More Fun Comics #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMore Fun Comics #12 (August 1936) carries forward what scholars regard as the earliest werewolf story in American comic book history, continuing the three-part 'Werewolf' arc that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — working under their joint pseudonym 'Leger and Reuths' — built around their supernatural detective Dr. Occult. The issue also marks the first appearances of supporting villain Mrs. Daniels and the debut installment of several new anthology features, making it a meaningful building block in the broader More Fun Comics run that introduced more Golden Age DC characters than any other single title. As part of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's pioneering all-original-content anthology — the direct precursor to the entire DC Comics line — each issue of this run documents the formation of the modern American superhero comic book industry itself.
In this brief fantasy tale from More Fun Comics #12 (1936), Bobby and Binks harness a magic crystal to journey through time, uncovering the long-forgotten conflict between King Croesus of Lydia and the Persian ruler Cyrus. The story unfolds with a sense of wonder, as the past reveals itself through their mystical exploration.
In "The Purple Tiger, Part 2," the masked criminal known only as the Purple Tiger holds Doris Bailey, the daughter of the Police Commissioner, in his grasp, setting the stage for a tense cat-and-mouse game through the shadows of the city. The mystery deepens as the hunt for the gang's hidden lair unfolds, with danger lurking around every corner.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
More Fun Comics grew out of New Fun Comics, the first American comic book to publish solely original material rather than newspaper-strip reprints, launched in 1935 by National Allied Publications founder Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. By issue #12, the editorial team of Wheeler-Nicholson as editor and publisher, with Vincent (Vin) Sullivan as associate editor and Whitney Ellsworth also on staff, was running the title while Wheeler-Nicholson simultaneously managed mounting financial pressures that would eventually force him out of the company. Siegel and Shuster contributed at least two features to this issue — the Dr. Occult strip and the Sandy Kean 'Calling All Cars' strip — both signed under pen names, a practice the young creators continued throughout the run as they quietly honed the storytelling techniques they would later channel into Superman.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published August 1936 by National Allied Publications (DC Comics predecessor); cover by Vince Sullivan.
- Contains Part 2 of the three-part 'Werewolf' story in the Dr. Occult strip — written by Jerry Siegel (as 'Leger') and drawn by Joe Shuster (as 'Reuths') — continuing what is widely cited as the first werewolf storyline in American comic book history, which began in issue #11.
- First appearance of Mrs. Daniels, the boarding-house landlady revealed to be a werewolf herself — a supporting villain who dies in the following issue (#13).
- Contains Part 2 of the 'Calling All Cars' strip ('The Purple Tiger,' Part 2 of 5), scripted by Jerry Siegel with art by Joe Shuster, featuring Sandy Kean, Police Commissioner Bailey, and kidnapping victim Doris Bailey.
- First issue to feature the Pep Morgan strip by Creig Flessel, the Pirate Gold strip by Sven Elven, and the Unc strip by Joe Eichberger.
- Siegel and Shuster signed their Dr. Occult story with the pseudonyms 'Leger and Reuths,' partial anagrams of their own surnames, a practice they used throughout the feature's run.
- The Dr. Occult werewolf arc is notable for grounding supernatural horror in Depression-era social realism: the afflicted character Westly and his fellow boarding-house residents are depicted as unemployed men living in poverty.
- Dr. Occult — whose ongoing presence in DC continuity makes him the earliest recurring, originally featured character still used in the DC Universe — appears here roughly two years before Superman's debut in Action Comics #1 (1938).
Cast · 6 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Federal Men Comics #2 (1945), Warrior Comics #1 (1945), Great American Comic Books #[nn] (2001), DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's Pulp Comics #[nn] (2018)
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