Digital Comic Museum - Mystery Men Comics 001 [2fiche][diff ver]


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	Uploader:	Yoc
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	Mirrors:	[ Link to SILVER STREAK COMICS 001 (Lev Gleason) ]

a rangerhouse comic and scan.
Edit by Yoc.
Missing ifc, ibc from fiche scan.
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First appearance of Green Mask, The Blue Bettle, Rex Dexter of Mars, Wing Turner, Zanzibar and humour strip Hemlock Shomes.
Early art by Dick Briefer, Bob Powell, George Tuska, Klaus Nordling and Munson Paddock.

Mystery Men 1 appeared on the stands mid June 1939, just one month after Fox entered the comics field with his Wonder Comics #1 (quickly noted by DC and dragged Fox into court). The issue has the first appearance of several features including cover man The Green Mask, The Blue Bettle, Rex Dexter of Mars, Wing Turner, Zanzibar and humour strip Hemlock Shomes. Standouts in artwork were Dick Briefer's Red Dexter and Fred Schwab's Hemlock Shomes but Blue Beetle, inspired by the then popular Green Hornet radio star, was the cover star by the eighth issue. Six months later he was starring in his own BB comic. The Flame and Green Mask were also given their own titles.

Readers might note the Blue Beetle doesn't look much like the super hero they might have seen in the later appearances. His first look here is in a business suit and mask like the hero Fox was copying - the Green Hornet. GH plot devices were also copied. BB would get a new look in the second issue of Mystery Men #2 and evolve in subsequent issues of the title.

Victor Fox must have thought BB had potential. BB would follow Superman's lead getting a newspaper strip in Jan. 1940 as part of an all Fox comic section much like Eisner's Spirit Section. BB was even given a daily strip though only one paper is known to have carried the daily which ended the following November on a cliffhanger. The strip was initially drawn by a very young Jack Kirby getting his first superhero comic work and can be seen on DCM at this link:
https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=26164

BB then got a radio show in 1940 two months after the comic section started. Copying plots from other radio shows, BB comics and even a DC comic the show lasted a mere four months.

Fox would publish the BB character off and on until going bankrupt a final time in 1951. But that was hardly the last time we would see BB. Years with Charlton and DC were still to come but that's not our focus here.

Our thanks to Brian House for buying this first issue and scanning it for all of us to read in its original form.

Stay Healthy everyone!

4-May-2020 3:22 pm	\|
Username:	srca1941
Comment:	Thank you RH and Yoc for such an important book! This is one I've been hoping for scans of for a long time! -Eric
4-May-2020 4:35 pm	\|
Username:	Yoc
Comment:	I agree Eric... but Wonder Man #1 remains my most wanted Fox book still needed to be scanned.
4-May-2020 4:38 pm	\|
Username:	erwin-k
Comment:	Very glad to see paper scans of this issue! I can only rarely bring myself to read most fiche scans. The various changes of Fox characters as time passed could be fun, but could also be real low-lights for the characters. Now I can start, at he beginning of these strips.
12-May-2020 1:52 am	\|
Username:	ghmcleod
Comment:	Thank You

Issue: #1
Published: August 1939, Price: 0.10 USD, Pages: 68, Editing:
Color: Color Dimensions: 7.5 In X 10.25 In Paper Stock: Glossy Covers; Newsprint Interior Binding: Saddle-stitched Publishing Format: Was Ongoing Series
Notes: MYSTERY MEN COMICS, Vol 1, No. 1. Published monthly by Bruns Publications, Inc., V. S. Fox, President, 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, N. Y. Office of publication, 29 Worthington St., Springfield, Mass. Application for entry as second-class matter at the Post Office at Springfield, Mass., pending. Price 10 cents per copy. Subscription rates: 12 issues in the United States, its possessions, Mexico, South America, Spain, $1.50. Elsewhere, $2.50. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. Copyright 1939, by Bruns Publications, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. On sale date confirmed from the publication date found in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, New Series, Volume 34, 1939, Number 3. Class B periodical. Copyright number B 420185.

