Funny Pages #v4#1

(January 1940)

Learn to Play Checkers! (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

How to Win at Checkers / advertisement / 0.5 page (report information)

Hey Fellas! Here's the Amazing Man! (Table of Contents: 2) (Expand) /

Amazing-Man Comics / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

Statement of Ownership (Table of Contents: 3)

statement of ownership / 0.17 page (report information)

Script

Joseph J. Hardie

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Publisher, Joseph J. Hardie, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y.;
Editor, Lloyd Jacquet, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y.;
Managing Editor, None;
Business Manager, Raymond J. Kelly, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y.
Owner: Centaur Publications, Inc., 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y.;
Raymond J. Kelly, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y.;
S. J. Fried, 291 Broadway, New York, N. Y.;
Joseph J. Hardie, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y.;
E. L. Angel, 220 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y.
Signed by:
Joseph J. Hardie, Publisher.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 29th day of September, 1939.
Berta M. Holcepl, Notary Public
Kings County Clerk's No. 337, Register's No. 1009? [smudged]
New York County Clerk's No. 15, Register's No. 1H11? [smudged]
Commission expires March 30, 1939
[smudged, but the "3" is clear enough even though that would put the expiration earlier than the date of this document! Perhaps a typo?]

Lower right of inside front cover. Per Frank Motler, E L. Angel is Evangeline Angel, wife of Warren Angel who was the head of Kable News. Therefore Centaur was likely distributed by Kable at this point.

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

Mantoka / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Jack Cole (signed as Richard Bruce)

Pencils

Jack Cole (signed as Richard Bruce)

Inks

Jack Cole (signed as Richard Bruce)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

My son, the time has come for your young body to replace this ancient one's!

Genre

superhero

Characters

Mantoka (introduction; origin); Mantoka's father;

Synopsis

Mantoka's father, the tribe shaman, passes his powers on to Mantoka. When the hunters of the tribe start to go missing, Mantoka finds that they have been captured by a white man who is forcing them to work in his mines.

Reprints

• in Comics the Golden Age (New Media Publishing, 1984 series) #2 (May 1984)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

Egbert / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Art Pinajian (credited)

Pencils

Art Pinajian (credited)

Inks

Art Pinajian (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hey Pinky - How about a ride, huh?

Genre

humor; anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Egbert; Pinky

Synopsis

Egbert gets a sled ride from Pinky.

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

The Arrow / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Pencils

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Inks

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Paul Gustavson (signed)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hello Hans!!

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Arrow [Ralph Payne]

Synopsis

The Arrow captures some murdering racketeers.

Indexer Notes

All Gustavson credits verified and courtesy of Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson.

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

The Circus and Sue / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Claire S. Moe (signed)

Pencils

Claire S. Moe (signed)

Inks

Claire S. Moe (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Margo has come to Renee again...

Genre

drama

Characters

Sue; Margo; Renee; Andre; Jacques; the Maestro

Keywords

soap opera

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

Phantom Rider / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Jack Cole ?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The boss says to git some of you boys and go out to the buryin' with him...

Genre

western-frontier

Characters

Phantom Rider; Sherrif Warder; Blarsted

Synopsis

When Blarsted, the most powerful man in Mesquite, drives out the Sherrif, the Phantom Rider comes to his aid.

Indexer Notes

Art previously attributed to Martin Filchock, but Jim Amash of the Timely-Atlas list spoke with Filchock and confirmed that he never worked on the Phantom Rider nor with Jack Cole. This arguably calls into question the Cole credit as well, which was from the same source (Henry Andrews 2009-03-16).

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

Magic Made Easy / activity / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Make magic your hobby!

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

Uncle Joe's Joke Page / text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Martin Filchock (signed as Filchock)

Inks

Martin Filchock (signed as Filchock)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Changed

Genre

humor

Indexer Notes

Text jokes, two with illustrations.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 11)

Mad Ming / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Harold DeLay (signed)

Inks

Harold DeLay (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

G-Man Gene matches wits with Wu Chang, the Mad Ming

Genre

adventure

Characters

Mad Ming [Wu Chang] (introduction); Gene (introduction); Jinny (introduction); Stubs (introduction); Lee (introduction); Sergeant Stone (introduction)

Synopsis

G-Man Gene is called in when Stubs finds a body he thinks is a federal man. Jinny insists on going with him, and they discover an opium smuggling operation. After tracing it to Wu Chang, Jinny steals his papers for evidence. Furious, Wu Chang kidnaps her, but Gene calls in Sgt. Stone and rescues her during a raid.

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

Your Page / activity / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?; Rose Marie Imes; Claude Cook; John Choffey; Roland Santurri Cranston; Thomas Harris; Ethel Arnold; Larry McVay; Thomas Main; Carolton Burchet; Harry Powell; Raymond Fielding; Edwin Jones; Stephen Eugene Piles; Morty Rothenburg; Armstead Hudnell; Meyer Roiter; Jack Grau; Teresa Bilotta; Lenore Hutchings; H. Lasseter; Ann Oustod; Emile Hamel; Jack Malott; Uphouse Tatarunis; Tommy Tomlinson; Joe Miller

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

This is your page- so use it!

Synopsis

Numerous drawings sent in by readers.

Indexer Notes

Readers are invited to send their drawings to Ed Wood, Centaur Publ. Co. 220 Fifth Ave., New York City.

Lesson #13 (Table of Contents: 13)

Cartooning The Perfect Hobby! / activity / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

White Goddess [conclusion] (Table of Contents: 14)

Diana Deane in Hollywood / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Tarpé Mills (signed)

Pencils

Tarpé Mills (signed)

Inks

Tarpé Mills (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

adventure

Characters

Ora [Joan Trevor]; Briny Bill (death); Gary Hale; Zuma (villain; death)

Synopsis

Zuma shoots and kills Briny Bill from a hiding place, cutting short his reunion with Ora. However he falls from his perch and is killed by a gorilla. Gary begins to take Ora, now Joan Trever once more, back to England as Bill wished. But the two have fallen in love, and Joan agrees to go with Gary to America as his bride.

Indexer Notes

From a movie produced by Allan Dorne, directed by Lee Barton and starring Diana Deane as Ora [Joan Trevor].

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 15)

The Owl / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Martin Filchock (signed)

Inks

Martin Filchock (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

When crime breaks out, The Owl prowls...

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Owl [Jack]; The Owl's father; Zeb Hale (death)

Synopsis

The fastidious librarian in a large southern city is secretly The Owl, who lives with his father in the nearby swamp. The Owl's father lost his legs because of a racketeer and spent his life designing the Owl's flying suit. They track a kidnapping gang to Zeb's farm and the Owl runs their car off a cliff.

Indexer Notes

Neither the Owl nor his father are named in the story. While Filchock generally wrote the stories he illustrated, Jerry Bails' Who's Who specifically lists him as only the artist here (Henry Andrews 2009-03-10).

The Owl's first name was Jack, but his last name was never revealed.

Uncle Joe's Joke Page (Table of Contents: 16)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Synopsis

This is a text page filler with two spot illos. The text consists of eight joke dialogues.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 17) (Expand) /

Remington Noiseless Deluxe Portable Typewriter / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 18) (Expand) /

Johnson Smith & Co. / advertisement / 1 page (report information)