Fox Feature Syndicate

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Fox Feature Syndicate[1] (also known as Fox Comics and Fox Publications) was a comic book publisher during the early Golden Age of comic books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor A. Fox, it produced such titles as Blue Beetle, Fantastic Comics and Mystery Men Comics. It is no relation to Fox Publications, a Colorado publisher of railroad photography books.

Contents

[edit] Background

Victor A. Fox and business associate Bob Farrell launched Fox Feature Syndicate at 480 Lexington Avenue in New York City in the late 1930s. For content, Fox contracted with comics packager Eisner & Iger, one of a handful of companies creating comic books on demand for publishers entering the field. Writer-artist Will Eisner, at Victor Fox's request for a hero to mimic the newly created hit Superman, created the superhero Wonderman for Fox's first publication, Wonder Comics #1 (May 1939), signing his work "Willis". Superman owner National Periodical Publications, the company that would evolve into DC Comics, cited copyright infringement and quickly obtained a permanent injunction. Wonderman did not reappear.

After Eisner testified against Fox at trial, Fox dropped the packager and hired his own stable of comic creators, beginning with a New York Times classified ad on Dec. 2, 1939. Joe Simon, a former Eisner-Iger freelancer, became Fox Publications' editor.

As one of the earliest companies in the emerging field, it employed or bought the packaged material of a huge number of Golden Age greats, many at the start of their careers. Lou Fine created the superhero The Flame in Wonderworld Comics; Dick Briefer created Rex Dexter of Mars" in the eponymous series. George Tuska did his first comics work here with the features "Zanzibar" (Mystery Men Comics #1, Aug. 1939) and "Tom Barry" (Wonderworld Comics #4). Matt Baker, one of the few African-American comic book artists of the Golden Age, revamped — in more than one sense — the newly acquired Quality Comics character Phantom Lady' in 1947, creating one of the most memorable and controversial examples of superhero "good girl art".

Future comics legend Jack Kirby, brought on staff here after feelancing for Eisner-Iger, wrote and drew the syndicated newspaper comic strip The Blue Beetle (starting Jan. 1940), starring a character created by Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski in Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939). Kirby retained the house name "Charles Nicholas" for the comic strip, which lasted three months. Kirby, additionally, created and did one story each of the Fox features "Wing Turner" (Mystery Men #10, May 1940) and "Cosmic Carson" (Science Comics #4, same month).

Throughout the 1940s, Fox produced comics in a typically wide variety of genres, but was best known for superheroes and humor. With the post-war decline in superheroes' popularity, Fox, like other publishers, concentrated on horror and crime comics, including some of the most notorious of the latter. Following the estabishment of Comics Code Authority in the mid-1950s, Fox went out of business, selling the rights to the Blue Beetle to Charlton Comics.

[edit] Victor Fox

Born in England, Fox Publications founder Victor A. Fox was a stockbroker for the Allied Capital Corp./Fox Motor and Bank Stocks, Inc./American Common Stocks, Inc., on Park Avenue in New York City when he was indicted on Nov. 27, 1929 for mail fraud and related illegal "boiler room" activities. It appears unrecorded whether this resulted in a conviction.

Fox went on to become an accountant/bookkeeper at the publishing firm that would become DC Comics, where he was privy to sales figures that convinced him to launch his own comic-book company.

[edit] Quotes

Jack Kirby: "Victor Fox was a character. He'd look up at the ceiling with a big cigar, this little fellow, very broad, going back and forth with his hands behind his back saying, 'I'm the King of Comics! I'm the King of Comics!' and we would watch him and, of course, smile a little because he was a genuine type".[2]

Joe Simon on Victor Fox : "He was an accountant for DC Comics. He was doing the sales figures and he liked what he saw. So, he moved downstairs and started his own company.... I happened to get a job; I went over to Fox and became editor there, which was just an impossible job, because ... there were no artists, no writers, no editors, no letterers — nothing there. Everything came out of the Eisner and Iger shop. ... He was a very strange character. He had kind of a British accent; he was like 5'2", told us he was a former ballroom dancer. He was very loud, menacing, and really a scary little guy. He used to say, 'I'm the King of the Comics. I'm the King of the Comics. I'm the King of the Comics.' We couldn't stop him".[3]

