Famous Funnies
From Hey Kids Comics
| Famous Funnies | |
|---|---|
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250x450px Famous Funnies #1 (July 1934). Cover art by Jon Mayes. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Eastern Color Printing |
| Schedule | monthly, then bimonthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | July 1934–July 1955 |
| Number of issues | 218 |
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Famous Funnies is an American publication of the 1930s that represents what Popular culture historians consider the first true American comic book, following seminal precursors.
Publication history[edit | edit source]
Immediate precursors[edit | edit source]
The creation of the modern American comic book came in stages. Dell Publishing in 1929 published a 16-page, newsprint periodical of original, comic strip-styled material titled The Funnies and described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived Newspaper tabloid insert".[1] (This is not to be confused with Dell's later same-name comic book, which began publication in 1936.) Historian Ron Goulart describes the four-color, Newsstand periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book".[2]
It was followed in 1933 by Eastern Color Printing's Funnies on Parade, a similarly newsprint tabloid but only eight pages[3] and composed of several comic strips licenced from the McNaught Syndicate 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 soap and toiletries products.
First modern comic book[edit | edit source]
That same year, Eastern Color salesperson Maxwell Gaines and sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page one-shot Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics,[4] 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".[5] It was distributed through the Woolworth's department store chain, though it is unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover (see left) displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to Gaines "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [sic] on the comic books".[6]
When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), 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 the red.[6] That quickly changed, with the book turning a $30,000 profit each issue starting with #12.[6] Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium.
Footnotes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "The Funnies". U.S. Library of Congress: "American Treasures of the Library of Congress" exhibition. Archived from the original on September 7, 2009. Additional WebCitation archive.
- ↑ Goulart, Ron. "The Funnies: I" (entry), Comic Book Encyclopedia (Harper Entertainment, New York, 2004) ISBN 0-06-053816-3, p. 163
- ↑ Brown, Mitchell. "The 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century: Funnies on Parade" (Internet archive link)
- ↑ Famous Famous - Carnival of Comics at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Goulart, "Famous Funnies" (entry), p. 144
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Goulart, "Famous Funnies" (entry), p. 145
References[edit | edit source]
- All in Color for a Dime by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson ISBN 0-87341-498-5
- The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide by Robert Overstreet — Edition #35 ISBN 0-375-72107-X
- The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1 & 2, by James Steranko — Vol. 1 ISBN 0-517-50188-0
- Santos, Derek. CBW Comic History: "The Early Years...1896 to 1937, Part II"
- Coville, Jamie. The History of Comic Books: Introduction and "The Platinum Age 1897 - 1938", TheComicBooks.com, n.d. Archive.org archive. Originally published at defunct site CollectorTimes.com.