Farrell Publications
Encyclopedia
Farrell Publications is the name of a series of American
comic book
publishing companies founded and operated by Robert W. Farrell in the 1940s and 1950s, including Elliot Publishing Company, Farrell Comic Group, and Excellent Publications. Farrell is particularly known for its pre-Comics Code horror comics
, mostly produced by the S. M. Iger Studio. Farrell also published romance
, Western
, adventure, superhero
, and funny animal comics. Farrell acted as editor throughout. In addition to packaging art for Farrell from the beginning, Jerry Iger
was the company's art director from 1955–1957.
, and wrote comics stories for the packagers Eisner & Iger
(sometimes using the names Bob Farrow and Bob Lerraf.) Farrell wrote many comics throughout the 1940s, though usually without attribution, as most stories produced during the period didn't contain credits.
In 1940, Farrell worked as an editor for Fox Comics. Together, Farrell and Fox publisher Victor S. Fox developed the Comicscope, a cheaply produced comic strip
projector sold in the pages of Fox Comics.
, which became independent during that period). Some of Farrell's imprints and brands from this era were American Feature Syndicate, Four Star Publications, and Kiddie Kapers Company. Probably the most notable title produced during this period was Captain Flight Comics
, published under the Four Star brand.
Contributors to Farrell titles from this period included Ken Battefield
, L.B. Cole (who had previously contributed covers to Captain Flight), Matt Baker, Bruce Hamilton, and Steve Ditko
. (The company published Ditko's first professional comics work. He had illustrated writer Bruce Hamilton's science-fiction story "Stretching Things" for the Key Publications
imprint
Stanmor Publications, which sold the story to Farrell, where it finally found publication in Fantastic Fears #5 [Feb. 1954].)
Farrell's horror line consisted of Fantastic Fears, Haunted Thrills, Strange Fantasy
, and Voodoo. All four books were produced by the Iger Studio and featured a consistent "house style." Like many horror comics, all four titles fell victim of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
and were cancelled by the end of 1954.
In 1954 Farrell acquired the rights to the Phantom Lady
comic strip series, previously owned by Fox Feature Syndicate
and before that, Quality Comics
. Farrell published four issues of the short-lived title from January to June of 1954. The company also published Phantom Lady backup stories in two issues of its comic Wonder Boy
. Phantom Lady as well fell under the baleful gaze of anti-comics crusader Frederic Wertham, who objected to the character's titillating costume. Changes were consequently made so that her cleavage was covered and shorts replaced her skirt.
After the cancellation of its popular horror titles in early 1955, Farrell received a cash infusion from Dearfield Publishing, which became a key investor. The company switched focus to romance
, Western
, and funny animal
comics. In 1957, Farrell and former Iger studio-mate Myron Fass
attempted to re-enter the horror/fantasy field with a quartet of Comics Code-approved titles made up of pre-Code material with the goriest panels excised. This resulted in incoherent stories and flat sales.
The company continued publishing until 1958, but never with the same success.
In 1958, he started the humor magazine Panic (published by Health Publications).
In 1960, he acquired the Brooklyn Eagle
s assets in bankruptcy court, publishing five Sunday editions of the paper in 1960. In 1962–1963, under the corporate name Newspaper Consolidated Corporation, Farrell and his partner Philip Enciso briefly revived the paper as a daily. (The Brooklyn Eagle has since been revived again, publishing from 1996 to the present.)
From 1969–1981, Farrell worked for Myron Fass
, as publisher of the schlocky black-and-white
horror
magazine publisher Eerie Publications
. During this time, he briefly revived the defunct New York Daily Mirror
(in name only), publishing it from 1971–1972.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
publishing companies founded and operated by Robert W. Farrell in the 1940s and 1950s, including Elliot Publishing Company, Farrell Comic Group, and Excellent Publications. Farrell is particularly known for its pre-Comics Code horror comics
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
, mostly produced by the S. M. Iger Studio. Farrell also published romance
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
, Western
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
, adventure, superhero
Superhero comics
Superhero comics is a form of American comic books. The form rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s...
, and funny animal comics. Farrell acted as editor throughout. In addition to packaging art for Farrell from the beginning, Jerry Iger
Jerry Iger
Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger was an American cartoonist. With business partner Will Eisner he co-founder of Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on demand for new publishers during the late-1930s and 1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic...
was the company's art director from 1955–1957.
Robert Farrell
Robert W. Farrell (born Izzy Katz) entered the comics field in the late 1930s after a decade spent as an attorney. He wrote for the syndicated newspaper strip Scorchy SmithScorchy Smith
Scorchy Smith was an American adventure comic strip created by artist John Terry that ran from 1930 to 1961.Scorchy Smith was a pilot-for-hire whose initial adventures took him across America, fighting criminals and aiding damsels in distress...
