A diver from the salvage ship S.S. Recovery is exploring a wreck to find a treasure when he finds a knife and brings down another diver. They search the wreckage and are attacked by Namor, the Sub-Mariner! He savagely attacks both men, stabbing one and crushing the diving helmet of the other. Namor then turns his attention to the ship, wrecking the propeller and running it aground. He heads back to his underwater home, where he is greeted by the "Holy One", who commends him on his attack against the humans. Namor brings the bodies of the two divers as trophies. His mother, Fen, congratulates him on beginning his war of revenge in such a decisive manner. Namor asks her why their people hate the white Earth-men so much.
She explains that in the year 1920, a research vessel called the Oracle had journeyed to Antarctica and was doing "experiments" with explosives that killed many of their fellow citizens. Since Fen looked most like a human, she was sent to find out more about what was going on. She fell in love with Commander Leonard McKenzie, and became pregnant by him. The sailors could not understand how she was able to swim in the freezing water. She learned their language and sent back messages to the undersea army that the white men were too strong for them, but they sent an army to fight them anyway. The white men's bombardment annihilated most of their race, and now, 20 years later, they are ready once again to press an attack against Earth-people, and Namor will begin this war.
Appearing in "Kar Toon and his Copy Cat"
Featured Characters:
Kar Toon(First and only known appearance)
Copy Cat(First and only known appearance)
Other Characters:
Kar Toon's uncle (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Humans
Cats
Mice
Cows
Locations:
Earth-616
Synopsis for "Kar Toon and his Copy Cat"
A boy (presumably named Kar Toon) wants to make an animation, so he draws a cat and starts recording with some kind of camera with two lightbulbs connected to it. An explosion occurs, the kid determines that it's because of a mouse who caused a short-circuit, but more shockingly, the drawing repeats what he says. He thinks that maybe the explosion affected his hearing, or even worse, he might be going nuts.
When he is about to get a solution for the mouse, the cat leaves the canvas and goes inside the camera, hunting the mouse successfully. The boy is amazed by this phenomenon and discovers that the cat can shrink or enlarge it's body, and also can repeat what he says (thereby, calling it Copy Cat). The boy then is excited to tell his uncle about the cat, but then he regrets that thought when he remembered that his uncle said to him that he will break his neck if he caught him fooling around.
He proposes to keep it a secret and sneaks out to get milk; the cat repeats the word "milk" and the kid proceeds to explain to the cat what milk is, drawing a cow in the canvas; the cat disappears, it seems that it's scared of the drawing, so he erases it to draw a calf instead, but then the cat reappears with a cow, soon after doing the same with a calf. The cartoon ends with the three animals and the boy looking at the door as the boy states that his uncle just arrived.
Appearing in "Jolly the Newsie"
Featured Characters:
Jolly(First and only known appearance)
Fred Colby(First and only known appearance)
Peter Brunt(First and only known appearance)
Supporting Characters:
June Hart(First and only known appearance)
Harry Mason (First and only known appearance)
Races and Species:
Humans
Locations:
Earth-616
Vehicles:
Taxi
Police car
Synopsis for "Jolly the Newsie"
Jolly is an orphan who sells copies of "The City" newspaper on the streets. One day he accidentally walks into a reporter named Fred Colby who writes for The City newspaper, causing Jolly to spill his papers all over the ground. His frustration with losing his newspapers is quickly overcome by excitement when Jolly realizes what Fred's profession is. Jolly and Fred like each other and decide they are friends.
Later, a frustrated Fred is at the newspaper office, trying to find a scoop that he can quickly report on so he doesn't lose his job. He is annoyed to receive a phone call at the office from Jolly, who surreptitiously tells Fred to meet him in the city. Fred eventually relents, and takes a taxi to see Jolly.
Jolly shows Fred a building fire that not a single other reporter has arrived to write about yet. Fred talks to the police chief present at the fire, who tells him that nine firemen and three police officers have already been hospitalized due to the blaze. Jolly, standing nearby, realizes that the burning building is the same building that he himself lives in, and he rushes inside to save his money from burning. Seeing this, Fred runs in after the child. Jolly rescues his money, but then hears a cry from the next room over. He finds a lady named June Hart, Fred Colby's sweetheart, trapped inside, and he slings her over his shoulders. As he tries to exit the building, Jolly's foot gets stuck in some weakened floorboards, but Fred arrives just in time to save him and his lover. The trio make it outside just in time as the entire building collapses from the fire.
Fred takes his written story to his newspaper editor, who is ecstatic to hear that Fred was the only one who reported on the event. The editor is even more thrilled to hear that Jolly, the hero who saved a woman from the inferno, is present in the office, and he demands photos be taken of Jolly. Fred tells the editor that the boy needs a job, and the elated Jolly is hired on the spot.
