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COMICS
Issue 366
dated April 26, 1940, distributed by gas stations on successive Sundays
during May and June of 1940. Nowadays rare and as one may think
expensive! In this series clues were 'given away' rather than
concealing them by placing a star in the panel containing the all
important clue. It is also during this time (April) Gulf Oil assumed
sponsorship of the radioshow. Each week's episode was flanked by an
advertisement for the CBS radio show. "The Adventure
of the Secret Partner" concluded with the June 28,1940
issue (N°374). Artists and
writer are unknown, it's clearly not done by the regular crew possibly Bill
Ely. We said 'probably first' because in those days it was common to
distribute a comic well before it's cover date to guarantee more time on
the shelves. Around the same time Ellery made it into another comic...
Crackajack Funnies (Whitman Publishing Co.)-- which begun in 1938 -- normally featured strip reprints and the occasional new feature. In the 23rd issue of that title EQ reappeared for the first time (May 1940), the scripts would include one or two adaptations of Ellery Queen radio stories which resulted in stories of widely varying quality. As for Lee and Dannay having contributed material to some of the comic series Dannay once said the deal was set up by his literary agent and the script were neither by him or Lee, though they had the right to approve all scripts and art. As for this art there are similarities between both series to suggest that the same artist may have drawn both series. One of those Bill Ely said his editor Oscar Lebeck
or himself may have scripted some
stories. The first stories were
copyrighted to Ellery Queen, indicating that they had been borrowed.
The Crackajack and Gulf Stories are the only comic book stories to draw plot material from the prose and/or radio canons. Crackajack Funnies survived the EQ-series with one issue as it folded with #43 the January 1942 issue. Ellery as a figure would return seven years later...
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Introduction |
Floor Plan | Q.B.I. |
List of Suspects | Whodunit?
| Q.E.D. | Kill as
directed | New |
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