Adventure Comics #36
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #36 captures the Siegel-and-Shuster Federal Men feature at a dramatic narrative turning point — the penultimate chapter of the six-part 'On the Wrong Side of the Law' serial, in which FBI agent Steve Carson finally recovers the identity he lost to amnesia, a storytelling device that presages plot mechanics Siegel would later deploy in the Superman family. It is also historically significant as one of the last issues to carry the direct, uncredited Siegel-and-Shuster artistic collaboration on Federal Men before the Shuster studio shop took over the art duties; together with Action Comics already on stands, the issue is a snapshot of the two Superman creators at the peak of their pre-superhero DC workload in early 1939. The anthology format itself — packed with serials by multiple Golden Age hands just four issues before the Sandman debuted in #40 — illustrates exactly the transitional moment when DC's adventure anthology was about to pivot permanently toward costumed heroes.
In "Fang Gow of China, Part 34," the Inspector and Barry narrowly escape after recovering from the antidote, but their freedom is short-lived. As Jean wanders the desert, she’s rescued by a passing rug merchant, while Fang Gow, furious over Barry’s escape, sends his men to track him down. Barry tries to disguise himself to save Jean, but his plan unravels—exposed and captured, he faces Fang Gow’s wrath on the torture table.
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Adventure Comics had evolved through two prior title changes — from New Comics (#1–11, 1935–36) to New Adventure Comics (#12–31, 1937–38) before settling on Adventure Comics with issue #32 in November 1938, only four issues before this installment. The Federal Men feature had run continuously since Adventure Comics #2 (January 1936), with Jerry Siegel writing and Joe Shuster drawing throughout; by the time of issue #36, Siegel and Shuster were simultaneously producing the Superman newspaper strip and comic book, making their continued output on Federal Men a remarkable parallel workload. The cover was penciled and inked by J. R. Flanagan, whose authorship was established through later research that corrected an earlier credit to Creig Flessel.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 1939 by DC Comics (National Allied Publications); cover date confirmed by Grand Comics Database and multiple retailer sources.
- Cover art by John Richard Flanagan — a credit later corrected from an earlier misattribution to Creig Flessel, per GCD notes citing discussions with Flessel himself.
- The Federal Men story 'On the Wrong Side of the Law, Part 5 (of 6)' is written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster; it is the pivotal chapter in which Steve Carson regains his memory after the gang member Red inadvertently brings G-Man Ralph Ventor face-to-face with him.
- Characters Ralph Ventor and Red appear in their roles as, respectively, the FBI agent whose arrival triggers Steve's recovered memory, and the double-dealing gang member who sets the confrontation in motion.
- This issue represents the final installment on which Siegel and Shuster both worked directly on Federal Men before the Shuster studio assistants took over art duties from Adventure Comics #37 onward.
- Federal Men, starring Steve Carson as an FBI agent, had run continuously in this title and its predecessors since Adventure Comics #2 (January 1936) and would continue — under various hands — through Adventure Comics #70 (January 1942).
- The issue also contains: 'Fang Gow of China, Part 34' (Barry O'Neill, by Ed Winiarski); 'The White Warriors' (Cotton Carver, art by Geoff Newman); 'The God of the Ruby Eye, Part 10' (Tod Hunter, by Jim Chambers); 'The Plantation Uprising, Part 5' (Dale Daring, by Will Ely); 'Hidden Paradise, Part 1' (Captain Desmo, by Ed Winiarski); and additional strips by Tom Hickey and Bob Kane.
- Adventure Comics was only four issues into its permanent title at this point, having been renamed from New Adventure Comics starting with issue #32 (November 1938); the series would not introduce its first superhero feature until the Sandman debuted in issue #40 (July 1939).
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Reprinted in DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's Pulp Comics #[nn] (2018)
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