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The creation of modern American comics occurred in stages. Dell Publishing en 1929 published a newspaper of 16 newsprint pages with comic strip style original material titled: ‘The Funnies’ and described by the Library of Congress as “a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert”.
Was followed in 1929 by ‘Funnies on Parade by Eastern Color Printing’, a similar newsprint tabloid but only eight pages long and made up of various comic strips licensed from McNaught Syndicate and reprinted in color.
It was not sold or available in newsstands, was sent free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed clipped coupons on Procter & Gamble soaps and toiletries.
That same year, Eastern Color salesman, Maxwell Gaines and sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the one-shot ‘Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics’ of 36 pages, considered by historians as the first true American comic.
It was distributed through the Woolworth department store chain, although it is not clear if it was sold or given away; the cover does not show the price, but historians refer, either metaphorically or literally, that “a dime price tag was placed on comics”.
When Delacorte refused to continue with ‘Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics’, Eastern Color self-published ‘Famous Funnies #1’, a regular publication of 68 pages which sold for 10 cents.
Distributed to newsstands by the giant American News Company, proved to be a hit with readers during the Great Depression, which lacked liquidity, selling the 90 percent of your circulation of 200.000 specimens; however, his costs left Eastern Color with more than $4,000 in red numbers. That quickly changed, with the book making a profit of $30, in each number starting from the number 12.
‘Famous Funnies’ would eventually post 218 issues, inspire imitators and largely measure would launch a new means of communication.
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