*Please note, comics do not have to be CGC-graded.
COVER DETAILS
Characters:
Smitty (main cover); Dick Tracy (inset); Tiny Tim (inset); Winnie Winkle (inset); Harold Teen (inset); Smitty (inset)
Pencils:
Walter Berndt ?
Inks:
Walter Berndt ?
STORY DETAILS
Title:
Tess and John Lavir ends - Natnus, Nat the Fur King begins
Characters:
Dick Tracy; Tess Trueheart; John Lavir; Dirks; Pat Patton; King (guard dog); policeman; Chief Brandon; Natnus; Natnus's chauffeur; Junior Gibbons; Mr. Gibbons; Heinie; Duffy
Synopsis:
1) Tess's boyfriend, John, is stealing dogs. Tess is angry. He reminds her she is half-owner, and threatens her life. She takes some of the dogs back at night. He is wise to her, rigs a dog with razor steel fangs bolted to its real ones. He ends dead, hoist with his own petard. Police find Tess holding a piece of glass over John's corpse. Using police science, Tracy exonerates her.
2) Natnus's chauffeur sideswipes a police car, forcing him to ditch a load of furs. His racket: he sells stolen furs, then his crew posing as cops take them back. He starts calling himself Nat the Fur King.
Pages:
8.000
Script:
Chester Gould (signed)
Pencils:
Chester Gould (signed)
Inks:
Chester Gould (signed)
Notes:
John Lavir ("rival" spelled backwards) debuted July 5, 1939.
Natnus ("suntan" spelled backwards) Nat the Fur King appeared from September 27, 1939 to October 23, 1939.
No dates appear in the panels. Page 4 of the feature, top tier, between panels 2 and 3, a plot gap exists which suggests those two panels were from dailies, and the plot gap was filled on (in) a Sunday.
Title:
"Bitsy" ends - "Playing the Ponies" begins
Characters:
Winnie Winkle; Bitsy; Will; Mrs. Walker; Dopey Dooley; Boss
Synopsis:
Bitsy returns to her Mom. Will starts playing the ponies.
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Martin Branner [as Branner] (signed)
Pencils:
Martin Branner [as Branner] (signed)
Inks:
Martin Branner [as Branner] (signed)
Characters:
Jim Ellis
Pages:
6.000
Script:
Tom Hickey (signed)
Pencils:
Tom Hickey (signed)
Inks:
Tom Hickey (signed)
Notes:
Final appearance
Pages:
6.000
Pencils:
Bob Jenney (signed)
Inks:
Bob Jenney (signed)
Characters:
Moon Mullins
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Frank Willard (signed)
Pencils:
Frank Willard (signed)
Inks:
Frank Willard (signed)
Characters:
Smitty
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Walter Berndt [as Berndt] (signed)
Pencils:
Walter Berndt [as Berndt] (signed)
Inks:
Walter Berndt [as Berndt] (signed)
Title:
Anticipating the Swing Champ Challenge
Characters:
Harold
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Carl Ed (signed)
Pencils:
Carl Ed (signed)
Inks:
Carl Ed (signed)
Title:
Boxing Match Slip-up: George Grunt versus Jones
Characters:
Tiny Tim; George Grunt; Mom; Jones; Jones' kid; referee; the crowd; George's friends
Synopsis:
George trains for the bout. In the ring, Jones has the advantage; until Jones'kid, in his excitement, throws a banana peel into the ring. Upset! Jones concedes amicably.
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Stanley Link (signed)
Pencils:
Stanley Link (signed)
Inks:
Stanley Link (signed)
Characters:
Magic Morro; Oom
Synopsis:
Morro and Oom escape from a Japanese patrol and down a Japanese fighter plane.
Characters:
Dr. Aschenbrenner (Berlin police medical examiner); Anna Muller (German nurse at Bismarck Hospital, Berlin); Herr Kurt Von Zellner (Gestapo Director, Berlin Bureau); Dr. Morris Adelman (famous continental surgeon, an implied Jew)
Synopsis:
A group of scientists report that lead provides protection from radium burns. Muller's boyfriend is found dead. Autopsy reveals radiation poisoning. She admits carelessness with radium. Gestapo Director Zellner is diagnosed with a serious throat ailment. Dr. Adelman, deported to Poland by the Reich, is sent to perform surgery to save Zellner, who recovers, relapses, is confined, then transferred to a high post in Argentina. Muller's diary tells of Adelman putting a small vial under Director Zellner's hat band, and her failure to find a tiny bit of radium, enough to kill a man. Heil Hitler!
