''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955. Published by

Eastern Color Printing The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...

, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

historians as the first true American comic book, following seminal precursors.

Publication history

Precursors

''The Funnies'' and ''Funnies on Parade''

The creation of the modern 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 ...

came in stages. Dell Publishing in 1929 published a 16-page, newsprint periodical of comic strip-styled material titled ''

The Funnies ''The Funnies'' was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing (Dell Comics), the first of these a seminal 1920s precursor of comic books, and the second a standard 1930s comic book. ''The Funnies'' (1929–1930) In 1929, George ...

'' and described by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as "a short-lived

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

tabloid insert". This is not to be confused with Dell's later same-name comic book, which began publication in 1936. Historian

Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author. He published novelizations and other work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson, Co ...

describes the four-color, newsstand periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book". It was followed in 1933 by

's '' Funnies on Parade'', a similarly newsprint tabloid but only eight pages and composed of several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate, the

Ledger Syndicate The Public Ledger Syndicate (known simply as the Ledger Syndicate) was a syndication company operated by the Philadelphia '' Public Ledger'' that was in business from 1915 to circa 1950 (outlasting the newspaper itself, which ceased publishing in ...

Associated Newspapers DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...

, and the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

, and reprinted in color. Neither sold nor available on newsstands, it was sent free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

soap and toiletries products. Other sponsoring corporations utilizing the comic as a giveaway included

Kinney Shoes The G.R. Kinney Company was an American manufacturer and retailer of shoes from until . Its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol KNN, began in March 1923. The shoe concern was started by George Romanta Kinney whose father ran a genera ...

and

Canada Dry Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though the company also manufa ...

beverages.

''Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics'' and ''Famous Funnies: Series 1''

That same year, Eastern Color salesperson Maxwell Gaines and sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg collaborated with Dell Publishing to publish the 36-page one-shot ''Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics'', considered by historians the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing".''Famous Famous - Carnival of Comics''
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

It was distributed through the

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

chain, though it is unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to Gaines "sticking a ten-cent pricetag /nowiki>sic.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic">sic.html"_;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic/nowiki>_on_the_comic_books".Goulart,_"Famous_Funnies",_p._145. ''A_Carnival_of_Comics''_featured_such_popular_Comic_strip_syndication.html" ;"title="sic">/nowiki>sic.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic/nowiki> on the comic books".Goulart, "Famous Funnies", p. 145. ''A Carnival of Comics'' featured such popular Comic strip syndication">syndicated comic strips as ''The Bungle Family'', ''Dixie Dugan'', ''Joe Palooka'', ''

Keeping Up with the Joneses Keeping is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Keeping (1924–1988), British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer * Damien Keeping (born 1982), Australian rules football coach * Frederick Keeping (1867 ...

'', ''Mutt and Jeff'', ''Reg'lar Fellers'', and '' Somebody's Stenog'', as well as many more. Creators included F. O. Alexander, Gene Byrnes, Al Capp, Wallace Carlson,

Clare Victor Dwiggins Clare Victor Dwiggins (June 16, 1874 – October 26, 1958) was an American cartoonist who signed his work Dwig. Dwiggins created a number of comic strips and single-panel cartoons for various American newspapers and newspaper syndicates from 18 ...

Frank Godwin Francis Godwin (October 20, 1889 – August 5, 1959) was an American illustrator and comic strip artist, notable for his strip '' Connie'' and his book illustrations for ''Treasure Island'', ''Kidnapped'', ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Robin Hood'' ...

, A. E. Hayward,

Sol Hess Sol Hess (born 1886, Philadelphia, PA – d. 1953) was an American typeface designer. After a three-year scholarship course at Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Design, he began at Lanston Monotype in 1902, rising to typographic mana ...

, J. P. McEvoy, C. M. Payne, Al Smith, John H. Striebel, and Harry J. Tuthill. In early 1934, Eastern Color Printing president George Janosik formed a 50/50 joint venture with Dell president George Delacorte to publish and market a comic book for retail sales. As a test to see if the public would be willing to pay for comic books, Dell published the single-issue ''Famous Funnies: Series 1'', also printed by Eastern Color. Unlike its predecessor, it was intended from the start to be sold rather than given away. A 68-page collection of comic strips previously published in '' Funnies on Parade'' and ''Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics'', this 10¢ periodical had a print run of 35,000 and sold successfully. With the outbreak 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 opposing ...

, the publishing industry participated in national drives to conserve paper. As a conservation measure, syndicates reduced the size of full-page Sunday comic strips to three-quarters or half the size of the newspaper page. As a result of this size reduction, newspaper strips were no longer suitable for further reduction in the comic book format, and Eastern was forced to commission new work rather than reprint material. ''Famous Funnies'' #88 (cover-dated November 1941) carried the last sets of reprint material from the full-size newspaper page. Beginning with the following issue, Eastern Color Printing started to commission new work for their comic book publications. Many features from the original ''Famous Funnies'' format were continued by the same artists. These artists now turned their strips into dual features – one for newspaper syndication with an emphasis on adult appeal, and the other to fit the new comic book page size and an emphasis on juvenile appeal.

