Popular Comics #79

(September 1942)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1)

Grin and Bear It / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Pencils

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Inks

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Now's the best time to ask Father, Honey!

Genre

humor

Reprints

• from Grin and Bear It daily (Chicago Times, Inc.) 1941-xx-xx - 1941-xx-xx, 1941-08-31, 1941-04-06, 1941-xx-xx

Indexer Notes

Six single panel cartoons on inside front cover in black, white and red.
© 1941 Chicago Times, Inc.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 2)

Smilin' Jack / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Zack Mosley (credited)

Pencils

Boody Rogers (ghosted for Zack Mosley)

Inks

Boody Rogers (ghosted for Zack Mosley)

Colors

?

Letters

Boody Rogers (ghosted for Zack Mosley)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Seeing the clipper turn back

Genre

adventure; aviation

Characters

Smilin' Jack [Jack Martin]; Fat Stuff; Downwind Jaxon [also as George]; Mary Smith (voice only); Mrs. Andrews; Miss Murray; Alberta; Dickie; Birteel; Juanita; Ringtail (a monkey)

Reprints

• in Four Color (Dell, 1942 series) #14 - Smilin' Jack (1942)
which is reprinted
• in Gwandanaland Comics (Gwandanaland Comics, 2016 series) #445 - Smilin' Jack Volume 1 ([August] 2019)
• from Smilin' Jack Sunday (Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate) 1939-03-xx - 1939-xx-xx

Indexer Notes

Copyright 1938 by the Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.

Clef Dweller (Table of Contents: 3)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman (credited)

Pencils

Bill Holman (credited)

Inks

Bill Holman (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt; Spooky (a cat)

Reprints

• from Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate Co., Inc.) 1940-xx-xx

Indexer Notes

Copyright, 1940, by News Syndicate Co., Inc.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4)

Terry and the Pirates / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Milton Caniff (credited)

Pencils

Milton Caniff (credited)

Inks

Milton Caniff (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

Frank Engli

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Presence of battle boat proves our identity known

Genre

adventure

Characters

Connie; Terry Lee; Pat Ryan; Burma; Big Stoop; Nastalthia Vincenta Smythe-Heatherstone; Reginald Smythe-Heatherstone; Inspector Gwenn; Drusilla Crail (villain, death); Chun Wi (villain)

Reprints

• from Terry and the Pirates daily (Chicago Tribune Syndicate-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.) 1938-10-12 - 1938-10-15, 1938-10-17 - 1938-10-22, 1938-10-24, 1938-10-26 - 1938-10-29, 1938-10-xx

Indexer Notes

Copyright 1938 by the Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.
2 1/2 pages of the daily reprints did not have dates.

The Return of Robin Hood [Episode 1] (Table of Contents: 5)

Robin Hood / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois (credited)

Pencils

Jon Small (credited)

Inks

Jon Small (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Feature Logo

The Return of Robin Hood

Genre

adventure; historical; history

Characters

Robin Hood; Baron De Grise (villain, death)

Indexer Notes

© 1942 by R. S. Callender.

Corroboration of Gaylord Du Bois script credit for Return of Robin Hood [episode 1] as per page 625, "Catalog of Copyright Entries 1942 Pamphlets, Leaflets, Etc. New Series Vol 39 Pt. 1," by Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Published 1942.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6)

Cyclone / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

John Hampton (signed)

Inks

John Hampton (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Mighty Inca, these here folks are friends of mine

Genre

western-frontier

Characters

Cyclone; Midge; Calico (a horse); The Great Inca; Don Manuelo McCarthy; Sandy Waters

Synopsis

Cyclone and his friends escape from the Incas.

Indexer Notes

Copr., 1942, by R. S. Callender.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 7)

Don Winslow / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Frank V. Martinek (credited)

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

As the Navy prepares to attack his strongly fortified island

Feature Logo

Don Winslow of the Navy

Genre

adventure; war; military

Characters

Don Winslow; Red Pennington; Professor Olympus Lancton; Betty Shipman; The Purple Dictator (villain)

Reprints

• from Don Winslow of the Navy newspaper strip (The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) 19xx-xx-xx- 19xx-xx-xx

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 8)

Gasoline Alley / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Frank King (credited)

Pencils

Frank King (credited)

Inks

Frank King (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

She's sunk!

Genre

drama

Characters

Skeezix Wallet; Tops; Gootch; Fuzzy

Reprints

• from Gasoline Alley daily (Chicago Tribune Syndicate) 1937-08-31, 1937-09-01, 1937-09-03, 1937-09-xx

Indexer Notes

Copyright 1937 by the Chicago Tribune-N. Y. News Syndicate, Inc.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 9)

The Gumps / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Gus Edson (credited)

Pencils

Gus Edson (credited)

Inks

Gus Edson (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

To our future happiness, Andy

Genre

drama; humor; domestic

Characters

Andrew Gump; Uncle Bim Gump [Benjamin Gump]; Little Napolean (a baby, unnamed)

Synopsis

Bim finds a baby on his doorstep.

