Action Comics #18 for Sale - First Appearance of Fog Fortune - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Action Comics (DC, 1938 series)
Issue: #18
Publication date: November 1939
Key date: 1939-11-00
On-sale date: 1939-09-25
Indicia publisher: Detective Comics Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Fog Fortune - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Gunner Bill - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Whistler Will - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Origin story on record for: Fog Fortune, Gunner Bill, Whistler Will.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Fred Guardineer; inks: Fred Guardineer
2	Superman's Super-Campaign	comic story	12.87	script: Jerry Siegel; pencils: Paul Cassidy; inks: Paul Cassidy	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Superman, George Taylor
3	New York World's Fair Comics	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.13	letters: typeset
4	Superman's Special Monthly Message to the Supermen of America	in-house column	1	letters: typeset
5	Flash!	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	pencils: Vin Sullivan, Fred Guardineer, Joe Shuster, Paul Cassidy; inks: Vin Sullivan, Fred Guardineer, Joe Shuster, Paul Cassidy	Clark Kent, Superman
6	Old Elias	comic story	6	script: Gardner Fox; pencils: Gene Baxter; inks: Gene Baxter	Pep Morgan
7	The Frame	comic story	4	pencils: H. Fleming; inks: H. Fleming	Chuck Dawson
8	The Cult of the Tiger, Part 2	comic story	6	script: Bill Finger; pencils: Bob Kane; inks: Bob Kane	Clip Carson
9	Flying Fool	text story	1.35	script: Gardner Fox, Vin Sullivan; pencils: Fred Guardineer; inks: Fred Guardineer	Smith; Crowley; Burke; Pete Maloney
14	The Return of the Gorrah, Part 2	comic story	10	script: Ken Fitch; pencils: Bernard Baily; inks: Bernard Baily; letters: Bernard Baily	Bob Daley, Gargantua T. Potts, Tex Thomson
15	-	comic story	1	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab; letters: Fred Schwab	Tiny; Jimmy; Bill
16	Movie Comics	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.5
18	The Captured Planes	comic story	6	pencils: Christopher; inks: Christopher	Fog Fortune First, Gunner Bill First, Whistler Will First
19	Nature's Bowling Green	cartoon	1	script: George Papp; pencils: George Papp; inks: George Papp	General Grant; General Mills
20	Intellectuals of France	text article	0.5	letters: typeset	Claude Debussy; Honore Balzac; Claude Bernard
22	The Atlantis Mystery	comic story	11	script: Gardner Fox; pencils: Fred Guardineer; inks: Fred Guardineer	Zatara

Plus 4.65 pages of advertisements and other matter across 9 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Superman: The Action Comics Archives #1 ISBN 1-56389-335-5	1998	On eBay ›
The Superman Chronicles #2 ISBN 978-1-4012-1215-5	2007	On eBay ›
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #1 ISBN 978-1-4012-4189-6	2013	On eBay ›
Superman in Action Comics #1 ISBN 1-55859-595-3	1993	On eBay ›
Superman: The Golden Age #1 ISBN 9781401261092	2016	On eBay ›
DC Finest: Superman: The First Superhero #[nn] ISBN 978-1-77952-833-9	2025	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #1718 of 866#19 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com