The Adventures of Dick Cole
| Dick Cole | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Joe Certa's cover illustration forDick Cole#5 (Novelty Press, Aug./Sept. 1949) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher | Novelty Press Star Publications | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Blue Bolt Comics#1 (June 1940) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Bob Davis | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Adventures of Dick Colewas a 1940scomic bookseries, created by Bob Davis. It was published byNovelty Press,and later,Star Publications.Dick Cole is a heroiccadetat the fictional FarrMilitary Academy.The character was introduced in the "Origin of Dick Cole," in the first issue of Novelty Press'Blue Bolt Comics(cover-datedJune 1940).
Publication history
[edit]Billed as "America's Number One School Star", Dick Cole starred in a backup feature in Novelty Press'Blue Bolt[1](and later4 Most), with regular stories about the young hero appearing until 1949. The character got his own book with five issues ofDick Cole(Novelty Press/Star Publications, 1948-1949), illustrated byL. B. Cole,Joe Certa, Jim Wilcox,Al Fagaly,Jack Hearne, and others.[2]L. B. Cole continued the title for five more issues atStar Publicationsin 1949–1950. (Many of the stories published in the Star issues were reprints fromBlue Boltand another Novelty Press title,Target Comics.)
Fictional character biography
[edit]Dick was an orphan left at the Farr Military Academy, and taken in by Professor Blair, who wants to bring him up to be a physical marvel. After years of training, Dick becomes super-strong and acrobatic. He uses these skills to fight crime.[3]
Radio
[edit]In 1942, theDick Colefeature was adapted into a 30-minutesyndicatedjuvenile adventureradio programthat followed the adventures of Dick (Leon Janney) at the Farr Military Academy. When Cole wasn't winning football games, he tracked evildoers with an assist from his Academy pals Simba and Ted. The announcer was Paul Luther. Lew White provided the background music.[4]The program was transcribed and syndicated[5]by theWorld Broadcasting System.
Radio Daily's 1946 publication,Shows of Tomorrow,listed the transcribed seriesAdventures of Dick Cole at Farr Military Academy[6]as being available for the 1946-1947 radio season. The series, produced by Charles Michelson Inc., consisted of 52 half-hour episodes.[7]
References
[edit]- ^Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019).American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944.TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 109.ISBN978-1605490892.
- ^Markstein, Don."Dick Cole, The Boy Wonder"atDon Markstein's Toonopedia.Retrieved July 11, 2008.Archivedfrom the original on September 9, 2015.
- ^Nevins, Jess (2013).Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes.High Rock Press. p. 296.ISBN978-1-61318-023-5.
- ^Terrace, Vincent (1999).Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows.McFarland & Company, Inc.ISBN978-0-7864-4513-4.P. 9.
- ^Dunning, John(1998).On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio(Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 8.ISBN978-0-19-507678-3.Retrieved2019-09-11.
- ^"The Adventures of Dick Cole".RadioEchoes.com.Retrieved23 April2024.
- ^"Radio Daily presents the Seventh Annual Edition of Shows of Tomorrow"(PDF).Radio Daily.1946. p. 71.Retrieved29 September2016.
External links
[edit]- Dick Coleat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
- Dick Cole(Novelty Press)at theGrand Comics Database.
- Dick Cole(Star Publications)at the Grand Comics Database.
- OTR Network Library:The Adventures of Dick Cole(12 episodes)