, and wrote comics stories for the packagers Eisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books...
(sometimes using the names Bob Farrow and Bob Lerraf.) Farrell wrote many comics throughout the 1940s, though usually without attribution, as most stories produced during the period didn't contain credits.
In 1940, Farrell worked as an editor for Fox Comics. Together, Farrell and Fox publisher Victor S. Fox developed the Comicscope, a cheaply produced comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
projector sold in the pages of Fox Comics.
Farrell Publications
Farrell began Farrell Publications in 1940, operating until 1948. From 1940–1945, he was co-owner of the Elliot Publishing Company, (known for their imprint GilbertonGilberton (publisher)
The Gilberton Company, Inc. was an American publisher best known for the comic book series Classics Illustrated. Beginning life as an imprint of the Elliot Publishing Company, the company became independent in 1942, before being sold to the Frawley Corporation in 1967...
, which became independent during that period). Some of Farrell's imprints and brands from this era were American Feature Syndicate, Four Star Publications, and Kiddie Kapers Company. Probably the most notable title produced during this period was Captain Flight Comics
Captain Flight Comics
Captain Flight Comics is an American comic book series published by Four Star Publications during the period that is known by fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. A total of eleven issues were printed from 1944 to 1947. Noted artist L.B...
, published under the Four Star brand.
Farrell Comic Group
After a short hiatus, Farrell founded the Farrell Comic Group in 1951 with the financial backing of Excellent Publications. Imprints included America's Best, Ajax Publications, Ajax-Farrell, Decker Publications, Red Top Comics, Steinway Comics, and World Famous. No matter the imprint, most titles had the words "A Farrell Publication."Ken Battefield
Ken Battefield was a prolific comic book artist in the 1940s and early 1950s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He is most associated with the Nedor Publishing line of books where, at various times, he illustrated Pyroman, Doc Strange, Black Terror, American Eagle, The Scarab, Captain Future,...
, L.B. Cole (who had previously contributed covers to Captain Flight), Matt Baker, Bruce Hamilton, and Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
. (The company published Ditko's first professional comics work. He had illustrated writer Bruce Hamilton's science-fiction story "Stretching Things" for the Key Publications
Key Publications
Key Publications was an American comic-book company founded by Stanley P. Morse that published under the imprints Aragon Magazines, Gillmor Magazines, Medal Comics, Media Publications, S. P. M. Publications, Stanmor Publications, and Timor Publications.- History :Stanley P...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
Stanmor Publications, which sold the story to Farrell, where it finally found publication in Fantastic Fears #5 [Feb. 1954].)
Farrell's horror line consisted of Fantastic Fears, Haunted Thrills, Strange Fantasy
Strange Fantasy (1952 comic)
Strange Fantasy is a 36-page, 10 cent, bi-monthly, anthology horror comics title published by Ajax-Farrell in the early 1950s. Its initial issue cover dates October 1952 and its last issue October/November 1954, for a total of 13 issues. Comic book jungle girl Rulah makes an appearance in issue...
, and Voodoo. All four books were produced by the Iger Studio and featured a consistent "house style." Like many horror comics, all four titles fell victim of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was established by the United States Senate in 1953 to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency.- Background :...
and were cancelled by the end of 1954.
In 1954 Farrell acquired the rights to the Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first female superhero characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book companies, and a new version of the...
comic strip series, previously owned by Fox Feature Syndicate
Fox Feature Syndicate
Fox Feature Syndicate was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S...
and before that, Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
. Farrell published four issues of the short-lived title from January to June of 1954. The company also published Phantom Lady backup stories in two issues of its comic Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy (comics)
Wonder Boy is the name of two fictional characters who have appeared as superheroes in comics published by Quality Comics and DC Comics. The original was an alien who appeared in National Comics...
. Phantom Lady as well fell under the baleful gaze of anti-comics crusader Frederic Wertham, who objected to the character's titillating costume. Changes were consequently made so that her cleavage was covered and shorts replaced her skirt.
After the cancellation of its popular horror titles in early 1955, Farrell received a cash infusion from Dearfield Publishing, which became a key investor. The company switched focus to romance
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
, Western
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
, and funny animal
Funny animal
Funny animal is a cartooning term for the genre of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals, with anthropomorphic personality traits. The characters themselves may also be called funny animals...
comics. In 1957, Farrell and former Iger studio-mate Myron Fass
Myron Fass
Myron Fass was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books, operating from the 1950s through the 1990s under a multitude of company names, including M. F. Enterprises and Eerie Publications. At his height in the 1970s, Fass was known as the biggest — and sleaziest — multi-title...
attempted to re-enter the horror/fantasy field with a quartet of Comics Code-approved titles made up of pre-Code material with the goriest panels excised. This resulted in incoherent stories and flat sales.
