Welcome to our re-read of the first and greatest superhero team in comics ... and quite a bit more!
My plan is to re-read and discuss the Golden Age Justice Society of America, which ran from All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940) to All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951), and is currently being reprinted in DC's "DC Finest" line.
But, as ever, I am consumed by context. What events brought us to All-Star Comics #3? What characters did editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox have available from which to choose? What else was competing in the superhero space? To achieve that context, I plan to start the discussion at the publisher's beginning, when Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson launched National Allied Publications Inc. in 1935. That was the first step toward the Justice Society — and to DC Comics as we know it today.
So before we even get to the JSA, I'll re-read and open for discussion all the solo stories starring JSA members, mostly from DC's Archives and Famous First Edition series. Which is actually quite a lot! (Although not as much as I'd prefer. I want it ALL!) I'll be writing about non-JSA superheroes created by National, Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Comics Inc. too, like Crimson Avenger and Doctor Occult. I'll also be tipping my hat to some non-powered characters, principally those who managed to appear outside their parent title, like Slam Bradley and Hop Harrigan. That means no re-read for the likes of "Bart Regan, Spy" and "Speed Saunders." Sorry, fellas, but I had to draw the line somewhere — before I found myself doing a deep dive into the history of Ginger Snap.
Speaking of drawing lines, I won't be re-reading Superman and Batman. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. The volume issue extends to Wonder Woman as well (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade), but she was a major player in the JSA, so I haven't decided yet if I'll include her solo stories. (And I have quite a bit of time to decide, since the bulk of DC"s Golden Age Archives books consist of material published before Sensation Comics #1.) Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman.
I should note that I'm using cover dates instead of ship dates (not all ship dates are available) and assigning specific months to seasonal cover dates. That is to say, I consider "Spring" to mean March-April-May, "Summer" to mean June-July-August, "Fall" to mean September-October-November and "Winter" to mean December-January-February. I know the books with seasonal dates don't always align with the months I've assigned. But I'm organizing by month, so I have to assign months to seasonal cover dates. The cover date for All-Star Comics #3 was Winter 1940, for example, so I'm going to call it "December." (The actual ship date was Nov. 22, 1940, according to the Grand Comics Database, for whatever that's worth.) It's not necessary for Golden Age books to be in specific order very often, but where they need to be (like Detective Comics #38 and Batman #1), I'll order them properly.
I've tried to be comprehensive, relying on a variety of sources, from online to reprints to "companion" books. A tip of the cowl to some of Luke Blanchard's posts in what amounts to almost an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially reprints that I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of reprints I've left out, as well as comment on what I've written. So let's hear what I've missed Legionnaires — and what you think!
Replies
I wonder if S&S dropped Doctor Occult to focus on Superman and then got swamped by the Man of Steel's popularity!
I had wondered about that when I didn't know the exact timing. Now that I know, I'm less certain.
Siegel and Shuster dropped Occult the same month as Action Comics #1, before they knew the character would soon eat up all their time. I'll watch the credits as we progress, and I imagine we'll see replacement creators soon after Action Comics #1 on other Siegel and Shuster strips like "Bart Regan, Spy," "Federal Men" and "Radio Squad." That will be a reaction to Superman's popularity and Siegel and Shuster's growing workload on the character.
But Occult was dropped like a hot potato before Superman became a phenomenon. It could be that he wasn't very popular. It could be the strip that S&S liked doing the least. It could be they figured they could do four strips a month, and when Superman got a slot in Action, something had to go. (And then the others would end up going as well.) It could be that "Doctor Occult" was a brainchild of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, and Donenfeld and Liebowitz were erasing his legacy.
I don't know, but I do think it significant that, whatever reason Siegel and Shuster dropped Occult, DC didn't put anybody else on the strip. That says "cancellation" to me. But that's just a guess.
Superman: The Complete History by Les Daniels reprints the first appearances of Henri DuVal and Dr. Occult, as well the Dr. Occult page from More Fun #14, which "is part of a continued story that shows Dr. Occult acting more and more like Superman."
