When comics change format 2 2

[thunsicker]

3 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

And how about the strange saga of Moon Girl?

Moon Girl # 6

Moon Girl Fights Crime # 7 and # 8

A Moon, A Girl, Romance 

Excellent example.  Thanks.  Superhero to crime.

[BarristerBaker]

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

It's rather ironic that CC has pretty much the entire run of this Frankenstein series in their upcoming auction next week from issue #1 right through to issue #33, but yet somehow missing only this particular key issue here, along with Frankenstein 20.  

No idea what kind of knucklehead would let those pretty Franks go.

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by BarristerBaker

[thunsicker]

On 9/3/2019 at 5:40 PM, telerites said:

Hi Tim

You mentioned the Nedor/Standard/Betters going to western/jungle.  Wonder Comics went from war superhero (Grim Reaper) to sci-fi along with Startling going to sci-fi but I know you know those.   The last few issues of FH's Jumbo went to horror. 

Not sure if this meets what you're looking for but the Green Hornets went from war to detective with Green Hornet Fights Crime.  He of course stays on the covers.

I'll try to think of others.

And more importantly for what I'm looking for Wonderman went from classic superhero (in the Mystery Comics incarnation) into more of a space hero in the Wonder Comics incarnation.  Thanks!  The Startling made a pretty cut switch when it went from Pyroman and Fighting Yank to Lance Lewis.  Though I did find one of the ones before the switch was made which had the Fighting Yank fighting a cowboy:

Edited September 5, 2019 by thunsicker

[KirbyJack]

My favorite example is Charton’s Cowboy Western becoming Space Western.

And then going back!

[RBaumann02]

The fact is they got hundreds of letters from readers, and sales records could show what was working. When Archie took off it happened really fast. They knew they had something special so Archie was talking over World War II superhero comic books before the war was even close to over. They had the niche to themselves for a short while before the mountain of imitators emerged after the war.

[sfcityduck]

11 hours ago, RBaumann02 said:

The fact is they got hundreds of letters from readers, and sales records could show what was working. When Archie took off it happened really fast. They knew they had something special so Archie was talking over World War II superhero comic books before the war was even close to over. They had the niche to themselves for a short while before the mountain of imitators emerged after the war.

DC came to the realisation that WWII was stressing out kids.  Consequently, DC stopped running WWII covers during WWII.  I think that helped DC outlast TImely and other publishers who kept superheroes in a WWII context.  Fawcett also probably benefited from keeping those books lighter.  

[Point Five]

On 9/3/2019 at 2:28 PM, thunsicker said:

As the first superhero rush was dying down in the late '40's some previous super hero comics were taking on new formats.  Captain America became a horror title, Pep changed focus to Teen Humor, and Standard/Nedor started branching off to Jungle/Western comics.  These specific comics are of interest to me as they still have their superheroes on the covers, but are attempts to switch to the newer trends.  Can anyone think of any other examples?

I think Pep Comics is still one of the best examples of what you're describing. The title transitioned from those dark WWII superhero stories to a teen humor focus, but kept coming up with these increasingly zany ways of shoehorning superheroes onto the Archie covers.

[telerites]

6 hours ago, Point Five said:

I think Pep Comics is still one of the best examples of what you're describing. The title transitioned from those dark WWII superhero stories to a teen humor focus, but kept coming up with these increasingly zany ways of shoehorning superheroes onto the Archie covers.

One of the covers that creeps me out each time I see it.

[Point Five]

2 hours ago, telerites said:

One of the covers that creeps me out each time I see it.

And that’s why I like it...at least I think I do.  They definitely played fast and loose with the Archie ‘brand’ back then, in ways they never would again.

 

[143ksk]

On 9/4/2019 at 2:13 PM, sfcityduck said:

That's not a Western, that's a dog comic (like Rex) featuring Streak the Wonder Dog.  GL lost the cover to Streak in his own comic:

 

[pemart1966]

The Little Wise Guys somehow managed to usurp Daredevil from his comic...

[thunsicker]

On 9/17/2019 at 7:06 AM, pemart1966 said:

The Little Wise Guys somehow managed to usurp Daredevil from his comic...

Yeah it might be the effect of the Biro art.  But a lot of Daredevil comics look a lot like his True Crime comic covers.  A worthy addition.