(July 1940)
Quality Comics,
1940 Series
- Price
- 0.10 USD
- Pages
- 68
- Indicia Frequency
- monthly
- On-sale Date
- 1940-04-14
- Indicia / Colophon Publisher
- Comic Magazines Inc.
- Editing
- Will Eisner (editor)
Issue Notes
On sale date from the fanzine, Fantasy News, dated April 14, 1940 (on page 3). The comic was scheduled for release during the week of April 14-20, 1940. Information shared by Bart Bush through the Comics History Exchange page on Facebook (4 October 2016).
[no title indexed]
Uncle Sam / cover / 1 page
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Starring Uncle Sam America's greatest comic character
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Buddy; Uncle Sam
- Reprints
-
in Jerry Iger's National Comics (Blackthorne, 1985 series) #1 (1985) - in Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War (Fantagraphics, 2017 series) (2017)
- in Gwandanaland Comics (Gwandanaland Comics, 2016 series) #895 - The Complete Uncle Sam: Volume 3 ([May] 2017), #2005 - The Golden Age Firsts of Quality Comics: Volume 1 ([May] 2018)
-
[The Coming of Uncle Sam]
Uncle Sam / comic story / 9 pages
- Script
- Will Eisner (sourced); Dave Berg
- Pencils
- Will Eisner (sourced) (layouts); Dave Berg (sourced) (finishes)
- Inks
- Will Eisner
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Buddy (origin) (first appearance, see notes); President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Uncle Sam (first appearance); Ezra Smith (introduction, death); Andel Cobra (villain, introduction); Scar (villain, introduction); Snyle (villain, introduction); Gatch Gozan (villain, introduction); the Purple Shirts (villains, introduction for all)
- Synopsis
- Andel Cobra tries to organize American dust bowl refugees into his own version of Hitler's Brown Shirts, called the Purple Shirts. The Purple Shirts manage to kidnap President Roosevelt, and later Uncle Sam. But Sam's rhetoric stirred some of the recruits, inciting them to rebel against the Purple Shirts. Unfortunately, these "terrorists" killed the father of young Buddy Smith, whom Uncle Sam adopted as his sidekick.
- Reprints
Indexer Notes
Uncle Sam was created by Will Eisner and Lou Fine.
Throughout his appearances in Quality comics, neither Buddy's surname nor his relationship to Ezra Smith were ever revealed. It wasn't until Secret Origins (DC, 1986 series) #19 (October 1987) that it was established that Ezra Smith was Buddy's grandfather, and that Buddy's surname was also Smith.
[Death Rides the Airways]
Prop Powers / comic story / 6 pages
- Genre
- aviation
- Characters
- Captain Prop Powers (first appearance); June Dawn (first appearance); S. S. Kreesus (first appearance)
- Reprints
[Sally Joins the Force]
Sally O'Neil Policewoman / comic story / 4 pages
- Genre
- detective-mystery
- Characters
- Sally O'Neil (first appearance); Sgt. O'Neil (Sally's father); Mrs. O'Neil (Sally's mother); Pat O'Neil (Sally's brother); Mike O'Neil (Sally's brother); Tom O'Neil (Sally's brother); Big Jim Saponi (first appearance, villain); Smilin' Joe Dukes (first appearance, villain, death)
- Reprints
[Dixon's First Fight]
Kid Dixon / comic story / 5 pages
- Script
- Bob Reynolds (signed) (house name)
- Pencils
- George Tuska
- Inks
- George Tuska
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- sports
- Characters
- Danny "Kid" Dixon (origin) (first appearance); Bottle Topps [B. Galsworthy] (first appearance); Marvo the Muscle Man (first appearance); Jimmy Jones (first appearance)
- Reprints
[The Origin of Merlin]
Merlin the Magician / comic story / 7 pages
- Script
- Lance Blackwood (signed) (see notes, house name)
- Pencils
- Dan Zolnerowich (signed as Lance Blackwood) (see notes)
- Inks
- Dan Zolnerowich (signed as Lance Blackwood) (see notes)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- superhero; fantasy-supernatural
- Characters
- Merlin the Magician [Jock Kellog] (origin) (first appearance); Jock's unnamed uncle (introduction, death); Peace (introduction); Mars (villain, introduction, god of war); Hunger (villain, introduction); Poverty (villain, introduction)
- Synopsis
- English playboy Jock Kellog learns that he is a descendant of Merlin, the ancient wizard of Camelot, and that he is being bequeathed Merlin's cloak, imbued with considerable magical power. His first foe is Mars, who had chained the goddess of peace. Kellog, calling himself Merlin, defeats Mars's minions (Hunger and Poverty) and then wrestles the god of war himself, achieving victory.
