Four Color
Dell, 1942 Series
Published in English (United States) United States
Publication Dates:
1942 - April-June 1962
Number of Issues Published:
1331 (#1 - Little Joe - #1354 - Calvin and the Colonel)
Color: Color
Dimensions:
Standard Golden Age U.S.; Standard Silver Age U.S.
Paper Stock: Glossy Cover; Newsprint Interior
Binding: Saddle-stitched
Publishing Format: Was Ongoing Series
Publication Type: magazine
Pages 68 Indicia frequency ?
Notes :
- One of the earlier issues of Four Color (#9 from October 1942), featuring Walt Disney's Donald Duck in Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. Note Four Color title below the price.
- Series II. Early issues have "Four Color Comic" on the cover. Last with this notation is #101. The following issues were apparently never published: 1217, 1228, 1277, 1292, 1314-1327, 1329 (believed to have instead been published as Gyro Gearloose (1962 series) #01329-207), 1331, 1334, 1338-1340, 1342-1347, 1351-1353. There are ad and non-ad versions for many issues from #693 to the end.
AUTHORS:
Script :
Harold Gray,Carl Ed, V. T. Hamlin, Bill Holman,
Milton Caniff, Arthur E. Jameson
Pencils :
Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell,Carl Ed, V. T. Hamlin, George Kerr, Bill Holman,
Frank Willard, Otto Mesmer, Chester Gould, Till Goodan ?
Milton Caniff, Arthur E. Jameson
Inks :
Harold Gray; Robert Leffingwell, Carl Ed, V. T. Hamlin, George Kerr, Bill Holman,
Frank Willard, Otto Mesmer, Chester Gould, Till Goodan ?
Milton Caniff, Arthur E. Jameson
Colors
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Letters
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Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic books (cyan, magenta, yellow and black at the time).
More than 1,000 issues were published, usually with multiple titles released every month. An exact accounting of the actual number of unique issues produced is difficult because occasional issue numbers were skipped and a number of reprint issues were also included. Nonetheless, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide lists well over 1,000 individual issues, ending with #1354. It currently holds the record for most issues produced of an American comic book;its nearest rival, DC's Action Comics, reached the 1,000-issue milestone in 2018. The first 25 issues are known as "series 1"; after they were published, the numbering began again and "series 2" began. Four Color published many of the first comics featuring characters licensed from Walt Disney.
History
Unlike most comic book series of the day, which were either devoted to one character, or were anthologies with collections of stories starring the cartoon characters of a particular studio, Four Color instead devoted each individual issue to different characters. One issue might feature a popular cartoon character, while the next might be an adaptation of a popular movie or TV series. Thus the phrase "one shot" which was used in the publisher's code in the first interior page of the first story. For example, issue 223 (1949) was denoted DDOS 223 which translates as Donald Duck One-Shot #223. Most Four Color titles featured licensed properties; relatively few original characters were created for the line. The first Four Color comic featured comic strip and movie serial hero Dick Tracy; the last (issue number 1,354, series 2, dated April–June 1962) was based upon the TV series Calvin and the Colonel.
The primary purpose behind Four Color was as a try-out showcase for potential new Dell Comics series. For example, Tarzan and Little Lulu in early 1948 launched their own titles (starting with no. 1) after proving themselves via a number of Four Color try-out issues. However, during the 1940s, the transition was not always so prompt, as a number of prominent funny animal characters starred in 20–30 issues of Four Color (these include Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Porky Pig).[2] Comic book historian Michael Barrier notes that by the early 1950s, Dell seemed to be giving more emphasis to subscription sales (promoted via premium giveaways as part of the Dell Comics Club), which necessitated stable series instead of one-shots.
At one point in 1951, some issues of Four Color were double-numbered, reflecting the issuances for particular characters; thus issues 318 and 328, featuring Donald Duck, carried the notation "nos. 1–2" on the cover underneath the Four Color series number. This may indicate thought at that point was being given to the eventual transition of these characters from one-shots to their own titles. Indeed, beginning in the early 1950s, it became more prevalent than previously for Four Color titles, if they proved popular enough, to become ongoing, independent series. In some cases, the issue numbering of these spin-offs took into account any previous Four Color issues (albeit sometimes miscounting the one-shots; Donald Duck started with #26 despite the publication of twenty-nine Four Color issues with the character preceding it).
Identifying Four Color comics can be a challenge, as only issues published between c.1940 and 1946 actually carried the title Four Color Comics on the cover.
Documenting the extent of the Four Color series was among the bibliographic tasks undertaken in the early 1960s by emerging comic book fandom. Fans Donald and Maggie Thompson took the lead in this endeavor and, in 1968, finally issued A Listing of Dell Special Series Comic Books (and a Few Others) as Bibliographic Supplement no. 1 to their fanzine Comic Art. In its 35 pages, it listed not only individual titles of comic books published in the Color/Four Color series, but those in these series: Black and White, Large Feature, United Feature Single Series, Comics on Parade, McKay Feature Books, Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated, and Classics Illustrated (Classic Comics).
References
Four Color Dell, [#0001-#0050] 1942-1944
TITLES:
1 - Little Joe
2 - Harold Teen
3 - Alley Oop
4 - Smilin' Jack
5 - Raggedy Ann and Andy
6 - Smitty
7 - Smokey Stover
8 - Tillie the Toiler
9 - Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold!
10 - Flash Gordon
11 - Wash Tubbs
12 - Walt Disney's Bambi
13 - Mr. District Attorney
14 - Smilin' Jack
15 - Felix the Cat
16 - Porky Pig
17 - Popeye and Wimpy
18 - Little Orphan Annie's Junior Commandos
19 - Walt Disney's Thumper Meets the Seven Dwarfs
20 - Barney Baxter
21 - Oswald the Rabbit
22 - Tillie the Toiler
23 - Raggedy Ann and Andy
24 - Gang Busters
25 - Andy Panda
26 - Popeye
27 - Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse
28 - Wash Tubbs
29 - Donald Duck and the Mummy's Ring
30 - Bambi's Children
31 - Moon Mullins
32 - Smitty
33 - Bugs Bunny
34 - Dick Tracy
35 - Smokey Stover
36 - Smilin' Jack
37 - Bringing Up Father
38 - Roy Rogers
39 - Oswald the Rabbit
40 - Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
41 - Mother Goose and Nursery Rhyme Comics
42 - Tiny Tim
43 - Popeye
44 - Terry and the Pirates
45 - Raggedy Ann
46 - Felix the Cat and the Haunted Castle
47 - Gene Autry
48 - Porky Pig
49 - Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
50 - Fairy Tale Parade
LINKS: Four Color #0001-#0050 (Except # 0007 (only cover)⇲⇲
