Science Comics #5
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeScience Comics #5 (Fox Feature Syndicate, June 1940) stands as one of the earliest showcases of Jack Kirby's work in the superhero genre, appearing here as an interior artist on the Cosmic Carson feature at a point when the King was still cutting his teeth on Golden Age anthology material. The issue also continues the rapid world-building of Fox's science-fantasy stable — a roster of characters who collectively represent some of the medium's first concentrated attempts at recurring super-powered heroes in a shared anthology format, predating most of what later became the industry template. Its blend of science-fiction adventure, costumed heroes, and pulp-influenced storytelling captures the raw creative energy of the first year of the Golden Age in concentrated form.
This is an anthology issue presenting four science-related stories. "The Story of the World's Bridges" depicts the history of bridge construction, explaining innovations like the arch invented by Apollodorus and its crucial role in engineering, before showing the destruction of the Notre Dame bridge and the rescue of people from its collapsing piles. A second story covers "Oodles About the Great Apes," examining the characteristics of primates. "The Miracles of George Westinghouse" profiles the inventor's accomplishments. "The Amazing Discovery of Pulp Wood Paper" and "The Stick That Dissolved" explain how Benjamin Tilgman discovered a method to make inexpensive paper from wood pulp after the Civil War, solving a shortage of paper goods and transforming the newspaper industry.
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Science Comics launched in February 1940 as Fox Feature Syndicate's science-flavored companion to its existing anthology titles, with Victor Fox relying heavily on the Eisner & Iger shop for early content before hiring his own stable of freelancers. By issue #5, the book had transitioned toward an in-house team: Joe Simon contributed the cover, while Jack Kirby — then working across multiple Fox titles after his brief stint on the Blue Beetle newspaper strip — drew the Cosmic Carson story. The series ran only eight issues total, from February through September 1940, folding as Fox expanded his line of titles rather than deepening any individual book.
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- Published June 1940 by Fox Feature Syndicate (the fifth issue in an eight-issue run spanning February–September 1940).
- Cover art by Joe Simon, one of Simon's contributions to the Fox line during his brief tenure as an editor and freelancer for the publisher.
- Interior art includes work by Jack Kirby on the Cosmic Carson story — an early Fox assignment Kirby took on in addition to his other Fox features of the period.
- Stories and art credits also include Dick Briefer and Bert Whitman, with Emil Gershwin also listed among the art contributors to the issue.
- The Dynamo story ('The Wire of Doom') continues the adventures of Jim Andrews, the electric-powered hero who debuted as 'Electro' in issue #1 before being renamed Dynamo in issue #2 to avoid confusion with a Timely Comics character of the same name.
- The Navy Jones story in this issue includes the revelation that the seagoing hero is the great-great-grandson of Davy Jones — an example of the series' recurring pulp-mythology world-building.
- The issue is a 64-page, full-color anthology priced at ten cents, consistent with the standard format for Fox's 1940 line.
- Science Comics #4 (the issue immediately prior) featured the first Kirby-drawn Cosmic Carson story; issue #5 continues that storyline, making it part of a rare two-issue Kirby contribution to the character.
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