Ooh, that's good information! I have that book, and didn't think of it. Everybody who doesn't trust Comic Book Plus, go get your Les Daniels book off the shelf! (Don't pretend you don't have one.)
As to "acting more and more like Superman" ... that will be addressed soon.
"Doctor Occult" was the first horror feature in US comic books. There was a little horror content before it in Mandrake the Magician, but "Doctor Occult" went further than it had at that point. Siegel's later use of horror in "The Spectre" was more transgressive.
The "Koth and the Seven" story in The Comics Magazine #1, More Fun Comics #14-#17 is a heroic fantasy showing the influence, I think, of Abraham Merritt. Siegel said in an interview Merritt had been one of his favourites. The story in #18-#23, in which Occult falls under the power of a criminal mastermind, recalls Merritt's Seven Footsteps to Satan. The influence also shows up in the Luthor story in Action Comics #23 in the form of the giant face in the cavern, which recalls The Face in the Abyss.
Siegel reused the idea of a belt with buttons with varied powers in the Dynamo Boy story in Adventure Comics #330-#331.
A remake of The Three Musketeers starring Walter Abel appeared in 1935, but its reportedly wasn't released until Nov, after "Henri Duval" had started. Possibly the team saw publicity material for it, but they were also big fans of Douglas Fairbanks, who made versions of The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask. Fairbanks's screen persona influenced their depiction of Superman.
We're about to reach all of those Doctor Occult stories, Luke, and I'm excited to see those stories with new eyes, in light of your information! Great stuff!
As to Douglas Fairbanks, I have no doubt he and Errol Flynn were both big influences on Golden Age comic book writers and artists. I have wondered before if the first 50 issues of The Brave and the Bold would have existed without Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. And I'd think virtually every pirate strip would have roots in Flynn's Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk (and Treasure Island, of course, which single-handedly created the idea of pirates burying treasure instead of spending it on booze, blades and women). Movies were no doubt a great inspiration to Golden Age artists, in an era when fantasy visuals of any kind were in short supply.
We're not there yet, but The Atom name-checks Douglas Fairbanks in his first adventure, when he decides to swing on a rope to the rescue of his lady fair. "Doug Fairbanks did this in a movie once -- it should be good one more time," he says. I'm sure that's not the only case, and I'll keep my eyes open for more.
DECEMBER 1935
But Jerry Bails did. In a foreword to The Golden Age Spectre Archives Vol. 1, Bails said New Fun and New Comics were the titles that "established, once and for all, there was a market for new and original comic books." That seems important.
JANUARY 1936 THROUGH FEBRUARY 1937
'MORE FUN COMICS' v1 #10-v2 #6 [#17]
Meanwhile, Doctor Occult — which is available for us to review, thanks to Comic Book Plus — continues. Let's take a look at Occult's next few storylines, from More Fun Comics #10 (May 1936) through More Fun Comics #16 (technically v2 #4, January 1937). All of them are by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and all of them are untitled.
Occult remains pretty ordinary in More Fun Comics #10, in a throwaway story where he plays detective to catch "The Methuselah Killer." However, the strip is promoted to two pages, so that's something.
Also, that same month, a two-pager that is clearly a Doctor Occult strip appears in The Comics Magazine #1 (by The Comics Magazine Co.) — except that it's the wrong publisher, and the lead guy is called "Dr. Mystic." According to various online sources, the founders of Comics Magazine Co. were former National employees who said the strips were given to them in lieu of pay, while others said the strips were stolen. I wasn't there and don't know, but after this one appearance, Occult returns to More Fun Comics with his original name restored. It's magic!
What happens in Comic Magazine #1 isn't throwaway, as the storyline continues five months later in More Fun Comics #14 (technically v2 #2), so let me describe it. The story opens with a giant threatening "the city" and Dr. Mystic enlarging himself to fight it. (This is the first time that Doctor Occult, in any form, shows any magical power.) However, it turns out the giant is an old friend named Zator who pretended to threaten the city so Mystic would reveal himself. (Evidently magicians don't have telephones.) Mystic asks how 'The Seven" are doing and Zator whisks them both to India (according to the narrator), where The Seven presumably are. On the way they are threatened by monsters in "ether-space," and their path is blocked by a guy named Koth. "Join forces with me against 'The Seven' or furnish a meal for these creatures," Koth sneers, mysteriously leaving out the "moo-hoo-ha-ha" at the end.