Reprints

• from The Gumps Sunday (Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.) 1937-11-21

Indexer Notes

Copyright 1937 by the Chicago Tribune-N.Y. News Syndicate, Inc.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10)

The Owl / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

Frank Thomas (signed)

Pencils

Frank Thomas (signed)

Inks

Frank Thomas (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Slow down, Nick--

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Owl [Nick Terry]; Belle Wayne; Chief Murphy; Mrs. Astorpont; Secret Order of Karanak [Poona; Maya (former press agent)] (villains, introduction for both)

Synopsis

Chief Murphy and Nick investigate a mystic cult located in a fashionable neighborhood that caters to people of all walks of life who are wanting to rid themselves of their cares and troubles. But the Owl discovers that the cult's leader is actually looking for celebrities amongst the people, then use information they provide to blackmail them.

Reprints

• in Men of Mystery Comics (AC, 1999 series) #95 (2014)

Keywords

The Eagle (newspaper)

Indexer Notes

Copr., 1942, by R. S. Callender.

The Who's Who indicates that Thomas both wrote and drew this feature in 1941, and nothing extant disputes this.

The script credit added by Craig Delich.

Spy Patrol (Table of Contents: 11)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois; ?

Pencils

Bill Ely; ?

Inks

Bill Ely; ?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Dave Bascomb sat on the end of the old dock in front of his house, and stared at the misty horizon.

Genre

war

Characters

Dave Bascomb; Mr. Bascomb; Mrs. Bascomb; older German spy (dialogue); younger German spy (referenced)

Synopsis

Bascomb Senior returns from civilian submarine dawn patrol in his seaplane, wounded, reporting two German spies headed for Crow Point in a raft. Mom phones in the report while son Dave takes the plane up to try and spot the spies. He spots them on the land, takes the plane down on the shore, and gives pursuit up on the cliff. An army pursuit plane spooks the spies, who scurry and cling from cliff's edge. With his dad's shotgun, Dave holds them hanging there, awaiting the arrival of the boys from the airfield.

Indexer Notes

Du Bois writer i.d. and Bill Ely art i.d. by David Porta November 2021.

Du Bois identifiers:

The immediate Du Bois identifier is the opening line which fixes the character's name, location, and action. Then, the principal two identifiers are the abundance of nature references; and the technical nautical and geographic vocabulary.

NATURE:
1) "and stared at the misty horizon"
2) "he rounded the high rocky headland south of Poquit Bay. No raft broke the surface of the smooth swells below him."
3) "the steep south shore"
4) "the oval, doughnut-shaped rubber raft wedged in a nest of rocks."
5) '"movement in the bushes near the top of the broken cliff"
6) "the trees are too thick on the point to make trailing from the air certain"
7) "the top of the ridge"
8) "through the woods"
9) "the cliff on the south shore"
10) "a thicket of scrub oak"
11) "a recent rain had soaked the dead leaves and twigs underfoot"
12) "Through the trees, Dave saw them scuttle like crabs over the edge of the cliff. ... where they must be---clinging with fingers and toes to the rough face of the sea cliff."

LANGUAGE:
1) "shoreward."
2) "upwind."
3) "a twelve-gauge, double-barrelled shotgun and a handful of shells loaded with number three shot."
4) "step": "Moments later the red seaplane roared away from the old dock. Though he had never soloed, Dave had flown the little ship with his father. He knew when she reached the 'step.' Pulling back the stick he lifted her smoothly into the air."
https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/62088/what-is-the-offset-in-a…
"What is the offset in a seaplane's hull? That's called the step. Without it, you'd have to fight against the buoyancy of the rear end of the hull when you rotate for takeoff."
5) "headland" ("headland: a narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea" - Oxford Languages.)
6) "the smooth swells" ["Swell are waves (usually with smooth tops) that have moved beyond the area where they were generated." king5.com whats-the-difference-between-waves-seas-and-swell.]
7) "facing seaward."

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 12)

Gang Busters / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Bob Jenney (signed as R. L. J.)

Inks

Bob Jenney (signed as R. L. J.)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Tony Gorio, a waterfront thug

Genre

crime

Characters

Pete Hanson; Tom Carson; Tony Gorio (villain)

Reprints

• in Four Color (Dell, 1942 series) #24 - Gang Busters (1943)

Indexer Notes

Copr., 1942 by Phillips H. Lord, Inc.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 13)

The Hurricane Kids / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Albert Hartje (credited)

Pencils

Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)

Inks

Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Let's take a look at the cargo, Captain Bill

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

The Hurricane Kids [Alan Burnham; Dave Burnham]; Captain Bill Brady

Indexer Notes

Copr., 1942, by R. S. Callender.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 14)

Grin and Bear It / cartoon / 1 page (report information)

Script

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Pencils

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Inks

George Lichty (signed as Lichty)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Will it stand up under a rescue?

Genre

humor

Reprints

• from Grin and Bear It daily (Chicago Times, Inc.) 19xx-xx-xx - 19xx-xx-xx

Indexer Notes

Six single panel cartoons on inside back cover in black, white and red.

[Cover Preview - Famous Stories #2] (Table of Contents: 15)

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

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Tom Sawyer; Huckleberry Finn

Indexer Notes

Back cover.