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About This
Series:
Issues:
This is probably
the smartest way EVER for a comic publisher to test out different ideas
on readers. From 1939 to 1962, Dell published this anthology
comic book series with multiple issues a month! It was called
"Four Color" for the reason that four different colors were used and
combined in the printing process: cyan, magenta, yellow, and
black.
There were over 1,000 issues published. The last issue was numbered #1,354. This is kind of a misnomer, however, because some numbers were skipped. An interesting thing that happened is that when the series began in 1939, 25 issues were released. This is now referred to as Series 1 of "Four Color Comics". For some reason, after #25, numbering began again, giving us Series 2. Most people are unaware that there were two series made. The second series lasted for so long that everybody just assumed it was all one series. For all intents and purposes, it is. But in numbering, there is a distinction.
Unlike most anthology comic book series, "Four Color" gives an entire issue to a certain set of characters or theme. It was a way to test if a character could hold its own as a regular series. "Four Color" typically used licensed characters from TV, film, or other media. Relatively few original characters were created for the line. Some issues spawned successes, others bit the dust. "Little Lulu" and "Tarzan" are two successful examples that proved themselves worthy of regular series after a number of well-selling "Four Color" issues.
It can be hard to identify issues of Dell's "Four Color Comics". Only issues published between 1940 and 1946 carried the title name on the cover. Most of the time, the cover only showed the name of the featured character with an issue number at top.
There were over 1,000 issues published. The last issue was numbered #1,354. This is kind of a misnomer, however, because some numbers were skipped. An interesting thing that happened is that when the series began in 1939, 25 issues were released. This is now referred to as Series 1 of "Four Color Comics". For some reason, after #25, numbering began again, giving us Series 2. Most people are unaware that there were two series made. The second series lasted for so long that everybody just assumed it was all one series. For all intents and purposes, it is. But in numbering, there is a distinction.
Unlike most anthology comic book series, "Four Color" gives an entire issue to a certain set of characters or theme. It was a way to test if a character could hold its own as a regular series. "Four Color" typically used licensed characters from TV, film, or other media. Relatively few original characters were created for the line. Some issues spawned successes, others bit the dust. "Little Lulu" and "Tarzan" are two successful examples that proved themselves worthy of regular series after a number of well-selling "Four Color" issues.
It can be hard to identify issues of Dell's "Four Color Comics". Only issues published between 1940 and 1946 carried the title name on the cover. Most of the time, the cover only showed the name of the featured character with an issue number at top.
Issues:
#638: 1955.
"MGM's Spike & Tyke". I love these characters from the
classic Tom & Jerry cartoons. They translated very well into
comic book form, and were granted their own series. Tyke talks in
the comics, which opens up the story possibilities very nicely.
Some original characters were also created, like Snowball, the
all-white kitten. Snowball was a pest to both the pups and always
trying to get in on a good thing. We don't see Tom & Jerry in
this issue, but they were brought into some of the Spike & Tyke
stories from other comics. Spike & Tyke comics are pretty
funny, and will even please the discerning, older reader.