victor fox Archives

Long considered one of the most notorious publishers in comic book history, Victor Fox was seemingly a desperate man by 1947. With the superhero genre well into its post-War decline, in August 1946, remaining Fox flagships Blue Beetle and Green Mask were halted, and Fox's rising tide of funny animal and other humor titles completely took over[...]

One of the most notorious comic book publishers of the Golden Age, Victor Fox, appropriately enough, was also one of the most crafty.  Unlike most other comic book publishers of his era, Fox had no prior experience publishing pulps,  comic strips, or anything else before his unlikely entry into the publishing field in 1937 with[...]

Fox Features Syndicate founder Victor Fox was one of the most notorious publishers of the Golden Age of comic books — and that's saying something.  Through lawsuits over copying characters from other publishers, two bankruptcies, and tangling with the War Production Board over violating paper quotas, Fox was a man who wasn't afraid to get[...]

There's long been a lot of historical interest surrounding the publication of Victor Fox's Wonder Comics #1, and deservedly so.  The resulting lawsuit, Detective Comics, Inc v Bruns Publications, Inc and its accompanying court testimony is a goldmine of historical information about the formative moments of the Golden Age comic book boom.  Filed by the[...]

On March 6, 1942, the notorious Golden Age publisher of Blue Beetle and much more, Victor Fox was forced into bankruptcy by creditors.  Fascinatingly, one of those creditors, printer Holyoke Press took over the title, and with Fox's Blue Beetle and other titles the publisher acquired under similar circumstances from Frank Z Temerson, Holyoke decided[...]

While he didn't have the newsstand publishing experience that many Golden Age comic book publishers had acquired by the late 1930s, Fox Feature Syndicate publisher Victor Fox was highly interested in copying what seemed to be working for others.  Emulating the likes of DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld among others, Fox had launched a magazine and[...]

Fox Feature Syndicate publisher Victor Fox had high hopes for Dick Briefer's Rex Dexter of Mars from early on.  A few months after his debut in Mystery Men Comics #1, Rex was part of Fox's push via the Mitchell J Hamilburg Agency to get Fox properties into film, radio, merchandise, and syndicated newspaper strips.  A[...]

It's worth wondering if the introduction of Vitamin 2X was a crafty way of promoting Victor Fox's notorious and legendary attempt at launching a soft drink, Kooba Cola.  He began advertising Kooba the month after Vitamin 2X's introduction, and marketing promoted the cola's "invigorating" inclusion of Vitamin B-1.  Fox briefly introduced the "Kuba Kid" in[...]

The business career of notorious comic book publisher Victor Fox often reads like a series of financial gambles driven by little more than his instincts.  Fox was not a cautious man.  He looked for ways to gain an edge, sometimes by pushing ethical boundaries, and when he found that edge, he pushed all his chips[...]

At the height of the late 1940s crime comic and good girl art boom, Victor Fox covered all of the bases.  Not only did he publish comic books featuring a combination of those things, like Crimes by Women and Famous Crimes, but he even had a title that also combined them with another popular genre[...]

Crimes by Women was an infamous Fox Feature Syndicate title even by the standards of its notorious publisher Victor Fox.  Two different issues of the title were mentioned by Fredric Wertham in Seduction of the Innocent, while various other issues, described as "openly sensational" and beyond, were singled out in newspapers of the era.  Crimes[...]

PEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK (decided March 29, 1948), a number of other states and cities were ramping up their attempts to enforce similar statutes which targeted comic books.  And just as importantly, pressure was also being brought to bear on comic book distributors, which was an angle that Feeney used as well. Feeney blew[...]

Victor Fox's Crimes by Women is one of the most notorious titles that the infamous publisher ever put out, and that is saying something.  Two different issues of the title were mentioned by Fredric Wertham in Seduction of the Innocent, while various other issues, described as "openly sensational" and beyond, were singled out in newspapers[...]

Despite fighting a then ongoing battle with DC Comics since the moment Wonder Comics #1 was released, notorious publisher Victor Fox expanded his comics empire rapidly throughout the next year.  By the month that Science Comics #1 was released in January 1940, Fox had launched five ongoing comic book series With names like The Eagle,[...]

Despite his historic debut 83 years ago this month, in Mystery Men Comics #1 from publisher Victor Fox, it took a few months for the Blue Beetle to emerge as the star of the series.  The evolution of the character in the series parallels the rapid rise of superheroes during those historic later months of 1939. [...]

Fox Feature Syndicate founder Victor Fox was one of the most notorious publishers of the Golden Age of comic books — and that's saying something.  Through lawsuits over copying characters from other publishers, two bankruptcies, and tangling with the War Production Board over violating paper quotas, Fox was a man who wasn't afraid to get[...]

In a moment that triggered one of the most important sequences of events in American comic book publishing history, the Wonderworld Comics title was launched as Wonder Comics #1 on March 17, 1939.  Its publisher Victor Fox was sued by DC Comics virtually the instant his debut issue hit the newsstands, "for infringement of copyright[...]

The Eagle first appeared in the venerable Fox Features Syndicate early 1940 release Science Comics #1.  As the series name implies, the origin of his powers was based in science: "Bill Powers, young scientist, discovers an anti-gravitation fluid which, when placed on his specially designed wings, enables him to fly like a bird."  But the[...]

In a moment that triggered one of the most important sequences of events in American comic book publishing history, the Wonderworld Comics title was launched as Wonder Comics #1 on March 17, 1939.  Its publisher Victor Fox was sued by DC Comics virtually the instant his debut issue hit the newsstands, "for infringement of copyright[...]

After a seven-issue start as a funny animal title, Victor Fox company Fox Features Syndicate transformed its All Top Comics series into the kind of content it has become best known for to collectors in the decades since.  The title is best remembered today for its jungle girl-centric content featuring the likes of Rulah and[...]

A great cover can have a tremendous impact on the value of a vintage comic book.  This is not the first time we've noted that here, and it won't be the last.  The cover of Fantastic Comics #3 by artist Lou Fine and published by Victor Fox makes that issue one of the most sought-after[...]

Victor Fox was not the kind of man to let a little legal scuffle slow him down.  Despite fighting a then ongoing battle with DC Comics since the moment Wonder Comics #1 was released (Wonder Comics #1 has a copyright date of March 17, 1939, DC v Bruns was filed on March 16), Fox expanded[...]

The material in this issue was likely in production at publisher Victor Fox's Fox Features Syndicate just as the April 2, 1939 judgment in DC v Bruns lawsuit was handed down.  In that decision, Judge Learned Hand of United States District Court, Southern District of New York, ruled that Fox's Wonderman character infringed on DC's[...]

It is a transcript of testimony from the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by DC Comics against publisher Victor Fox in March 1939 I usually shorten this to DC v Bruns when I talk about it It is more popularly known as the Wonder Man lawsuit. Detective Comics Inc v Bruns Publications Inc, the Superman vs Wonderman[...]