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Famous Funnies is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955 with two precursor one-shots appearing in 1933–1934. Published by Eastern Color Printing, Famous Funnies is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following seminal precursors.
It was followed in 1933 by Eastern Color Printing's Funnies on Parade, a similarly newsprint tabloid but only eight pages and composed of several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate, the Ledger Syndicate, Associated Newspapers, and the Bell Syndicate, "Funnies on Parade", Grand Comics Database. Accessed Oct. 29, 2018. and reprinted in color. Neither sold nor available on newsstands, it was sent free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. Other sponsoring corporations utilizing the comic as a giveaway included Kinney Shoes and Canada Dry beverages.
A Carnival of Comics featured such popular syndicated comic strips as The Bungle Family, Dixie Dugan, Joe Palooka, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Mutt and Jeff, Reg'lar Fellers, and Somebody's Stenog, as well as many more. Creators included F. O. Alexander, Gene Byrnes, Al Capp, Wallace Carlson, Clare Victor Dwiggins, Frank Godwin, A. E. Hayward, Sol Hess, J. P. McEvoy, C. M. Payne, Al Smith, John H. Striebel, and Harry J. Tuthill.
In early 1934, Eastern Color Printing president George Janosik formed a 50/50 joint venture with Dell president George Delacorte to publish and market a comic book for retail sales. As a test to see if the public would be willing to pay for comic books, Dell published the single-issue Famous Funnies: Series 1, also printed by Eastern Color. Unlike its predecessor, it was intended from the start to be sold rather than given away. A 68-page collection of comic strips previously published in Funnies on Parade and Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, this 10¢ periodical had a print run of 35,000 and sold successfully. Famous Funnies: Series 1 at the Grand Comics Database.
With the outbreak of World War II, the publishing industry participated in national drives to conserve paper. As a conservation measure, syndicates reduced the size of full-page Sunday comics to three-quarters or half the size of the newspaper page. As a result of this size reduction, newspaper strips were no longer suitable for further reduction in the comic book format, and Eastern was forced to commission new work rather than reprint material. Famous Funnies #88 (cover-dated November 1941) carried the last sets of reprint material from the full-size newspaper page. Beginning with the following issue, Eastern Color Printing started to commission new work for their comic book publications. Many features from the original Famous Funnies format were continued by the same artists. These artists now turned their strips into dual features – one for newspaper syndication with an emphasis on adult appeal, and the other to fit the new comic book page size and an emphasis on juvenile appeal.
The success of Famous Funnies soon led to the title being sold on newsstands alongside slicker magazines. Eastern began to experiment with modifying the newspaper reprints to be more suitable to the comic book format. Lettering, reduced in reproduction to the point of illegibility, was reworked for the size of the comic book page. Adventure strips, reprinted in several weeks' worth of strips at a time, were trimmed of panels providing a recap of previous events, contributing to a concise and more smoothly flowing version of the story. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, Famous Funnies (Eastern Color, 1934 Series) at the Grand Comics Database. inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium.
Issue #2 marked the start of original material produced specifically for the book, including Art Nugent's Funland (occasionally called Funland Everybody's Playmate), which appeared in most issues from #1 to #162 (1934–1948). Issue #3 began a run of Buck Rogers features. Buck Rogers would eventually run in issues #3–190 and 209–215.
Jane Arden was a regular feature in issues #2–35. The Pop Momand features Keeping Up with the Joneses and Holly of Hollywood were featured in issues #3–48.
For several years Victor E. Pazmiño drew most of the covers for Famous Funnies. Oaky Doaks was featured often on the covers of the title, which also reprinted the strip.
In May 1936, Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover contacted cartoonist Rex Collier and proposed a comic strip based on true stories of FBI agents. Collier’s strip, War on Crime, is reprinted in the October issue (#27) of Famous Funnies — the first "true crime" story in comic books.
Stookie Allen contributed the feature Above the Crowd to Famous Funnies from 1935 to 1943, in most issues from #11 to #109. Lank Leonard's Mickey Finn was featured in issues #28–35.
Famous Funnies #32 featured the first appearance of the Phantom Magician as a supporting character in the feature The Adventures of Patsy. The Phantom Magician was an early costumed hero pre-dating Superman. The Adventures of Patsy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia.
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Famous Funnies #38 began reprints of the Ledger Syndicate strip Eagle Scout Roy Powers. Penned by artist Paul Powell, himself a former Boy Scout, this strip became the official symbol of the Boy Scouts of America and was instrumental in the promotion of its Eagle Scout rank. Roy Powers ran as a regular feature in Famous Funnies for ten years.
Famous Funnies #62 featured early work by artist Jack Kirby under the pen name Lance Kirby. Jack Kirby at the Grand Comics Database.
Inspired by the popular trend of superheroes, Famous Funnies #81 introduced Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, one of comics’ earliest super-heroines, authored by Russell Stamm. This issue marked a change in mood for Famous Funnies, as the covers switched from whimsical gags to more serious adventurous fare.
Buck Rogers returned to Famous Funnies in issue #209, having been dropped from the title two issues earlier. The event was celebrated by the first of a series of eight covers by Frank Frazetta, and these issues are among the most sought-after among collectors today.
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