Like baseball cards, comic books have stats. But instead of listing home runs, RBIs, and batting averages, comic books become more collectible for first appearances, notable team-ups, and similar factors.
Most comic collectors are familiar with the first appearances of major players, but less familiar with, say, the first horror comic or magician comic or the first time a flying saucer appeared in a book. That’s why, Robert M. Overstreet compiled a list of “Historic Firsts” in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #26. The list consists of the first comic book of a genre, publisher, theme, or type. Below we present the second portion of that list (listed alphabetically).
Golden Age comic – Action Comics #1 (June 1938)
Heroine single theme comic – Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #1 (Spring 1942)
Horror comic (one shot) – Eerie Comics #1 (January 1947)
Horror comic (series) – Adventures Into the Unknown #1 (Fall 1948)
Jungle comic – Jumbo Comics #1 (September 1938)
Large-sized comic – New Fun Comics #1 (February 1935)
Love comic (one-shot) – Romantic Picture Novelettes #1 (Mary Worth Strip 1946)
Love comic (series) – Young Romance Comics #1 (October 1947)
Magician comic – Super Magic Comics #1 (May 1941)
Magician comic series – Super Magician Comics #2 (September 1941)
Masked hero (the Clock) – Funny Pages #6 (November 1936)
Movie comic – Movie Comics #1 (April 1939)
Newsstand comic – Famous Funnies #1 (July 1934)
#2 in comics – Famous Funnies #2 (August 1934)
100-page comic – Century of Comics #nn (1933)
100th issue – Famous Funnies #100 (November 1943)
One-shot series – Feature Book #nn (1937)
Patriotic hero comic (the Shield) – Pep Comics #1 (January 1940)
Prototype comic (Superman) – The Comics Magazine #1 (May 1936)
Public event comic – New York World’s Fair (1939)
Religious theme series – Topix Comics #1 (November 1942)
Reprint comic – Funnies On Parade #nn (1933)