Matt Baker & the Reinvention of Victor Fox, Jo-Jo Comics 25 at Auction

Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Jack Kamen, Matt Baker, victor fox

(*25*)Within a number of months in 1947, Matt Baker, Jack Kamen and the relaxation of the Iger Studio utterly reworked Victor Fox’s comedian ebook line.

The enterprise profession of infamous comedian ebook writer Victor Fox usually reads like a sequence of monetary gambles pushed by little greater than his instincts. Fox was not a cautious man. He appeared for tactics to realize an edge, typically by pushing moral boundaries, and when he discovered that edge, he pushed all his chips to the heart of the desk. When one sizzling streak ran out, he lower his losses and did it over again. One instance is Fox Feature Syndicate’s operations after rising from chapter in early 1944. Fox had regained management of Blue Beetle, however the writer was reentering a comic book ebook area present process dramatic change. War-driven superhero titles have been on the decline at most publishers. By 1946, Fox was seemingly determined to attempt to save his prized Blue Beetle, whereas at the identical time launching a spread of kids’s humor and humorous animal titles, like Jo-Jo Comics, Zoot Comics, and Wotalife Comics. By the warfare’s finish, Victor Fox had determined that Fox Feature Syndicate’s return to glory would depend upon humorous animal mice, rabbits, and the like, however he quickly found that he was betting on the improper cat.

Jo-Jo Comics #25 (Fox Feature Syndicate, 1949)

Fox’s journey towards the firm’s Good Girl period can truly be traced to Blue Beetle. While some severe Golden Age followers notice that the title’s Holyoke period is a radical departure from what got here earlier than, what occurred after Fox acquired it again is arguably simply as unusual. As quickly as Fox regained management of the title, Blue Beetle exhibited an unexplained Superman-style level-up in his skills, seemingly in a bid to regain his stature as a superhero in a market that had seen dozens of them come and go by this time. His power elevated dramatically as he was often seen lifting vehicles and different heavy objects. He started to appear invulnerable, simply breaking by means of brick partitions and telling an opponent their bullets can be ineffective in opposition to him. Eventually, he even started to fly.

None of it labored. In August 1946, Blue Beetle (and Green Mask) have been halted, and Fox’s rising tide of humorous animal and different humor titles utterly took over the firm. Such titles are all Fox Feature Syndicate revealed for the subsequent eight months. It can be fascinating to know what impulse led Victor Fox down this path, with out his regular model of sneaking a glance at DC’s gross sales figures sort of habits that had gotten him this far in the comedian ebook enterprise. There have been lots of Disney, Terrytoons, and Looney Tunes titles on the stands each month by this time, and the likes of Cosmo Cat would appear to be a tricky promote by comparability. Although being truthful, that did not cease different publishers from making an attempt both.

Perhaps prompted by Samuel “Jerry” Iger, Fox started to place a brand new plan in movement with titles that hit newsstands in April 1947. Blue Beetle resumed with problem #45, touting itself as the “Return of America’s No. 1 Hero,” however with no obvious editorial modifications — but. More importantly, Zoot Comics #7 featured a radical change from child’s humor comedian to Good Girl title, with the debut of Rulah, Jungle Goddess by Matt Baker in an inside story, and a Jack Kamen Rulah cowl.

Within 5 months, Fox reworked a line totally composed of kids’s humor comics right into a line totally composed of comics with racy Good Girl covers. Blue Beetle was emphasised on the covers of his personal comedian ebook in favor of stunning girls. Along with Zoot Comics, Jo-Jo Comics and All-Top Comics have been likewise transformed to jungle adventures. Most importantly, Phantom Lady was launched to the Fox Feature Syndicate line-up. The character had been created at Eisner & Iger studio and revealed in Quality Comics’ Police Comics from 1941-1943.

Bringing Phantom Lady to Fox Feature Syndicate, together with the different fairly abrupt transformations at the writer throughout this era, means that Iger bought Victor Fox on the notion that Good Girl artwork was the instant future of comics and that artists like Baker and Kamen amongst others would allow that future. Fox reworked humorous animal title Wotalife Comics into Phantom Lady with problem #13, the place it could finally change into one of the most infamous comedian ebook titles in American historical past. While many different publishers have been edging into Good Girl artwork territory, Victor Fox was prepared to wager his firm on the pattern.

Just as crucially, Matt Baker and Jack Kamen weren’t getting cowl assignments at Fiction House (though Kamen finally did in 1949). Matt Baker, Jack Kamen, and different Iger Studio artists utterly reinvented the Fox Feature Syndicate line over the course of a number of months in 1947. The cowl of Jo-Jo Comics #25 is an iconic instance of that reinvention, and there is a Jo-Jo Comics #25 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1949) CGC FN+ 6.5 White pages up for public sale in the 2023 August 17 The Matt Baker Comics & Comic Art Showcase Auction #40233 at Heritage Auctions.