- Reprints
in Indexer Notes
Lance Blackwood, according to the Who's Who, is a by-line found on this strip, and is also the pen name of Dan Zolnerowich.
Yankee Doodle Boy
text story / 2 pages
- Characters
- Yankee Doodle Boy [Jimmy Jones] (first appearance, origin)
- Reprints
[The Boy from the Meteor]
Wonder Boy / comic story / 6 pages
- Genre
- superhero
- Characters
- Wonder Boy (origin) (first appearance); The Mongolians (first appearance, villains)
- Synopsis
- When Wonder Boy's home planet Viro is destroyed he comes to Earth. However no one believes his story and he is put in an orphanage, where no one bothers to give him a name. However after he defeats a Mongolian invasion of Europe he is named Wonder Boy.
- Reprints
[Race for a New Planet]
Cyclone / comic story / 6 pages
- Script
- Tony Rawlins (signed) (house name)
- Pencils
- Henry Kiefer
- Inks
- Henry Kiefer
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- science fiction; superhero
- Characters
- Cyclone (first appearance); Joy Daye (first appearance); Professor Nebula (scientist); King Murdo of Mars (villain, Mar's champion, introduction)
- Synopsis
- When Professor Nebula discovers a new planet in the Earth's solar system, all remaining planets race to lay claim to it for colonization.
- Reprints
Indexer Notes
Tony Rawlins was a by-line for this feature and was not necessarily a real person.
The story line takes place in the year 3000.
NOTE: Art spotters might want to look over all four stories in this series, for Chuck Winter is known to have inked at least one of these stories.
[Corpse in the Bedroom]
Pen Miller / comic story / 5 pages
- Script
- Klaus Nordling (signed)
- Pencils
- Klaus Nordling (signed)
- Inks
- Klaus Nordling (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- detective-mystery
- Characters
- Pen Miller (first appearance); Niki (first appearance); Grigor (first appearance, villain)
- Reprints
[Introducing Paul Bunyan]
Paul Bunyan / comic story / 6 pages
- Script
- Herman Bolstein (signed)
- Pencils
- John Celardo (signed)
- Inks
- John Celardo (credited)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- fantasy-supernatural
- Characters
- Babe (first appearance, Paul Bunyan's ox); Paul Bunyan (first appearance)
- Reprints
- Keywords
- folklore
[no title indexed]
Windy Breeze / comic story / 2 pages
- Script
- Bill Newcombe (signed)
- Pencils
- Bill Newcombe (signed)
- Inks
- Bill Newcombe (signed)
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- It's great to be alive
- Genre
- humor
- Characters
- Windy Breeze (first appearance)
- Reprints
[The Coming of the Kid Patrol]
Kid Patrol / comic story / 6 pages
- Script
- Toni Blum (signed as Dan Wilson)
- Pencils
- Charles Nicholas
- Inks
- Charles Nicholas
- Colors
- ?
- Letters
- ?
- Genre
- adventure; humor; children
- Characters
- The Kid Patrol: George Washington Abraham Lincoln "Sunshine" Jones (first appearance); Porky (first appearance); Spunky (first appearance); Suzy (first appearance); Teddy (first appearance)
Officer Pat Malone (first appearance) - Reprints
Indexer Notes
Origin of The Kid Patrol.
Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
-
0.
["Starring Uncle Sam America's greatest comic character"]
Uncle Sam -
1.
[The Coming of Uncle Sam]
Uncle Sam -
2.
[Death Rides the Airways]
Prop Powers -
3.
[Sally Joins the Force]
Sally O'Neil Policewoman -
4.
[Dixon's First Fight]
Kid Dixon -
5.
[The Origin of Merlin]
Merlin the Magician -
6.
Yankee Doodle Boy
-
7.
[The Boy from the Meteor]
Wonder Boy -
8.
[Race for a New Planet]
Cyclone -
9.
[Corpse in the Bedroom]
Pen Miller -
10.
[Introducing Paul Bunyan]
Paul Bunyan -
11.
["It's great to be alive"]
Windy Breeze -
12.
[The Coming of the Kid Patrol]
Kid Patrol
This issue was modified by, among others
- Ray Bottorff Jr
- John Censullo
- Craig Delich
- Gregory Fischer
- Bob Hughes
- Clint Maxwell
- Tony R. Rose
- Jim Stangas
- Jim Van Dore
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