Things We All Thought We Knew, But We're Wrong 1 1

[sfcityduck]

This thread is devoted to identifying GA comic "facts" we all think we know, but we're wrong. 

My example:  The first cover appearance of Uncle Scrooge is not Four Color 386 "Only a Poor Old Man"!  It's understandable if you think it is, because both Heritage and Hake's claim it is in their auction listing.  For example:

"A Key Disney comic as the feature story Only A Poor Old Man is the first Uncle Scrooge solo story, this is the first Scrooge cover appearance and the book counts as Uncle Scrooge #1."

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/53220/FOUR-COLOR-386-FIRST-UNCLE-SCROOGE-FEBRUARY-1952-CGC-50-OFF-WHITE-TO-WHITE-PAGES

"Only a Poor Old Man is the first Uncle Scrooge solo story, Scrooge's first cover appearance, and the book that counts as Uncle Scrooge #1"

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/four-color-386-uncle-scrooge-dell-1952-cgc-nm-94-off-white-to-white-pages/a/825-44210.s?ic4=OtherResults-SampleItem-071515&tab=ArchiveSearchResults-012417

But, the actual first cover appearance of Uncle Scrooge is Four Color 379 "Southern Hospitality"! 

Got to love that depiction of Scrooge as the evil landowner forcing Donald to pick his cotton. 

Why the mix up?  Because Duck collectors are fixated on Barks.  FC 386 is the first Barks Uncle Scrooge cover appearance.  FC 379 is by the other Carl B. - Carl Buettner.

At least two collectors know FC 379 is notable as the first Uncle Scrooge cover appearance, because when a CGC 9.2 came up for auction at Heritage in August, the bidding blew through Overstreet's $325 valuation for a 9.2 and hit an astounding $3,824.00. 

Here's the actual chronology as far as I can tell:

FC 379 - 1st Uncle Scrooge cover appearance; 1st Uncle Scrooge cover on Donald Duck title.

FC 386 - 2nd Uncle Scrooge cover appearance, 1st Barks Uncle Scrooge cover; 1st Uncle Scrooge comic.

WDC&S 140 - 3rd Uncle Scrooge cover appearance; 2nd Barks Uncle Scrooge cover; 1st Uncle Scrooge cover on WDC&S title.

FC 450 - 4th Uncle Scrooge cover appearance; 3rd Barks Uncle Scrooge cover; 1st Uncle Scrooge cover on Walt Disney's Duck Album.

FC 456 - 5th Uncle Scrooge cover appearance; 4th Barks Uncle Scrooge cover; 2nd Uncle Scrooge comic.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2017 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

One other relevant fact, the Library of Congress lists the copyright date of FC 379 as 1/22/52 and the copyright date of FC 386 as 2/11/52.  Those dates probably correspond to their release dates.

[MrBedrock]

It has always been thought that the cover of Great #3 was by Charles Sultan. According to Roger Hill in his new book, Reed Crandall is actually the artist on the famous cover...

 

[Gotham Kid]

3 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

It has always been thought that the cover of Great #3 was by Charles Sultan. According to Roger Hill in his new book, Reed Crandall is actually the artist on the famous cover...

 

There are no notes as to story, art and cover on the label. Same as with all other labels (due to perhaps uncertainty) for this book or just yours ?

Edited November 1, 2017 by Gotham Kid

[MrBedrock]

Just now, Gotham Kid said:

There are no notes as to story, art and cover on the label. Same as with all other labels for this book or just yours ?

You know, I am not really sure. I think the old label had story notations but I am getting old. I don't remember, and I didn't save my old scans to compare. I am sure they are out there somewhere.

[Gotham Kid]

Just checked HA archives, none of them have notes.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Gotham Kid

[MrBedrock]

4 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

7 minutes ago, Gotham Kid said:

There are no notes as to story, art and cover on the label. Same as with all other labels for this book or just yours ?

You know, I am not really sure. I think the old label had story notations but I am getting old. I don't remember, and I didn't save my old scans to compare. I am sure they are out there somewhere.

I checked the CGC gallery. There is one posted with the older label type that also does not list story notations.

Edited November 1, 2017 by MrBedrock

[sfcityduck]

10 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

It has always been thought that the cover of Great #3 was by Charles Sultan. According to Roger Hill in his new book, Reed Crandall is actually the artist on the famous cover...

 

Good one.  Never would have occurred to me, but here's a Crandall illo with some style similarities:

 

[Gotham Kid]

A bit off topic but still cool to know.

