comic Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic boo ...

, changing its name to ''Crack Western''. This format lasted 22 issues until #84 (May 1953), when the title changed again, to ''Jonesy''. ''Jonesy'' published one issue with the old numbering system and then restarted (from #2), publishing until issue #8 (Oct. 1954), when it was cancelled for good.

Next Issue Project

Following the demise of ''Crack Comics'' and later the publisher itself, many of Quality Comics' characters lapsed into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. In November

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, as part of editor

Erik Larsen Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...

's "

Next Issue Project The Next Issue Project is a series of American comic-book anthology one-shots published by Image Comics beginning in February 2008. The multi-title project, edited by Erik Larsen, creator of Savage Dragon, features comic book characters that have ...

",

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

published ''Crack Comics'' "#63", containing the following stories: *

Captain Triumph Captain Triumph is a superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #27, published in January 1943 by Quality Comics. He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949). The character was ...

, written and penciled by Alan Weiss * The Space Legion, written and illustrated by

Chris Burnham Chris Burnham is a comic book artist known for his work on ''Batman Incorporated'' with Grant Morrison, as well as the creator-owned books such as Officer Downe and ''Nixon's Pals'', which were published by Image Comics. Early life Born in Connec ...

* The Clock, written and illustrated by

Paul Maybury Paul Maybury (born 1982 in Boston) is an American comic book creator living in Austin, Texas. Biography Paul Maybury is an American comic book creator living in Austin Texas. Notable works include, Aqua Leung, Catalyst Comix, Blue Estate, Marv ...

* Molly the Model, written and illustrated by Terry Austin * Alias the Spider, written and illustrated by Adam McGovern and Paolo Leandri * Spitfire, written and illustrated by

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on ''The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolver ...

* Slap Happy Pappy, written and illustrated by

Joe Keatinge Joe Keatinge is an American comic book Comic book creator, writer and editor, best known for his writing work with Marvel Comics and Image Comics, and as the co-editor of ''Popgun (comics), Popgun'' with Mark Andrew Smith. Early life Joe Keatinge ...

* Hack O'Hara (with a cameo by the Space Legion), written and illustrated by

Erik Larsen Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...

*

Red Torpedo Red Torpedo is the name of two fictional characters, one originally published by Quality Comics and another currently owned by DC Comics. The original is a superhero named Jim Lockhart while the second is an android created by T. O. Morrow. Jim Lock ...

, written and illustrated by

B. Clay Moore B. Clay Moore is an American comic book author, best known for the series ''Hawaiian Dick''. Career Moore first achieved notoriety as the writer and co-creator of ''Hawaiian Dick'', first published in 2002 by Image Comics. Since then, he has co ...

, Frank Fosco, and

Erik Larsen Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...

Recurring features

* The Clock: Moving over from ''

Feature Comics ''Feature Comics'', originally ''Feature Funnies'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Quality Comics from 1939 until 1950, that featured short stories in the humor genre and later the superhero genre. Publication history T ...

'',

George Brenner George E. Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist in the mid 20th-century. He created comics such as '' The Clock'', ''Bozo the Iron Man'', and ''711''. Brenner was first employed by the Comics Magazine Company before moving to Everett ...

's the Clock was the cover feature of ''Crack Comics'' #1, alternating cover appearances with the

Black Condor Black Condor is the superhero name used by three different fictional characters in the DC Comics universe. All three incarnations of Black Condor have been members of the Freedom Fighters and each has been featured in Freedom Fighters comic bo ...

until issue #19. He was a regular feature in the title — usually as the final story in each issue — until his last appearance, in issue #35 (Autumn 1944). The Clock's spot was taken over by Floogy the Fiji, a

jungle comics A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

feature which lasted from issue #36 (Winter 1944) until issue #59 (Mar. 1949). *

Black Condor Black Condor is the superhero name used by three different fictional characters in the DC Comics universe. All three incarnations of Black Condor have been members of the Freedom Fighters and each has been featured in Freedom Fighters comic bo ...

: A mystery man with the power of flight, the character's adventures were originally written by

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

and drawn by

Lou Fine Louis Kenneth Fine (November 26, 1914 – July 24, 1971)Louis Fine
at the United States

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

nurse, and her friend Rick Royce, were a feature from issues #1–9 (Jan. 1941), when the strip was replaced by

Paul Gustavson Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the An ...

's Tor the Magic Master. Jim Slade was a photojournalist whose superhero persona was a backward-speaking magician. This feature lasted from issue #10 (Feb. 1941) until issue #26 (Nov. 1942). Beginning with issue #27 (Jan. 1943), Tor's spot was taken by

Alfred Andriola Alfred James Andriola (May 24, 1912 – March 29, 1983) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''Kerry Drake'', for which he won a Reuben Award in 1970. His work sometimes appeared under the pseudonym Alfred James. Andriola wa ...

's

Captain Triumph Captain Triumph is a superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #27, published in January 1943 by Quality Comics. He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949). The character was ...

