Big Shot Comics #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeBig Shot Comics #4 (August 1940) represents Columbia Comics in full stride just four months into its run, demonstrating the hybrid anthology model the title pioneered — pairing original Golden Age superhero content with licensed newspaper-strip reprints under one cover. As the fourth consecutive issue featuring Skyman, Allan Turner's adventures by Gardner Fox and Ogden Whitney were already establishing the character as one of the few non-powered, science-and-aviation-based crimefighters of the early Golden Age, a template that some historians have connected to Fox's later Starman work at DC. The issue also continued the early appearances of Alfred Andriola's Charlie Chan and Ham Fisher's Joe Palooka strips in comic-book form, making Big Shot one of the primary venues where newspaper-strip audiences were being converted into comic-book readers during a pivotal transitional moment for the medium.
This anthology issue features several stories including "The Face," in which a mysterious masked vigilante investigates a murder on a wealthy estate, discovering clues involving an optometrist's calling card and pursuing the killer through shadowy encounters. The issue also includes "Marvelo: Monarch of Magicians," where the magician boards a ship called the Bermuda Baron to pursue drug smugglers on the ocean, eventually discovering a gambling ring and a magical roulette wheel used by the criminals. Additional features include tales of Joe Palooka's boxing adventures and other action-oriented stories characteristic of the anthology format.
Homer's luck—or lack thereof—takes center stage in this tale of mistaken identity and justice. When a vengeful chauffeur plants an explosive device in a toy locomotive meant for a young boy, District Attorney Tom Kerry must uncover the truth before the culprit strikes again. As the case spirals into danger, Homer finds himself caught between a murderous plot and the chance to prove his worth.
A mystery unfolds when Charlie and Kirk, stranded in the rain, are led by a mute caretaker to an isolated house where a young girl named Sally claims her father has arrived but won't see her—yet Charlie's detective instincts sense something far darker lurking beneath the surface. As the household secrets begin to unravel, Charlie must navigate the confusion and fear gripping the family to uncover what really happened that stormy night. With Gina missing somewhere in the storm and danger closing in, time is running out to solve the puzzle before it's too late.
Jibby Jones thought he'd sneak into the circus like always, but this time he's got a paid ticket—until a chance encounter with "Big Shot" Zombo, the Human Bullet, sends him flying through the big top in the most unexpected way. It's a wild ride that proves even the best-laid plans at the circus never go quite as expected.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Columbia Comics Corporation was formed in 1940 as a partnership between editor-artist Vin Sullivan — a foundational figure who had shepherded Superman and helped initiate Batman at DC — the McNaught Syndicate, and the Frank Jay Markey Syndicate, with the express purpose of packaging syndicate-owned strip reprints alongside original features. Sullivan recruited a roster of established Golden Age talent including writer Gardner Fox and artist Ogden Whitney for Skyman, Fred Guardineer for Marvelo, and Mart Bailey for The Face and the spy feature. Issue #4 fell squarely within the opening run during which Fox and Whitney were confirmed as the Skyman creative team, and the issue continues a feature renaming that had occurred the prior month — the spy strip transitioning from 'Spy-Master' to 'Spy-Chief' beginning with issue #3.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published August 1940 by Columbia Comics Corporation; the fourth issue of a series that ran for 104 issues through August 1949.
- Carries a continuing appearance of Skyman (Allan Turner), created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Ogden Whitney and first introduced in Big Shot Comics #1 (May 1940).
- Skyman (Allan Turner) is a non-powered hero whose primary tool is a magnetically powered, wing-shaped aircraft called 'The Wing' — an unusual science-based concept for the early superhero genre.
- Charlie Chan, adapted as a comic strip by Alfred Andriola from the popular film series, appears as a continuing strip reprint licensed through the McNaught Syndicate.
- Joe Palooka, Ham Fisher's long-running prize-fighter strip, appears as a McNaught Syndicate reprint — one of the title's marquee licensed properties.
- The spy feature in this issue is titled 'Spy-Chief' (featuring Jeff Cardiff), having been renamed from 'Spy-Master' starting with issue #3 — an early example of editorial revision within a still-forming series.
- The issue is a 68-page, full-color anthology priced at ten cents, featuring both original superhero stories and reprinted newspaper comic strips alongside text stories — a format typical of early Big Shot issues.
- Issues #1–4 of Big Shot Comics were later collected and reprinted together by Gwandanaland Comics as a single-volume reprint edition, making this issue part of the first documented modern reprint grouping of the series.
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