Comic Contents:

Cover (1 page)
Characters:	Green Mask [Michael Shelby]

Comic Story (9 pages)	A Modern Robin Hood
Synopsis:	The Green Mask, along with News Blake, exposes a gang engaging in insurance fraud.
Characters:	The Green Mask [Michael Shelby] (introduction) "News" Blake Rocky Vilon (villain, Introduction, Death) Cyrus Boomer (villain, Introduction)

Comic Story (6 pages)	Origin of Rex Dexter of Mars
Genre:	Science Fiction
Characters:	Rex Dexter (introduction, Origin) Montague Dexter (introduction) Pres. Grover (introduction) Cynde (introduction) Boris Thorax (villain, Introduction) Vesoff

Comic Story (2 pages)	How To Become a Detective
Featuring:	Billy Bounce
Credits:	Script: Norman Lee (credited) \| Pencils: Norman Lee (signed) \| Inks: Norman Lee (signed)
Genre:	Humor
Characters:	Billy Bounce (introduction) Midget Moe

Comic Story (6 pages)	The Coming of Chen Chang
Genre:	Crime
Characters:	Chen Chang (villain, Introduction) Wong (villain, Introduction) Richard Kendall (introduction) Decker Mr. Denby

Comic Story (3 pages)	Skulduggery on Smoky Mountain
Synopsis:	Thieves bring down a plane supposedly carrying $50,000 in gold.
Characters:	Wing Turner (introduction) The Chief (villain, Introduction) Clutch (villain, Introduction)

Comic Story (4 pages)	Trapped by the Top
Genre:	Detective-mystery
Characters:	Zanzibar (introduction, A Magician) The Top (villain, Introduction)

Comic Story (4 pages)	The Case of Tintype's Will
Synopsis:	Hemlock Shomes and Dr. Potsam travel to Old Man Tintype's mansion and try to figure out which one of the many men who claim to be his son actually killed him.
Genre:	Humor Detective-mystery
Characters:	Hemlock Shomes (introduction) Dr. Potsam (introduction) Elmer T. Tintype (introduction) Sloppy Joe (introduction)

Text Story (2 pages)	The Haunted House
Credits:	Letters: typeset
Characters:	Mickey Jerry Pete Joe Donner Sgt. Matterson

Comic Story (4 pages)	Trouble at Gun Hollow
Genre:	Western-frontier
Characters:	The Waco Kid (introduction) Brazos Teale (villain, Introduction) Craig Bridger (introduction) Flash (horse, Introduction)

Comic Story (4 pages)	Another Bombing Outrage
Genre:	Detective-mystery
Characters:	Inspector Bancroft (introduction) Inspector Grainger (introduction) Stuart Bledsoe (villain, Introduction)

Comic Story (4 pages)	The Coming of the Blue Beetle
Characters:	The Blue Beetle [Dan Garret] (introduction) Mike Mannigan (introduction) The White Face Gang [John Brandes, Others] (villains, Introduction) Mr. Vander Donnell Abe

Comic Story (6 pages)	The Panama Canal Affair
Synopsis:	Richard foils a plot to sabotage the Panama Canal.
Genre:	Spy
Characters:	D-13 [Richard Anthony] (introduction, A Secret Agent) Manata (villain, Introduction) Sancho

Comic Story (3 pages)	The Valley of the Dead
Synopsis:	Capt. Scott and the Bengal Lancers are given the task of capturing a group of cutthroats harassing caravans.
Characters:	Capt. Danny Scott Of The Bengal Lancers (introduction)

Comic Story (6 pages)	Saboteurs on the S. S. Regina
Genre:	Spy
Characters:	Lt. Drake Of Naval Intelligence (introduction) Lobardi (villain, Introduction) Kutch (villain, Introduction) A Girl (villain, Introduction)

The data in the above section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database™ under a Creative Commons Attribution License.