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Fox Feature Syndicate writer Victor Fox had excessive hopes for Dick Briefer‘s Rex Dexter of Mars from early on. Just a few months after his debut in Mystery Men Comics #1, Rex was half of Fox’s push by way of the Mitchell J. Hamilburg Agency to get Fox properties into movie, radio, merchandise, and syndicated newspaper strips. While most of that did not occur for Rex or most of the remainder of the Fox Feature line for that matter, he did get a short-lived newspaper each day and Sunday by Briefer as nicely. Briefer’s strategy to this photo voltaic system-spanning saga may be in comparison with his extra well-known Frankenstein comedian guide work: usually sudden, sometimes wonderful, and all the time very bizarre. A ceaselessly ignored Fox comedian guide, there is a Rex Dexter of Mars #1 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Off-white pages up for public sale within the 2022 December 1 Fox Comics Showcase Auction #40214 at Heritage Auctions.
While it is normally mentioned that Rex Dexter attracts its inspiration from Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, there are in all probability some extra particular insfluences that may be pointed to right here. Given how intently Victor Fox was watching DC Comics titles like Action Comics and Detective Comics in hopes of mimicking their success, it is not unlikely inspiration was taken from All-American Comics for this one. That title was working each Ultra-Man and Adventure within the Unknown within the early going. Ultra-Man was itself impressed by Buck Rogers with the addition of a multi-generational household side and connections to the U.S. president and authorities that are additionally current in Rex Dexter of Mars. Adventure within the Unknown is a proto-Challengers of the Unknown saga which was tailored for comics by its creator Carl H. Claudy from tales initially showing within the journal The American Boy 1931-1939 (components of which have been extra famously collected into the Adventure within the Unknown guide sequence). The first story arc of Adventure within the Unknown starting in All-American Comics #1, entails touring to Mars and returning with bizarre expertise, which additionally appears to tell Rex. The title of that first arc in All-American Comics, Mystery Men of Mars, additionally appears on-point for inspiring a Mars-themed character that debuted in Mystery Men Comics.
Whatever the inspiration, Briefer took it in some wild instructions of his personal, as he did with Frankenstein. While this situation was half of the 1940 Fox wave of breaking out his anthology characters into their very own titles, this one did not final previous one situation — and curiously, acquired a lot much less inside home advert advertising and marketing assist than the others. It’s been a curious and underappreciated half of Fox historical past ever since, there is a Rex Dexter of Mars #1 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Off-white pages up for public sale within the 2022 December 1 Fox Comics Showcase Auction #40214 at Heritage Auctions. If you’ve got by no means bid at Heritage Auctions earlier than, you will get additional data, you’ll be able to take a look at their FAQ on the bidding course of and associated issues.
Rex Dexter of Mars #1 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Off-white pages. Gerber’s Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books charges this situation a “7”, or “scarce” on their Scarcity Index. Rex Dexter, Patty O’Day, and Zanzibar appearances. This was the one situation of the title. Dick Briefer cowl. Briefer and George Tuska artwork. Has a Kooba Cola advert on the within cowl. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 worth = $580.
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