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Joe Palooka (1942 Columbia) comic books

  • Issue #1
    Joe Palooka (1942 Columbia) 1
    • Trimmed
    • TRIMMED. Spine damaged (book removed from a bound volume). Staples added (not manufacturing).
    • Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout. Graded by MCS, not consignor.

    Cover by Ham Fisher. Stories and art by Ham Fisher. Columbia Comics presents the first comic-book reprints of the classic Joe Palooka comic strip, about the adventures of a good-hearted boxer. Framed by a femme fatale and stripped of his championship, Joe goes off to the desert and joins the French Foreign Legion. Lost in Arabia, Joe and Smokey are captured by a sheik, and Joe must box the champion of his hidden city. Also featuring a profile of Palooka creator Ham Fisher; a letter from Fisher about getting permission for the US president to appear in the strip; and interesting facts about Joe Palooka. 64 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

  • Issue #2
    Joe Palooka (1942 Columbia) 2
    • Cover and centerfold detached at single center staple. Cover and interior oxidation. Interior tearing. Water damage.
    • Consignment. 3% buyer's premium charged at checkout. Graded by MCS, not consignor.
      Other items consigned by humble cow

    Untitled story, script and art by Ham Fisher; Joe enlists in the army and is put to work teaching boxing. Untitled story, script and art by Ham Fisher; Another boxer, Red Rodney, is drafted into the army and a match is set up between him and Joe Palooka. Untitled story, script and art by Ham Fisher; Joe turns down a promotion to sergeant; Another boxing match is set up with heavyweight Ruffy. 68 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

  • Issue #3
    Joe Palooka (1942 Columbia) 3
    • 1.5" Cumulative spine split. Cover detached at one staple. Centerfold detached. Staple rust with migration. Heavy oxidation. Brittle.

    Cover pencils by Ham Fisher. Untitled story, script and pencils by Ham Fisher; Joe's company puts out to sea. By coincidence, another boxer, Biff Williams is also on board; They put on an exhibition bout for the crew, but during the bout, the ship lurches, and Biff goes overboard, with Joe diving to his rescue; A Nazi sub attempts to capture them, but Joe and Biff overwhelm the crew and capture the sub. Untitled story, script and pencils by Ham Fisher; The ship lands in an undisclosed location, where the Allies are gathering for an imminent Axis assault; Joe is met by his younger brother Steve; While waiting for the action, a boxing exhibition is staged. Jerry is KO'd by a Scottish boxer with whom he had previously had words. Untitled story, script and pencils by Ham Fisher; Joe and Jerry are chosen to patrol the forest to round up reported Nazi paratroopers; The patrol captures all but one Nazi, and Joe trails the Nazi as he meets a fifth-columnists; Joe attempts to capture the saboteurs, and learns that the paratrooper is none other than the German boxer, Schmeller, whom Joe had fought in New York. 52 pgs., full color. Cover price $0.10.

  • Issue #4
    Joe Palooka (1942 Columbia) 4

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    Cover by Ham Fisher. Stories and art by Ham Fisher. Columbia Comics presents the first comic-book collection of the classic Joe Palooka comic strip, about the adventures of a good-hearted boxer. This issue reprints the WWII strips in which Joe enlists in the military and infiltrates Nazi-held Europe before the Normandy Invasion. Introduction by Ham Fisher offers some behind-the-scenes info on Joe Palooka's entry into the war, and the response to the strip from Free France. Plus a vintage ad for a book on how to identify warplanes from the ground, a hot topic on the home front during WWII. Also featuring a vintage ad for the Glow in the Dark Necktie ("Girls Can't Resist!"). Final issue of the series. 52 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.