Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Fawcett Publications, Gus Ricca

The Old Wizard and the Power Ring in Slam-Bang Comics #1, at Auction

In a Slam-Bang Comics origin that has elements similar to Captain Marvel, an aged magician gave a man power "beyond all ordinary mortals."

Hitting newsstands shortly after Whiz Comics #3, Slam-Bang Comics #1 is the launch of one of Fawcett Publications' earliest yet most underappreciated comic book titles.  The debut issue includes work by two of mainstream comics' most unrestrained stylists in Gus Ricca of Chesler fame and Jack Cole of Plastic Man fame, and contains a wild mix of throw-it-all-against-the-wall features that could only have happened in the early Golden Age.  These included power ring-wielding Diamond Jack, Eric the Talking Lion, and FBI agent turned Fawcett (?) pulp magazine editor Jim Dolan, among others.  An important early Golden Age series deserving of far more attention than it gets, there's a high grade Slam-Bang Comics #1 (Fawcett Publications, 1940) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white pages up for auction in the 2024 May 30 Adventures in the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40261 at Heritage Auctions.

Diamond Jack's power-ring abilities were explained on panel one of his feature that issue as if those events had already happened, and this origin moment has the distinct flavor of Captain Marvel's origin as well: "Diamond Jack, in possession of a miraculous diamond given him by an old magician, becomes physically strong and mentally beyond all ordinary mortals. As instructed by the aged magician, Diamond Jack uses the wizardry of the magic gem to aid the worthy."  Jack shouts phrases such as Kzat! and Kzar! in the subsequent adventure to activate various aspects of his powers.

Also debuting in this issue is a deceptively fun feature called Lee Granger, the Jungle King.  The character is a fairly typical jungle adventurer in the Tarzan mold — with one big twist.  Granger, characterized as a "scientist-adventurer" in his debut story, crash-landed his airplane in Africa while on an unspecified secret mission.  Winning over a native group of villagers by saving their chief from death, Granger soon captures a lion and enables it to talk using an electrical device he constructed in the jungle village.  Eric the Talking Lion vows to help Granger and his villager friends.

Another Slam Bang Comics feature starring a character named Jim Dolan is also worth a closer look.  Dolan is described as the "Hard-hitting editor of Daring Detective magazine" and a former FBI agent who has "earned the respect of the police department."  Considering that Fawcett was publishing an actual true crime magazine called Daring Detective at this time, and advertised the notion that its features were based on "official sources," it's hard not to wonder if Jim Dolan was inspired by a real Fawcett editor or staffer.  While neither Daring Detective founding editor John J. Green nor his successor Leonard W. Diegre were former FBI Special Agents, they certainly would have had law enforcement connections, given the nature of the magazine they edited.  Diegre shows up in the FBI file of former Special Agent Gordon Gordon in connection to Diegre's attempt to hire Gordon to write magazine articles for him.  Diegre was also the recipient of an earlier 1939 letter from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, though its contents could not be uncovered in time for this post. This issue also pinged my radar because the FBI used former Special Agent Edward Miles, later an advertising manager at Fawcett, to gather intelligence on publisher Alex Hillman.  It's unclear to me if Miles was at Fawcett in 1940, but it's all an interesting mystery nonetheless.

Many Slam Bang Comics features were transferred over to Master Comics when Slam Bang Comics ended with issue #7.  But this short-lived title was a formative early Golden Age effort for Fawcett, and  there's a Slam-Bang Comics #1 (Fawcett Publications, 1940) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white pages up for auction in the 2024 May 30 Adventures in the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40261 at Heritage Auctions.

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