New Fun #1 Poster Jack Woods (1935) by Lyman Anderson DC Comics

Description

The brainchild of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the flamboyant former cavalry officer and dime-novel magnate who went on to become the founder of DC Comics and father of the American comic book industry, New Fun #1 was both the fledgling company’s flagship title and a totally new concept in publishing: original black-and-white comic stories collected into a regularly published tabloid-sized periodical that sold on newstands for ten cents a copy. (It was alse the first newstand comic to run ads- including the soon-to-be ubiquitous Charles Atlas bodybuilding ad.) Falling under the rubric of the “fun” promised by the cover of the self-described “big, comic magazine” were silly children’s stories (“Oswald the Rabbit”), educational fare, and swashbuckling tales of adventure such as Ivanhoe. Seasoned pulp illustrators Lyman Anderson and W.C. Brigham formed the core of New Fun’s artistic team, with newcomers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (soon to strike gold with Superman in Action Comics) added to the creative roster as the series streamed on. Anderson contributed the series’ inaugural cover, comprimising twelve panels of his Western strip “Jack Woods,” as well as interior art for the first two issues, then left in a huff over monies owed to him by the enigmatic DC founder. While New Fun didn’t prove to be the commercial success Wheeler-Nicholson hoped it owuld be, he went on to refine his concept of “all-new, all-original” comics, beginning with Detective Comics in 1937. This is the cover to the first series published by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s National Allied Publications, which would eventually become DC Comics. This is also the first U.S.A. comic publication featuring previously unpublished original material. The issue featured the 1st appearance of Jack Woods, 1st appearance of Wing Brady, 1st appearance of Sandra of the Secret Service, 1st appearance of Barry O’Neill, 1st appearance of Buckskin Jim; 1st appearance of Don Drake and 1st appearance of Jack Andrews. Of the short-lived titles of the 1930s and 1940s, none is as rare nor as important to the history of comicbooks as New Fun, subtitled “The Big Comic Magazine”. Although New Fun was to continue as More Fun Comics with the seventh issue and then to continue on to issue 127, New Fun deserves to qualify as a “short-lived” title, due to its tabloid size and retained name throughout its six issue run. This title was the first venture of National Allied Publishing which, as it later combined with All-American Publishing, was to evolve into the comicbook empire better known as DC Comics. New Fun was the inaugural title of the company which was soon to produce comicbook titles such as New Comics/New Adventure/Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, and, Action Comics, which featured the most significant comicbook character of all time- “Superman”. The series ran from February 1935 monthly for the first four issues then in August for the fifth issue and in October 1935 for the sixth issue. (The reincarnation as More Fun 7 did not take place until January 1936.) Rounding out the run is the Big Book of Fun Comics. This was a forty-eight page “annual” with cardboard covers that reprinted-in no particular order- various strips from the first four issues. It was advertised in the sixth issue as follows: If you want to follow the antics and adventures of the comic characters that have appeared in previous issues of New Fun, you will find them in that book. Although the ad indicated the book could be found at the local 5¢ and 10¢ store, the book, as produced, had no price on it nor any advertising, leading to speculation that, perhaps, it was some sort of premium. All of the books in this series are extremely rare. Probably for any one issue no more than ten, maybe fifteen copies exist, if that. Of those that do exist, most grade in the Good to Very Good category due to the oversized structure of the book. Pre-eminent DCologists, Gary M. Carter and Lane Carter have opined that New Fun 2 is the rarest of the series followed by Big Book of Fun Comics. New Fun represented the next step in the evolution of this entertainment medium in that the book contained original- not reprint-material.