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Description
a rangerhouse comic and scan. Edit by Yoc. Missing ifc, ibc from fiche scan. --- First appearance of Green Mask, The Blue Bettle, Rex Dexter of Mars, Wing Turner, Zanzibar and humour strip Hemlock Shomes. Early art by Dick Briefer, Bob Powell, George Tuska, Klaus Nordling and Munson Paddock. |
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Admin Review
Mystery Men 1 appeared on the stands mid June 1939, just one month after Fox entered the comics field with his Wonder Comics #1 (quickly noted by DC and dragged Fox into court). The issue has the first appearance of several features including cover man The Green Mask, The Blue Bettle, Rex Dexter of Mars, Wing Turner, Zanzibar and humour strip Hemlock Shomes. Standouts in artwork were Dick Briefer's Red Dexter and Fred Schwab's Hemlock Shomes but Blue Beetle, inspired by the then popular Green Hornet radio star, was the cover star by the eighth issue. Six months later he was starring in his own BB comic. The Flame and Green Mask were also given their own titles.
Readers might note the Blue Beetle doesn't look much like the super hero they might have seen in the later appearances. His first look here is in a business suit and mask like the hero Fox was copying - the Green Hornet. GH plot devices were also copied. BB would get a new look in the second issue of Mystery Men #2 and evolve in subsequent issues of the title.
Victor Fox must have thought BB had potential. BB would follow Superman's lead getting a newspaper strip in Jan. 1940 as part of an all Fox comic section much like Eisner's Spirit Section. BB was even given a daily strip though only one paper is known to have carried the daily which ended the following November on a cliffhanger. The strip was initially drawn by a very young Jack Kirby getting his first superhero comic work and can be seen on DCM at this link: https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=26164 BB then got a radio show in 1940 two months after the comic section started. Copying plots from other radio shows, BB comics and even a DC comic the show lasted a mere four months.
Fox would publish the BB character off and on until going bankrupt a final time in 1951. But that was hardly the last time we would see BB. Years with Charlton and DC were still to come but that's not our focus here.
Our thanks to Brian House for buying this first issue and scanning it for all of us to read in its original form.
Stay Healthy everyone! |
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Comments
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srca1941 |
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Thank you RH and Yoc for such an important book! This is one I've been hoping for scans of for a long time!
-Eric |
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Yoc |
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I agree Eric... but Wonder Man #1 remains my most wanted Fox book still needed to be scanned. |
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erwin-k |
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Very glad to see paper scans of this issue! I can only rarely bring myself to read most fiche scans.
The various changes of Fox characters as time passed could be fun, but could also be real low-lights for the characters. Now I can start, at he beginning of these strips. |
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ghmcleod |
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Thank You |
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Issue: #1
Published: August 1939, Price: 0.10 USD, Pages: 68, Editing: Victor Fox
Color: Color Dimensions: 7 1/2" X 10 1/4" Paper Stock: Glossy Covers; Newsprint Interior Binding: Saddle-Stitched Publishing Format: Was Ongoing Series
Notes: MYSTERY MEN COMICS, Vol 1, No. 1. Published monthly by Bruns Publications, Inc., V. S. Fox, President, 480 Lexington
Avenue, New York, N. Y. Office of publication, 29 Worthington St., Springfield, Mass. Application for entry as second-class matter at the Post Office at Springfield, Mass., pending. Price 10 cents per copy. Subscription rates: 12 issues in the United States, its possessions, Mexico, South America, Spain, $1.50. Elsewhere, $2.50. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. Copyright 1939, by Bruns Publications, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.
On sale date confirmed from the publication date found in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, New Series, Volume 34, 1939, Number 3. Class B periodical. Copyright number B 420185.
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Foreword, Introduction, Preface, Afterword (1 page) |
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Credits: |
Script: Victor Fox ? | Letters: ?; typeset |
Comic Story (2 pages) |
How To Become a Detective |
Featuring: |
Billy Bounce |
Credits: |
Script: Norman Lee (signed) | Pencils: Norman Lee (signed) | Inks: Norman Lee |
Genre: |
Humor |
Characters: |
Billy Bounce (introduction) Midget Moe |
Character Profile (1 page) |
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Featuring: |
Real Life Personal Interviews with Famous Detectives |
Credits: |
Pencils: Lee Harris [as Harris] (signed) | Inks: Lee Harris [as Harris] (signed) |
Genre: |
Non-fiction |
Characters: |
Detective Barney Ruditsky |
Comic Story (3 pages) |
The Valley of the Dead |
Featuring: |
Capt. Danny Scott |
Synopsis: |
Capt. Scott and the Bengal Lancers are given the task of capturing a group of cutthroats harassing caravans. |
Credits: |
Pencils: John Lindermayer | Inks: John Lindermayer |
Characters: |
Capt. Danny Scott Of The Bengal Lancers (introduction) |
Promo (ad From The Publisher) (1 page) |
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Featuring: |
Wonderworld Comics |
Credits: |
Letters: typeset |
Advertisement (1 page) |
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Featuring: |
Remington Noiseless Deluxe Portable Typewriter |
Credits: |
Script: ? (ad copy) | Letters: typeset |
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