This is the second time a supporting character is the hero of the story. And we haven't seen Rose Psychic since the vampire story!
Nor will we soon. More Fun Comics #14 (technically v2 #2, October 1936), continues the story from The Comics Magazine #1, with Dr. Mystic once again called Dr. Occult. The Seven arrive and their mental power combined with Zator and Occult drive Koth away. Koth is described as "an inhuman creature with a terrible hatred for the world of man," and we will soon find out why. Occult and Zator are sent on a mission to retrieve a magical belt "of miraculous powers" in an Egyptian tomb (read: pyramid). They get new clothes: trunks, belt, cape and boots that look very Flash Gordon-y. They fly to Egypt where Koth is waiting.
(This is what Les Daniels refers to as "acting more and more like Superman." Occult does, in fact, don a cape and fly. But the comment is misleading, as this transformation only lasts for the length of this four-part story, and only in this mystical realm. Then it's back to Earth and the trenchcoat.)
Zator and Occult are attacked by a "Black giant" with a sword in More Fun Comics #15 (technically v2 #3), and Occult discovers his sword fights on its own and kills his foe. They are attacked by large, yellow, inhuman, "yammering" hordes but Occult finds the belt. A flunky tells Koth about the belt (he apparently didn't know) and Koth kills him stone dead. (Captain Comics Rule #13: Never deliver bad news to the bad guy.) Then he speaks into a radio mic (?) and tells all his minions to find and kill Occult and Zator. (I guess the microphone looked future-y to a 1936 audience, or maybe it was just visual shorthand for what Koth was doing. But in retrospect it seems pretty out of place.)
In the next issue Occult discovers a button on his belt that can turn one of his foes to stone. Sweet! Occult and Zator escape and return to "The Seven," who explain Koth came from space in a rocket ship, but all of his fellow aliens were killed by primitive man. He's hated mankind ever since, and it's implied that he is responsible for the collapse of various civilizations through history (late Bronze Age, anyone?). Now he's going to destory modern man and we see a fleet of space ships poised to do just that.
More Fun Comics #17 (technically v2 #4) opens without any space ships, but instead the bad guys (presumably aliens) attacking on horseback. Oops! It doesn't matter anyway, because Occult's belt summons a phantom army that wins the battle for them. That is one handy belt! The Seven banish Koth and Occult returns to Earth in his original clothes. He should've swiped the belt. And maybe the sword. (As Luke Blanchard notes, Siegel would re-visit the idea of belt with useful buttons in "Legion of Super-Heroes.")
Doctor Occult appears in the Feburary issue of More Fun Comics, but it's the first chapter of a long serial, so I'll save that for when we tackle that story.
ELSEWHERE IN 'MORE FUN COMICS'
Radio Squad, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, begins in More Fun Comics #11 (July 1936). The strip debuts as "Calling All Cars" but swiftly becomes "Radio Squad." The Purple Tiger's gang kidnaps the police commissioner's daughter. Starring New York police officers Larry Trent and Sandy Keene, "Radio Squad" runs through More Fun Comics #87 (January 1943). Significant due to its creators.
Pep Morgan begins in More Fun Comics #12 (August 1936) in an untitled story by Creig Flessel, who would later draw Sandman. Pep runs for 17 more issues of More Fun Comics before moving over to the new Action Comics in June 1938 for a 41-issue run. He's significant due to his longevity, and also for appearing in Action Comics #1.
'NEW FUN' #2-v2 #1 [#13]
Federal Men, by Siegel and Shuster, begins in New Comics #2 (January 1936). It stars FBI agent Steve Carson, and runs through Adventure Comics #70 (January 1942). Significant due to its creators.
