The Funnies #58
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Funnies #58 (1941, Dell) represents the second comics appearance of Captain Midnight — the aviator-hero Jim 'Red' Albright — arriving just one issue after his print debut in The Funnies #57, and continuing the serialized wartime adventure strips that first gave the beloved Ovaltine radio character a visual life on the page. As part of the brief but historically significant run of Dell Captain Midnight stories, it belongs to the small cluster of issues that bridged the character's transition from a radio-sponsored premium franchise to the standalone Fawcett comic book series that would run from 1942 to 1948. The issue also continues the early comics appearances of Chuck Ramsay, Captain Midnight's teenage ward and Secret Squadron operative, and Jim Albright, the civilian identity beneath the Captain Midnight persona — establishing the core cast that would define the character across all subsequent media adaptations. Because Dell's run was short and the issues appeared in a general anthology rather than a dedicated title, each of these issues is a rare document of how a major Golden Age multimedia property first found its footing in the comic book format.
In "The Canary Murder Case," a 1941 Dell classic, the mysterious death of the glamorous Miss Canary sends shockwaves through her circle of visitors—each with secrets of their own. Written by S. S. Van Dine and illustrated by Bob Hebberd, this gripping mystery unfolds through sharp, period-accurate art, with Dan Gormley’s cover capturing the tension of a case that’s far from solved.
Philo Vance is called in when the stunning Miss Canary is found dead in her apartment, her final hours marked by a trio of suspicious visitors: the polished Mr. Spotsworth, the flashy Austin Cleaver, and the known burglar Dude Skeel. With the District Attorney and Sergeant Heath pressing for answers, Vance must untangle the web of alibis and motives before the killer slips through the cracks.
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The Funnies was a Dell Publishing anthology that had originally been packaged by Max Gaines and edited by Sheldon Mayer, drawing heavily on newspaper-strip reprints; when Gaines and Mayer departed Dell to form All-American Publications, the book pivoted toward original content adapted from popular radio serials, including Mr. District Attorney and Captain Midnight. The Captain Midnight comic strips in The Funnies were based directly on the Ovaltine-sponsored radio serial created by writers Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, which had debuted in 1938 and gone national on the Mutual Radio Network in 1940. The early Dell Captain Midnight art has been attributed to Robert Brice in some sources and to Dan Gormley in others, and much of the written material from this era remains unattributed in standard indices. Dell turned over production duties on The Funnies to Western Printing and Lithographing around 1939, meaning the editorial and production infrastructure behind issue #58 was a Western/Dell collaborative arrangement rather than an in-house Dell operation.
Trivia · 8 facts
- The Funnies #58 (1941, Dell) contains the second comic book appearance of Captain Midnight, one issue after his debut in The Funnies #57 (July 1941).
- Captain Midnight's civilian identity is Captain Jim 'Red' Albright, a World War I flying ace who leads the Secret Squadron — an aviation-oriented paramilitary organization — against villains including arch-nemesis Ivan Shark.
- Chuck Ramsay, Captain Midnight's ward and a Secret Squadron agent, appears in this issue as a core member of the hero's team.
- The Captain Midnight franchise originated as a radio serial created by Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, initially sponsored by Skelly Oil and later by Ovaltine when it went to national broadcast in 1940.
- The Funnies was originally packaged by Max Gaines and Sheldon Mayer at McClure Syndicate; after they departed for All-American Publications, the anthology shifted to original radio-adapted content including Captain Midnight.
- Dell's run of Captain Midnight in The Funnies was short-lived; after these anthology appearances the character moved to Fawcett, which launched a dedicated Captain Midnight solo title in 1942 that ran for 67 issues through 1948.
- The Dell versions of Captain Midnight depicted the hero in his original aviator gear — leather jacket, flight cap, and goggles — distinct from the more colorful superhero costume Fawcett later introduced.
- Captain Midnight's 1940s multimedia presence extended beyond comics to a 1942 film serial and a CBS television series (1954–1956), later rebranded as Jet Jackson, Flying Commando due to trademark complications over the Ovaltine sponsorship.
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