Famous Funnies #81 (1941)

Updated 2/6/16

Famous Funnies #81, cover by H. G. Peter

A category of collecting I have felt for some time is ripe for steady growth is first appearances of oddball, defunct and public domain characters from the 1930s - 1950s, including those that debuted in other media, such as pulps and newspaper strips.  What's the appeal? First is the under-appreciated stories and art to enjoy. Second is the financial accessibility of many of these books.  Amassing examples of some category, whether favorite character appearances or complete runs, is what collecting is all about.  When an area of collecting gets expensive, people look for something cheaper but still fun and rewarding.  I see this category taking off much in the same way that pre-code horror did in the past decade.

I will talk about a few of the books that fall into this category in future posts.  Today I will discuss Famous Funnies #81, the first comic book appearance of Invisible Scarlet O'Neil.  After two years of monitoring eBay for it and never seeing a single copy (I own one that I found on another site, pictured above), a couple have popped up recently.  This reminded me to share a few things I have learned about this neat book.

So what does this comic have going for it?  Firstly, (depending on who you ask), Scarlet O'Neil is the first female comic character with super-powers.  Secondly, it has an appealing cover by H. G. Peter, drawn several months before the debut of Wonder Woman, the character with whom he is most closely associated.

What does this comic have going against it?  First, it is only the first appearance of Scarlet in comic books.  She debuted in a newspaper strip on June 3, 1940, a few months before this would have hit newsstands. This shouldn't deter you, however, as the first comic book appearance of other classic characters (such as the Phantom) have shown increased interest of late.  Second, the interior contains no original material, all of its features being reprints of newspaper strips.  This includes the 4 pages of Scarlet O'Neil strips, which you can read below.


What's nice is that O'Neil made it to the comic books relatively quickly, and had a later series of original material published by Harvey.  Here is a small selection of non-comic book originating characters, with the dates of their debut in other media and in comic books.  Invisible Scarlet O'Neil made it to comic books faster than any in this short sample list,  which in my opinion should factor positively into the appeal of this book.

Character	Debut	Date	1st comic book app.	Date	Time lag*
Buck Rogers	Amazing Stories pulp mag.	Aug 1928	Famous Funnies #3	Oct. 1934	6 yrs
Don Winslow	Newspaper strip	Mar. 5, 1934	Popular Comics #1	Feb. 1936	1 yr 9 mos.
Invisible Scarlet O'Neil	Newspaper strip	June 3, 1940	Famous Funnies #81	Apr. 1941	8 mos
Lady Luck	1st Spirit section (newspaper insert)	June 2, 1940	Smash Comics #42	Apr. 1943	2.5 yrs
Mandrake the Magician	Newspaper strip	June 11, 1934	King Comics #7	Oct. 1936	2 yrs, 3 mos
The Phantom	Newspaper strip	Feb. 17, 1936	Ace Comics #11	Feb. 1938	1 yr, 10 mos

* Comics landed on newsstands as much as 3-4 months before the date printed on the cover


Can anyone tell me the first non-reprint comic book appearance of this character?

The 2015 Overstreet values for Famous Funnies #81:

GD	VG	FN	VF	VF/NM	NM-
$ 25	$ 50	$ 75	$ 147	$ 241	$ 335

Overstreet's notes: "Origin & 1st app. Invisible Scarlet O'Neil (4/41); strip begins #82, ends #167; 1st non-funny-c (Scarlet O'Neil)."

I must admit I don't understand "strip begins #82", because as far as I can tell it begins here.  Issue 82 again contains 4 pages of what appear to be the same type of newspaper strip reprints.

For the record, she also appeared on the back cover of Famous Funnies #80 in an ad for the next issue:

Famous Funnies #80 (March 1941) back cover

 

Only four people (or fewer) have bothered to have their copies graded by CGC, and these show up in the census in grades ranging from 5.0 to 7.0.  GP Analysis shows the 7.0 as having sold for $540 (about 4X guide!) in 2008, and the 5.0 for $57 in 2012.

