More Fun Comics #81
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMore Fun Comics #81 (July 1942) sits near the tail end of the Golden Age anthology era that made the title one of DC's most creatively fertile magazines — the same series that had introduced the Spectre, Doctor Fate, Green Arrow, and Aquaman in preceding years. Within this issue, the Radio Squad strip features the Leopardess, a jewel thief who holds the unique distinction of being the only recurring villain across the entire Radio Squad run, giving her a modest but genuine place in the history of DC's non-powered, street-level crime serials. The issue also marks the final printing of More Fun's original masthead logo, making it a quiet visual transition point for the title. As a late-Golden Age DC anthology still fielding Green Arrow, Aquaman, Johnny Quick, Doctor Fate, and the Spectre under one cover, it captures the last sustained moment before those characters migrated to other titles in the postwar reorganization.
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Radio Squad — the strip carrying the characters Larry Trent, Sandy Keene, and the Leopardess — was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and originally debuted in More Fun Comics #11 (July 1936) under the title 'Calling All Cars,' before being renamed Radio Squad with issue #18. Joe Shuster departed the strip with issue #49, while Siegel continued writing for a period thereafter; by 1942 the art duties had rotated through several uncredited and credited hands. The issue was published by Detective Comics, Inc. during World War II, and its cover carries a Superman inset promoting the purchase of Defense Stamps, reflecting the wartime promotional context common to DC anthologies of the period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: July 1942; published by Detective Comics, Inc. Cover art by George Papp, depicting Green Arrow and Speedy evading gunfire from pursuing gangsters.
- The issue contains six anthology features: Green Arrow ('Adventures of the Bankrupt Heroes'), Doctor Fate ('Hall of Lost Heirs'), Radio Squad ('Strange Accidents'), Aquaman ('Champ of the Waves'), Johnny Quick ('Code for Conspirators'), and the Spectre ('Case of the Scholarly Spendthrift').
- The Radio Squad story features Larry Trent and Sandy Keene as its lead characters. 'Shorty' and 'Private Pete' are indexed as additional characters in the Radio Squad segment.
- The Leopardess — a jewel thief — appears in the Radio Squad story. Across the entire Radio Squad run (More Fun Comics #11–87), she is the only villain to appear more than once, making her a unique recurring antagonist in the series.
- Radio Squad was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and ran from More Fun Comics #11 (July 1936) through #87 (January 1943), making issue #81 one of the final installments of the series.
- More Fun Comics #81 is the last issue to feature the title's original logo design, after which the masthead was updated.
- The Doctor Fate story 'Hall of Lost Heirs' from this issue was later reprinted in The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1.
- The cover carries a Superman inset promoting Defense Stamp purchases, a common wartime patriotic feature on DC comics of the period.
Cast · 5 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives #1 (2007), Green Arrow: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 (2018)
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