Dell’s Answer to Batman, the Owl in Crackajack Funnies, Up for Auction

Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Crackajack Funnies, Dell Publishing, owl, Whitman Publishing

Created by Frank Thomas under the guidance of editor Oskar Lebeck, the Owl was Dell Publishing’s answer to Batman.

In between helping to pioneer the modern comic book with The Funnies and Famous Funnies, and becoming a juggernaut best known for Disney comic books, Dell Publishing made a brief excursion into superheroes along with the rest of the comics industry during the Golden Age. A character called the Owl was one of the most notable parts of that effort. The Owl was a crime-fighting costumed superhero published primarily from 1940-1943, first in Crackajack Funnies and then in Popular Comics. The definitive version of the character was created by Frank Thomas, likely from a concept by editor Oskar Lebeck, and debuted in Crackajack Funnies #25 in July 1940. The character is private detective and millionaire playboy Nick Terry, who used his wealth to fund his crime-fighting activities as the Owl, most notably with his Owl plane. Terry’s fiance, newspaper reporter Belle Wayne quickly discovers his secret identity and becomes his costumed sidekick Owl Girl. The Owl was Dell’s answer to Batman and there are a number of issues of Crackajack Funnies featuring the Owl, up for auction in the 2024 May 12-14 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122420 at Heritage Auctions.

Although Crackajack Funnies is commonly referred to as a Dell Publishing title, that’s a bit of a simplification. Crackajack Funnies was technically never a Dell title, but the Popular Comics series featuring the Owl’s later adventures was published by Dell. Crackajack Funnies was a Whitman Publishing Co. series, and editor Oscar Lebeck worked for Whitman. Whitman was a publishing subsidiary of Western Printing & Lithographic Co. and Dell Publishing had a relationship with Western on a number of fronts at this time.

The saga maintained some loose continuity from issue to issue throughout much of the run. In Crackajack Funnies #32 the story unfolds with The Owl, aka Nick Terry, caught in an ongoing battle against a villain named Pantherman. In this issue, Belle Wayne, Nick’s fiancée and the only other person who knows his secret identity, adopts the guise of Owl Girl to join him in his vigilante efforts. They navigate through underground sewers, confronting Pantherman’s henchmen and uncovering Pantherman’s gruesome disposal sites for his victims. The narrative continues in Crackajack Funnies #33, where The Owl must rescue Belle from Pantherman’s clutches after she is captured and subjected to interrogation and threatened with torture. The Owl’s timely intervention saves her, and The Owl manages to apprehend Pantherman, delivering him to the police.   These two issues are among the best covers of the run.

The Owl of Crackajack Funnies #25 was a significantly different character than the one that appeared the very next issue and beyond. Editor Lebeck was apparently dissatisfied by the initial rather basic Shadow-inspired concept and brought in Frank Thomas to revamp the character immediately into something pointedly more Batman-like. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the competition among publishers as the Golden Age got underway, and there are a number of issues of Crackajack Funnies featuring the Owl, up for auction in the 2024 May 12-14 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122420 at Heritage Auctions.

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