Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: canadian comics, Chesler

Rocket Man Comics with Gus Ricca's Comic Artist Nightmare, at Auction

Rucker Publications' Rocket Man Comics features Gus Ricca's comic artist nightmare cover from the highly sought-after Punch Comics #9.

Rocket Man Comics v2 #1 features Gus Ricca's vision of a comic artist's nightmare on its cover, from Canadian publisher Rucker Publications.  We've talked about this cover before, for its original appearance on Chesler's Punch Comics #9.  Figuring out Ricca's intentions for his comic book covers is always part of the fun here, as we also recently found in his highly-regarded mad scientist cover for the Weekender v2 #1, which originally appeared on Dynamic Comics #11, features a character named Dr. Doom from Chesler's the Echo serial.  Ricca's intense Dynamic Comics #8 cover is a particularly gruesome take on the Dynamic Man story of that issue.  Ricca and his fellow Chesler artists are the victims of the horror of the Punch #13 cover.  And perhaps similarly, his amazing Punch Comics #9 and Rocket Comics v2 #1 cover depicts a comic book artist becoming the victim of his own work as he sits at his drawing board.  No help is coming because the phone cord has been cut.  A CGC 1.0 copy of Punch Comics #9 recently went for an impressive $3,840. Rocket Man Comics v2 #1 is much more rare, but there's a copy up for auction at the 2025 March 13 Canadian Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40290.

While Rucker Publications' Rocket Man Comics is best known for its cover, it also represents a unique period between two eras of Canadian comic book history. As with most discussions surrounding the beginnings and endings of historic comic book eras, the boundary between Canadian comics belonging to the WECA (War Exchange Conservation Act) era and the FECA (Foreign Exchange Conservation Act) era is the subject of some debate. WECA Section One, which covered printed comics import and the import of materials needed to facilitate reprints, was repealed on August 1, 1944, allowing U.S. comic books, magazines, and pulps back into the Canadian market even before the end of World War II.  However, a War Exchange Tax on all imports into Canada from non-Empire countries was imposed through October 1945, and paper continued to be difficult to get for both U.S. and Canadian publishers for a considerable period beyond the end of the war.

This gave rise to a sort of transitional period for comic books published in Canada from late 1944 through early 1947.  Canadian authorities and publishers initially believed that continued newsprint rationing in the U.S. would serve as protection for domestic publishers after the WECA import restrictions were lifted. The United States government would end its controls over usage of newsprint by revoking the rationing requirements of the War Production Board on December 31, 1945. While paper shortages continued to be felt in North America in 1946 and into 1947, a group of comic book and pulp publishers in Canada formed the Canadian Independent Publishers Association in February 1947 to seek import protections against U.S. publishers. On November 17, 1947, as FECA expressly prohibited the import of comic books and pulps, while allowing the import of newspapers and other types of magazines, giving rise to an era of Canadian comic book publishers reprinting or repackaging U.S. material.  FECA was ended on January 2, 1951, amidst industry predictions about its impact on the Canadian comic book and pulp publishing business.

In the interest of completeness, we should note that exceptions to WECA could be applied for, with one of the best-known cases being the U.S. publisher of True Comics' ability to export to the Canadian market, presumably on the grounds that it was educational material.  In future posts, we will also explore the case of Super Comics' MLJ/Archie reprints, and the fascinating case of the Canadian Captain Marvel versions, which were redrawn in Canada from the original scripts to circumvent the WECA Schedule One import ban on "printing plates… negative films, transfers, proofs…" and other materials traditionally used for outright reprints.

But after August 1, 1944, Canadian publishers could reprint U.S. material if they wished, and while such reprints certainly existed through 1945 and 1946, publishers had a number of economic factors to weigh when considering whether to acquire the rights to reprint U.S. material in the Canadian market.  The advent of FECA in November 1947 made such decisions much more clear-cut.  FECA banned the import of U.S. comics, but unlike WECA did not ban the import of materials necessary to create reprints.  And really, the members of the CIPA group must have seen the writing on the wall somewhat earlier.

The usage of Chesler material for some Rucker Publications releases like Rocket Man Comics v2 #1 might be considered an interesting prelude towards the shape of the Canadian Comics industry that came with the advent of FECA.  We've previously documented the connections between Rucker Publications and Lou Ruby's Super Publishing, while also noting that Lou's brother Morris Ruby was the man behind comic book publisher Superior.  Superior was also part of the CIPA group that lobbied for the FECA import ban.  Given the historically interesting situation of Superior continuing the numbering of U.S. Chesler titles Dynamic Comics and Red Seal Comics among other factors, it's interesting to trace back the earlier, interconnected Chesler material usage of Super Publishing and Rucker Publications.

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