Fantastic Comics #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Comics #3 (Fox, February 1940) is one of the most discussed cover images from the Golden Age, featuring Lou Fine's painting of Samson battling giant robots — a composition so striking that peers like Jack Kirby cited Fine as the best artist in the business. The issue is equally notable as a Fletcher Hanks double-header: it contains both a Stardust story (under his own name) and a Space Smith story (under his pseudonym Hank Christy), giving readers two episodes from one of the era's most idiosyncratic creators in a single package. As part of the Fantastic Comics run, which introduced and sustained Fox's core superhero line, the issue documents the Golden Age moment when superheroes, science-fiction pulp, and fantasy adventure were still being assembled from raw, unconstrained ingredients. Its place in the Fantagraphics retrospective volumes confirms its standing as primary source material for historians of the medium's earliest years.
In "The Power of the Slave-Giant's Goddess," Sir Richard journeys through perilous lands on a quest to reclaim the Golden Chalice, aided by the enigmatic wizard Kara and a magic ring that grants him strength beyond measure. With Grieg Chapian handling both pencils and inks, the tale unfolds in vivid, dynamic art, while Lou Fine’s striking cover captures the epic clash between hero and giant guardian. A standout adventure from 1940’s Fantastic Comics, this issue blends mythic stakes with early superhero sensibilities.
In "null," Jean Dorne, secretary to shipping magnate J.B. Reegan, finds herself caught in a web of deception when she uncovers a plot to pirate Reegan’s own ships for insurance. When the police dismiss her warnings, it’s up to the mysterious Samson to come to her aid and expose the truth.
In "The Power of the Slave-Giant's Goddess," Adele takes on a daring role as the idol of the Slave-Giants, using her courage and cunning to help the oppressed Dwarf-Men of Mars rise against their Three-armed tyrants. Written and illustrated in the classic style of 1940, this six-page adventure blends science fiction spectacle with a bold act of deception that could change the fate of an entire planet.
In this 1940 fantasy adventure from *Fantastic Comics #3*, Sir Richard joins a new crusade to the Holy Land, only to be diverted by the enigmatic wizard Kara, who tasks him with reclaiming the fabled Golden Chalice. Armed with a magic ring and driven by a quest through perilous lands, Richard faces off against a host of magical creatures before confronting the towering guardian, Gotha. The story unfolds with classic sword-and-sorcery flair, blending heroism, ancient magic, and the weight of destiny.
In the shadowed corridors of wartime espionage, Agent Q-4 Yank Wilson teams up with the elusive X-16 to track a leak in America’s defense secrets. Their trail leads to Count Jorgka, a foreign artist painting idyllic American landscapes—each brushstroke a potential clue, each sale a step closer to disaster. Can they uncover the truth before the Count vanishes into the fog of war?
In this 1940 science fiction tale from *Fantastic Comics #3*, Space Smith and Dianna find themselves captured by the enigmatic robot scientists of Venus, who have sinister plans for Dianna—intent on transforming her into one of their fabled Leopard Women through a radical brain transplant. The story unfolds with a tense, otherworldly urgency as the duo faces an alien threat rooted in cold, mechanical ambition.
In "null," Captain Kidd ventures deep into the jungle to rescue Colonel Bennet, the last survivor of explorer Arndt Barrows' doomed expedition. As Kidd nears Negus' hidden lair—a cavernous tree hollow deep in the wild—his own party falls victim to unseen magic, one by one.
In "Out to Lunch," the neighborhood brat stumbles into the Professor’s lab, accidentally triggering a mishap that sends the inventor tumbling through a mirror into a strange, reversed world. Left on the other side, the Professor must outwit the brat’s smug amusement before the tables turn—though how he plans to do it remains a mystery.
In the 1940 fantasy/sci-fi tale "null" from Fantastic Comics #3, the criminal scientist known as the "Demon" unleashes a terrifying device capable of summoning a tidal wave to destroy a coastal city. When his test on a cruise ship claims two thousand lives, Stardust arrives to confront the madman—turning the weapon against its creator and halting the wave before it reaches New York.
In "The Treasure of Coralla," Sub ventures into the sunken ruins near Atlantis to recover lost treasure, unaware that Peg has stowed away to join him. When the mermen of Coralla, led by the cunning King Poseida, seize them both, Sub must resist a dangerous bargain and fight a monstrous crab in a deadly arena. With help on the way from Lantida, Sub races to outwit Poseida before the tide turns against him.
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Fox Feature Syndicate published Fantastic Comics through the Eisner & Iger packaging shop, which supplied complete, camera-ready comic content to publishers who lacked in-house creative staffs. Lou Fine had joined Eisner & Iger in 1938 and quickly became its most accomplished cover artist, studying at the Grand Central Art School and Pratt Institute despite having been partially disabled by childhood polio. A notable editorial wrinkle surrounds the issue's famous cover: the giant-robot story that appears to have inspired Fine's image — Samson fighting an army of indestructible mechanical men commanded by a mad scientist named Kilgor — is actually printed in the following issue, Fantastic Comics #4, suggesting either a production scheduling error or deliberate advance promotion. Fletcher Hanks, who contributed two stories to this issue, was then in his early fifties and notably older than nearly every other artist at Eisner & Iger; he wrote, penciled, inked, and lettered all his own work — an unusual practice for the shop's assembly-line model.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published February 1940 by Fox Feature Syndicate (Fox Publications Inc.); 68 pages.
- Cover painted by Lou Fine, who was simultaneously regarded by contemporaries Jack Kirby and Joe Simon as the finest draftsman in the field.
- The cover image — Samson wrestling a giant robot — does not correspond to the interior Samson story in this issue ('The Giant Mystery Plane,' art by Alex Blum); the matching robot-army story ('The Giant Robots of Kilgor') appears in Fantastic Comics #4.
- Contains two Fletcher Hanks stories: 'The Demon's Endeavor' starring Stardust (credited to Hanks) and 'The Leopard Women of Venus' starring Space Smith (credited to his pseudonym Hank Christy), in which Space Smith and Dianna are captured by the robot scientists of Venus.
- Additional features include Flick Falcon (art by Don Rico), Golden Knight (art by Grieg Chapian), Yank Wilson (script and art by Jack Farr), and Sub Saunders (art by Henry Kiefer under the alias Karl Kief).
- The Samson story in this issue was later reprinted in Samson #1 (Fox, 1940), the character's self-titled debut series.
- All material in the issue is now in the public domain, and Fletcher Hanks's stories from this run — including those in Fantastic Comics #3 — were collected in Fantagraphics' volumes I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (2007) and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! (2009), edited by Paul Karasik.
- The Stardust story 'The Demon's Endeavor' is the third installment of Hanks's fifteen-story Stardust run across Fantastic Comics, which comics historian Kurt Mitchell has described as anticipating the underground comics movement of the 1960s and '70s.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Samson #1 (1940), The Golden Age of Comic Books #[nn] (1977), I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! #[nn] (2007), Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 #[nn] (2009), You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! #[nn] (2009), Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933-45 #[nn] (2011), Fletcher Hanks : œuvres complètes #[nn] (2018)
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