More Fun Comics #127
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMore Fun Comics #127 (cover-dated November/December 1947) holds a singular place in comics history as the final issue of the very title that gave birth to the American comic book industry — a series that began life in 1935 as New Fun Comics, the first American comic book composed entirely of original material rather than newspaper-strip reprints, and the first publication of the company that would become DC Comics. Its cancellation marked the close of the Golden Age's founding chapter: the same anthology had, over its twelve-year run, introduced Aquaman, Green Arrow, Doctor Fate, the Spectre, Johnny Quick, and Superboy to the world, and its quiet end signaled the industry's full transition out of the Golden Age and into the post-war Atomic Age. Rather than going out on a superhero note, the final issue devoted itself almost entirely to the whimsical children's fantasy strip 'Jimminy and the Magic Book' — a tonal full-circle back to the humor-strip roots of the original New Fun Comics. That irony, a title once home to some of DC's bloodiest wartime adventure now closing on lighthearted fairy-tale fare for young readers, makes it a poignant capstone to an era.
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By March 1946, all of More Fun's superhero features — Aquaman, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, and Superboy — had been migrated to Adventure Comics, leaving the long-running anthology to be retooled as a humor title. The editorial team listed in the indicia was Whitney Ellsworth, though Jack Schiff and Bernard Breslauer served as the actual working editors on the book's final phase. Writer Jack Mendelsohn, a Brooklyn-born creator whose father had been Winsor McCay's film agent, scripted the 'Jimminy and the Magic Book' feature for artist Howie Post, a former Paramount animation in-betweener who had entered comics through artist Bernard Baily. When the title's cancellation became apparent, Mendelsohn and Post had five completed Jimminy stories in inventory, so the final issue was given over almost entirely to that feature — DC even ran house ads for the strip in titles like Action Comics and Detective Comics, suggesting the publisher saw genuine potential in it that the dying title could not realize.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Final issue of More Fun Comics, cover-dated November/December 1947 (on sale September 24, 1947), ending a title that originated as New Fun Comics in February 1935 — making it the longest-running series in DC's founding lineage at the time of its cancellation.
- More Fun Comics was the first American comic book series to feature entirely original material rather than newspaper-strip reprints, and was the first publication of National Allied Publications, the company that became DC Comics.
- Over its run, the series introduced Aquaman and Green Arrow (issue #73, 1941), the Spectre (issue #52, 1940), Doctor Fate (issue #55, 1940), Johnny Quick (issue #71, 1941), and Superboy (issue #101, 1945) — all of whom had been relocated to Adventure Comics with issue #108 in March 1946.
- Issue #127 is dominated by five stories of 'Jimminy and the Magic Book,' written by Jack Mendelsohn and drawn by Howie Post; it also includes one installment of the humor strip 'Dover and Clover.' According to the DC Database, story titles include 'Jimminy and the Cave Man,' 'Jimminy and Cap'n Burly,' 'Jimminy's Trip to the Moon,' 'Petunia Loses Her Spirit,' and 'The Lonesome Wizard.'
- 'Jimminy and the Magic Book' debuted in More Fun Comics #121 (February 1947) and ran across all seven final issues (#121–127), comprising 16 individual adventures in total. After More Fun ended, one additional Jimminy story appeared in World's Finest Comics.
- Writer Jack Mendelsohn later co-wrote the Beatles' animated feature Yellow Submarine (1968) and contributed to television animation including Hong Kong Fooey and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; artist Howie Post later created DC's prehistoric-teen comic Anthro (1968) and drew Harvey Comics characters including Hot Stuff and Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost.
- The art style of Howie Post on 'Jimminy and the Magic Book' drew heavily from his background as a Paramount animation in-betweener and reflected the influence of Walt Kelly's work — Post was reportedly considered to ghost the Pogo comic book before deciding to remain at DC.
- No known collected edition of 'Jimminy and the Magic Book' or of the humor-era More Fun Comics issues (#108–127) has been published; the run remains unreprinted in any DC Archive or collected format.
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