Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Importance of New Fun Comics #1

New Fun #1

When comic books first started as inserts in the Sunday paper, they included reprints of  past comic strips no original material. As time passed they began including some original material but still mainly reprinting past works.

That all changed with the release of New Fun #1 in February 1935. Published by National Allied Publications New Fun was a tabloid-sized, 10-inch by 15-inch, 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover, it was an anthology of stories which ranged from humor to Western to adventure. The thing that set New Fun apart from all other comic books at the time is it contained all -original material, no reprinted content.
New Fun was edited by future Funnies, Inc. founder Lloyd Jacquet, it contained 33 original Stan-alone stories.  In a memo dated 1-11-35, editor Lloyd Jacquet wrote this statement: "New FUN - hot off the Daily Eagle press - goes on sale today coast-to-coast." That tells us when this issue went on sale, and was printed on the presses used by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper.
New Fun #6

It is important to note that New Fun went on for six issues, Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) played an important role in it brought the comic-book debuts of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the future creators of Superman, who began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval" and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", the supernatural adventurer Doctor Occult.





The original cover price of New Fun #1 was a dime. If you can actually find one today it will cost you about $50,000, yes that is a five and five zeros. Issue #6 goes for about half that.

This is truly a piece of comic book history and worth a look if you actually are lucky enough to even see one. If you can purchase one, way to go!

I am currently hunting one down just to take a photo of it. I really enjoy the history of comics.

Enjoy your hunt!
#jointhehunt

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