Set Description
Four Color Introduction and History
Preface:
Bill O’Reilly published a book this year (2015) called “Legends and Lies: The Real West. O’Reilly’s work interests me, in general, so I bought the book. By the time the read was over I was left in awe at just how much impact the story of the west had on millions of kids and adults in the United States.Looking at bookshelfs today you are hard pressed to find much current "Western" writing directed at “prime audiences”. Most of it is historical analysis and very little storytelling. You could hardly find a kid in grade school that could tell you who Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone were. They have lost their once dominating “sizzle”.
This is in wild contast to the early to mid 1900’s. By the time Bonanza hit TV, Western themed TV dominated the ratings. If you didn’t watch Westerns, you didn’t watch TV. So it should come as no surprise to anybody that comic books also hopped on the Western Bandwagon. While Four Color is well known for its fabulous variety of cartoon to real life adventure it has to be acknowledged as a massive creator of Western oriented comics as well. I ran a count and found approximately 280 Western themed titles in the Four Color title. That works out to about 20% of all the Four Color titles sold, or just about 1 in 5 of every Four Color ever published.
Four Ciolor is a tapestry of history and the Western part of that tapestry just can’t be missed.
History:
I have previously noted that the collecting of the Four Color Series is a marathon, not a sprint. It is not for the impatient or faint of heart. It’s also not for the modern collector that thinks every issue can be had in 9.8, for some price. The Four Color series is probably one of the most confusing and misunderstood titles within the pages of the Overstreet guide. In my intro I hope to highlight some of the mundane, unusual and incredible facts that surround this series.
To begin with, The Four Color series is not really a continuous series of any sort, despite the fact that it holds the record as the longest running title in the history of comic books. While it’s true that the series has nearly 1350 books, it only ran from 1939 to 1962. The normal title would publish 12 issues a year and end up with about 288 issues over a comparable time frame. Many series have bested Four Color when measured by the clock of time rather than number of issues. The Amazing Spider-Man has run for almost twice as many years, just to name one.
Four Color started off with one issue a month but quickly began distributing as many as 10 or more issues per month. Therefore, I have come to wonder if the record for most lengthy title is deserved. Dell simply issued many titles under the same umbrella of Four Color. If you would take a look at the 10 issues distributed in a single month virtually none were related to each other. There might have been a Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny and Little Lulu title all issued in the same month.
Nevertheless, the title has a feature that I do not believe exist anywhere else. Four Color was able to capture the interest of the public at the time they published. They started off with titles such as Dick Tracy, Smitty, Bringing Up Father and Terry and the Pirates. Most kids in this day and age would give you a cock-eyed look and stare at you funny if you mentioned these as popular cartoon characters. Yet as the times evolved over 25 years, the titles offered by Four Color evolved. Donald Duck started relatively early within the series, yet it evolved to include the first appearance of Uncle Scrooge and multiple titles including Duck Album, Gyro Gearloose, etc…Duck titles remained popular to the bitter end.
On the other hand Western Titles such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were popular from near the start. Yet they were a relatively small part of the Four Color universe. In the fifties Westerns became a major Four Color offering with several titles a month at times. The popularity of both waned but some western titles such as Bonanza remained popular to the end of the Four Color run.
Conspicuously absent from Four Color editions is virtually any reference to Super-heroes or Horror themes. Super Heroes had a bit of a lull until the start of the silver age but titles like Batman and Superman were still published throughout the fifties. Horror titles were at the peak of their popularity. Dell was helped by the SOTA hearings in Congress which attempted to villianize any comic with horror or sexually suggestive content. In the mid fifties Dell began their “Pledge to Parents” that the content was wholesome. This was a valuable selling point at the peak of the witch hunt in the comic book arena.
While some large parts of the cultural experience are missing from Four Color comics (Super heroes and horror) it otherwise provides the collector and observer with a mind boggling tapestry of life in the 30’s, 40’s , 50’s and 60’s.
