the issue Archives

This feature seems to be the root inspiration for much discussion about the possibilities for "invisible planes" during WWII when it was rediscovered by the media in 1941, likely even helping to inspire Wonder Woman's invisible plane in Sensation Comics #1. The Issue is a column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world[...]

The Issue is a column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in it, and discuss the publishers and creators behind it.  And essentially, I'm just going to end up[...]

Family Story Paper #688, December 11, 1886, cover-features part one of a serialized story titled Captain Kidd's Treasures; or the Secret of the Bartholdi Statue Foundation, a tale which combines then-very-recent American and New York history with much older history of the area for a mystery story with some horror overtones.  Interestingly, the issue also[...]

The Issue is a column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in it, and discuss the publishers and creators behind it.  And essentially, I'm just going to end up stepping[...]

"General James Gordon" was a pseudonym for regular Frank Tousey, Publisher author Ralph Morton.  It should be noted that this tale is a reissue of an 1881 version and that it continued to be kept in print via various means until around the World War I era and perhaps a bit beyond. The Issue is a regular[...]

Jumping Jerry the Gamecock appears to be participating in what can only be described as some sort of human equivalent of cockfighting.  The interior story is every bit its equal and is a brutal tale of both actual cockfighting and vigilante justice.  This particular copy once belonged to a foundational Socialist Party figure. The Issue is a[...]

Nick Carter Stories #1 September 14, 1912 from Street & Smith is the first issue of a 160 issue series (1912-1915), which was a reboot of Nick Carter Weekly (1896-1912) — itself an 819 issue series.  The character had previously been featured on the black and white-covered Nick Carter Library (282 issues 1891-1896) after having[...]

Barnum for a period around that time, having previously established himself in California.  As announced in May 1960 in newspapers around the country, Grizzly Adams wrote exclusively for The New York Weekly that year, in "A series of his most thrilling adventures and hair-breadth escapes during his pursuit of the savage grizzlies and other wild[...]

In 1869, the Newark Daily and Weekly Journal of New Jersey had serialized From the Earth to the Moon in 17 parts.  From the Earth to the Moon and Round the Moon were quickly collected into one volume shortly after the publication of the latter, and are today largely remembered as one work called From[...]

Happy Days #1, Oct 20, 1894 is the first issue of a 1563 issue weekly series running from 1894-1924.  Happy Days is an illustrated fiction story paper rather than a comic book, but it's still something we're very familiar with in the modern day.  It's a publisher's attempt to satisfy retailer demand and the changing[...]

Edison, and Edison has a flight suit that looks a bit like Iron Man — an issue for another day. The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on[...]

Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This story cuts across all sorts of history that interests me, and I have to say that when I started looking into this matter shortly after I acquired the issue, I began to wonder whether the accepted versions of the history behind Wizard of Oz are impossibly[...]

It reads as an earlier version of the more recent "Democracy Dies in Darkness." The Massachusetts Gazette, May 1, 1786. The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in[...]

The story behind the inspiration for this issue has a fascinating connection to both The Lost World and Game of Thrones. The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going[...]

In the subsequent two years, the techniques and artistry of the form in color on newsprint had steadily improved ahead of their early color star turn in 1895 with Richard Felton Outcault's Hogan's Alley beginning in 1895. The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The[...]

A recent installment of The Issue featured The Daily Graphic No 283 January 31, 1874, and referenced an 1889 article that discussed story paper circulation in that era.  A "story paper" is simply an illustrated weekly periodical that features fiction, in what we think of as a newspaper format.  The serials featured in story papers[...]

The Issue is a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in it, and discuss the publishers and creators behind it.  And essentially I'm just going to[...]

Many other well-known dime novel series titles were likewise based on Alger story titles — Work and Win, Do and Dare, Fame and Fortune (notably, a Frank Tousey nickel weekly which was eventually acquired by Street and Smith, becoming a pulp title that debuted their original version of The Shadow). The Issue is a regular column[...]

Welcome back to a post-revolutionary edition of The Issue.  At issue today is Le Grelot No 208 from April 4, 1875, with cover art by Alfred Le Petit.  This one caught my eye for further study due to its usage of the now-familiar "flip cover" technique, complete with flipped logos and cover dress.   What could[...]

Welcome to the once-every-four-years Leap Day edition of The Issue.  At issue today is Leslie's Magazine, February 29, 1912 edition One of the most important non-fiction titles in American history, the series got its start as Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1855 "Frank Leslie" was actually an  English engraver named Henry Carter who had gotten[...]

This installment of The Issue features my favorite science fiction character in American history: Frank Reade The character debuted in the 1876 story paper (think newspaper format, but containing fiction instead of news) Boys of New York #28, and went onto feature stories in that title, Wide Awake Library, then getting his own series with[...]

Welcome to another installment of The Issue.  This time around  we're going to take a quick look at  New York Weekly Vol 30 No 10 from longtime publisher of American periodical fiction, Street & Smith When I saw this promo image from Marvel's Avengers of the Wastelands, The Two Avengers was one of the first[...]

Welcome to a regular column about vintage comics and other vintage periodicals from throughout world history that I'm calling The Issue.  The idea behind The Issue is simple:  for each post, I'll choose something from my collection and talk about what's going on in it, and/or discuss the publishers and creators behind it.  And essentially[...]