In the opening of this post, I alluded to copies of this book that have recently come to market.  The first was an auction of a VG copy that sold for $195.50.  The seller of the second lot obviously saw this and put up a GD copy, trying his luck at $199.99, and it sold within a couple of days. I thought I saw another before the June 7th auction, but can't find the lot now.

I paid $67 for a FN-ish copy in early 2014.  Now that you have seen the distinctive cover, look out for it while flipping through boxes of miscellaneous Golden Age!  And please let us know if you find a nice one.

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Scarlet O'Neil blog noting the character's 75th anniversary

Cartoonician article featuring Scarlet O'Neil newspaper strips

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil official website


I didn't find Famous Funnies #81 at the Digital Comic Museum, but I carefully scanned the 4 Scarlet O'Neil pages from my own copy:

Doom Patrol #86 (1964)

Many collectors of Bronze, Copper and Modern comics don't look at the Silver or Golden Age because they think all of the good keys are far beyond their financial reach.  Yet this period of comic book history is a prime hunting area for undervalued gems.  The Silver Age stretches roughly from 1956 to 1970.  I divide this into early (1956-64) and late (1965-70) SA.  Any collector wanting to raise their collection and comic book knowledge to the next level should understand the difference between the two periods.  For one, 1963-64 marks the entrance of slightly older fans loyal to the new Marvel brand.  Whether it is actually true that they took better care of their comics than the previous generation is beyond the scope of this piece.  However this is the conventional wisdom that an analysis of the CGC census would likely support.

More importantly, the mid- to late-60s and early 70s are very well represented in the Mile High II "collection" (warehouse hoard) of 2 million comic books purchased by Chuck Rozanski in 1985.  The story of the purchase is an interesting one, but for the purpose of this discussion simply know this: high grade Silver Age books of the late 60s are not rare. If memory serves, the title & issue with the most number of (undistributed) copies in the hoard numbered 14,000 copies.  By all means buy what you like from this era, but if looking to broaden your collection into earlier decades, the good news is there is a lot of great stuff from this era that is still affordable, and in my opinion, more likely to multiply in value over the years.

The first such book that I want to recommend is Doom Patrol #86 from 1964.  This book has two main things going for it.  Firstly, it is the first issue of the Doom Patrol title (My Greatest Adventure having changed its title between issues 85 and 86). Secondly, it contains a cover-featured debut of an interesting and under-rated pair of villains. Now, the "Rule of Villains" says to think carefully about the potential of a villain to be a break-out hit.  Does he/she/it have the potential to rise to Joker or Harley Quinn-like popularity?  Few do, but there is a lot of space to occupy between the loved and the loathed.  Monsieur Mallah and the Brain are just the type of oddball characters I believe could develop a cult following (if indeed they don't have one already).  The slow introduction of Gorilla Grodd in season one of the Flash TV series has excited a lot of fans - could another super-gorilla be far behind?  Neither DC nor Marvel have shown apprehension in bringing some of their odder characters to the screen, and as long as fanboys like Kevin Feige (Marvel) and Geoff Johns (DC) continue to have a major role and the films continue to be successful, this shouldn't change.

If you are not convinced yet, Doom Patrol #86 comes dead last in Overstreet value in the following list of 21 first issues published between 1956 and 1964.  Notably, it is worth less than a third of the next least valuable comic:

Green indicates books with a change in Overstreet value of more than 19% over last year; yellow means a change more than 9%.  I did not cherry-pick these issues to support my argument.  I looked up every Marvel and DC superhero (or superhero-like) Number One in this 8-year period.  If there's any others I might have included, please let me know.

