Comicmarks
Pocket Comics #1 - 1941 Improved
| Additional Information | |
| Publication | August 1941 | Price: 0.10 USD; 0.15 CAD | Pages: 100 | Frequency: bi-monthly | Editing: Alfred Harvey |
| Notes | Additional sequences by Gary Watson, 8/26/2006. POCKET COMICS, Volume 1, number 1, August 1941. Published bi-monthly by Alfred Harvey, 55 West 42nd Street, New York, N. Y. Application for entry as second class matter pending at the Post Office in New York. Copyright 1941, by Alfred Harvey, New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Price 10 cents per copy. In Canada 15 cents per copy. Subscription for six issues, 60 cents in U. S. A. (Other countries 85 cents). Contents must not be reproduced without written permission. No actual person is named or delineated in this fiction magazine. Printed in U. S. A. |
| Featuring | Spirit of '76 |
| Credits | Pencils: Joe Simon | Inks: Joe Simon |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: The Spirit of '76 |
| Notes | Art previously tentatively attributed to Bob Powell, but Joe Simon's autobiography "My Life In Comics" states that he drew the covers, and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. agrees. |
| Publisher advertisement | Contest (1 page) |
| Notes | Promo for a contest to win $25 if you name the features of Pocket Comics that you like. Printed on inside front cover. |
| Comic Story | The Saboteur From Hell (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Satan makes the mistake of trying to sabotage Camp Porter in his mad campaign to undermine the U.S. program to defend democracy. |
| Featuring | Satan |
| Credits | Script: Otto Binder [as Eando Binder] (signed) | Pencils: Pierce Rice | Inks: Arturo Cazeneuve?; Louis Cazeneuve? |
| Content | Genre: Occult | Characters: Private Air Cadet Jim Brady; Lieutenant Patricia Randall (nurse); Satan (villain, introduction, mad dictator of the underworld); Adolf Hitler (villain); un-named members of Satan's gang (villains, introduction for all, many die) |
| Notes | Rice pencils verified by Craig Delich and Bill Black 2012-12-13. Ink credits added by Craig Delich for Bill Black, who states the two Cazeneuves did the inking on this story. The Who's Who doesn't list either one as working on this strip. |
| Comic Story | Origin of the Red Blazer (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Jack comes upon the scene of an aged man burying someone, and discovers that he is Dr. Morgan, a scientist who invented the space cruiser and flew to Mars in 1901. Slipping Dawson a drink, the young man passes out and is taken to the heaviside layer by the scientist, where astro-pyro rays advanced the young man's evolutionary stage a few pegs. He returns to Earth to battle criminals who are looting cities and murdering residents. |
| Featuring | The Red Blazer |
| Credits | Pencils: Al Avison [as A. Avison] (signed) | Inks: Al Avison [as A. Avison] (signed) |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: The Red Blazer [Jack Dawson] (introduction, origin); Kagah (Martian, assistant to Dr. Morgan, death); Dr. Morgan (scientist, inventor of a space cruiser); Doc Breenan (villain) |
| Comic Story | Origin of the Spirit of '76 (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Gary is attending West Point, but his family tradition of serving in the military spurs him on to action before he graduates, and what better way than taking on Luftwaffe Captain Hoch, whose "Khaki Shirts" are planning to dynamite West Point. |
| Featuring | Spirit of '76 |
| Credits | Script: Gary Blakey? | Pencils: Bob Powell [as Major Ralston] (signed) | Inks: Bob Powell [as Major Ralston] (signed) |
| Content | Characters: Spirit of '76 [Gary Blakely] (introduction and origin); Major Ralston (Gary's grandfather); Captain Blakely (Gary's father); Tubby (Cadet friend of Gary's); Captain Hoch (villain); the Nazis (villains) |
| Notes | Writer has had a ? put behind his name. The Who's Who does NOT list a Gary Blakey (or any Blakey for that matter) writing and/or illustrating comics. The character's secret identity is Gary Blakely. The strip is titled "Cadet Blakey, Spirit of '76" (note spelling of the last name). |
| Comic Story | Origin of the Black Cat (12 pages) |