''Famous Funnies'' ongoing series

After the previous successes, Eastern employee Harold Moore proposed a monthly comic book series. When Dell nonetheless declined to continue, Eastern Color on its own published ''Famous Funnies'' #1 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d July 1934), also a 68-page periodical selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company, it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression, selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print run; however, its costs left Eastern Color more than $4,000 in debt (prompting George Delacorte to sell his interest back to Eastern). That situation quickly changed, with the book turning a $30,000 profit each issue starting with issue #12. The success of ''Famous Funnies'' soon led to the title being sold on newsstands alongside slicker magazines. Eastern began to experiment with modifying the newspaper reprints to be more suitable to the comic book format. Lettering, reduced in reproduction to the point of illegibility, was reworked for the size of the comic book page. Adventure strips, reprinted in several weeks' worth of strips at a time, were trimmed of panels providing a recap of previous events, contributing to a concise and more smoothly flowing version of the story. ''Famous Funnies'' would eventually run 218 issues,''Famous Funnies'' (Eastern Color, 1934 Series)
at the Grand Comics Database. inspire imitators, and largely launch a new

mass medium Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

Ongoing features

The

provided many strips for ''Famous Funnies'' issues #1–87 (from 1934 to 1941), including A. E. Hayward's '' Somebody's Stenog'' and ''The Back-Seat Driver'';

's ''

Connie Connie is a given name. It is often a pet form (hypocorism) of Concetta, Constance, Cornelia, or Cornelius. Given name or nickname Women * Connie Achurra, Chilean chef * Connie Binsfeld (1924–2014), American politician * Connie Booth ...

'', ''The Wet Blanket'', ''Babe Bunting'', ''Roy Powers'', ''Vignettes of Life'', and ''War on Crime''; F. O. Alexander's ''Hairbreadth Harry'' and ''High-Gear Homer'';

' ''Footprints on the Sands of Time''; Joe Bowers' ''Dizzy Dramas''; Gar (Schmitt)'s ''Dumb-Bells''; and Walt Munson & Kemp Starrett's ''Such is Life''. Issue #2 marked the start of original material produced specifically for the book, including Art Nugent's '' Funland'' (occasionally called ''Funland Everybody's Playmate''), which appeared in most issues from #1 to #162 (1934–1948). Issue #3 began a run of

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

features. ''

'' would eventually run in issues #3–190 and 209–215. '' Jane Arden'' was a regular feature in issues #2–35. The

Pop Momand Arthur Ragland
by Alex Jay, at Keeping Up with the Joneses Keeping is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Keeping (1924–1988), British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer * Damien Keeping (born 1982), Australian rules football coach * Frederick Keeping (1867 ...

'' and ''Holly of Hollywood'' were featured in issues #3–48. For several years Victor E. Pazmiño drew most of the covers for ''Famous Funnies''. ''

Oaky Doaks ''Oaky Doaks'' was an American newspaper comic strip, which ran between June 17, 1935, and December 30, 1961. It was distributed by AP Newsfeatures for more than 25 years, illustrated by veteran magazine cartoonist Ralph Fuller and scripted by AP ...

'' was featured often on the covers of the title, which also reprinted the strip. In May 1936,

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

contacted cartoonist Rex Collier and proposed a comic strip based on true stories of FBI agents. Collier’s strip, ''War on Crime'', is reprinted in the October issue (#27) of ''Famous Funnies'' — the first "

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

" story in comic books. Stookie Allen contributed the feature ''Above the Crowd'' to ''Famous Funnies'' from 1935 to 1943, in most issues from #11 to #109.

Lank Leonard Frank E. Leonard (January 2, 1896 – August 1, 1970), better known as Lank Leonard, was an American cartoonist artist who created the long-running comic strip ''Mickey Finn (comic strip), Mickey Finn'', which he drew for more than three decades. ...

's '' Mickey Finn'' was featured in issues #28–35. ''Famous Funnies'' #32 featured the first appearance of the Phantom Magician as a supporting character in the feature '' The Adventures of Patsy.'' The Phantom Magician was an early costumed hero pre-dating Superman.''The Adventures of Patsy''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on March 15, 2012. ''Famous Funnies'' #38 began reprints of the

strip ''

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

Roy Powers''. Penned by artist Paul Powell, himself a former Boy Scout, this strip became the official symbol of the Boy Scouts of America and was instrumental in the promotion of its Eagle Scout rank. ''Roy Powers'' ran as a regular feature in ''Famous Funnies'' for ten years. ''Famous Funnies'' #62 featured early work by artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

under the pen name Lance Kirby.Jack Kirby
at the Grand Comics Database. Inspired by the popular trend of superheroes, ''Famous Funnies'' #81 introduced '' Invisible Scarlet O'Neil'', one of comics’ earliest super-heroines, authored by Russell Stamm. This issue marked a change in mood for ''Famous Funnies'', as the covers switched from whimsical gags to more serious adventurous fare.

returned to ''Famous Funnies'' in issue #209, having been dropped from the title two issues earlier. The event was celebrated by the first of a series of eight covers by

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...

, and these issues are among the most sought-after among collectors today.

References

External links

* {{cite web, last=Coville, first=Jamie, url=http://www.thecomicbooks.com/old/Platinum.html , title=The History of Comic Books: Introduction and 'The Platinum Age 1897 - 1938', publisher=CollectorTimes.com via TheComicBooks.com, date=n.d., archive-date=September 26, 2010, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100926164612/http://www.thecomicbooks.com/old/Platinum.html, url-status=live Comics magazines published in the United States 1934 comics debuts 1955 comics endings Golden Age comics titles