THE COMPETITION
Dell enters the field with Popular Comics #1 (February 1936), a reprint vehicle for newspaper comic strips with occasional new material (read: "Scribbly"). Popular Comics runs 145 issues, ending in July-September 1948.
David McKay enters the field with King Comics #1 (April 1936), a reprint vehicle for King Features Syndicate comic strips. McKay published two non-numbered, oversize issues of Feature Book sometime in 1936, either of which might have preceded King Comics #1. GCD doesn't say. King Comics was oddly sized but evolved into standard Golden Age dimensions with issue #27, and ran to issue #155 (November-December 1949).
United Feature enters the field with Tip Top Comics #1 (April 1936), a reprint vehicle for United Features Syndicate comic strips. Tip Top ran through issue #188 (September-October 1954).
The Comics Magazine Co. enters the field with The Comics Magazine v1 #1 (May 1936). As noted above, Doctor Occult appears here as "Dr. Mystic," but it is definitely Doctor Occult.
Bart Regan, Spy debuts from Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in The Comics Magazine v1 #2 (June 1936), published by The Comics Magazine Co. The character's next appearance is in Detective Comics #1 at Detective Comics Inc. Significant due to its creators.
Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist, by Shelly Mayer, first appears in Dell's Popular Comics #6 (July 1936), as the only new feature in a book of comic strip reprints. "Scribbly" continues through Popular Comics #9, then jumps to The Funnies #2-29, under editor M.C. Gaines. When Gaines leaves Dell to launch All-American Comics in 1939, Mayer and "Scribbly" go with him. Significant because this is the strip that will introduce the Red Tornado.
The Clock debuts and is cover featured in Funny Picture Stories #1 (November 1936, The Comics Magazine Co.) — and also appears in Funny Pages #6 the same month. After Ultem bought The Comics Magazine Co., it sold The Clock separately to Quality, but when Centaur bought Ultem it continued to reprint old Clock stories. Quality published new ones at the same time. Significant as the first masked detective in comics, and as a forerunner to superheroes. Also, he was all over the dang place.
I am willing to entertian the idea that New Comics is the "first" comic book. It is the right size, the right price (one of your criteria) and it contains mostly new material (both humor and adventure). Plus, after a few title changes, it had longevitity (48 years, as you note). the problem is, like you, I have never seen a copy of it. Was it in color? I don't know. I suspect you'll get to my bonifide realio-trulio "first" comic with your next post.
OFF-TOPIC DIGRESSION: My hometown supported two local newspapers: the The Banner News and the The Journal. (This is in addition to the "city" papers, The St. Louis Globe-Democrat and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.) Regarding the "price" thing, the Journal was free and supported itself with advertising. I delivered the Banner in junior high school, and they once published an ad using the dictionary definition of "newspaper" which pointed out that, "if you don't pay for it, it's not a newspaper." One of my friends, from junior high through college, went on to work for the Journal after graduating. I lost track of him after that, but I'm sure he didn't remain there long. Both the Journal and the Banner are now long-since out of business. My friend John wrote for the school paper in junior high, high school and college. He once invited me to write a column on comic books for the college newspaper, but I turned him down. I have come to regret that decision.
The world where newspapers were a thing is gone, and I lament that kids don't grow up writing for the "school newspaper" any more. It was a structured environment, it was a skill that could translate to a profession, it reinforced spelling and grammar, and it was grounding in ethics. Now, I suppose, anyone can write anything and put it online, so there's no gatekeeping, no structure and no ethics. Who knew that having all the information in the world at our finger tips would mean that 99% would be misinformation and disinformation?
Excuse me, I must now go outside and shake my fist at some clouds.
On a tangent yet still relevant, it should be noted that EVERY Golden Age comic book writer and artist dreamed of creating a successful comic strip for the newspapers. Only a select few did.
That's one of those things that doesn't seem obvious in hindsight, but was very true at the time. Comic books in the '30s and '40s were the very lowest rung in publishing -- or entertainment, for that matter.
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