| Featuring | Black Cat |
| Credits | Script: Alfred Harvey | Pencils: Al Gabriele | Inks: Al Gabriele |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: Black Cat [Linda Turner] (introduction and origin); Rick Horne (introduction); Garboil (villain, introduction) |
| Comic Story | Origin of the Phantom Sphinx (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Dr. Salle and his companions discover a long lost tomb that contains the remains of General Amron, who was put into a hypnotic sleep by his father some 6000 years before. However, a notorious bandit named Norton kills all the explorers, reads Salle's notes, then revives the mummy using a Star Sirius, a pebble and the eyes of the mummy. Rising from his long sleep, the mummy, heeding the words of his father, becomes the Phantom Sphinx, and avenges the wrongs that have been done. |
| Featuring | The Phantom Sphinx |
| Credits | Pencils: Pierce Rice | Inks: Arturo Cazeneuve; Louis Cazeneuve |
| Content | Genre: Occult | Characters: The Phantom Sphinx [General Amron] (introduction, origin); Dr. Salle (scientist, introduction); Nancy Taylor (American reporter); Red Norton (villain, bandit, death); Suliman the Terrible (villain, transformed into a camel) |
| Notes | Art credits revised from Louis Cazeneuve ? by Bill Black and added by Craig Delich 2012-12-9. |
| Comic Story | Origin of British Agent 99 (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Traveling to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on his first assignment, in the disguise of an American reporter, Agent 99 saves a young girl from the Nazis, and tells her that he is there in Yugoslavia to protect her from Gestapo agents. |
| Featuring | British Agent 99 |
| Credits | Script:? [as William Churchill, Jr.] (signed) | Pencils: Arturo Cazeneuve?; Pierce Rice? | Inks: Arturo Cazeneuve? |
| Content | Genre: War; Adventure | Characters: British Agent 99 [Alan Douglas, aka Hal Payne as an American reporter] (introduction, origin, former Hollywood star); General Douglas (flashback, Alan's father, death); Sultana Zaida; Chuck; Herr Karl Vern (villain); Fritz (villain); Heinrich (villain, Vern's chauffeur); the Nazis (villains) |
| Notes | Bill Black states the art was done by Arturo Cazeneuve, yet the Who's Who states that Pierce Rice was the penciler of the strip (in 1941). Maybe Cazeneuve inked the story. Added by Craig Delich 2013-2-13. |
| Comic Story | John Doyle Convicted of Murder (12 pages) |
| Synopsis | Sentenced to death for murder because of the actions of politicians protecting the real culprit, John Doyle escapes from prison to track down the murderer, and discovers that his girl friend has been kidnapped by criminals who believe she knows more about the actual murderer than she should. |
| Featuring | The Zebra |
| Credits | Script:? [as "Ellery King"] (signed) | Pencils: Pierce Rice | Inks: Arthur Cazeneuve; Louis Cazeneuve? |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: The Zebra [John Doyle] (introduction, origin); Mary Sewell (Doyle's girlfriend); Happy Mike (villain, political boss); Slug (villain) |
| Notes | Bill Black reports that Louis Cazeneuve also did inks on this story, although the Who's Who doesn't list Louis having worked on this strip. |
| Featuring | Meet the Stars |
| Text Story | The Zebra's Murder Case (4 pages) |
| Featuring | Zebra |
| Credits | Script:? (Ellery King) | Pencils: Pierce Rice? | Inks: Pierce Rice? |
| Notes | Text story with illustrations. |
| Comic Story | The Mysterious Island (4 pages) |
| Featuring | Spin Hawkins |
| Content | Characters: Spin Hawkins (introduction) |
| Notes | House ad for: Patriotic Pocket Comics; Digest Comics; Army Pocket Comics; The Black Cat; Historic Comics; Cadet Blakley Spirit of '76 Battles Satan. Advertised as all new, all 100 pages and on sale SOON. |
| Featuring | Ditto |
| Credits | Pencils: Byghe |
| Featuring | Best Laughs of the Month |
| Notes | Printed on inside back cover. |
| Notes | House ad for Spitfire Comics. Printed on back cover. |
| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a Creative Commons Attribution License. More details about this comic may be available in their page here | |
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