Post by Adminenkainen on Dec 2, 2017 3:56:55 GMT
Though DC Comics exited the Golden Age with a stable roster of features, in the early days they tested a lot of different features, some good, some bad. Here is how I would have liked to see the best characters consolidated by the end of 1939:
Action Comics
DC really didn't need a quarterly Superman series in 1939, as Action Comics really didn't have enough solid features to carry a book without Superman being so good. Tex Thompson was okay at first, being an explorer who went to really gonzo places. The early Zatara stories were good until power inflation just made them too goofy. Everything else was pretty weak; I would rather have seen three Superman stories per issue than the rest of that filler. So, my line-up for Action Comics would be:
Superman
Superman
Superman
Zatara
Tex Thompson
Adventure Comics
Adventure had a pretty solid line-up already at the end of 1939. Sandman was off to a great start. Steve Carson of Federal Men was a Siegel/Shuster feature that started out really strong, with a heavy emphasis on science fictional threats. Anchors Aweigh was a Dan Winslow clone, with a hint of Tintin tossed in initially, that exceeded the strip it imitated at least initially. Cotton Carver was a fun Don Dixon/Pellucidar (hero in a lost world) clone. Barry O'Neill was a one-trick pony who lost his momentum once his yellow peril foe Fang Gow died, but he had passable art and the American in France angle had potential. So, for this title I would have just increased the page count on these five features and cut out the weaker features.
Sandman
Steve Carson of Federal Men
Anchors Aweigh
Cotton Carver
Barry O'Neill
All-American Comics
AA's first title was the weakest title of the bunch. It had Mutt & Jeff reprints, which are okay I guess. Scribbly was not yet the superhero parody masterpiece it would soon become. Hop Harrigan was a passably decent aviator hero. The best feature was Red, White, and Blue, a feature about three officers in the Armed Forces who always got to go on the same secret missions, despite representing entirely different branches. Red, White, and Blue was probably good enough that it could have been expanded to Superman-length stories (13 pages), but the rest were not worthy. All-American would have needed to borrow some National characters, like Nadir Master of Magic (a magic-user who barely used magic) and Rusty and His Pals (a loose, comic-heavy Terry and the Pirates clone).
Red, White, and Blue
Mutt & Jeff
Scribbly
Hop Harrigan
Nadir Master of Magic?
Rusty and His Pals?
Detective Comics
Batman, of course, dominated Detective Comics from the moment he debuted, but Detective had a strong stable of features in addition. Bart Regan, Spy, was a really strong Siegel/Shuster adventure series with a romance twist (until Siegel and Shuster seem to have abandoned the feature to other creators who completely ruined it). Slam Bradley was another good Siegel/Shuster adventure series, with a Captain Easy clone ratcheted up to 11. Speed Saunders was a capable feature by Fred Guardineer, though not in the same league with his Zatara or Anchors Aweigh. Bruce Nelson was an adventurer with some promising moments.
Batman
Bart Regan, Spy
Slam Bradley
Speed Saunders
Bruce Nelson
More Fun Comics
This title was still meandering without a strong lead at the end of 1939, since DC had inexplicably canceled its best feature, Dr. Occult a year earlier. Dr Occult was yet another strong Siegel/Shuster feature where our investigator fought "magic" and "supernatural" foes that were grounded in super-science. Sandy Kean of Radio Squad was the weakest of the Siegel/Shuster features I would include, but it was still a strong, street-level cop adventure strip. Bob Merritt was an aviator hero with some of the best artwork of the early DC comics. Brad Hardy was another Don Dixon clone, but while magic was actually super-science in Dixon's strip, Brad fought sorcerers with a sword. Buzz Brown was a passable Terry and the Pirates clone.
Dr. Occult
Sandy Kean of Radio Squad
Bob Merritt
Brad Hardy
Buzz Brown
Action Comics
DC really didn't need a quarterly Superman series in 1939, as Action Comics really didn't have enough solid features to carry a book without Superman being so good. Tex Thompson was okay at first, being an explorer who went to really gonzo places. The early Zatara stories were good until power inflation just made them too goofy. Everything else was pretty weak; I would rather have seen three Superman stories per issue than the rest of that filler. So, my line-up for Action Comics would be:
Superman
Superman
Superman
Zatara
Tex Thompson
Adventure Comics
Adventure had a pretty solid line-up already at the end of 1939. Sandman was off to a great start. Steve Carson of Federal Men was a Siegel/Shuster feature that started out really strong, with a heavy emphasis on science fictional threats. Anchors Aweigh was a Dan Winslow clone, with a hint of Tintin tossed in initially, that exceeded the strip it imitated at least initially. Cotton Carver was a fun Don Dixon/Pellucidar (hero in a lost world) clone. Barry O'Neill was a one-trick pony who lost his momentum once his yellow peril foe Fang Gow died, but he had passable art and the American in France angle had potential. So, for this title I would have just increased the page count on these five features and cut out the weaker features.
Sandman
Steve Carson of Federal Men
Anchors Aweigh
Cotton Carver
Barry O'Neill
All-American Comics
AA's first title was the weakest title of the bunch. It had Mutt & Jeff reprints, which are okay I guess. Scribbly was not yet the superhero parody masterpiece it would soon become. Hop Harrigan was a passably decent aviator hero. The best feature was Red, White, and Blue, a feature about three officers in the Armed Forces who always got to go on the same secret missions, despite representing entirely different branches. Red, White, and Blue was probably good enough that it could have been expanded to Superman-length stories (13 pages), but the rest were not worthy. All-American would have needed to borrow some National characters, like Nadir Master of Magic (a magic-user who barely used magic) and Rusty and His Pals (a loose, comic-heavy Terry and the Pirates clone).
Red, White, and Blue
Mutt & Jeff
Scribbly
Hop Harrigan
Nadir Master of Magic?
Rusty and His Pals?
Detective Comics
Batman, of course, dominated Detective Comics from the moment he debuted, but Detective had a strong stable of features in addition. Bart Regan, Spy, was a really strong Siegel/Shuster adventure series with a romance twist (until Siegel and Shuster seem to have abandoned the feature to other creators who completely ruined it). Slam Bradley was another good Siegel/Shuster adventure series, with a Captain Easy clone ratcheted up to 11. Speed Saunders was a capable feature by Fred Guardineer, though not in the same league with his Zatara or Anchors Aweigh. Bruce Nelson was an adventurer with some promising moments.
Batman
Bart Regan, Spy
Slam Bradley
Speed Saunders
Bruce Nelson
More Fun Comics
This title was still meandering without a strong lead at the end of 1939, since DC had inexplicably canceled its best feature, Dr. Occult a year earlier. Dr Occult was yet another strong Siegel/Shuster feature where our investigator fought "magic" and "supernatural" foes that were grounded in super-science. Sandy Kean of Radio Squad was the weakest of the Siegel/Shuster features I would include, but it was still a strong, street-level cop adventure strip. Bob Merritt was an aviator hero with some of the best artwork of the early DC comics. Brad Hardy was another Don Dixon clone, but while magic was actually super-science in Dixon's strip, Brad fought sorcerers with a sword. Buzz Brown was a passable Terry and the Pirates clone.
Dr. Occult
Sandy Kean of Radio Squad
Bob Merritt
Brad Hardy
Buzz Brown