Nicky Wright: "Competing well in the 'most sexy, sadistic, and violent' category, Victor Fox’s Murder Incorporated and Blue Beetle are noteworthy.... When historians describe sleaze, sex, and violence as Fox’s obsession, they are masters of understatement. His best artists, Jack Kamen and Matt Baker, are much revered and collected for their good girl art. (Of special note is the company’s breasty crime-fighter-in-bedroom-lingerie, Phantom Lady...along with the wild and scantily attired Rulah, Jungle Goddess.)"[4]

Boyd Magers: "Never one to overlook a secondary sale, Fox often repackaged four remaindered (unsold) comics into a 25¢ Giant with a new cover, hence Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup, 132 pages dated 1950. However, since Fox always started their stories on the inside front cover (where other publishers ran an ad), these repackaged comics are always missing the first page of story content. Also, since Fox used remaindered issues, contents will vary from copy to copy of Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup."[5]

[edit] Fox characters

  • The Banshee
  • Birdman
  • The Blackbird
  • Black Fury & Kid Fury
  • Black Lion
  • Blue Beetle (later sold to Charlton Comics, who later sold to DC Comics)
  • The Bouncer
  • Bronze Man
  • Captain V
  • Dagar, the Desert Hawk
  • The Dart & Ace, the Bat Boy
  • Dynamite Thor
  • Dynamo
  • The Eagle & Buddy (Steven Woods, who as an adult takes on the name Blue Eagle)
  • Electro
  • The Flame
  • The Gorilla with the Human Brain
  • Green Mask
  • Illuso
  • The Jaguar/Jaguar Man
  • Jo-Jo, Congo King
  • Lunar the Moon Man
  • The Lynx
  • Miss X
  • The Moth/Mothman
  • Nightbird
  • Panther Woman
  • Phantom Lady (obtained from Quality Comics via Iger Studios)
  • The Purple Tigress
  • Rani-Bey
  • The Rapier
  • The Raven
  • Rulah, Jungle Goddess
  • Samson
  • Spider Queen (appeared in Marvel Comics's Invaders series)
  • Stardust, the Super Wizard
  • Tangi
  • Tegra, Jungle Empress
  • Thor
  • The Topper
  • Tumbler
  • US Jones
  • V-Man
  • Wonderman
  • The Wraith
  • Yarko the Great, Master Magician
  • Zago, Jungle Prince