Appearing in "Spy Ring"
Featured Characters:
Daily Free Press(First and only known appearance)
The Wasp (Burton Slade) (First and only known appearance)
Supporting Characters:
Daily Free Press
Editor Wilson(First and only known appearance)
Antagonists:
B-8 (Wingate)(First and only known appearance)
K-2 (Lake)(First and only known appearance)
Dan Roberts(First and only known appearance)
Captain Ludwig(First and only known appearance)
Other Characters:
Jim
Max
Races and Species:
Humans
Locations:
Earth-616
Synopsis for "Spy Ring"
When a spy ring steals special plans for an army plane from an air base, reporter Burton Slade, secretly the vigilante The Wasp, infiltrates the gentleman's club that serves as its front.
Appearing in "Origin of the American Ace"
Featured Characters:
American Ace (Perry Webb) 🢒 (First appearance)
Antagonists:
Queen Ursula 🢒 (First appearance)
Other Characters:
Josef (First appearance)
Minister of Castile D'or (First and only known appearance; dies)
Races and Species:
Humans
Locations:
Earth-616
Earth
Europe (First appearance)
Attainia (Attania) 🢒 (First appearance)
Castile D'or 🢒 (First appearance)
Islet in Atlantic Ocean (First appearance)
Vehicles:
American Ace's Airplane (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Origin of the American Ace"
Queen Ursula decides to finally avenge her exile from Castile D'or to a lonely Atlantic islet. After she is smuggled back to her country to regain her power, she plots with Josef to hire a professional killer, dress him as an Attainian soldier and assassinate the minister from Castile D'or to get those nations to war. The scheme is put to work and a man jumps out in front of the minister's passing car. He shoots the minister and kills him. He then jumps into another car and speeds away. Queen Ursula greets a large crowd and declares a war with Attainia. Meanwhile, an American mineral hunter named Perry Wade, flies over the Attainian countryside. He lands at the capital and walking around the town he hears air raid sirens blaring. He looks up to see the bombs dropping on the town.
Spotting a girl about to be crushed in a pile of burning rubble, Webb comes to her rescue. The girl, Jeanie, is distraught as her parents were killed and has no will to live. However, having been saved by Webb, she agrees to be taken to safety.
Perry flies her to a cottage, where her sister and grandfather are living. Arriving there, Perry is introduced to her family. After Jeanie explains the tragic events to her sister, Perry is invited to stay.
Meanwhile at the palace of the queen, she is more and more desperate to crush her foes and reveals her plans to take over the world. Even though her minister Josef thinks she's mad, he is too frightened to do anything but to follow her. In order to gain support from her subjects, she begins publishing propaganda encouraging the people of Castile D'or to fight back against their "oppressors" from Attainia.
While back at Jeanie's family farm, Perry decides it is time to leave, as he must continue to find a source of radium for his business. As he flies away he is soon tracked by some fighter planes from Castile D'or. The pilots begin shooting at his plane even though he is unarmed. He is shot down and soon crashes his plane into Jeanie's home.
Jeanie, Marie and their grandfather pull Perry from the wreckage and place him into bed. As he recovers, Perry tells Jeanie, that he realizes now something. He has a more important job than mineral hunting -- taking down the evil queen and her oppressive regime.
Notes
Motion Picture Funnies Weekly was a 36 page promotional book that was given out to movie theaters in April 1,1939. It was the very first comic publication associated with Timely Comics, the company that would later become Marvel Comics.
This book was printed completely in black and white, excluding the cover.
The Origin of the American Ace story was colored and reprinted later that year in Marvel Mystery Comics #2 and Marvel Mystery Comics #3.
Fun-O-Graphs
In between the "Namor the Sub-Mariner" and the "Kar Toon and His Copy Cat" stories was a single activities page in the magazine titled "Fun-O-Graphs" which had cartoon faces that readers could cut out, fold, and combine together to make new faces as well as a small brain teaser and an optical illusion image for readers to play with.[1]
Trivia
Bill Everett's first appearance of Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner was in this comic as an eight page black and white story released six months before Marvel Comics #1.
For much time, a copy of the Jolly the Newsie story was not able to be located as it has never been reprinted and scans of the story have never been published online. This was remedied in 2021 when photos of the story were taken and uploaded to the Marvel Database.[1]
See Also
6 image(s) from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly Vol 1 1
Links and References
References
↑[Motion Picture Funnies Weekly edit history https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Motion_Picture_Funnies_Weekly_Vol_1_1?diff=5984263&oldid=5888428]
0 Response to "Motion Picture Funnies Weekly 1 1939"
Post a Comment