''More Fun Comics'', originally titled ''New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine'' a.k.a. ''New Fun Comics'',''New Fun'' #v1#1 (Feb. 1935)
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 ...

. 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,...." was a 1935–1947

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

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 ...

that introduced several major

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

characters and was the first American comic book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports a ...

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

. It was also the first publication of the company that would become

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Publication history

In the latter half of 1934, having seen the emergence of ''

Famous Funnies ''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955. Published by Eastern Color Printing, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following sem ...

'' and other oversize magazines reprinting comic strips, Major

Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (January 7, 1890 – September 21, 1965) was an American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur who pioneered the American comic book, publishing the first such periodical consisting solely of original material r ...

founded

National Allied Publications National Comics Publications, Inc. (also known as NCP or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company, and the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied P ...

and published ''New Fun'' #1 on January 11, 1935 (

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 unusu ...

d 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 Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

features, such as the

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger", mixed with such dramatic fare as the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

strip "Jack Woods" and the "

yellow peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...

" adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comic ...

-styled villain, Fang Gow. The first issue also featured humor strip "Caveman Capers", an adaptation of the 1819 novel ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

'', spy drama "Sandra of the Secret Service", and a strip based on an early

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

creation

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 19 ...

. 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, whereas previous comic books were sponsored by corporations such as

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 hea ...

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 general ...

, 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 Group, Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though ...

beverages, and ad-free. The first four issues were edited by future Funnies, Inc., founder

Lloyd Jacquet Lloyd Victor Jacquet (; March 7, 1899 – March 1970) Jacquet was living in the borough of Queens, New York when he died in March 1970 at c. age 71. His wife was named Grace. References Further reading * Hill, Roger. "A Report on the Discover ...

, the next, after a three-month hiatus, by Wheeler-Nicholson himself. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought the comic-book debuts of

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...

, the future creators of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

, 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 Doctor Occult (sometimes dubbed the Ghost Detective, one time referred to as Doctor Mystic) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (known commonly as the creator ...

. 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), and ''More Fun Comics'' (#9-on). In issue #101 (Feb. 1945), Siegel and Shuster introduced

Superboy Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series featuring ...

, 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 The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. With issue #108 (March 1946), all the superhero features were moved from ''More Fun'' into ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

''. ''More Fun'' became a

title that spotlighted the children's fantasy feature "Jimminy and the Magic Book"."Jimminy and the Magic Book"
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on December 14, 2011. The book was canceled with issue #127 (Dec 1947).

Features include

– ''New Fun'' #6 – ''More Fun'' #33 * The Spectre – ''More Fun'' #52–101 *

Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of multiple superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version of the character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More F ...

– ''More Fun'' #55–98 *

Congo Bill Congorilla, originally a human character known as Congo Bill, is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and Vertigo Comics. Originally co-created by writer Whitney Ellsworth and artist George Papp, he was later transformed int ...

– ''More Fun'' #56–67 *

Johnny Quick Johnny Quick are two fictional DC Comics characters, each with the power of superhuman speed. The first was a superhero who first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #71 (September 1941) during the Golden Age. The other was a supervillain, an evil ve ...

– ''More Fun'' #71–107 *

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

– ''More Fun'' #73–107 *

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...

– ''More Fun'' #73–107 *

– ''More Fun'' #101–107

References

External links

*. *
''New Fun Comics'' issues #1–6 online''More Fun Comics'' issues #7–32 online
{{Authority control Comics magazines published in the United States DC Comics titles Aquaman 1935 comics debuts 1947 comics endings Comics by Gardner Fox Magazines established in 1935 Magazines disestablished in 1947 Defunct American comics Green Arrow Golden Age comics titles

Publication history

Features include

See also

References

Further reading

External links