[edit] Fox titles

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Album of Crime, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • All Famous Crime, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • All Good Comics, one non-numbered issue (1944); #1 (1946)
  • All Great Comics, one non-numbered issue (1944); one non-numbered issue (1945); #1-13 (1946; becomes Dagar, Desert Hawk #14 onward)
  • All Great Jungle Adventures, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • All Real Confession Magazine, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • All Top Comics one non-numbered issue (1944); #1-18 (1945-1949; My Experience #19 onward)
  • All Your Comics, one non-numbered issue (1944); #1 (1946)
  • Almanac of Crime, two non-numbered issues (1949)
  • Animal Crackers #31 (1950; formerly My Love Secret[6]
  • Big Three #1-7 (1940-1942)
  • Blue Beetle #1-58 (1939-1950)
  • The Book of Comics #1 (1945)
  • The Bouncer, non-numbered first issue, #11-14 (1944-1945)
  • Captain Kidd #24-25 (1949; formerly Dagar, Desert Hawk)
  • Cody of the Pony Express #1 (1950)
  • Colossal Features Magazine #33-34; issue numbering restarts,[7] #3 (1950)
  • Cosmo Cat #1-10 (1946-1947)
  • Crimes Incorporated #12 (1950; formerly My Past); issue numbering restarts, Crime Incorporated #2-3 (1950-1951)
  • Crimes By Women #1-15 (1948-1950)
  • Dagar, Desert Hawk #14-23 (1948-1949; formerly All Great Comics, 1946 series; Captain Kidd #24 onward)
  • Dorothy Lamour, Jungle Princess #2-3 (1950; formerly Jungle Lil)
  • The Eagle #1-4 (July 1941 - Jan. 1942)
  • Famous Crimes #1-20 (1948-1951)
  • Fantastic Comics #1-23 (Dec. 1939 - Nov. 1941)
  • Feature Presentations Magazine #5-6; issue numbering restarts, Feature Stories Magazine #3-4 (1950; formerly Women In Love)
  • The Flame #1-8 (1940-1942)
  • Free Weekly Comics, three non-numbered issues (1940)
  • Frank Buck, #70-71; issue numbering restarts, #3 (1950; formerly My True Love)
  • Full Color Comics, one non-numbered issue (1946)
  • General Douglas MacArthur, one non-numbered issue (1951)
  • The Green Mask #1-17 (1940-1946)
  • Hoot Gibson #5-6; issue numbering restarts, #3 (1950; formerly My Love Story)
  • Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup, one non-numbered issue (1950)
  • Hunted #13; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Love Memoirs)
  • I Loved #28-32 (1949-1950; formerly Rulah, Jungle Goddess; Colossal Features Magazine #33 onward)
  • Inside Crime #3; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Intimate Affair)
  • Jo-Jo, Congo King #1-29 (Jo-Jo Comics, #1-7; 1946-1949; My Desire #30 onward)
  • Journal of Crime, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • Judy Canova #23-24; issue numbering restarts, #3 (1950; formerly My Experience)
  • Jungle Jo, one non-numbered issue, #1-6 (1950)
  • Jungle Lil' #1 (1950; Dorothy Lamour, Jungle Princess #2 onward)
  • Krazy Life #1 (1945)
  • Li'l Pan #6-8 (1946-1947; formerly Rocket Kelly; Junior Comics #9 onward)
  • Life with Snarky Parker #1 (1950)
  • March of Crime, three non-numbered issues (1948); #7; issue numbering restarts, #2-3 (1950; formerly My Love Affair)
  • Martin Kane Private Eye #4; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Secret Affair)
  • Meet Corliss Archer #1-3 (1948; My Life #4 onward)
  • Murder Incorporated #1-15 (1948-1949; My Private Life #16 onward); #5; issue numbering restarts, #2-3 (1950; formerly My Desire)
  • My Confession #7-10 (1949-1950; formerly Western True Crime; Spectacular Feature Magazine #11 onward)
  • My Desire #30-31; issue numbering restarts, #3-4 (1949-1950; formerly Jo-Jo Congo King; Murder Incorporated, 1950 series, #5 onward)
  • My Experience #19-22 (1949-1950; formerly All Top Comics; Judy Canova #23 onward)
  • My Great Love #1-4 (1949-1950; Will Rogers Western #5 onward)
  • My Intimate Affair #1-2 (1950; Inside Crime #3 onward)
  • My Life True Stories in Pictures #4-15 (1948-1950; formerly Meet Corliss Archer)
  • My Love Affair #1-6 (1949-1950; March of Crime, 1950 series, #7 onward)
  • My Love Life #6-13 (1949-1950; formerly Zegra, Jungle Empress)
  • My Love Memoirs #9-12 (1949-1950; Hunted #13 onward)
  • My Love Secret #24-30 (1949-1950; formerly Phantom Lady; Animal Crackers #31 onward)
