This is the 30th entry in this weekly series. (For an index of the series’ other published posts, click here.) The purpose is to provide a detailed chronology of the history of North American comic-book publishing. The comics will be presented in order of publication.
While in some instances I will only include key issues of significant titles, I will for the most part be presenting the entirety of the major bodies of work. For example, every comic book with an original Carl Barks Donald Duck story will be featured in the posts. One will get to see something of the context in which the comics were published. With the original Barks duck comics, they will, depending on the year, appear alongside the Walt Kelly Pogo books, the EC “New Trend” titles, and the 1960s Marvel superhero line. This should reflect the books’ presence on newsstands when they were originally on sale.
The publication dates are by and large the on-sale dates the publishers reported to the U. S. Copyright Office. Exceptions will be noted.
Only magazines and books will be featured. Newspaper material will be included only when it has been published in these formats.
If the comic appears to be in the public domain, and a copy is available online for reading at the Digital Comic Museum [www.digitalcomicmuseum.com] or elsewhere, a link will be included in the listing. There may also be a link if an online scan is available for copyrighted material, but only if that material is out of print.
The series will give perhaps as good an idea as one can have as to the worthwhile comics a reader would have found at a retailer at a given point in time. If nothing else, the posts should prove a fun exercise in nostalgia.
This 30th post covers November 1950 to December 1950.
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories Vol. 11, No. 3 [#123].
Published on November 7, 1950. Edited by Alice Nielsen Cobb. Cover illustration by Walt Kelly. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Dell. Cover/indicia date: December 1950. Cover price: 10¢.
Note
This issue features Walt Kelly’s final published cover for Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories.
Weird Fantasy #17 [#5].
Published on November 8, 1950. Edited by Albert B. Feldstein. The comic includes these stories: “Child of Tomorrow,” by Albert B. Feldstein; “The Time Machine and the Schmoe,” by Harvey Kurtzman; “Deadlock,” by Albert B. Feldstein & Wallace Wood; and “Prediction of Disaster,” by Albert B. Feldstein & Jack Kamen. Cover illustration by Albert B. Feldstein. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: I. C. [E. C.] Cover/indicia date: January/February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Dick Tracy Comics Monthly #35.
Published on November 10, 1950. Edited by Leon Harvey. The comic features material originally published in Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy daily newspaper strip. Cover illustration by Chester Gould. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Harvey. Cover/indicia date: January 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Marge’s Little Lulu #30.
Published on November 14, 1950. Edited by Helen Meyer. The comic includes these stories: “She Flies Through the Air,” “The Case of the Hairless Shaving Brush,” “That Was Lulu!” “The Snow Giant,” and “The Christmas Tree,” all by John Stanley & Irving Tripp. Cover illustration by Irving Tripp. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Dell. Cover/indicia date: December 1950. Cover price: 10¢.
The Vault of Horror #17
Published on November 17, 1950. Edited by Albert B. Feldstein. The comic includes these stories: “Terror on the Moors!” by Johnny Craig; “Baby, It’s Cold Outside!” by Albert B. Feldstein & Graham Ingels; “The Beast of the Full Moon,” by Albert B. Feldstein & Jack Davis; and “Voodoo Horror!” by Albert B. Feldstein & Jack Kamen. Cover illustration by Johnny Craig. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: L. L. [E. C.] Cover/indicia date: February-March 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck in “Dangerous Disguise”.
Published on November 21, 1950. Edited by Alice Nielsen Cobb. The comic includes the story “Dangerous Disguise,” by Carl Barks. Cover illustration by Carl Buettner. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Dell. Cover/indicia date: 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Note
Also known as Four Color #308.
The Marvel Family #55.
To read the issue online, click here.
Published by November 22, 1950. Edited by Wendell Crowley, Al Jetter, and Will Lieberson. The comic includes the Captain Marvel story “The Governor of Space,” by C. C. Beck & Otto Binder. Cover illustration by Kurt Schaffenberger. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett. Cover/indicia date: January 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Two-Fisted Tales #20.
.Published on November 29, 1950. Edited by William M. Gaines. The comic includes these stories: “Massacred!” by Harvey Kurtzman & John Severin, with Bill [Will] Elder; “Devils in Baggy Pants,” by Harvey Kurtzman & Wallace Wood; “Colt Single Action Revolver,” by Harvey Kurtzman & Jack Davis; and “Pirate Gold,” by Harvey Kurtzman. Cover illustration by Harvey Kurtzman. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Fables [E. C.] Cover/indicia date: March-April 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Captain Marvel Adventures #117.
