Ace Comics #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAce Comics #1 stands as one of the earliest American anthology comic books, arriving in April 1937 just before the Golden Age of Comics was fully underway, and it brought several of the most widely read newspaper strips of the era into the comic-book format for the first time in a single package. The simultaneous comic-book debuts of Chic Young's Blondie — by then already one of the most-syndicated domestic-comedy strips in the country — and George Herriman's surreal, artistically celebrated Krazy Kat make the issue a genuine crossroads of popular culture and avant-garde cartooning. By establishing a model of reprinting King Features Syndicate adventure and humor strips together, the title laid the groundwork for Ace Comics' long run through 1949 and helped demonstrate to the emerging industry that the comic-book format could sustain a broad, general readership.
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David McKay Publications, a Philadelphia book house that had already proven the commercial appeal of comic-strip collections with Henry, Popeye, and its own King Comics (launched April 1936), extended that formula in April 1937 with Ace Comics — drawing strips from King Features Syndicate and continuing some features that had already appeared in King Comics. The book was edited throughout its run by Ruth Plumly Thompson, best known for continuing L. Frank Baum's Oz novel series, and covers across the title's early years were produced by Joe Musial; both credits are confirmed for the title's consecutive issues beginning with its launch, making it an unusually writer- and editor-identified production for the era. The series ran for 151 issues, concluding in November 1949, just as David McKay wound down its comics output entirely.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First comic-book appearance of Blondie Bumstead: Chic Young's domestic-comedy strip, which had debuted in newspapers on September 8, 1930, and was distributed by King Features Syndicate, made its comic-book debut here in April 1937.
- First comic-book appearance of Krazy Kat: George Herriman's surrealist newspaper strip — praised by critics and artists alike for its poetic, dreamlike Coconino County setting — entered the comic-book format for the first time in this issue.
- First comic-book appearance of Jungle Jim: Alex Raymond, who was also the creator of Flash Gordon, contributed his adventure-hunter strip as a founding feature; all three strips — Blondie, Krazy Kat, and Jungle Jim — went on to appear in every subsequent issue of the title.
- Published April 1937 by David McKay Publications; the series ran monthly for 151 issues through November 1949, printed in full color at approximately 36–68 pages per issue.
- All content consisted of reprints of King Features Syndicate newspaper strips, following the anthology formula McKay had introduced with King Comics in April 1936; some strips transferred directly from King Comics into Ace Comics from issue #1.
- Ruth Plumly Thompson — successor author of the Oz book series after L. Frank Baum's death — served as the title's editor and wrote a considerable number of its editorial and text pages throughout the run.
- Cover art for the title's early issues was produced by Joe Musial, a King Features staff cartoonist.
- Also present in the issue's broader early lineup: Ripley's Believe It or Not (Robert Ripley), the Katzenjammer Kids, Tim Tyler's Luck (Lyman Young, brother of Blondie's Chic Young), Pete the Tramp, Tillie the Toiler, and the celebrity-panel strip Seein' Stars — reflecting the era's appetite for cross-media star culture.
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