  • My Love Story #1-4 (1949-1950; Hoot Gibson #5 onward)
  • My Past Thrilling Confessions #7-11 (1949-1950; formerly Western Thrillers; Crimes, Inc. #12 onward)
  • My Private Life #16-17 (1950; formerly Murder Incorporated, 1948 series; Pedro #18 onward)
  • My Secret Affair #1-3 (1949-1950; Martin Kane #4 onward)
  • My Secret Life #22-27 (1949-1950; formerly Western Outlaws)
  • My Secret Romance #1-2 (1950; A Star Presentation #3 onward)
  • My Secret Story #26-29 (1950; formerly Captain Kidd; Sabu, Elephant Boy #30 onward)
  • My Story #5-12 (1949-1950; formerly Zago, Jungle Prince
  • My True Love: #65-69 (1949-1950; formerly Western Killers; Frank Buck #70 onward)
  • Mystery Men Comics #1-31 (Aug. 1939 - Feb. 1942)
  • Pedro #18; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Private Life)
  • Phantom Lady #13-23 (1947-1949; My Love Secret #24 onward)
  • Range Busters #1 (1950)
  • Real Hit Comics #1 (1944)
  • Rex Dexter of Mars #1 (Fall 1940)
  • Ribtickler #1-9 (1945-1947)
  • Rocket Kelly, one non-numbered issue (1944); #1-5 (1945-1946)
  • Rocket Ship X #1 (1951)
  • Romantic Thrills, one non-numbered issue (1950)
  • Romeo Tubbs #26-28 (1950; formerly My Secret Life)
  • Rulah, Jungle Goddess #17-27 (1948-1949; formerly Zoot Comics; I Loved #28 onward)
  • Sabu, Elephant Boy #30; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Secret Story)
  • Samson #1-6 (Fall 1940 - Sept. 1941)
  • Science Comics #1-8 (Feb. - Sept. 1940)
  • Secret Love Stories, one non-numbered issue (1949)
  • Spectacular Features Magazine #11-13 (1950; formerly My Confession)
  • Spectacular Stories Magazine #4 (1950)
  • A Star Presentation #3 (1950; formerly My Secret Romance; Spectactular Stories Magazine #4 onward)
  • Tegra, Jungle Empress #1 (1948; Zega, Jungle Empress #2 onward)
  • U.S. Jones #1-2 (Nov. 1941- Jan. 1942)
  • V.... Comics #1-2 ( Jan. 1942- March 1942)
  • Variety Comics, two non-numbered issues (1946)
  • Weird Comics #1-20 (April 1940 - Jan. 1942)
  • Western Killers #60-64 (1948-1949; My True Love #65 onward)
  • Western Outlaws #17-21 (1948-1949; formerly Junior Comics; My Secret Life #22 onward)
  • Western Thrillers #1-6 (1948-1949; My Past Confessions #7 onward)
  • Western True Crime #1-6 (1948-1949)
  • Will Rogers Western #5; issue numbering restarts, #2 (1950; formerly My Great Love)
  • Women In Love #1-4 (1949-1950; A Feature Presentation #5 onward)
  • Women Outlaws #1-8 (1948-1949; My Love Memories #9 onward)
  • Wonder Comics (changed to Wonderworld Comics, #3-on) #1-33 (May 1939 - Jan. 1942)
  • Zago, Jungle Prince #1-4 (1948-1949; My Story #5 onward)
  • Zegra, Jungle Empress #2-5 (1948-1949; formerly Tegra, Jungle Empress; My Love Life #6 onward)
  • Zoot Comics #1-16 (1946-1948; Rulah, Jungle Goddess #17 onward)

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Per the Michigan State University Libraries' Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection, the company name used "Feature" singular rather than "Features" plural: "Fox Feature Syndicate — American comics publisher or publishers, sometimes informally called 'Fox Comics.' The corporate names 'Fox Feature Syndicate' and 'Fox Publications' both appear, with the latter consistently having an address in the state of Massachusetts".
  2. ^ Jack Kirby interview, The Comics Journal #134 (Feb. 1990), reprinted in The Comics Journal Library, Volume One: Jack Kirby (2002) ISBN 1-56097-466-4, p. 25
  3. ^ Jack Kirby Collector #25 (Aug. 1999): "More Than Your Average Joe: Excerpts from Joe Simon's panels at the 1998 Comicon International: San Diego"
  4. ^ Comic Book Marketplace #65, "Seducers of the Innocent"
  5. ^ The Old Corral: Hoot Gibson
  6. ^ As new periodical titles were subject to an expensive registration fee by the postal service to receive a second class mail permit, Golden Age comic book publishers frequently continued the numbering of old titles on new ones, hence one comic book title "becoming" another with completely unrelated content.
  7. ^ Such renumbering occurred when the post office discovered a new title distributed under old numbering; the publisher was then forced to not only pay the registration fee, but also to list the correct issue number.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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