Fox Feature Syndicate Archives

At the height of the late 1940s crime comic and good girl art boom, Victor Fox covered all of the bases.  Not only did he publish comic books featuring a combination of those things, like Crimes by Women and Famous Crimes, but he even had a title that also combined them with another popular genre[...]

Demand is also inextricably linked to rarity, in practice.  A desirable comic book that becomes widely known as rare tends to become less rare over time — usually.  With all this said, 20+ years into the era during which we have CGC census and public sales data available, Fox Feature Syndicate as a line is[...]

Fox Feature Syndicate's V Comics was launched during a period when Fox had decided to go all in on patriotically-themed war titles.  The Eagle was rebooted as a patriotic hero during this time, launched in his own series, and also given the cover feature of Weird Comics.  The new character U.S Jones was launched in[...]

The saga of the Fox Feature Syndicate character the Flame is more complicated than it appears.  The character, his powers, and his backstory evolved steadily, sometimes without explanation, from his 1939 introduction in Wonderworld Comics #3 through his final Golden Age appearances in the January 1942 cover-dated issues of Big 3, The Flame, and Wonderworld[...]

The Eagle first appeared in the venerable Fox Feature Syndicate early 1940 release Science Comics #1.  As the series name implies, the origin of his powers was based in science: "Bill Powers, young scientist, discovers an anti-gravitation fluid which, when placed on his specially designed wings, enables him to fly like a bird."  But Fox[...]

Over the course of our recent posts about Fox Feature Syndicate, we've talked a lot about Victor Fox's various conflicts with other publishers There are two known legal conflicts with DC Comics, involving similarities between Fox characters and Superman and Batman & Robin.  There was a likely conflict between Fox and Marvel over the name[...]

The infringing publications by the defendants were contained in the "Mystery Men Comics" August and September, 1940, issues." This corresponds to Detective Comics #38-41 and Batman #1 from DC Comics and Mystery Men Comics #13 and #14 from Fox Feature Syndicate.  While there's only a very general resemblance between Batman & Robin and Lynx & Blackie,[...]

We discussed some early Blue Beetle origin revisions recently, and a similar situation developed with another Fox Features Syndicate hero named Green Mask.  Both characters had debuted in Mystery Men Comics #1 in 1939 and were rebooted with added superpowers when they both received their own series early the next year.  In Green Mask's case,[...]

Although Fox Feature Syndicate published its last comic book in 1951, several characters it published have had life after Fox.  The Flame, Phantom Lady and Samson were later used by Ajax-Farrell for example, and more famously, Phantom Lady (who had started life at Quality Comics) and Blue Beetle ended up at DC Comics.  The little-known[...]

While much of the focus for collectors has remained on the character's early Mystery Men appearances, the Blue Beetle title itself and the later Mystery Men Comics issues contain important material as well.  Blue Beetle #1 and Blue Beetle #5 are important moments of that change in the comic books, and those plus many other[...]

Like a few other Golden Age publishers, Fox Feature Syndicate titles sometimes verged into horror well before the late-1940s era which is generally considered to mark the beginning of the Pre-Code Horror era.  Such issues, particularly ones with good horror covers, can have crossover appeal among both Pre-Code Horror and superhero collectors.  Mystery Men Comics[...]

There are seven of the eight issues of Fox Feature Syndicate's Science Comics series up for auction in the 2022 December 1 Fox Comics Showcase Auction #40214 at Heritage Auctions. Science Comics #3 featuring Dynamo/Electro (Fox, 1940) Science Comics is also a good example of another influence that has loomed large over pop culture in the subsequent decades[...]

Mystery Men Comics #3 is perhaps best known for its spectacular Lou Fine cover featuring the Green Mask.  Comics featuring Fine's covers are highly sought after on that basis alone, and virtually all the comics he worked on have historical importance for many other reasons as well.  While Mystery Men Comics #3 features one of[...]

Released during a pivotal period in Golden Age comic book history, Wonder Comics #2 has a historically fascinating backstory.

Thor, God of Thunder from Fox Feature Syndicate's Weird Comics was one of the most interesting comic book takes on the character.

Fox Feature Syndicate publisher Victor Fox had high hopes for Dick Briefer's Rex Dexter of Mars from early on.  A few months after his debut in Mystery Men Comics #1, Rex was part of Fox's push via the Mitchell J Hamilburg Agency to get Fox properties into film, radio, merchandise, and syndicated newspaper strips.  While[...]

Cazeneuve worked on a number of Fox Feature Syndicate titles like Weird Comics, Fantastic Comics, Mystery Men Comics, and others, and in Wonderworld Comics #28, he co-created the patriotic superhero character U.S Jones.  A little-remembered but important character who got his own title and fan club, you can get a copy of his first appearance[...]

The Golden Age's first Flame-based superhero, Fox Feature Syndicate's The Flame debuted in Wonderworld Comics #3.

Best remembered for his work at EC Comics across a range of genres including science fiction, horror, and crime, Jack Kamen also made noteworthy late-1940s contributions to publishers like Fiction House and Fox Feature Syndicate, where his good girl artwork on titles like Phantom Lady among others is also highly sought after by collectors[...]

In Mystery Men Comics #28, Blue Beetle was clearly shown using the power of flight throughout his adventure that issue.

Beginning with issues cover-dated September 1945, Matt Baker's output for Fiction House dropped dramatically.  Whereas he had been contributing to nearly 40 interior pages of comic book art per month (pencils and/or inks) over the prior three months, that number dropped to an average of 14 pages per month in the months that followed.  The[...]

The Golden Age's first Flame-based superhero, Fox Feature Syndicate's The Flame debuted in Wonderworld Comics #3.