''Feature Comics'', originally ''Feature Funnies'', was an American comic book anthology series published by

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

from 1939 until 1950, that featured short stories in the humor genre and later the superhero genre.

Publication history

The series started out as a reprint collection of newspaper comic strips that was published by

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 1981),Harr ...

between 1937 and 1939, for twenty issues entitled ''Feature Funnies''. It featured cannily mixed color reprints of popular

newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

s like ''

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984. The strip was adapt ...

'', '' Mickey Finn'' and ''

Dixie Dugan ''Dixie Dugan'' is best known as a long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip published from October 21, 1929 to October 8, 1966. The title character was originally modeled after 1920s film actress Louise Brooks and early stories followed Dix ...

'' with a smattering of new features. Publisher Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, deducing that

Depression-era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

audiences wanted established quality and familiar

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

for their hard-earned dimes, formed the suitably titled Comic Favorites, Inc. in collaboration with three newspaper

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndica ...

s: the

McNaught Syndicate The McNaught Syndicate was an American newspaper syndicate founded in 1922. It was established by Virgil Venice McNitt (who gave it his name) and Charles V. McAdam. Its best known contents were the columns by Will Rogers and O. O. McIntyre, the ...

, the

Frank J. Markey Syndicate The Frank Jay Markey Syndicate was a small print syndication service that distributed comic strips and columns from the mid-1930s to c. 1950. Although small in size, the syndicate distributed strips by a number of notable cartoonists, including Ed ...

and Iowa's

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

(Comic Favorites later became an imprint of Arnold's

, established in 1939). Hiring

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

and Goldberg's assistant, Johnny Devlin,Jay, Alex
"Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Johnny Devlin,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (June 11, 2018). Arnold in mid-1937 began publishing ''Feature Funnies'' from his office as at 389 Lexington Avenue in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Goldberg drew many of the covers. The new material came from comics "packagers", small studios that sprang up to produce comics on demand for publishers looking to enter the emerging comic-book field. Arnold initially bought from the quirkily named

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 1981),Harr ...

shop but later relied solely on

Eisner & Iger Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Many of comic books' most significant c ...

, headed by

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

and

Jerry Iger Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger (; August 22, 1903 – September 5, 1990) was an American cartoonist and art-studio entrepreneur. With business partner Will Eisner, he co-founded Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on demand ...

. Arnold recalled in the early 1970s: "I believe the first feature I purchased from Eisner & Iger was 'Espionage' in 1938 for ''Feature Comics'' (then ''Feature Funnies'')". Steranko, Jim, ''The Steranko History of Comics 2'' (Supergraphics, 1972), p. 92 Other newspaper comic strip characters in ''Feature Funnies'' included the constantly bickering

Bungle Family ''The Bungle Family'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, created by Harry J. Tuthill, that first appeared in 1918. Originally titled ''Home, Sweet Home'', it first appeared as part of a series of rotating strips in the '' New York Evening Mai ...

and girl reporter Jane Arden. ''Feature Comics'' then continued the numbering with issue #21, and ran until #144.

Recurring features

Doll Man Doll Man is a superhero first appearing in American comic books from the Golden Age of Comics, originally published by Quality Comics and currently part of the DC Comics universe of characters. Doll Man was created by cartoonist Will Eisner and ...

: a shrinking superhero written and created by

(under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"William Erwin Maxwell") debuted in #27 and was the lead feature through #139. * The Clock:

George Brenner George E. Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist in the mid 20th-century. He created comics such as '' The Clock'', '' Bozo the Iron Man'', and '' 711''. Brenner was first employed by the Comics Magazine Company before moving to Everet ...

's masked crime-fighter was featured was carried over from ''Feature Funnies'', running in every issue of ''Feature Comics'' from #21–31 (Apr. 1940), when he moved over to the new Quality Comics title ''

Crack Comics ''Crack Comics'' was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It featured such characters as The Clock, Black Condor, Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Madame Fatal, Jane Arden, Molly the ...

''. * Jane Arden: Reprints of the popular newspaper strip featuring a spunky gal reporter were carried over from ''Feature Funnies'', running in every issue of ''Feature Comics'' from #21–31 (Apr. 1940), when the strip also moved over to ''Crack Comics''. *

Spider Widow Spider Widow is a fictional superhero character that was published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The character was created by writer and artist Frank Borth, and debuted in ''Feature Comics'' #57, which bore a cover date ...

: a female crime-fighter dressed as a stereotypical

Hallowe'en Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

witch, with a green-faced old crone mask, a floppy black hat, and a long black dress.

Frank Borth Frank M. Borth III (April 1, 1918 – August 9, 2009) was an American comic book artist. Biography Borth was born and raised in Cleveland, eventually graduating in 1940 from the Cleveland School of Art, where he majored in illustration."New Sea A ...

's strip ran from issue #57 (June 1942) to #72 (June 1943). * Stunt Man Stetson: a story about an amateur detective in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

was the lead from #140 until #144.

References

External links

* * * {{refend Quality Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United States 1939 comics debuts 1950 comics endings Superhero comics Humor comics Golden Age comics titles