The breadth of Four Color comics is hard to imagine until you begin to examine each issue. Early on many issues were based on popular bestselling authors such as Zane Grey. Four Color published comics based on several individual books as well as the Zane Grey series “ King of the Royal Mounted”
In issue 614 something different happened: Four Color published the comic version of a full length movie: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. This was the launch of many more movie reproductions to come. They had already begun to “cartoonize” many popular television characters and that would also continue for years. But movies, especially those with famous actors would provide an increasing portion of the Four Color offering. Ironically, not long after FC 614, John Wayne’s the Conqueror was published (FC 690). It remains an elusive book in high grade and commands a hefty price. Yet the actual movie has been ranked by some critics as one of the worst movies of all times. Quality of film seemed to make little difference as to the ability to make it to the Four Color presses.
Four Color has another interesting feature which I am unaware of existing outside of Dell comics. For nearly the first 700 issues there were no ads in Four Color comics. Apparently the cover price paid the costs and publishers had not yet recognized the possibilities that advertising might bring. As far as I can tell, starting with FC 711, that changes. An Ad for Schwinn Bikes appears on the back of a Francis the Talking mule comic book. From that point on ads begin to appear sporadically. There is however an even weirder piece of the Dell history. Not only are there ads, but those ads are variable. Almost every book that has an Ad on the back also has another version with the cartoon on the back cover. Perhaps this was like the Marvel price variant scheme where they tested to see if the ads would impact sales. That would seem plausible except that FC 711 was published in June of 1956. The occurrence of ad backs in conjunction with cartoon backs remains a mainstay of the series until the very end, as far as I can tell. Thus the theory about a test marketing scheme does not seem to hold up. The question then becomes: Why would you print two editions of every comic?
The ad backs lead to another question: Is 1350 the correct number of issues or should they be considered “:A” and “B” copies where you don’t have them all unless you have both the “A” and the “B”?
1962 marks one of the strangest chapters in Four Color history. Western Publishing was losing many of their key licenses to Gold Key comics and was quickly looking for solutions to solve that problem. They introduced such titles as Kona and Brain Boy, original characters that they hoped would flourish. While they experienced some short term success with such titles they were doomed to fail at the end without the key licenses. For some strange reason, “holes” began to develop in the Four Color series and questions arose as to what happened. At the same time Dell began to publish some oddities. There were a significant number of issues that had a title but no issue number. Rather they had an eight letter code: XX-XXX-XXX.
Don and Maggie Thompson were probably the first to catalogue the four Colors in a cohesive fashion. Others began to do some research and it was their belief that many of the missing Four Colors had been abruptly changed to the newly coded issues. What Dell hoped to do with these out of order issues I have no idea. Most did not last through 1963. In 1996 Duanne Dimock of the Comic book Market Place began to claim that he had found the missing Four Color issues. Through rigorous analysis of the 8 digit code it was beloved that the missing issues had been located.
A 2011 blog filled in even more of the details on these missing issues. I cannot find the name of the author to give proper credit but the website is located as follows:
http://dellcomicfan.blogspot.com/2011/12/where-are-missing-dell-four-color.html
More evidence of these missing issues seemed almost certain when a collector bought a stack of original art containing covers for a number of Dell issues published in 1962. Among those was a Beany and Cecil issue with the words FC 1340 written on top. The number later found on the issue with this cover was: 01-057-209 which perfectly corresponded with the hole in FC 1340 per the 8 digit code discussed above. Unfortunately I have misplaced my reference material and cannot relocate the article.
Numbering was an interesting adventure throughout the Four Color history. There were titles that might last ten issues and then go to their own feature size comic book. Yet there are many examples where a Four Color might have a title recognized as # 1, 2 and 3. It then goes off on its own to see its own comic for issue # 4 and 5. It might then return to Four Color for issue # 6 and then go back on its own for issue #7. Overstreet has done a remarkable job of cataloguing the actual order and number of each comic book in the series.
Four Color seemed willing to try anything where numbering came into play. Starting with issue #313 (Mickey Mouse #19) Dell started a new numbering system and made this “#1”. A number of titles including Donald Duck were drawn into the new numbering scheme. It lasted until issue number “2” and thins seems to have been quietly disbanded.
Series Highlights
Dick Tracy: 10 issues within Four Color, continuing with Dell and finishing with Harvey this would produce another 135 issues.
