I'll Have This Solved In 24 Hours----

 It's time for Sunday Morn...

Oops.

Kind of got distracted and skipped a day along the way. You got today's post yesterday, so now it's time for Monday Morning Funnies with Fred!

Fred Schwab, that is. Fred passed with the 20th century, but was there for the dawn of comics. He was there for the beginnings of the Big Two comic publishers, his work appearing in both Detective Comics #1 and Marvel Comics #1, not to mention working with Eisner-Iger Studios. His gag cartoons appeared in glossy magazines of the time as well.

Today, however, we're sticking with some of his work for Fox from the first years of Mystery Men Comics. We were already looking at the rather deranged adventures of Hemlock Shomes and Dr. Potsam - let us carry on...

Schwab had another sleuth appearing in the early issues of Mystery Men Comics to whom i alluded a couple of days ago. Meet Billy Bounce, The Kid Detective -

(Is it just me, or did that trail of spinach lead to a slightly better dressed Wimpy?)

You may have noticed that Fred, like many others of the time, worked under a variety of names. By the late '40s, Schwab quit comics for a real job with The New York Times and stayed there for the next 30+ years until he retired.

But he left us of lots of comics to enjoy during the decade he spent creating them.

page art by Fred Schwab from Mystery Men Comics #s 3-7, 10, 14, & 15 (1939, 1940)

Drink To Me Only With Kooba

I have expressed previously my great preference for original old comics over reprints, despite improvements in printing technology. One very prominent reason for that is the advertisements. They turn old comics into time capsules, capturing little bits of life that are often long forgotten.

For example, do you remember "America's Favorite Cola Drink with Vitamin B1" - Kooba Cola?

Not seeming familiar?
They even had big contests and prizes...

...and in a particularly cool move, they gave out free sodas via coupons in the comics. (Yep, one more reason to not be able to find those old books in good shape)

There was, however, one particularly Odd bit about Kooba Cola - 

It didn't exist.

See that note at the bottom of the ad above?
"If your Dealer happens to be out of KOOBA or has yet to be supplied, mail the coupon..."

The entire campaign was an attempt by Victor Fox (from whom Fox comics get their name) to create a demand for Kooba Cola, which he would then license to a soda manufacturer using the pre-existing demand to gain favorable contract conditions. Kooba may have been derived from Cuba, where Fox had sugar interests - likely tying into a further profit angle for the whole scheme. 

Had it worked out, folks would have called him genius. Instead, he just lost a lot of advertising dollars and effort, but avoided losing much greater capital investments in an actual product.

The biggest victim of the plan, besides his advertising department?

Possibly the Blue Beetle. Kooba Cola was a sponsor of his radio show - in the scripts, at least. But a sponsor that paid no advertising rate. That had to hurt. I've seen it said that caused the show to go off the air after only a few months, but also have seen reference to the show lasting for 3 years or more, broadcasting from WMCA in New York City. I'll let someone who knows radio better sort that one out.

A little bonus - as long as we're doing adverts today anyway, let's close with a sampling from the Blue Beetle radio show -

ads from issues of Mystery Men, Rex Dexter and Wonderworld Comics (1940)

Any Similarity...To Any Persons, Living Or Dead, Is A Darn Shame - Honest It Is!!

Those reading in the now are likely aware that i've been digging through the past of this blog, picking up some dangling threads left hanging along the way. I got lost in a mass of the bits you don't see - things that were pulled for planned posts but have yet to make it across the digital divide to appear here.

I dug in so deep, in fact, that i lost track and completely neglected to work on actual postings. And here we are, already nearly 6 hours past the typical posting time and my brain is scattered across a dozen topics. I'm not going to try to reel it in and write about today's comics lest i lose the work in progress on upcoming posts. Let's just say that Fred Schwab still has yet to even appear in the blog, so here's a quick correction with more pending.

From 80 years ago in 1939, here are 3 of the first 4 episodes of Hemlock Shomes and Dr. Potsam. (The first i only have in microfiche. Perhaps we'll try to clean it up for a later post)

I expect Billy will Bounce in to join them tomorrow for some Sunday Morning Funnies.

page art by Fred Schwab for Mystery Men Comics #s 3-5 (1939)