Does the fact it does not sport a Number One on its cover hurt the value?  Well, another analysis we could do would be to compare the value of sequential issues in a series that was retitled without changing the numbering.  Unfortunately I have to break my rule of not comparing early with late Silver Age, but in this case the best examples are the Marvel relaunches of the late 60s:

The first issue in every case except Doom Patrol 86 is that the first of the retitled series is worth more than the previous issue (average of 4 times more), while Doom Patrol #86 is actually worth only 2/3 of My Greatest Adventure #85.  One brief note about Overstreet.  We all know that the market value of certain comics vary widely from the guide value, but in this case I don't see any indication of sales widely deviating from Overstreet values.  That's good for the collector who's getting in now.

I have no problem seeing a 5- to 10-fold increase in FMV for this book in the next 4 years.

Finally, for a little icing on the cake, this issue also features the first appearances of the remaining members of the "Brotherhood of Evil", Madame Rouge, Mister Morden and Rog.  When it comes down to it, however, what I like about the book is the awesome first appearance / gorilla cover, the fact it is from 1964, and the incredibly cheap price.

In the market, I see a high grade copy on eBay by a seller who obviously believes highly in this book.  I don't think the masses are on to this book or ready to pay anywhere near that price yet.  There have been few slabbed sales in recent years.

I think you are going to find my picks to be in the "far-in-advance notice" category.  I have a list of at least 100 books I consider to have much upside potential that I have not seen discussed.  Hopefully I will have something for every budget, era and interest.

Thanks for checking this out!


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The Brain's debut on page 10

Monsieur Mallah's debut on page 11

 

Mallah in action against the Doom Patrol

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #54 (1992)

Michelangelo is the one with the nunchaku, right?

I remember the buzz in my local comic shop after TMNT #1 was released in 1984 (I was just a wee lad), but I was a reader of mainstream Marvel and DC at that time.  Apart from the main characters, I have to admit I don't know much about the TMNT universe.  (There's a good chance, though, that I was at the comic convention where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered). I'd love to hear from readers who can say more about the importance of Karai in the pantheon of TMNT characters, and whether they consider this book particularly collectible.

Karai debuted in TMNT #54 ("City at War, pt. 5"), published in Dec. 1992.  Within a year the original run would conclude with issue 62.  In May, it was announced that Brittany Ishibashi will play Karai in 2016's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, taking over from Minae Noji, who portrayed her briefly in the 2014 relaunch of the franchise. (When I get around to seeing that, it will be my first TMNT film!)

In this blog, we give you the inside scoop.  We open books and turn pages.  In that spirit, here is the entirety of Karai's debut in issue 54, pages 16-17.  No costume, no hint of abilities, but I have to give a nod to those earrings. And she is definitely up to no good:

1st appearance of Karai, Shredder's (sometimes?) daughter

According to Turtlepedia, Karai is flying from Japan to New York to "unify the warring factions of the Foot Clan that had risen following the death of Oroku Saki."

There are a few copies on eBay as of this writing as well as two here.  I would avoid myComicShop as their prices for all available copies are very high.  GP Analysis lists sales of 2 CGC 9.8 copies in June/July for $100 and $110.  CGC has graded 9 copies to date.  I checked Comichron for the print run, but data for 1992 doesn't seem to exist.  I didn't find this title in the top 300 sellers for that year, however.

Thanks for reading!

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Other useful links:

Karai on Wikipedia ("...in her original comic incarnation, Karai was completely unrelated to the Shredder and was actually higher in the Foot Clan's global hierarchy." Error: says #54 is "City At War No. 1")

Karai on Turtlepedia (implies she first appeared in #52???)

Iron Man #28 (1970)

1st slab to sport the label

Watched the latest Agent Carter episode last night.  Love, love, love Howard Stark.  Loved him in the first Cap movie, loved him in the Agent Carter short, love what they've been doing with him in the comics.  As a fan of Marvel stories based in WWII and the 1950s, he's one of my favorite characters.  He's grown from just being part of Iron Man's back story to being one of the most important characters in Marvel's history, up there with Nick Fury and Captain America.  He was portrayed by Gerard Sanders in Iron Man 1, Dominic Cooper in Cap 1, then again in the Agent Carter short and TV series.  John Slattery played him in Iron Man 2.  He'll appear yet again this summer in "Ant-Man", in what will be his fourth big-screen appearance.

