Dan Dunn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dan Dunn | |
 |
|
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Humor Publications and Others |
| First appearance | Detective Dan, Secret Op. 48., Early 1933 |
| Created by | Norman Marsh |
Dan Dunn was the first fictional character to make his debut in an American comic magazine, making him the granddaddy of the comic book heroes. Created by Norman Marsh, he first appeared in Detective Dan, Secret Operative No. 48, a Humor Publications magazine, in 1933, which was canceled after one issue. Later that year he would make his newspaper debut in the Dan Dunn comic strip (Publishers Syndicate). He eventually appeared in Big Little Books, which are probably the most readily available source of the character's adventures for modern readers. In 1936, Dan Dunn became the title character of a pulp magazine that lasted for two issues. As further noted by Markstein, the square-jawed Detective Dunn was a "knock-off" of Dick Tracy, blowing away evil criminals with the same no-nonsense resort to violence that fans liked seeing during an era of urban crime gangs. In the newspapers, though, Dunn never approached Tracy's popularity.
Marsh both drew and wrote Dan Dunn, and the artwork was its weaker side. Phelps goes so far as to describe it as "arid," "presented a chronic, wintry aspect," with "cavernous spaces" and "huddled, stiff-jointed postures." However, other early crime strips (including the initial Dick Tracy, as Phelps concedes) also look primitive today compared to the photorealist standards of later adventure comics. Its plot writing and action scenes were what attracted readers, and according to Allen Saunders (autobiography ch. 9), it rivaled Dick Tracy in pioneering themes and techniques of the American detective comic — until in 1942 Marsh had an argument with Publishers Syndicate and "stormed out." The syndicate then had Saunders (as writer and the syndicate's comics editor) and Alfred Andriola (as artist) take over the abandoned newspaper strip and subsequently replace it with a new detective strip Kerry Drake in 1943.
[edit] References
- Markstein, Don. Toonopedia: Dan Dunn.
- Phelps, Donald. 1986, Flat Foot Floogie. Nemo —The Classic Comics Library, no. 17 (February 1986), p. 33-38.
- Saunders, Allen. 1983-6. Autobiography "Playwright for Paper Actors," Nemo —The Classic Comics Library, no. 4-7, 9, 10, 14, 18, 19.