. Stories of the merged twins (one alive, one dead) who formed the Golden Age superhero were a recurring item — mostly as the cover feature — through to ''Crack Comics'' final issue, #62. * Alias the Spider:

Paul Gustavson Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the An ...

's crime-fighting bowman was a regular feature in ''Crack'' from issue #1–29 (May 1943), eventually replaced by Bernard Dibble's humor feature Beezy Bumble. Beezy lasted through the rest of ''Crack Comics''' run, ending with issue #62. * Molly the Model: Bernard Dibble's one-page humor strips were featured in every issue of ''Crack Comics'' from #1–62. * Eric Vale: Two-page text stories of the adventuresome pilot of a black plane were a regular feature, only missing a few issues, from #1–50 (Sept. 1947). *

Slap Happy Pappy ''Slap-Happy Pappy'' is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon, starring Porky Pig. It was directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster, and scored by Carl W. Stalling. The short was released on April 13, 1940. Plot Porky owns ...

: Created by Quality editor

Gill Fox Gilbert Theodore Fox (November 29, 1915 – May 15, 2004) was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editing, editor, and animator. Biography Fox began his career in animation at Max Fleischer's studio, but left due to labor unr ...

, most of the hillbilly character's humorous one-page strips were done by Jack Cole, and were a regular feature from issues #1–49 (July 1947). *

Madame Fatal Madame Fatal (sometimes referred to as Madam Fatal) is a fictional character and a comic book superhero active during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Madame Fatal was created and originally illustrated by artist/writer Art Pinajian and the debut o ...

: Art Pinajian's

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

detective debuted in issue #1, continuing as a feature until issue #22 (Mar. 1942), when it was replaced by Pen Miller, who came over from '' National Comics''.Markestein, Don
"Pen Miller"
Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed Nov. 15, 2011.

Klaus Nordling Klaus Nordling (May 29, 1910 – November 19, 1986)Klaus Nordling
at the Red Torpedo Red Torpedo is the name of two fictional characters, one originally published by Quality Comics and another currently owned by DC Comics. The original is a superhero named Jim Lockhart while the second is an android created by T. O. Morrow. Jim Lock ...

:

Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

r Jim Lockhart, created by

Henry C. Kiefer Henry C. Kiefer (April 15, 1890 – May 10, 1957) was an American artist from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Best remembered for his contributions to the long-running comic book series ''Classics Illustrated'',William B. Jones Jr., ''Classics Illu ...

, first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #1 and was a regular feature until issue #20 (Jan. 1942), when he was replaced by Hack O'Hara. O'Hara was a tough New York taxi driver who used his muscles to take down criminals. Hack's stories, illustrated by Witmer Williams, were featured from #21 (Feb. 1942) through issue #62. * Space Legion: Vernon Henkel's science fiction adventures starring Rock Braddon and Commander Crosby were a regular feature from issues #1–18 (Nov. 1941), replaced by Henkel's own Don Q: Don was a crime-fighter whose secret identity was a

diplomatic courier A diplomatic courier is an official who transports diplomatic bags as sanctioned under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state from arrest and ...

for the American government. His adventures appeared in issues #19 (Dec. 1941)–26 (Nov. 1942). * Wizard Wells: Harry Campbell's Wells was a former All-American athlete and a talented inventor who used science to outwit crooks. Wells' sidekicks included Tug, a punch-drunk jack-of-all-trades and Wells' would-be girlfriend Mary Perry. Wells was featured in issues #1–14 (July 1941), when he was replaced by

Al McWilliams Alden Spurr McWilliams generally credited as Al McWilliams and A. McWilliams (February 2, 1916 – March 19, 1993),

' Spitfire. The adventures of heroic fighter pilot Tex Adams lasted from issue #15 (Aug. 1941) until issue #27 (Jan. 1943). Spitfire was in turn replaced by Al Stahl's Inkie, who lasted as a feature from #28 (Mar. 1943) until issue #60 (May 1949). *

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

's Side Show: Reprints of the

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

's newspaper strips were a regular two-page feature in every issue from #1–40 (Winter 1945). * Jane Arden: Reprints of the popular newspaper strip featuring a spunky gal reporter were a regular ''Crack Comics'' feature from issues #1–25 (continuing the tradition of ''

Feature Comics ''Feature Comics'', originally ''Feature Funnies'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Quality Comics from 1939 until 1950, that featured short stories in the humor genre and later the superhero genre. Publication history T ...

'' #21-31). * Ned Brant: A regular feature from issues #1–25 (Sept. 1942), the sports-related stories were syndicated newspaper strip reprints by writer

Robert Zuppke Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81 ...

and artist Walt Depew. * Snappy: Arthur Beeman's one-pager humor strips debuted in issue #5 (Sept. 1940), lasting until #26 (Nov. 1942). Other characters of note who appeared in ''Crack Comics'' included Batch Bachelor, Biff Banks, Black Shark, Dewey Drip, Kiki Kelly, and Yankee Guerilla.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Quality's Superheroes & Villains Encyclopedia

Cole's Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Crack Comics 1940 comics debuts 1949 comics endings Quality Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1949 Defunct magazines published in the United States Golden Age comics titles