In the comics, he first appeared in a one-panel flashback in Iron Man #28.  CGC notes it on the label now because I requested it on a submission form last year.  His next appearance isn't until 7 years later, in Iron Man #104, where he is pictured in a portrait hanging in Tony Stark's house.  In the next issue, he appears in a hallucination.  He appears in Avengers Annual 9 in 1979, but I'm not sure how - my guess is it's a flashback image having to do with some robots the Avengers were fighting.

Iron Man #28, 1970

2nd appearance (Iron Man #104, 1977)

3rd appearance (Iron Man #105, 1977)

5th appearance (New Warriors #4, 1990)

It is established that he had an adventurous past in what is his first significant story role in my opinion, in the 22-page "A Soldier's Story" from 1990's Captain America Annual #9.  This relates a Howling Commandos mission to save Howard and his wife Maria from the Red Skull during World War II.  This story also establishes that Howard Stark met Captain America during World War II.  I could only find an image of Howard punching out a Nazi thug, but this issue should have been on my pull list as a young collector.  I'm going to dig it out to read first chance I get!

Captain America Annual #9, 1990

Attached are images from some of Howard's early appearances, plus the cover of Operation: SIN #1 which came out just this month.  Here's a good article about his film and comic appearances.

A recent appearance

 

Thor #127 (1966)

My copy

I'm a big fan of comics with multiple important events and/or first appearances.  There's more bang for your buck, and greater the chance that a character debuting within will go on to bigger and better things.  When those first appearances are under the radar, valued no higher than surrounding issues (#128, #129, #130) well, in my book that's what you call an undervalued comic.

Today's highlight is Thor #127 from April 1966.  The Overstreet Price Guide and CGC's label notation reads "1st appearance of Pluto" - big deal, right? But this issue also features two other nice historic Marvel events that not many people know about.

The first is that this issue is the first appearance of Hippolyta (later Warrior Woman). A minor character for sure, Warrior Woman is Marvel's version of Wonder Woman and had a starring role in the short-lived Fearless Defenders series from 2013. Someone must have thought she had potential! But with Wonder Woman getting such a high profile in the nascent DC Cinematic Universe, is Marvel likely to introduce Warrior Woman in theirs? I don't see them introducing Olympians when they have already asked audiences to accept the existence of Asgardians. Still, you never know and this is an interesting character debut worth knowing about.

Hippolyta's debut in Thor #127

Warrior Woman as depicted in the Fearless Defenders (2013 series)

The Other Thing


Loooooong before Thor: Ragnarok was announced, it was pretty clear a sequel to the Dark World would be in Marvel Studios' plans (Chris Hemsworth is the sexiest man alive, after all), and anyone with a knowledge of Thor comics and good guessing skills and could have predicted it would cover the Ragnarok storyline. I don't know about others, but the first thing that comes to mind for me when I hear Ragnarok is the Midgard Serpent. And sure enough, the Midgard Serpent a.k.a. the World Serpent a.k.a. Jormungandr first appears in the backup story of Thor #127. He/it WILL appear in Thor 3, albeit as a CGI character - that's my opinion. Check out the Serpent's debut in the image below, and pay special attention to the last panel.  What word interestingly appears THREE times? Yes, this might be the first time Ragnarok is foreshadowed in Thor comics.
 

"As Lo, there shall appear the MIDGARD SERPENT -- proclaiming the day of RAGNAROK!! RAGNAROK -- the time the gods themselves shall perish!  RAGNAROK -- the end of the world!!"

Would Jormungandr incite the collector interest of Fin Fang Foom, or be something of a lifeless dud like Krona in Thor: The Dark World? More likely the latter, but how cool is this trifecta of trivial tidbits?

• First appearance of Pluto
• First appearance of Hippolyta
• First appearance of the Midgard Serpent and first mention of Ragnarok*.

* For well-rounded research, it is worth nothing there is an Atlas-era issue of Venus predating JIM 83 in which Thor and Loki appear, but it is coveted by Atlas collectors for other reasons.

