Funny Pages #6, and Funny Picture Stories #1, Comics Magazine Co. both November 1936
Funny Pages #6 is considered by the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to represent the first appearance of the masked hero The Clock. Funny Picture Stories #1 shared the same release date of Nov/36 and features the first time The Clock is on a cover but this comic is considered his second appearance.
The Clock’s secret identity is the socialite and former District Attorney Brian O’Brien. The Clock is armed with special gadgets like a diamond stud that fires tear gas and even a cane whose head becomes a projectile. Some sites on the net call The Clock the “Missing Link” between the pulp heroes of the 30s and the super heroes of the 40s.
It would be hard to ignore the importance and influence that this character had almost two years before Superman and over two and a half years before Batman.
The Clock was no flash in the pan either; he had successful runs in Quality Comics titles Feature Funnies/Feature Comics (#3-#31) and Crack Comics (#1-#35). The Clock had numerous cover features. Then Quality editor Will Eisner was at this time close to developing his own masked hero, the Spirit.
The Overstreet Price Guide shows $1638/$2789/$3900 as the splits at the 8.0/9.0/9.2 grades for Funny Pages #6.
The Overstreet Price Guide shows $2360/$4130/$5900 as the splits at the 8.0/9.0/9.2 grades for Funny Picture Stories #1.
Strengths that make this comic book a good long term investment are:
– First appearance of an important Golden Age character
– First appearance ever of an originally created comic book masked hero
– Surely influenced later creations like Batman and the Spirit
– Ultra tough pre hero era makes any copy a sought after one
– Only 2 copies of Funny Pages #6 have been graded by CGC, one at 0.5 and one at 7.0
– Only 4 copies of Funny Picture Stories #1 have been graded by CGC, at 2.5. 3.0, 7.5 and 8.0
– The comic world has not caught on to the historical importance of these books, yet!
Walter Durajlija is an Overstreet Advisor and Shuster Award winner. He owns Big B Comics in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
