More Fun Comics #75
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMore Fun Comics #75 is a dense anthology that reshapes the early DC universe on multiple fronts within a single issue. Its most structurally consequential event is the resurrection of Jim Corrigan: the Spectre petitions the Voice that created him and is granted permission to restore Corrigan's body to life, fundamentally altering the character's mythology by separating the mortal host from his supernatural alter ego — a two-body dynamic that later writers, most notably Gardner Fox in the 1966 Showcase revival, would treat as canonical bedrock. The issue also marks the first appearance of Professor Merlin, Green Arrow's earliest recurring adversary, giving the three-issue-old emerald archer his first genuine villain thread just as the character was still finding its footing as a series lead. Together with the continued early outings of Aquaman and the long-running Radio Squad backup starring Larry Trent and Sandy Keene, the issue stands as a snapshot of the Golden Age anthology model at full creative throttle.
In "null," Black Jack, survivor of a shipwreck, is taken in by a South Sea tribe who name him their leader. Though he claims to be a man of peace, his true motives surface when he directs the islanders to plunder the seabed for treasure—ignoring the dangers beneath the waves. When Aquaman intervenes, he must confront not only Black Jack’s greed but the island’s terrifying guardian, the shark devil.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 21 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced under executive editor Whitney Ellsworth with Mort Weisinger serving as the hands-on editor — a credit arrangement the Grand Comics Database confirms was standard practice on the title at this time. The creative roster was unusually deep: Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily handled the Spectre story, Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman tackled Doctor Fate, and Mort Weisinger's Green Arrow feature was drawn by George Papp, the character's originating artist. Paul Norris continued his early Aquaman strips, while Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin contributed to the Johnny Quick segment. The Doctor Fate story reprinted later in The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1 is the version from this issue, confirming the arc's archival significance. The issue also carried an in-house advertisement for Sensation Comics #1, the debut vehicle for Wonder Woman — a rare moment where two landmark Golden Age launches appear in the same pamphlet.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: January 1942; on-sale circa November 1941; published by Detective Comics, Inc. (the future DC Comics); cover price 10 cents; 68 pages.
- First appearance of Professor Merlin — Green Arrow's earliest recurring villain, who runs a 'crime college' and escapes vowing revenge, returning the following month in Leading Comics #1 as part of the inaugural Seven Soldiers of Victory story.
- Jim Corrigan is restored to physical life in the Spectre story ('Jim Corrigan Lives Again,' written by Jerry Siegel, art by Bernard Baily), establishing the two-being model — mortal Corrigan and the Spectre as a separable entity — that defines the character for decades.
- Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and Speedy (Roy Harper) appear in their third consecutive issue; this is only their third story, yet already the series introduces a recurring antagonist, showing rapid narrative ambition for a newly launched feature.
- Aquaman's story, drawn by Paul Norris, is titled 'The Return of Black Jack' by GCD indexers (no official title was printed); it continues directly from the previous issue, making it one of the earliest quasi-serialized story arcs in Aquaman's publishing history.
- Radio Squad — the NYPD two-way-radio cops Larry Trent and Sandy Keene — appears as a continuing backup feature; the strip had run in More Fun Comics since issue #11 (July 1936) and would continue through #87 (January 1943), making it one of the title's longest-running non-superhero features.
- The creative team for the issue includes Jerry Siegel (Spectre), Gardner Fox (Doctor Fate), Mort Weisinger (Green Arrow), George Papp (Green Arrow art), Paul Norris (Aquaman art), Howard Sherman (Doctor Fate art and cover), Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin (Johnny Quick), under executive editor Whitney Ellsworth.
- The Doctor Fate story from this issue was later reprinted in The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1, one of the few confirmed modern reprints specifically documented for this issue's content.
Cast · 2 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives #1 (2007), Green Arrow: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 (2018)
Key issues in More Fun Comics
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.