For good measure, debut of Pluto, Hollywood honcho

This issue is technically Thor #2 (the title having changed from "Journey Into Mystery" to "Thor" with #126), so it is collected for that reason.  I purchased a copy at auction last year (graded VF but more like a NM-) for $44. Having been published during the Mile High II years, there are lots of copies out there, not expensive, and easy to find in highest grades.

Wonder Woman #160 (1966)

 

1st Silver Age appearance of the Cheetah and Dr. Psycho

I have a pick to share that I haven’t seen discussed in the past year or two on any of the various blogs or forums discussing such things.  Accompanying this pick is an analysis/comparison of the values of "1st Silver Age" appearances of characters vs. their "1st (Golden Age) appearance".

Wonder Woman #160 is the first Silver Age appearance of both the Cheetah and Dr. Psycho, the Number One and a Top 10 Wonder Woman villain.  We all know that Warner Bros has big plans for Wonder Woman, with a solo film (not 100% confirmed but likely) for 2017 and a big role in Batman v. Superman: DOJ and two Justice League films.

The first reason the book is a sleeper is simply because its significance is not broken out from the issues around it in the price guide (values of this and surrounding issues are the same) and from what I can tell this pretty much agrees with actual sales.

Secondly is the rise in value of Wonder Woman #6 (Cheetah’s first appearance) in the last few years.  There was a landmark sale of a 7.5 in 2012 for $5975, since then sales have not been as high as this but well above what they were before.

Here is an estimate of 8.0-grade fair market values using GPA data for WW 6 vs. 160, as compared to the 1st / 1st S.A. appearance of three Batman villains: Penguin, Riddler, and Scarecrow.  FMV for Wonder Woman #6 is far out of sync with guide (almost 4X guide) compared with the other characters (column G).

Should there be a correlation between the values of a characters first S.A. appearance with their first overall?  It stands to reason that there would be and this piece is predicated on this.  A character’s popularity transcends age and income brackets; the G.A. collector will desire the earlier book while the S.A. collector wants something in their price range and collecting category.

You can see from column O that the FMV of WW 160 is only 1.82% the FMV of WW 6 while for the other books it is around 5%.  (Scarecrow seems to be an outlier, which points to the undesirable cover of World’s Finest 3 and the title being outside the interest of the Batman/Detective collector.)  If the ratio were more around 5%, the FMV of WW 160 would be $356 in VF making it more than 50% undervalued.

Percent of WW 160 to #5 (1st Psycho) FMV is higher (7.14%) when compared with first Cheetah, but since Cheetah is the dominant character we can essentially throw out the Dr. Psycho data (as cool as the character is).  The fact WW 160 also contains the first Silver Age appearance of Dr. Psycho is an added bonus that should make the book that much more desirable.

When looking at first S.A. appearances, I also like to check how long the character spent out of the spotlight.  I feel the stagnation of Avengers #4 has to do with increased familiarity by collectors of 1950s-era books and the fact the Captain has many previous appearances.  The last Golden Age appearance of the Cheetah was Wonder Woman #28 (March 1948) which is a relatively long time out of the spotlight.  For Dr. Psycho it is Wonder Woman #18 (July 1946).  This makes WW 160 only the fifth appearance of the Cheetah (following WW 6, Sensation 22, Comic Cavalcade 11, and WW 28) and the third full appearance of Dr. Psycho (from what I can tell).

I have 4 copies of this; the highest is a VF+.  I wanted the slabbed 9.4 that was auctioned in September but I put my money into other books.  There are 22 graded copies according to the census.

In summary, there are many reasons WW 160 is undervalued even before any hint of a DC cinematic universe.  A compounded increase in value will depend on Warners’ plans for the characters.  Also have a look at Wonder Woman #163, first S.A. Giganta (a personal fave) and Baroness von Gunther.

If this book was already on your list, hope you may have learned a little. Looking forward to reading along.