Amazing Mystery Funnies #13
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Mystery Funnies #13 is a concentrated snapshot of Centaur Publications at the height of its creative momentum in 1939 — a single issue showcasing a remarkable cross-section of Golden Age talent that would soon reshape the entire American comics industry. Carl Burgos, whose 'Air-Sub DX' strip appears here, went on just weeks later to introduce the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939), making his Centaur work a direct proving ground for one of the medium's most enduring concepts. Tarpe Mills, contributing 'Daredevil Barry Finn,' was one of the very few women writing and drawing comics at the time, and her work in this series formed the creative apprenticeship that led directly to Miss Fury in 1941 — the first female action hero created and drawn by a woman. The issue also continues Paul Gustavson's 'Fantom of the Fair,' one of the earliest costumed crime-fighters outside the DC orbit, reflecting the rapid genre evolution happening at independent publishers in the year Batman debuted.
An anthology issue containing multiple features. "Fantom of the Fair" follows a superhero team confronting an enemy named Ralon, who has evolved from a previous adversary and threatens mankind with a dangerous machine that must be destroyed. Another story depicts a woman in a blue outfit thwarting the criminal Zaroff, who attempts to use a machine for nefarious purposes; she smashes the machine and foils his plan to strangle her, ultimately preventing his escape to Europe. "Speed Centaur" features a rocket ship competition where Tom Piper's vessel, the Flash, races against the Champion in a high-speed elimination test, with Tom ultimately winning through dangerous aerial maneuvering.
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Centaur Publications, owned by Joseph Hardie and Fred Gardner and editorially driven by packager Lloyd Jacquet's Funnies, Inc., launched Amazing Mystery Funnies in August 1938 as a genre anthology blending science fiction, adventure, and mystery strips. The series ran for 24 issues across August 1938 to September 1940, making it one of the publisher's most durable titles before Centaur ceased operations, primarily due to poor distribution. Jacquet's shop functioned as a creative incubator, channeling artists like Burgos and Tarpe Mills through Centaur's pages before several of them followed Jacquet to his next venture — the packaging studio Funnies, Inc., which supplied material directly to Timely Comics. Issue #13 sits squarely in this transitional moment, with contributors already beginning their migration toward the companies that would define the Golden Age.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Carl Burgos drew the 'Air-Sub DX' feature in this issue; his creation of that strip at Centaur — debuting in Amazing Mystery Funnies Vol. 2, #4 (April 1939) — directly preceded his creation of the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 (October 1939).
- Tarpe Mills contributed the 'Daredevil Barry Finn' strip, which she named after her nephew Barry Finn. Amazing Mystery Funnies was among her earliest comics credits, and the strip represented her first sustained comic-book work before she went on to create Miss Fury in 1941.
- Mills worked under the gender-neutral pseudonym 'Tarpe Mills' to avoid industry bias — she later explained that readers would have been disillusioned to learn their action comics were drawn by a woman.
- Paul Gustavson both drew the cover and contributed a chapter of 'The Fantom of the Fair,' one of the earliest costumed heroes outside National/DC; Gustavson was also the creator of The Arrow.
- The issue also features 'Don Dixon and the Hidden Empire, Part 2' by Bob Moore and Carl Pfeufer, 'Speed Centaur' by Martin Kildale, 'Knuckle Down' by Martin Filchock, and a two-page text story 'Rocketship Race' by Lloyd Victor.
- Several characters that appeared across the Amazing Mystery Funnies run — including stories from this issue — were later reprinted by AC Comics in Men of Mystery #83 (2010), a Centaur-spotlight anthology.
- Centaur's editorial operations, including Amazing Mystery Funnies, were packaged through Lloyd Jacquet's Funnies, Inc., whose alumni — Burgos, Bill Everett, and others — subsequently powered Timely Comics, the direct ancestor of Marvel.
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