More Fun Comics #31
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMore Fun Comics #31 (May 1938) marks a pivotal corporate and editorial threshold in DC's prehistory: it was the first issue published under the banner of the newly formed Detective Comics, Inc., with Vincent Sullivan stepping up as Editor-in-Chief after Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's forced departure — a changing of the guard that would define the company for decades. It also carried a full-page house advertisement for Action Comics #1, placing it at the precise cultural moment Superman arrived and the superhero era truly began. The issue continues Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Dr. Occult — then in his penultimate Golden Age chapter — while simultaneously debuting a Ginger Snap strip drawn by a pre-Batman Bob Kane, giving collectors a snapshot of the industry's near future taking shape inside a single anthology. That confluence of a dying pre-superhero format and the dawn of the genre makes this a genuine crossroads document of the Golden Age.
In "Sandra's Vacation, Part 4," Buzz and Sandy are trapped aboard the ship of the feared Captain Scudd, the very man who rescued them from a storm just last issue. With no escape in sight, the pair must plan a daring mutiny to reclaim their freedom. Written, drawn, and inked by Creig Flessel, this early DC adventure features a cover by Flessel that captures the tension of the moment.
In "Part 2" from More Fun Comics #31 (1938), Buzz and Sandy are trapped aboard Captain Scudd’s ship, their survival hanging on the captain’s unpredictable mercy. With no escape in sight, they must decide whether to risk everything in a daring mutiny.
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By the spring of 1938, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson — who had founded National Allied Publications and launched the More Fun title in 1935 — had been squeezed out of the company he created, with Detective Comics, Inc. assuming control. Issue #31 was the first to reflect that new regime in its indicia, with Sullivan promoted from assistant to Editor-in-Chief. The cover was penciled and inked by Creig Flessel, who had been one of the title's most consistent artistic contributors; interior art came from Joe Shuster, Tom Hickey, and the young Bob Kane, with scripts credited to Jerry Siegel. Several long-running anthology strips terminated abruptly mid-storyline in this issue — Brad Hardy and Buzz Brown both broke off mid-cliffhanger with 'To be Continued' captions that were never honored — a chaotic symptom of the editorial turnover happening behind the scenes.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First issue published by the newly reorganized Detective Comics, Inc., marking the formal end of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's control of the More Fun Comics title.
- First issue with Vincent Sullivan credited as Editor-in-Chief, replacing Wheeler-Nicholson in the editorial hierarchy.
- Cover date: May 1938; cover art penciled and inked by Creig Flessel; interior art by Joe Shuster, Tom Hickey, and Bob Kane.
- The issue contained a full-page advertisement for Action Comics #1, the debut of Superman — placing this comic at the precise turning point of the Golden Age.
- First appearance of Ginger Snap, a humor strip drawn by Bob Kane — one of Kane's pre-Batman contributions to the More Fun anthology.
- First appearance of Red Logan, a new strip drawn by Ed Winiarski.
- Dr. Occult (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster under the pseudonym 'Leger and Reuths') appears in a zombie/black magic storyline; his run in More Fun Comics would conclude the following issue (#32), ending his entire Golden Age publishing career.
- Radio Squad — the ongoing Siegel & Shuster police procedural strip featuring Sandy Kean and his partner Larry Trent — continues in this issue; the strip had originated as 'Calling All Cars' in More Fun Comics #11 (July 1936) and would run through #87 (January 1943).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Jerry Iger's Classic Jumbo Comics #1 (1985), Pulp Fiction #1 (1997)
Key issues in More Fun Comics
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