The company continued publishing until 1958, but never with the same success.
Robert Farrell's later career
Farrell left the comics field and went into magazine and newspaper publishing.In 1958, he started the humor magazine Panic (published by Health Publications).
In 1960, he acquired the Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn Eagle
The Brooklyn Daily Bulletin began publishing when the original Eagle folded in 1955. In 1996 it merged with a newly revived Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and now publishes a morning paper five days a week under the Brooklyn Daily Eagle name...
s assets in bankruptcy court, publishing five Sunday editions of the paper in 1960. In 1962–1963, under the corporate name Newspaper Consolidated Corporation, Farrell and his partner Philip Enciso briefly revived the paper as a daily. (The Brooklyn Eagle has since been revived again, publishing from 1996 to the present.)
From 1969–1981, Farrell worked for Myron Fass
Myron Fass
Myron Fass was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books, operating from the 1950s through the 1990s under a multitude of company names, including M. F. Enterprises and Eerie Publications. At his height in the 1970s, Fass was known as the biggest — and sleaziest — multi-title...
, as publisher of the schlocky black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
horror
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
magazine publisher Eerie Publications
Eerie Publications
Eerie Publications was a publisher of black-and-white horror-anthology comics magazines. Less well-known and more downscale than the field's leader, Warren Publishing , the New York City-based company was one of several related publishing ventures run by comic-book artist and 1970s magazine...
. During this time, he briefly revived the defunct New York Daily Mirror
New York Daily Mirror
The New York Daily Mirror was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the Evening Journal and New York American, later consolidated into the New York Journal...
(in name only), publishing it from 1971–1972.
Titles include
- All True Romance (13 issues, 1955 – 1958) — acquired from Comic MediaComic MediaComic Media was a short-lived comic book company owned by Allen Hardy that existed in the 1950s. Its titles were mainly action/adventure, western, and horror. Their only memorable character was Johnny Dynamite, created by Pete Morisi....
; Ajax imprint - Bride's Secrets (19 issues, 1954 – 1958) — Ajax imprint
- Captain Flight ComicsCaptain Flight ComicsCaptain Flight Comics is an American comic book series published by Four Star Publications during the period that is known by fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. A total of eleven issues were printed from 1944 to 1947. Noted artist L.B...
(11 issues, 1944 – 1947) — Four Star Publications imprint - Fantastic Fears (9 issues, 1953 – 1954) — Farrell/Ajax imprint
- Haunted Thrills (18 issues, 1952 – 1954) — Farrell/Ajax imprint
- The Lone Rider (26 issues, 1951 - 1955) — Farrell/Ajax imprint
- Phantom LadyPhantom LadyPhantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first female superhero characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book companies, and a new version of the...
(4 issues, 1954 – 1955) — originally published by Quality ComicsQuality ComicsQuality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
, Fox Features Syndicate, and Star PublicationsStar PublicationsStar Publications, Inc. was a Golden Age American comic book publisher, operating during the years 1949–1954. Founded by artist/editor L.B. Cole and lawyer Gerhard Kramer, Star specialized in horror comics, crime, and romance comics — but also published funny animal stories...
; Ajax imprint - SamsonSamson (Fox Feature Syndicate)Samson was a fictional superhero that appeared in comic books published by Fox Feature Syndicate. He first appeared in Fantastic Comics #1...
(3 issues, 1955) — originally published by Fox Features Syndicate; Ajax imprint - Strange FantasyStrange Fantasy (1952 comic)Strange Fantasy is a 36-page, 10 cent, bi-monthly, anthology horror comics title published by Ajax-Farrell in the early 1950s. Its initial issue cover dates October 1952 and its last issue October/November 1954, for a total of 13 issues. Comic book jungle girl Rulah makes an appearance in issue...
(13 issues, 1952–1954) — Farrell/Ajax imprint - Voodoo (19 issues, 1952 – 1955) — Farrell/Ajax imprint
- Wonder BoyWonder Boy (comics)Wonder Boy is the name of two fictional characters who have appeared as superheroes in comics published by Quality Comics and DC Comics. The original was an alien who appeared in National Comics...
(2 issues, 1955) — originally published by Quality ComicsQuality ComicsQuality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
; Ajax imprint