Big 3 #1
(Fall 1940)

Fox, 1940 Series
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Price
0.10 USD
Pages
68
Indicia Frequency
quarterly
On-sale Date
1940-10-07
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Fox Publications Inc.
Brand
A Fox Feature Comic FP
Editing
Victor Fox

Issue Notes

The on-sale date is from the publication date recorded in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, 1940, New Series, Vol. 35, No. 4.

The Adventures of the 3 World's Greatest Heroes (Table of Contents)

Blue Beetle; The Flame; Samson and David / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
superhero
Characters
Blue Beetle; Samson, the Flame; David (inset)
Reprints

[Borgo, the Mirror Murderer] (Table of Contents: 1)

Blue Beetle / comic story / 15 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Sam Cooper (under house name Charles Nicholas) (signed) (sourced)
Inks
Sam Cooper (under house name Charles Nicholas) (signed) (sourced)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
superhero
Characters
Blue Beetle [Dan Garret]; Joan Mason; Mike Mannigan; Ralph James (death); Frank James (death); Allan James (death); Fred James; Dell James; Dr. Frantz; Borgo (villain, introduction)
Synopsis
The Blue Beetle and Joan go after a vicious criminal mastermind, who seeks to murder the James brothers, a group of scientists who once fired him for stealing radium.
Reprints

The Inner Crime Ring (Table of Contents: 2)

Samson and David / comic story / 13 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Al Carreño (under house name Alex Boon) (signed) (sourced)
Inks
Al Carreño (under house name Alex Boon) (signed) (sourced)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
superhero
Characters
Samson; David; Professor Brun; Dr. Blood (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis
Samson has to battle the vicious Dr. Blood and his "Inner Crime Ring, which, because it needs capital, goes on a robbery spree, killing anyone who gets in their way.
Reprints

[The Jewel Smuggling Murders] (Table of Contents: 3)

The Flame / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Basil Berold (signed) (house name)
Inks
Basil Berold (signed) (house name)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
superhero
Characters
The Flame [Gary Preston]; The Water-Front Gang [Spike, rest un-named](villains, introduction, death for all)
Synopsis
The Flame battles a ruthless gang of jewel smugglers, saving a girl several times in the process, whose intent was to squeal to the District Attorney about the gang's activities.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

The artist working under the "Basil Berold" byline is mimicking Lou Fine's style. Art information from Bill Black, confirmed by Gary Watson in June, 2009.

[The Shylock Menace] (Table of Contents: 4)

The Flame / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Basil Berold (signed) (house name)
Inks
Basil Berold (signed) (house name)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
superhero
Characters
The Flame [Gary Preston]; Spike and other gangsters (villains, introduction, deaths of all)
Synopsis
The Flame battles a murdering gang of money lenders, who are trying to bleed dry people who borrowed money from them.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

The artist working under the "Basil Berold" byline is mimicking Lou Fine's style. Art information from Bill Black, confirmed by Gary Watson in June, 2009.

The Flying Dutchman Goes Modern (Table of Contents: 5)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script
Nathaniel Nitkin (signed as N. N. Nathaniel)
Pencils
? (two illustrations)
Inks
? (two illustrations)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset

Characters
Captain Hetherington; Hardy; Captain Van Der Decken; Korvettenskapitan von Martz (villain); Oberleutnant von Seidorff (villain); Rothmann (villain)
Synopsis
German U-Boat U-134 found a likely target and rose to the surface to attack. But none of the shells had any impact on the ship, which they discovered, to their horror, to be The Flying Dutchman!
Reprints

[What a Team!] (Table of Contents: 6) (Expand) /

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

[The Ultimatum of Lobar] (Table of Contents: 7)

Cosmic Carson / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Michael Griffith (signed) (house name)
Inks
Michael Griffith (signed) (house name)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
science fiction
Characters
Cosmic Carson; Lobar (villain, introduction, death); Gargantuans (villains, introduction, death)
Synopsis
In denying Lobar a base for his battle rockets on Earth, Carson must fend off an invasion force from the villain, who hopes to wipe out the earthlings and become ruler of the universe. All of Carson's rockets are destroyed except his, and he and his men are then strapped to tables by Lobar, and his scientists are set to inject them with a serum which creates a chemical gas that bloats the human body to three times its normal size before it explodes!
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Michael Griffith was a pen-name for Jack Kirby, but the art here doesn't appear to be by him.

[The Submarine City] (Table of Contents: 8)

Dr. Doom / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Dick Briefer (under house name Richard Crater) (signed)
Inks
Dick Briefer (under house name Richard Crater) (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
science fiction
Characters
Gordon; Wanda; Jan; Jim; Dr. Doom (villain); Venusians [Jarg, rest un-named](villains, introduction)
Synopsis
Jan and Wanda enter a weird underwater city, inhabited by Venusians, who plan to conquer the Earth as soon as Dr. Doom changes the Earth's atmosphere to that of Venus.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Page count corrected from 7 to 8 by an error report from Len Wolinsky, who notes that the pages in the comic are numbered 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (note the two page 3's). Art identification by Bill Black, confirmed by Gary Watson in June, 2009.

[The Blue Beetle Coast to Coast] (Table of Contents: 9) (Expand) /

Blue Beetle / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. The Adventures of the 3 World's Greatest Heroes
    Blue Beetle; The Flame; Samson and David
  2. 1. [Borgo, the Mirror Murderer]
    Blue Beetle
  3. 2. The Inner Crime Ring
    Samson and David
  4. 3. [The Jewel Smuggling Murders]
    The Flame
  5. 4. [The Shylock Menace]
    The Flame
  6. 5. The Flying Dutchman Goes Modern
  7. 6. [What a Team!]
  8. 7. [The Ultimatum of Lobar]
    Cosmic Carson
  9. 8. [The Submarine City]
    Dr. Doom
  10. 9. [The Blue Beetle Coast to Coast]
    Blue Beetle
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Henry Andrews
  • Peter Croome
  • Craig Delich
  • Alexandros Diamantidis
  • Gregory Fischer
  • Jochen G.
  • Del Gruber
  • Clint Maxwell
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Van Dore