To read the issue online, click here.
Published on December 1, 1950. Edited by Wendell Crowley, Al Jetter, and Will Lieberson. The comic includes the stories “The Quicksand Quandry” and “Mr. Tawny Seeks Happiness,” both by C. C. Beck & Otto Binder. Cover illustration by C. C. Beck. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, Vol. 11, No. 4 [#124].
Published on December 5, 1950. Edited by Alice Nielsen Cobb. The comic includes the Donald Duck story “Billions to Sneeze At,” by Carl Barks. Cover illustration by Carl Buettner. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Dell. Cover/indicia date: January 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Weird Science #6.
Published on December 6, 1950. Edited by William M. Gaines. The comic includes these stories: “Spawn of Venus,” by Albert B. Feldstein; “Man and Superman!” by Harvey Kurtzman; “Sinking of the Titanic,” by Albert B. Feldstein & Wallace Wood; and “Divide and Conquer!” by Al Feldstein & Jack Kamen. Cover illustration by Albert B. Feldstein. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Fables [E. C.] Cover/indicia date: March-April 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Dick Tracy Comics Monthly #36.
Published on December 10, 1950. Edited by Leon Harvey. The comic features material originally published in Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy daily newspaper strip. Cover illustration by Chester Gould. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Harvey. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Flash Gordon Comics #3.
Published on December 10, 1950. Edited by Leon Harvey. The comic features material from the Alex Raymond run on the Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper strip. The cover illustrator is unknown. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Harvey. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Al Capp’s Li’l Abner #81.
Published on December 12, 1950. The comic features material originally published in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner daily newspaper strip. Cover illustration by Al Capp. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Toby. Cover/indicia date: March 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Marge’s Little Lulu #31.
Published on December 12, 1950. The comic includes these stories: “Adventures in Africa,” “Cry Baby,” “Ten Pennies,” “The Big Fish,” and two untitled multi-page stories, all by John Stanley. Cover illustration by Irving Tripp. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Dell. Cover/indicia date: January 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
The Haunt of Fear #5.
Published on December 13, 1950. Edited by Albert B. Feldstein. The comic includes these stories: “A Biting Finish,” by Albert B. Feldstein & Graham Ingels; “Horror in the Freak Tent!” by Albert B. Feldstein & Wallace Wood; “A Tasty Morsel!” by Albert B. Feldstein & Jack Davis; and “Seeds of Death!” by Johnny Craig. Cover illustration by Johnny Craig. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Fables [E. C.]. Cover/indicia date: January-February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
The Marvel Family #56.
To read the issue online, click here.
Published by December 20, 1950. Edited by Wendell Crowley, Al Jetter, and Will Lieberson. The comic includes the Marvel Family story “The World’s Mightiest Project,” by C. C. Beck & Otto Binder. Cover illustration by C. C. Beck & Pete Costanza. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Boys’ Ranch #3.
Published in December 1950 [see note]. Edited by Leon Harvey. The comic includes the stories “Mother Delilah” and “I’ll Fight You for Lucy,” both by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. Cover illustration by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 52 pages. New York: Harvey. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Note
The exact publication date is unknown. No copyright registration appears to have been filed for the issue. However, during the 1950s, Harvey generally cover-dated books two months ahead of publication.
Gasoline Alley #2.
The comic features material first published in Frank King’s Gasoline Alley daily newspaper strip. Cover illustration by Frank King. St. Louis: Star. Cover/indicia date: December 1950. Cover price: 10¢.
Notes
The exact publication date is unknown. No copyright registration was filed for the issue.
There is no credited editor.
Terry and the Pirates #25.
To read the issue online, click here.
Published in December 1950 [see note]. Edited by Leon Harvey. The comic features material from Milton Caniff’s run on the Terry and the Pirates daily newspaper strip. Cover illustration by Lee Elias. Standard-format comic book. Color interiors. 36 pages. New York: Harvey. Cover/indicia date: February 1951. Cover price: 10¢.
Note
The exact publication date is unknown. No copyright registration appears to have been filed for the issue. However, during the 1950s, Harvey generally cover-dated books two months ahead of publication.
It Rhymes With Lust.
By Drake Waller [Arnold Drake & Leslie Waller] & Matt Baker, with Roy Osrin. This book, featuring a single stand-alone story, is possibly the first North American “graphic novel.” Digest-format paperback book. Black-and-white interiors. 132 pages. New York: St. John. Cover/indicia date: 1950. Cover price: 25¢.
Note
The exact publication date is unknown. No copyright registration appears to have been filed.
Next: January 1951 to February 1951.