Pages:
1.000
Script:
Gaylord Du Bois
Letters:
typeset
Notes:
Du Bois authorship i.d. by David Porta, August 2019, based on Du Bois markers (below), and Michael Barrier's assumptions (page 123, paragraph 4) in FUNNYBOOKS (UCPress, Oakland, 2015).
The story is told in the form of excerpts from various sources: a research report, police reports, dated newspaper clippings, an official confidential communique issued by the German High Command, digest of an American correspondent's radio flash, a BBC radio flash, dated record of the Asylum for Incurables, official communique to all newspapers, and Muller's diary. The implication is that Zellner has died or is terminal, and that the official communique about his transfer to Argentina is a lie, a cover-up which Muller swallows whole.
Du Bois markers:
• It's a text war story (WWII), a staple of Du Bois at the time.
• It invokes race/ethnicity and bigotry, both common Du Bois themes.
"Dr. Morris Adelman, famous continental surgeon, has been deported to Poland."
"The Nazis forget racial prejudice to save the life of a member of the high command."
Title:
[Aztec Safari Episode 1:] How Beatty Met Gaywood
Synopsis:
Clyde recalls a safari of several years before, to the Yucatan to find Aztec artifacts. He notes a labor shortage. The local mayor cannot help. Enter Señor Gaywood, who procures porters, on condition he accompany the expedition. Beatty agrees, but demands to know why. On condition of secrecy, Gaywood reveals a map of the sacred temple of Ichtitual, where the last Aztec chief left a treasure in gold. Gaywood attests its authenticity, but hems and haws explaining how he came by the map from a native friend who died. Jim is suspicious.
Pages:
4.000
Script:
Gaylord Du Bois
Pencils:
Jim Chambers
Inks:
Jim Chambers
Notes:
Du Bois authorship i.d. by David Porta, November 2019, based on Du Bois markers (below), and Michael Barrier's assumptions (page 123, paragraph 4) in FUNNYBOOKS (UCPress, Oakland, 2015).
Notable editorial pattern: when Du Bois's contribution to a comic book series consisted of a single feature (often a backup feature) and a text story, the feature would immediately follow the text story, as is the case here in Super Comics (also in Popular Comics, Red Ryder Comics, The Lone Ranger, etc.).
Du Bois markers:
• animal reference ("the elephant's tent")
• accents, dialect, foreign language ("It's the bad season, Señor"; "There is nothing I can do, Señor"; "Pardon me, bud"; "Yes, yes, Señor. Señor Gaywood is the only one"; "Anyway, Missy Beatty, we going, too, and that's what count, eh?")
• jungle location (a mainstay of Du Bois's work: compare Tarzan, Korak, Jungle Jim, Young Hawk, Korak, the Lassie African settling, Elephant Boy, Jon of the Kalahari, Mabu Jungle Boy, Two Against the Jungle, Brothers of the Spear, Andy Panda's origin, Ringy Roonga's origin, etc.)
• foreign religion ("That's a map of the sacred temple of Ichtitual")
• foreign culture ("Aztec ruins in Yucatan"; "I am on this expedition to procure relics of the ancient Aztec civilization for my museum"; "The X marks the spot where the last Aztec chief left a treasure totalling millions in gold")
• word play ("Gaywood" is a play on "Gaylord Du Bois": the writer's last name is French, meaning "of the wood," as "bois" is French for "wood." Du Bois used wordplay on his name previously for the creator credit on the SKY RANGER feature he and aviation cartoonist Bob Jenny produced, crediting it to "Bob Gaylord," a mashup of their first names.)
Exclusive to Heritage members: GoCollect price report for this certified comic.
CGC Census Report*
Grade
NG
PG
CVR
0.5
1.0
1.5
1.8
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.2
9.4
9.6
9.8
9.9
10.0
Total
Universal
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
Qualified
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Signature Series
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
CGCxJSA
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Restored
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
*All information listed is intended to be as accurate as possible, but errors are possible. No item may be returned or refused based on this information which is provided as a service to our customers. You should contact each pricing source directly to determine the accuracy of this information.
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