The light bulb on the cover of Tec 59 is signed JR (Jerry Robinson)

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/detective-comics-59-dc-1942-cgc-vf-nm-90-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7017-91136.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

 

[telerites]

When I bought a copy of Alan Light's "The Ray and Black Condor" reprint book, I thought E. Lectron was such a great artist such a cool and fitting name to draw a character like The Ray.  And come to find out, he was a great artist and actually my favorite GA artist named Lou Fine.  

I am also guilty thinking Ernie Chua and Ernie Chan were two different people (not a GA faux pas) - just not good with name  

[sfcityduck]

6 hours ago, Gotham Kid said:

A bit off topic but still cool to know.

The light bulb on the cover of Tec 59 is signed JR (Jerry Robinson)

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/detective-comics-59-dc-1942-cgc-vf-nm-90-off-white-to-white-pages/a/7017-91136.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

 

That is cool.  More in the vein of "Things We Didn't Know That Are Really Cool," but that's ok.

I'm a little surprised no one else appears surprised that Uncle Scrooge's first cover was FC 379.  Blew me away.  

[Topnotchman]

9 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

That is cool.  More in the vein of "Things We Didn't Know That Are Really Cool," but that's ok.

I'm a little surprised no one else appears surprised that Uncle Scrooge's first cover was FC 379.  Blew me away.  

It’s news to me I never put it together until now. An undervalued book for sure.  Thanks for sharing 

[The-Collector]

7 hours ago, MrBedrock said:

It has always been thought that the cover of Great #3 was by Charles Sultan. According to Roger Hill in his new book, Reed Crandall is actually the artist on the famous cover...

 

Reed Crandall really doesn't get his due IMO.

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Topnotchman said:

It’s news to me I never put it together until now. An undervalued book for sure.  Thanks for sharing 

News to me too.  Now where did I put my NM+ copy?  

[MrBedrock]

20 hours ago, Topnotchman said:

20 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

That is cool.  More in the vein of "Things We Didn't Know That Are Really Cool," but that's ok.

I'm a little surprised no one else appears surprised that Uncle Scrooge's first cover was FC 379.  Blew me away.  

It’s news to me I never put it together until now. An undervalued book for sure.  Thanks for sharing 

News to me too...

 

Edited November 2, 2017 by MrBedrock

[sfcityduck]

Beautiful copies!  Right now your 8.5 is the second rated FC 379 on census (1 of 3) behind only the 9.2. 

Looking at those Blue labels makes me realize that another reason for the confusion might be that the "cover date" for FC 379 must be March-April 1952 whereas FC 386 is just March 1952.  So maybe folks thought that a March-April cover dated book would have come out later than just a March cover dated book.  A bit of mystery, though, why the fact that 379 is earlier than 386 didn't set off any alarm bells.

Of course, as I stated above, the Library of Congress lists the copyright date of FC 379 as 1/22/52 and the copyright date of FC 386 as 2/11/52, which probably corresponds to their release dates. 

Edited November 2, 2017 by sfcityduck

[Sqeggs]

For years I thought FC 189 "The Old Castle's Secret" was the first Scrooge cover.  But I hadn't realized that Scrooge was added to the cover of the 1964 reprint "The Best of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge" 1, but wasn't present on the original cover. 

I remember buying BDDUS 1 off the stands a kid.  What a dynamite combo:  "The Old Castle's Secret" and "The Golden Helmet." 

[Sqeggs]

On 11/1/2017 at 2:24 PM, MrBedrock said:

It has always been thought that the cover of Great #3 was by Charles Sultan. According to Roger Hill in his new book, Reed Crandall is actually the artist on the famous cover...

 

I thought it was Rudy Palais.  I'm still not convinced it's not.   Sure seems to resembles Palais's work on the story ... or is the story also by Crandall?

The Great 3 cover seems similar to me to the Choice 3 cover ... or is that also Crandall? 

[batman_fan]

Here is a biggy, Batman and Robin were always thought to be a couple, but in reality, they were just very good friends.

 

[MrBedrock]

1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

I thought it was Rudy Palais.  I'm still not convinced it's not.   Sure seems to resembles Palais's work on the story ... or is the story also by Crandall?

The Great 3 cover seems similar to me to the Choice 3 cover ... or is that also Crandall? 

Roger Hill interviewed Rudy Palais, who was the editor of Great 3, and he was the one who stated the cover was Crandall. Crandall also was supposed to do the interior story but time constraints prevented him from doing the work.