Famous Funnies is an American publication of the 1930s that represents what popular culture historians consider the first true American comic book, following seminal precursors. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — An American comic book is a small Magazine originating in the United States and containing a Narrative in the Comics form

Eastern Color Press' Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics (1933)

The creation of the modern American comic book came in stages. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Dell Publishing in 1929 published a 16-page, newsprint periodical of original, comic strip-styled material titled The Funnies and described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert". Dell Publishing was an American publisher of Books, Magazines, and Comic books. Newsprint is low-cost non-archival Paper most commonly used to print Newspapers plus other publications and advertising material A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist The Funnies is an American publication of the late 1920s that was a seminal precursor of Comic books. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. A tabloid is a Newspaper industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest ^[1] (This is not to be confused with Dell's later same-name comic book, which began publication in 1936. ) Historian Ron Goulart describes the four-color, newsstand periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book". A newsagent ( British English) newsagency ( Australian English) or newsstand ( American English) is often a small business that sells ^[2] It was followed in 1933 by Eastern Color Printing's Funnies on Parade, a similarly newsprint tabloid but only eight pages^[3] and composed of several comic strips licenced from the McNaught and McClure Syndicate and reprinted in color. The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company which published Comic books, beginning in 1933 Funnies on Parade is an American publication of the early 1930s that was a seminal precursor of Comic books. 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. Procter & Gamble Co ( P&G,) is a Fortune 500, American global corporation based in Cincinnati Ohio, that manufactures a wide

That same year, however, Eastern Color salesperson Maxwell Gaines and sales manager Harry I. Maxwell Charles Gaines aka MC Gaines, aka Charles Gaines, aka Charlie Gaines (born Maxwell Ginsburg or Maxwell Ginzberg c Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics,^[4] considered by historians the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". ^[2] It was distributed through the Woolworth's department store chain, though it is unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover (see above) displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to Gaines "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [sic] on the comic books". The F W Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores A department store is a Retail establishment which specializes in selling a wide range of products without a single predominant merchandise line. Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus" "so" "as such" or "just as that" ^[2]

Famous Funnies #1 (July 1934). Cover art by Jon Mayes.

When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company, it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression, selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print though ironically running Eastern Color more than $4,000 in the red. American News Company was a magazine distribution company which dominated the distribution market in the forties and fifties ^[2] That quickly changed, with the book turning a $30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. ^[2] Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press"

Footnotes

References

• All in Color for a Dime by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson ISBN 0-87341-498-5
• The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide by Robert Overstreet — Edition #35 ISBN 0-375-72107-X
• The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. Richard Allen Lupoff, (born February 21, 1935, Brooklyn New York) is a Science fiction and mystery author who has also written humor satire Donald Thompson, Donald Thomson, Don Thompson or Don Thomson may refer to Donald Thomson (1901–1970 Australian anthropologist 1 & 2, by James Steranko — Vol. James Steranko (born 5 November, 1938, Reading Pennsylvania, United States) is an American Graphic artist, Comic 1 ISBN 0-517-50188-0
• CBW Comic History: The Early Years...1896 to 1937, Part II
• The ComicBooks.com: The History of Comic Books
• Grand Comics Database: Famous Funnies: Carnival of Comics