Donald Duck; Starting with First series #4 Donald Duck has 33 Four Color appearances. Carl Barks is born out of the Four Color series. The series continues all the way until 1994 and issue # 305. Many of the Four Color stories were reprinted repeatedly. Hundreds if not thousands of other Duck related titles came out of the original Four Color cauldron.
Smilin’ Jack : One of the first stories to appear in Four Color it ran a total of eight issues before branching out on its own for a short run.
Tillie the Toiler: Unknown today this series ran in a total of seven Four Color issues.
Mickey Mouse: Thirty Three Four Color appearances also puts Mickey Mouse near the top of Four Color appearances. It later breaks off on its own and runs a total of 255 issues into the early 90’s. The original Four color stories were reprinted often, as in the case with Donald Duck.
Popeye: Popeye was extremely popular back in the day it was being published. It ran a total of seven Four Color issues before branching out. It would eventually finish at 171 in the late eighties.
Marge’s Little Lulu: Lulu was on fire back in the day and this series lasted 11 issues in Four Color before branching off and publishing a total of 205 issues.
Bugs Bunny: Bugs showed up 35 times over the course of his Four Color career. It would go on to finish at issue 245 in the mid 80’s.
Porky Pig: Porky Pig lasted 27 issues within the Four Color series. It went into its own format and lasted until issue 109.
Santa Claus Funnies: This was heavily created by Walt Kelly originally and later had a bigger variety of talent. It ran a total of seventeen appearances within Four Color. It’s one of the few to span nearly the entire stretch of Four Color; from 1944 all the way through to the early sixties.
Woody Woodpecker: The series goes 15 issues within Four Color before going its own way. It lasts all the way to # 201 in the mid eighties.
Oswald the Rabbit (Walter Lantz): This series lasted 20 issues and covered all the way from 1943 to the early sixties. Yet it never branched off or got any play time anywhere else.
Roy Rogers and Gene Autry: These were the first of the Four Color Cowboys. Gene Autry lasts six issues before branching off and going to number 121.Roy Rogers manages to fill out the pages of 14 issues before going it alone. Solo he lasts to issue # 145. These were the first of many cowboys to come.
Zane Grey, Stories of the West lasts a surprising total of 27 issues. Zane had another 8 issues published with the “King of the Royal Mounted” storyline. Outside of Four Color, neither went anywhere.
Frosty the Snowman: This title last 11 issues within Four Color before shutting down.
The Brownies: Started by Walt Kelly this lasted 10 issues.
Francis the Famous Talking Mule. Despite the fact that nobody has heard of Francis today. It lasted a respectable 17 issues within Four Color.
Goofy: Goofy lasts a solid 15 issues within the Four Color series.
Famous Firsts:
Alley Oop #1 (FC #3)
Felix the Cat #1 (FC #15)
Porky Pig #1 (FC #16)
Oswald the Rabbit #1 (FC #21)
Andy Panda #1 (FC #25)
Roy Rogers #1 (FC #38)
Marge’s Little Lulu #1 (FC #74)
Henry #1 (FC #122)
Woody Woodpecker #1 (FC # 169)
Uncle Wiggly #1 ( FC # 179)
The Brownies #1-Walt Kelly (FC #192)
Tom and Jerry #1 (FC 193)
Little Iodine # 1 (FC 224)
The Mark of Zorro #1 (FC #228)
Johnny Mack Brown #1 (FC #269)
Bozo the Clown # 1 (FC # 285)
Frosty the Snowman # 1 (FC #359)
Beany and Cecil #1 ( FC #368)
Tom Corbett Space cadet #1 (FC #378)
Tweety and Sylvester # 1 (FC #406)
Robin Hood (First Disney Movie Reproduction-FC # 413)
Rin Tin Tin #1 (FC #434)
Ben Bowie nd his Mountain Men #1 (FC #443)
Daffy # 1 (FC #457)
Goofy # 1 (FC #468)
Beetle Bailey # 1 (FC #469)
Chip and Dale # 1 (FC #517)
I Love Lucy #1 (FC #535)
Prince Valiant #1 (FC # 567)
Turok Son of Stone #1 (FC #567)
M.G.M.’s Mouse Musketeeers #1 (FC # 670)
Gunsmoke # 1 (FC # 670)
Captain Kangaroo # 1 (FC #721)
Maverick $1 (FC # 892)-James Garner
Leave it to Beaver # 1 (FC #912)
Beep Beep-Roadrunner (FC #918)
Ruff N’ Ready #1 (FC 937) First Hannah Barbera comic book
Rawhide #1 (FC 1028) Clint Eastwood
Quick Draw McGraw #1 (FC 1040)
Three Stooges #1 (FC # 1043)
Yogi Bear #1 (FC 1067)
Bonanza #1 (FC # 1110)
Rocky and his Friends #1 (FC # 1128)
Mister Magoo #1 (FC #1235)
Andy Griffith #1 (FC # 1252)
Car 54 Where are You? #1 (FC #1254)
There are many other #1’s , but this list is an impressive start.
