QUALITY COMICS
National Comics
75 issues • July 1940–November 1949
National
Comics was an impressive title that boasted two of Quality's longest running
strips that included superheroes Uncle Sam and Quicksilver (and later, the
Barker), as well as the non-superhero "Sally O'Neil." National was
Quality's fifth title, debuting one month after Hit
Comics (it was heralded on the inside back cover of Hit #1).
These titles were part of Quality's ongoing initiative to produce original
material. Busy Arnold hired both the Eisner and Iger studios (by this time
they had split) to create many of the features for National and Hit. A
few of these features (Kid Dixon, Wonder Boy, Kid Patrol), later had a life
beyond quality, in the pages of Fox comics (see "Jerry Iger," page
xx). National stayed
on a monthly schedule through most of 1944, then went to bimonthly until its
end.
Cover scans courtesy of the Grand Comics Database.
| Highlighted entries are costumed heroes. Click to read their profile. |
| Character | Appeared in Issues… | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Uncle Sam | #1-45 (July 1940–Dec. 1944) | By Will Eisner & Lou Fine. Also in Uncle Sam Quarterly #1–8 |
| Cyclone, future adventurer | #1–4 (July–Oct. 1940) | |
| Kid Dixon (boxer) | #1–32 (July 1940 –May 1943) | By George Tuska. Also in Bomber Comics, published by Elliott. |
| Kid Patrol (Porky, Sunshine, Teddy, Spunky & Suzy) | #1–36 (July 1940 –Oct. 1943) | By Bill Smith ("Dan Wilson") Also in Bomber Comics, published by Elliott. Like the Little Rascals, complete with token (and embarrassingly represented) black kid |
| Merlin (Jock Kellog) | #1-26 (July 1940–November 1942) | By Dan Zolnerowich, then Fred Guardineer (#12–26) |
| Paul Bunyan (historical) | #1–22 (July 1940 –April 1942) | By Herman Bolstein and John Celardo. |
| Pen Miller (cartoonist) | #1–22 (July 1940 –April 1942) | By Klaus Nordling. Also in Crack #23–60. |
| Prop Powers (pilot) | #1–26 (July 1940 –November 1942) | By the Iger Studio. |
| Sally O'Neil (policewoman) | #1–75 (July 1940 –Dec. 1949) | By Chuck Mazoujian. |
| Windy Breeze | #1–60 (July 1940 –June 1947) |
By Bill Newcombe. By Jack Cole #9–60 |
| Wonder Boy | #1–26 (July 1940–November 1942) | By Iger shop artists. |
| Quicksilver | #5-71 (November 1940–April 1949) | By Iger shop artists. |
| Jack and Jill | #8-22 (Feb. 1941–April 1942) |
By Lowell Riggs. Also in Hit #1-7. |
| Miss Winky | #9–29 (March 1941—Feb. 1943) | By Arthur Beeman. |
| Cyclone Cupid | #13–37 (July 1941–November 1943) | By Gill Fox. |
| The Unknown | #23-41 (June 1942–April 1944) | By Ted Udall and Bernard Klein. |
| Destroyer 171, Lt. Cmdr. Harvey Blake | #23–53 (June 1942–April 1946) | By Al McWilliams. |
| Salty Waters | #23-70 (June 1942-Feb. 1949) | Cartoon about a sailor/goof. |
| G-2 (Don Leash) | #27-46 (Dec. 1942–Feb. 1945) | By "Rubimor." |
| Chic Carter, crime reporter | #33–47 (July 1943–April 1945) | By Vernon Henkel. Before, in Smash Comics. Succeeded by "The Whistler." |
| superheroes give way to humor features… | ||
| The Barker, Carnie Calahan | #42–75 (May 1944–Dec. 1949) |
First adventures by Jack Cole (#42–49) although Gill Fox claimed that Klaus Nordling created the Barker. Also in The Barker #1-15 (Autumn 1946–Dec. 1949). |
| Intellectual Amos | #46-61 (Feb. 1945-Aug. 1947) | A very odd looking boy genius and his pal Wilbur the hobgoblin. By André LeBlanc. Follows "Genius Jones" in Adventure Comics #77 (Aug. 1942) |
| Lassie and Laddie | #47 (Apr. 1945 | Kid troublemakers. |
| The Whistler | #48–54 (June 1945–June 1946) | By Vernon Henkel. |
| Tinker Tom | #54-56 (June-Oct. 1946) | A humorous inventor. By Al Stahl. |
| Steve Wood, private investigator | #55-75 (Aug. 1946-Dec. 1949) | By Al McWilliams. |
| Granny Gumshoe | #57 (Dec. 1946-) | Inventor and investigator. By Gill Fox. |
| Anthrop | #62-70 (Oct. 1947-Feb. 1949) | A teenage doofus. By Michael Senich. |
| Honeybun | #71-75 (Apr-Dec. 1949) | By Paul Gustavson. Also in Police Comics. |