Tomorrow - In The Beginning

Those old timers among you who are familiar with Tommy Tomorrow likely know him as basically a space cop with the Planeteers. But back in the beginning, Tommy Tomorrow wasn't really a person at all. He was more of a template - a projection of the man of the future through which we could view his world. He was a potential character, waiting for someone to become him when the present became the future. That didn't last too long before he transitioned to a more typical character, but it was - for me - an intriguing approach.

What brings us to Tomorrow's yesterday today is our ongoing look at the artwork of Virgil Finlay. Back in 1947, Finlay illustrated Tommy's first two adventures in Real Fact Comics #s 6 & 8. Both were short 4-pagers, something of an expansion from the Just Imagine tales we saw yesterday.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Obviously, no FF&G this post. Still struggling against forces internal and external, but we shall continue on, eh?

page art by Virgil Finlay for Real Fact Comics #s 6 & 8 (1947)

Just Imagine - Virgil Finlay's Futures

As noted last time, Virgil Finlay did a bit of comic book work, too. Not a great deal - only 3 dozen pages all told. Most of his work was for Real Fact Comics #s 4-12 from 1946-1948. Those stories were all reprinted over the next few decades, but, as far as i know, only one more story was new work - a 1954 tale for Mystery In Space #19.

Today, let's look at the series he took over in Real Fact. Long before The Man did his "Just Imagine" series, the title was used for short, two page speculative tales of future events. Finlay illustrated seven of these stories during his stint at Real Fact. Since they're only two pages each, let's go ahead and take a look at all of them, eh?

In chronological order:

Next time: Tommy Tomorrow!  
(yes, we're still talking Virgil Finlay)

page art by Virgil Finlay for Real Fact Comics #s 4-7, 9, 11 & 12 (1946-1948)

That's a Fact, Jack? (King Kirby 063)

Back in 1946 & '47, Jack Kirby and his partner in creation, Joe Simon, did a few strips for Real Fact Comics. Just a couple 2-pagers, and a couple 4-pagers. The first of the 4-page strips is a fairly straightforward "Real Facts" kind of comic, offering a little lesson in American History:

(SPOILER: He was Both)

The 2-pagers, however, were less Real Fact and more...  well, they say it right there at the top - Just Imagine-

Those stories came from the first 2 issues of Real Fact Comics, and were all reprinted during Kirby's time at DC in the 70s. (Pirate Or Patriot was reprinted in Mr. Miracle #4 if you're dying to read it) Jack returned without Joe in issue #9 to pencil another Real Fact based story which, to my knowledge, has never been reprinted. (My knowledge ends about the end of the last century)
So here's Backseat Driver from Real Fact Comics #9 (1946):

That's another Kirby biography of a woman with whom i was quite unfamiliar. This story came out about the same time as 48 Famous Americans, too. After all those one page bios, having four pages to cover this short period of McKay's life must have seemed quite leisurely to Jack.

pages from Real Facts Comics drawn by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon (1946) and Jack Kirby & ??? (1947)