Wonderworld Comics #8 - First Appearance of Samson, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Wonderworld Comics (Fox, 1939 series)
Issue: #8
Publication date: December 1939
Key date: December 1939
On-sale date: October 25, 1939
Indicia publisher: Fox Publications Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance (promotional) of Samson - the earliest appearance on record is a publisher promotion, not a story; a canonical story debut may come later.

First appearance of Tex Maxon - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Claire Conos - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Lou Fine; inks: Lou Fine	The Flame, Gary Preston
1	The Atomic Generator	comic story	9	script: Will Eisner; pencils: Lou Fine; inks: Lou Fine	The Flame, Gary Preston
2	The Golden Amulet	comic story	8	script: Will Eisner; pencils: Bob Powell; inks: Bob Powell	Yarko
3	The Terror	comic story	6	script: S. M. Iger; pencils: S. M. Iger; inks: S. M. Iger	Shorty Shortcake
4	Action In Switzerland	comic story	6	script: Claire Moe; pencils: Claire Moe; inks: Claire Moe	Patty O'Day
5	The Real Scorpio	comic story	6	script: Bob Powell; pencils: Bob Powell; inks: Bob Powell	Dr. Fung
6	Tommy Taylor, the Great Boy-Adventurer	text story	2	script: S. M. Iger; pencils: Powell; inks: Powell	Tommy Taylor
7	The Dust of the Dead Men On Hangtown Flat	comic story	5	script: Munson Paddock; pencils: Munson Paddock; inks: Munson Paddock	Tex Maxon First
8	Skull Maker!	comic story	1	script: Nelson Moore; pencils: Nelson Moore; inks: Nelson Moore; letters: Nelson Moore	Ramon Varez; Jon Pulski
9	Hitting the Road	comic story	2		Don Quixote
10	The Return of Lin Sun	comic story	5	script: Will Eisner; pencils: Bob Powell; inks: Bob Powell	Claire Conos First, K-51
11	The Train Robbers	comic story	5	script: Harold Vance; pencils: George Tuska; inks: George Tuska	Richard G. Robinson ["Mob-Buster" Robinson]; railroad workers; Jerome Muldon; Muldon's gang members; motorcycle cop
12	Suez Canal Folly	text article	1	pencils: ? (illustrations); inks: ? (illustrations); colors: ? (background); letters: typeset	Ferdinand de Lesseps; King George VI; M. Riche (French postmaster); Gustave Riche
13	-	text article	1	script: Glenda Carrol; pencils: Glenda Carrol; inks: Glenda Carrol	Warner Baxter (1889-1951); Fay Wray (1907-2004); Herbert Plews (1898-1982); Anthony Quinn (1915-2001); C. Aubrey Smith (1863-1948)
14	Adventure In the Azores	comic story	7	script: Klaus Nordling; pencils: Klaus Nordling; inks: Klaus Nordling	"Spark" Stevens
15	The New Comic Sensation!	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	pencils: Lou Fine, Alex Blum, Jack Farr; inks: Lou Fine, Alex Blum, Jack Farr	Samson First

Plus 1 page of advertisements and other matter across 1 sequence, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
The Flame #1	1940	On eBay ›
Blue Beetle #4	1940	On eBay ›
Ace Comics Presents #4	1987	On eBay ›
1917-1940 ISBN 1-56685-006-1	1997	On eBay ›
Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 #[nn] ISBN 9781560979715	2009	On eBay ›
Men of Mystery Comics #95	2014	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #76 of 31#9 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com