| Dan Dunn | |
|---|---|
 Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48 (1933), cover art by Norman W. Marsh. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Humor Publishing |
| First appearance | Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48 (1933) |
| Created by | Norman W. Marsh |
Dan Dunn is a fictional detective created by Norman W. Marsh. He first appeared in Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48, a proto-comic book from 1933, produced by Humor Publishing. He subsequently appeared in newspaper comic strips from 1933 to 1943.
Writer-artist Norman W. Marsh's hardboiled detective Dan Dunn first appeared in Humor Publishing's proto-comic book Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48, copyrighted on May 12, 1933. [1] Comics historian Don Markstein notes that this periodical and the only two others from this publisher were pioneering in that they contained "non-reprinted comics in 1933", though these periodicals were not "in modern comic book format. Theirs were done as tabloids" [2] with Detective Dan: Secret Operative No. 48 measuring either 9½ × 12 inches [3] or 10 × 13 inches [4] (sources differ), with black-and-white newsprint pages and a three-color cardboard cover. [3] It sold for 10 cents. [4]
The character appeared primarily in the newspaper comic strip Dan Dunn, syndicated by Publishers Syndicate beginning Monday, September 25, 1933, with a Sunday page added soon afterward. The strip, which ran through Sunday, October 3, 1943, eventually would appear in approximately 135 papers. [2] Dan Dunn strips were reprinted in comic books, through publisher Eastern Color's Famous Funnies , Dell Comics' The Funnies and Red Ryder Comics, and Western Publishing's Crackajack Funnies from 1935 to 1943. [5]
| Dan Dunn | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Norman W. Marsh (1933–1941) Allen Saunders (1942–1943) |
| Illustrator(s) | Paul Pinson, Alfred Andriola (1942–1943) |
| Current status/schedule | Daily and Sunday; concluded |
| Launch date | September 25, 1933 |
| End date | Oct 3, 1943 |
| Syndicate(s) | Publishers Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | adventure |
On September 25, 1933, Publishers Syndicate began distributing Dan Dunn as a comic strip that eventually peaked at 135 newspapers. [2] The Sunday color page began on October 1, 1933. [6] Marsh both drew and wrote Dan Dunn from 1933 to 42. [7] One critic describes the artwork as the weaker aspect, calling it "arid", with a chronic, wintry aspect", "cavernous spaces" and "huddled, stiff-jointed postures". [8] Assistants included Jack Ryan c. 1937, Ed Moore c. 1937–38, and Dick Fletcher. [7]
The Dan Dunn Sunday page ran a topper strip, Dan Dunn's Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, from March 4 to July 22, 1934. [6]
Marsh left the strip in 1942 following a disagreement with Publishers Syndicate. Allen Saunders, the syndicate's comics editor, took over as writer from 1942 to 43, with art first by Paul Pinson (June 1942 - January 1943) and then by Alfred Andriola (January to October 1943). [6] Saunders and Andriola subsequently replaced Dan Dunn with a new detective strip, Kerry Drake , in 1943. [9]
Starting in 1934, Dan Dunn appeared in seven Big Little Books: [10]
In 1936, Dan Dunn became the title character of a pulp magazine that lasted for two issues. [12]
In 1944, Dan Dunn, Secret Operative #48 was produced as a 15-minute syndicated radio program which ran for a total of 78 episodes. [13] [14] It was produced by Kasper-Gordon, Inc. [15]
In 2017, The Library of American Comics reprinted one year of the strip (1933) in their LoAC Essentials line of books.
Markstein calls the square-jawed Detective Dunn an imitation of Dick Tracy , killing criminals with the same direct resort to violence during the gangster era. Dunn never approached Tracy's popularity. [2] The strip's successor writer, Allen Saunders, believed the comic rivaled Dick Tracy in pioneering themes and techniques of the American detective comic. [9] In the Toho dub of the Lupin III film The Mystery of Mamo , Daisuke Jigen was given the name of Dan Dunn in the character's honor.
Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror, and was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977, and various artists and writers have continued it.
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York Daily News.
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics, which included the debut of the superhero Superman. This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century.
See also: 1920s in comics, other events of the 1930s, 1940s in comics and the list of years in comics
The Funnies is the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing, the first of these a seminal 1920s precursor of comic books, and the second a standard 1930s comic book.
Alfred James Andriola was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Kerry Drake, for which he won a Reuben Award in 1970. His work sometimes appeared under the pseudonym Alfred James.
Kerry Drake is the title of a comic strip created for Publishers Syndicate by Alfred Andriola as artist and Allen Saunders as uncredited writer. It debuted on Monday, October 4, 1943, replacing Norman Marsh's Dan Dunn, and was syndicated continuously through June 26, 1983.
Mickey Finn was an American comic strip created by cartoonist Lank Leonard, which was syndicated to newspapers from April 6, 1936 to September 10, 1977. The successful lighthearted strip struck a balance between comedy and drama. It was adapted to a 400-page Little Big Book and was reprinted in several comic book series throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
Invisible Scarlet O'Neil is a 1940–1956 American comic strip written and drawn by Russell Stamm, who had previously been an assistant to Chester Gould on Dick Tracy. The strip focused on Scarlet O'Neil, a plainclothes superhero with the power of invisibility.
The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 1928, and soon became successful by printing color newspaper sections for several New England and New York papers. Eastern is most notable for its production of Funnies on Parade and Famous Funnies, two publications that gave birth to the American comic book industry.
Radio Patrol is a police comic strip carried in newspapers from August 7, 1933, to December 16, 1950, in the dailies, with a Sunday strip that ran from November 25, 1934, to October 20, 1946. It was created by artist Charles Schmidt and writer Eddie Sullivan, who both worked for the Boston American. Sullivan was a newspaper reporter who specialized in crime reporting.
Famous Funnies is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955 with two precursor one-shots appearing in 1933–1934. Published by Eastern Color Printing, Famous Funnies is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following seminal precursors.
Allen Saunders was an American writer, journalist and cartoonist who wrote the comic strips Steve Roper and Mike Nomad, Mary Worth and Kerry Drake.
Crack Comics is an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It featured such characters as The Clock, Black Condor, Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Madame Fatal, Jane Arden, Molly the Model, and Red Torpedo. The title "crack" referred to "being at the top of one's form", like a "crack sharpshooter".
Alden Spurr McWilliams generally credited as Al McWilliams and A. McWilliams, was an American comics artist who co-created the first African-American lead character of a comic strip. He won the National Cartoonists Society's 1978 award for Comic Book: Story.
Publishers Newspaper Syndicate was a syndication service based in Chicago that operated from 1925 to 1967, when it merged with the Hall Syndicate. Publishers syndicated such long-lived comic strips as Big Chief Wahoo/Steve Roper, Mary Worth, Kerry Drake, Rex Morgan, M.D., Judge Parker, and Apartment 3-G.
The Public Ledger Syndicate was a syndication company operated by the Philadelphia Public Ledger that was in business from 1915 to circa 1950. The Ledger Syndicate distributed comic strips, panels, and columns to the United States and the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia. The syndicate also distributed material from the Curtis Publishing Company's other publications, including The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and The Country Gentleman.
Norman Winfield Marsh was an American cartoonist and comic strip creator known for his character Dan Dunn, a hardboiled detective.
Associated Newspapers, Inc. was a print syndication service of columns and comic strips that was in operation from 1912 to c. 1966. The syndicate was originally a cooperative of four newspapers: The New York Globe, the Chicago Daily News, The Boston Globe, and the Philadelphia Bulletin. Associated Newspapers was led by Henry Herbert McClure (1874-1938), a cousin of S. S. McClure, founder of the McClure Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate. In 1930, Associated Newspapers was acquired by and became a subsidiary of the Bell Syndicate. The syndicate's most successful, long-running strip was Gladys Parker's Mopsy.
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