Missing Four Colors:
I have previously discussed the missing Four Colors. Here now is a list of comics that might well be the “missing Four Color issues”. These were derived by looking at date marks on the cover and determining if they were part of another numbered series of comics that might have existed. For example if Bonanza #5 was trtuly #5 it would say so in the indica. Most of the missing Four Colors simply used a cryptic code of letters that few people understood. But what could be done was to match up dates and the issues that were not part of another series match up nearly perfectly with the missing issues:
1217: Ken and Barbie #1 01-053-207
1228: Bonanza 01-070-207
1292: Cain’s Hundred #1 01-094-207
1314: Donald Duck Album 01-204-207
1315: Follow the Sun 01-280-207
1316: King Leanardo 01-390-207
1317: Laramie: 01-418-207
1318: Leave it to Beaver 01-428-207
1319: Lolly and Pepper 01-459-207
1320: Man From Wells fargo 01-495-207
1321: Marge’s Lulu and Tubby in Japan 01-476-207
1322: The Prince and the Pauper 01-654-207
1323: National Velvet 01-556-207
1324: Pixie Dixie and Mr. Jinx 01-631-207
1325: The Real McCoy’s 01-689-207
1326: The Twilight Zone 01-860-207
1327: The Untouchables 01-879-207
1329 This is unusual. Ben casey seems to fit the spot (#1 ) 12-063-207
However Gyro Gearloose also seems to fit the spot. In fact I have a Gyro Gearloose in a CGC case titled Four Color #1329, despite the fact that 1329 is listed nowhere on the title or indica.
1331: Blue Phantom #1 01-066-208
1334: Dazey’s Diary 01-174-208
1338: Fury 01-292-208
1339 Rawhide 01-684-208
1340: Beany and Cecil 01-057-209
1342: Brenda Lee’s Life Story 01-078-209
1343: Bullwinkle 01-090-209
1344: Drift Marlo #1 01-090-209
1345: Famous Indian Tribes #1 12-264-209
1346; Jungle War Stories #1 01-384-209
1347: King Of Diamonds 01-391-209
1351: The Magic Sword 12-496-209
1352: Ponytail #1 12-641-209
1353: 77 Sunset Strip 01-742-209
1353 possibility #2 The Twist 01-864-209
One book that seems to be lost and would also fit in this slot (1353), is The Twist 01-864-209
1355: Bonanza 01-070-210
1356: The Three Stooges Meet Hercules 01-828-208
1357: Mickey Mouse Album 12-518-210
1358: National Velvet 12-556-210
1359: The Twilight Zone 12-860-210
1360: The Untouchables 12-879-210
1361 (questionable?) Walt Disney’s Goofy: Scoutmaster
I have added a great many of these to my collection, but like a lot of the later Four Colors, many are seriously elusive in high grade or in any grade. Cain’s Hundred. King Of Diamonds, Dazeys Diary, The Twist and Jungle War stories are just a few of the titles that many people have never seen, unless they were really looking. Even Marge’s Lulu and Tubby in Japan is practically impossible to find in higher grade. Frankly, you might not see it show up for months at a time.
