Four Color
#1 - Little Joe
(1942)
Dell,
1942 Series
- Volume
- 1
- Price
- 0.10 USD
- Pages
- 68
- Indicia / Colophon Publisher
- Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
- Printer
- Printed in U.S.A.
- Editing
- ?
Issue Notes
Indicia title is "LITTLE JOE, No. 1." No code number. Copyright 1937, 1938, by Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.
This issue has variants:
This issue has variants:
Little Joe
Little Joe / cover / 1 page
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Ze General
- Keywords
- bandits; cowboys; Mexican sombreros
Indexer Notes
Original cover by unknown artist. Ze General appears on the cover but does not appear in any of the stories reprinted in the comic itself.
![Cover Thumbnail for Four Color (1942 series) #1 - Little Joe [Star Cover Variant]](https://files1.comics.org//img/gcd/covers_by_id/1139/w100/1139542.jpg?6030585598735758699)
[Don Jose]
Little Joe / comic story / 6 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak; Don Jose (villain)
- Synopsis
- Don Jose builds a hacienda on a mesa and tries to use his band of bandits to force Little Joe and his family off their ranch.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.07.26, 1937.09.20, 1937.11.29-1937.12.20
Indexer Notes
Story is highly edited. Many missing strips were likely left out because of excessive violence. Story begins on inside front cover in black, red, and white. Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped.
[Black Jack Smith]
Little Joe / comic story / 8 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak; Black Jack Smith
- Synopsis
- An "outlaw with a heart of gold" escapes from a posse by hiding at the Oaks' ranch.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.01.24-1937.02.14, 1937.02.28-1937.03.21
Indexer Notes
Sunday pages are reformatted to fit comic book pages, but no panels are dropped.
[The Sheep Herders]
Little Joe / comic story / 4 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak
- Synopsis
- Utah and Little Joe run off ornery sheep herders who have brought their sheep to the valley.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.03.28-1937.04.18
Indexer Notes
Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped.
[Farmers, Eutopia, and Dust Storms]
Little Joe / comic story / 20 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak; Judge Blurb (villain)
- Synopsis
- Conman Blurb sells claims on free range land in the valley to farmers who establish the village of Eutopia. But drought and lack of ground cover cause massive dust storms that ruin both the farmers and their land.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.04.25-1937.09.05
Indexer Notes
Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped. The story is obviously inspired by the Great Plains "Dust Bowl" of the mid-1930s.
[The New Ranch House]
Little Joe / comic story / 7 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak
- Synopsis
- Using labor from the destitute farmers and lumber from deserted houses, a new ranch house for the Oaks is built at the end of "Hidden Valley."
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.09.12-1937.10.24
Indexer Notes
Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped.
[Utah runs for Sheriff]
Little Joe / comic story / 8 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak; Three-Card Al
- Synopsis
- After shooting a gang of bank robbers, Utah is elected sheriff. He later wipes out a gang of cattle rustlers.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips from 1937.10.31-1937.12.19
Indexer Notes
Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped.
[The Power Plant]
Little Joe / comic story / 14 pages
- Script
- Harold Gray
- Pencils
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Inks
- Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell (signed as Leffingwell)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- western-frontier
- Characters
- Little Joe; Utah; Mrs. Oak; Three-Card Al
- Synopsis
- Mr. Drill builds a hydro-electric dam on the Oaks' ranch to generate power for an airplane guidance beacon.
- Reprints
- from Little Joe (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate) Sunday strips in this order: 1937.12.16-1938.01.30, 1938.03.06-1938.03.27, 1938.02.06, 1938,02.13, 1938.02.27, 1938.02.20
Indexer Notes
Each Sunday strip is rearranged to fit on the comic page, but no panels are dropped. Strips are printed out of order. 1938.02.27 is the inside back cover and is printed in black, red, and white. 1938.02.20 is the back cover.
Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
-
0.
Little Joe
Little Joe -
1.
[Don Jose]
Little Joe -
2.
[Black Jack Smith]
Little Joe -
3.
[The Sheep Herders]
Little Joe -
4.
[Farmers, Eutopia, and Dust Storms]
Little Joe -
5.
[The New Ranch House]
Little Joe -
6.
[Utah runs for Sheriff]
Little Joe -
7.
[The Power Plant]
Little Joe
This issue was modified by, among others
- Katie
- Dwayne Best
- Merlin Haas
- Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
- Matthias Hofmann
- Keith Alan Morgan
- Tony R. Rose
- Per Sandell
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