Welcome back. Please log in.

brttl pgs; pgs 1-4 dtch
Super Rare! 1st Appearance of the Sub-Mariner!
Jon Berk Collection
In 1974, the estate of Lloyd Jacquet, founder of publisher Funnies Inc, was liquidated, and among other mysteries, collectors learned of a comic in his files heretofore unknown: Motion Picture Funnies Weekly 1, an odd comic with black-and-white interiors and a mishmash of stories. One of the tales in the book, startlingly, was the origin of Sub-Mariner from Marvel Comics 1, shorter and in black and white, but unmistakably the real deal. Dated to 1939 but with no month listed, this book appears to contain the first appearance of Timely's first superhero. While only released as a test book in limited markets and barely distributed, this issue is a vital link between the early days of strip reprints and the adventure-centric issues soon to swamp newsstands. Painfully few copies have survived of this important comic, out of a print run that was extremely small to begin with, making this a true scarcity.
"I'd like to add my two cents to the discussion about which came first, Marvel Comics #1 or Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. In the Sub-Mariner story in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, the infamous box with the statement "continued next week" appears. When reproduced in Marvel Comics #1 the statement is omitted but the box remains. As this box blocks artwork in the panel (which does not appear in Marvel Comics), and because the box only serves the purpose of telling the reader that the story continues "next week" (not next month), it only makes sense that the story had to have been prepared for the prospective "weekly" promotional comic. Regardless of which saw the light of day first it is reasonable to conclude that the Sub-Mariner story was intended to first appear in MPFW."



"It is stated in the Overstreet Guide that the American Ace appeared in Marvel Mystery #3. But wait -- six of the seven pages appearing in MPFW appeared in Marvel Mystery #2, cover dated December 1939. 'Spy Ring' featuring The Wasp in MPFW appears (later?!) in Silver Streak Comics #1 (12/39 cover date), which, to my knowledge has not been reported. It's interesting to note that the Silver Streak comic has a full page ad for Marvel Mystery #2. Does all of this indicate some kind of tie between the books, the publishers, the creators?"



"There's more: 'Fun-o-graph' in MPFW appears on the back cover on another promotional comic book, Green Giant Comics, from 1940, and 'Kar Toon and his copy Kat' by Martin Filchock in MPFW is also reproduced in Green Giant Comics. I have not been able to place "Jolly the Newsie" or the seventh page of American Ace yet. Finally, although it may be coincidental, the size of MPFW is identical to Little Giant Comics #4 and Little Giant Detective Funnies #4 which was produced earlier in 1939 by Centaur, probably with the help of Jacquet and Funnies Inc."



- Jon Berk



Overstreet Guide 2016 VG- (3.5) value = $8,750.



We realize many of you would like to bid on this auction lot, so for this listing, ComicConnect.com offers a 6 month, interest free, time payment plan with a 20% non-refundable deposit. Time Payments invoices can only be paid by cash, check, money order or wire transfer. LEARN MORE