Alternative Mindz

the rise of the new medium of the “comic book” coincided with the end of the roaring 20′s. the day that would change the world as it was known!

The Great Depression is associated with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. The depression had devastating effects in both the industrialized countries and those which exported raw materials. International trade declined sharply, as did personal incomes, tax revenues, prices and profits. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry.

The premium:

Free Comics became popular in the early 1930′s. This was mainly due tothegreat depression. It also kept the publishing presses running during very hard times. Shutting down and starting up the printing presses cost time and money and the presses did everything they could to keep them going.

image of a printing press circa 1905

Thousands of different comics were given away as companies used popular comic strips for advertising purposes. The pioneers of this trend is given to Sam Gold and Kay Kamen. Among the most well known giveaways are Kelloggs Buck Rogers and Ovaltine’s Little Orphan Annie.

side note:
Walt Disney got into comic books too. The earliest of these was Mickey Mouse Book. Done in 1930 – 31, published by Bibo & Lang. These were 9″x12“, 20 pages long and stapled together. Despite the title of “book” this was in fact a magazine, inside it had a variety of songs, games and stories. There were later printings of this book but some lyrics were edited, advertising was inserted and christmas card was a part of the front cover.

The Adventures of Mickey Mouse is considered to be the first “true” Mickey Mouse comic book. It came out in 1931, is 32 pages long and 5 -1/2″ x 8 1/2″. It was published by David McKay Co. with a print run of 50,000 copies. There were both hardcover and softcover versions of this book. A second book came out after the Mickey Mouse cartoons and the characters within were made similar to the cartoons.

Mickey Mouse Comic #1 also came out in 1931. It reprints the Mickey Mouse comic strips done by Floyd Gottfredson from 1930 to 1931. It measures 10″x 9 3/4” is 52 pages long with a cardboard cover. The series lasted 4 issues with later reprintings. It was also published by David McKay Co.

David McKay Company, 1933.

Whitman Publishing Co., 1937There were two different Mickey Mouse Magazines done in 1933. The first in January published by Kamen-Blair. It was distributed by daries and local theaters. It lasted until issue #9, the first few issues had a 5 cent cover price, the later ones did not. The second was also give aways done through different Dairie companies. It had two volumes, the both going 12 issues. Both magazines were done by Walt Disney Productions and they ended in 1935.

In the summer of the same year A new Mickey Mouse Magazine was done by publisher K. K. Publishing AKA Western Publishing Co.. Like the previous incarnation, this magazine would run 12 issues, then restart back at #1 with another volume. This continued for 5 years, with #12 volume 4 converted to a more traditional comic book format. It turned 68 pages and shrank to normal comic book size. It then went under a title change to Walt Disney Comics & Stories.

In 1933, Detective Dan, Secret Op. 48 was the first comic, sold on the newsstands, with original material in it. Done by Norman Marsh this comic had a 3 color, cardboard cover. Inside was black and white. Sold for 10cents, dimensions were 10×13″. It had 36 pages and was only a one shot published by Humor Publishers Corp.,

The Detective Dan character was a Dick Tracy clone, and didn’t last very long. There was some other appearances by him though. One in The Adventures of Detective Ace King. Also done in 1933. There are some minor differences between the two books, among them a paper cover and pages 9 1/2 x12″.

the comic book was in for a rude awakining and a new look and vision thanks to two men

to be continued

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 7:17 pm and is filed under history of comic books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.