NEW FUN COMICS #6 * 1st Dr. Occult by Siegel & Shuster

Heading:
Author:
Title: NEW FUN COMICS No. 6
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: National Allied Publications Inc.]
Date Published: October, 1935
Description: Poor (0.5). Extensive amateur restoration. Covers trimmed, covers split at spine and mounted to heavy paper at spine, top edge of back cover chipped and filled in with heavy paper, extensive color touch to spine and edges of front cover. Pageblock detached from cover, no staples, first wrap reinforced with tape at spine, horizontal fold to pageblock, 4x4" piece missing from 1st page and filled in with heavy paper, tape repairs to several pages, 3x5" piece missing from page 7, 2x3" piece missing from page 27 and filled in with heavy paper, INCOMPLETE. Puzzles on page 30 and connect-the-dots figure on page 31 filled in with pencil, soiling to many pages, tears up to 4" to many pages. Light tan pages. All 44 pages present. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

Overstreet: "1st Dr. Occult by Siegel & Shuster (Leger & Reuths); last 'New Fun' title. 'New Comics' #1 begins in Dec. which is reason for title change to More Fun; Henri Duval (ends #10) by Siegel & Shuster begins; paper cover." Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 8 ("Rare: 11-20 copies"). CGC Census: None (CGC does not offer grading for tabloid-sized comics). Sales Data: Heritage has sold 3 copies: a Restored "Apparent GD" for $2629 in 2012; a "VG" for $8050 in 2005; and a "VG" for $6325 in 2002.

Credits: Cover: Vin Sullivan. Scripts: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Ken Fitch, Tom Cooper, Tom McNamara, Al Stahl, Joe Archibald, Stan Randall, Eugene Koscik, Ray Wardell, Henry Muheim, Vin Sullivan, Henry Kiefer, Jerry Siegel, Charles Shows, Joe Archibald, John Patterson, Al Whitney, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Whitney Ellsworth, and Dick Loederer? Art: W. C. Brigham, Clem Gretter, Tom Cooper, Leo O'Mealia, Tom McNamara, Al Stahl, Joe Archibald, Stan Randall, Eugene Koscik, Ray Wardell, Henry Muheim, Vin Sullivan, Henry Kiefer, Joe Shuster, Dick Loederer, Charles Shows, John Patterson, Charles Nicholas, Al Whitney, Raymond Perry, Sven Elven, Whitney Ellsworth.(Oc)Cult Classic: "Two new characters, Henri Duval and Dr. Occult, debuted in New Fun #6 — yet neither would prove to be as important as the artist writer and artist team who put them on the page in the first place. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had finally succeeded in breaking into the comics industry.

"New Fun only published original material and Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson needed a fresh supply of talent. While Henri Duval wasn't exactly Superman (for whom Siegel and Shuster had received a host of rejections), the team's work was finally being published. The Siegel and Shuster byline framed 'Henri Duval, Famed Soldier of Fortune,' but on 'Dr. Occult, the Ghost Detective' the two adopted the pseudonyms of Leger and Reuths. The swashbuckling musketeer Duval didn't cut a memorable figure and only lasted four installments. However, Dr. Occult, whose mystic powers were limited only by the writer's imagination, proved to have a little more life. In his first outing, Dr. Occult rescued a victim from a vampire by means of a potent talisman."— Alan Cowsill, Alex Irvine & others, DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing: 2012, p. 13.

Siegel and Shuster Meet the Major: "The Major was reading some new submissions but kept going back to the ones from Ohio. His mind wandered over the gulf from Manhattan to Cleveland — who were these boys? Because of his days in the army, he had never underestimated youth. The Major was impressed with their talent, especially Shuster's heavily masculine art style, so he sent them a character to work on. When they got the letter, they got right to work — this was a tryout, they knew it — and submitted two strips to the Major: Henri Duval and Dr. Occult. One was drawn on brown paper and the other one on the back of wallpaper. They were just sketches, but the Major liked them enough to give the boys a shot. And just like that, all the lost promises and phantom second issues were gone: Siegel and Shuster had broken into the new industry of comics, on the back of torn butcher paper." — Brad Ricca, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Creators of Superman. St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 104.****************************************
The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, encompassing every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales, including The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part 3: The GOLDEN AGE, coming this summer. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.

Enjoying PBA's DC Universe Collection: Pre-Hero, Ashcans and Oddities sale? A very small number of softcover and limited edition hardcover auction catalogues are available for purchase. The catalogues are fully illustrated, thoroughly researched, and make excellent reference works for DC diehards. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.