Action Comics #69 for Sale - First Appearance of The Prankster - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Action Comics (DC, 1938 series)
Issue: #69
Publication date: February 1944
Key date: 1944-02-00
On-sale date: 1943-12-14
Indicia publisher: Detective Comics Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 60

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

Why this issue matters

First appearance of The Prankster - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Oswald Loomis - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

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

First appearance of The Dummy - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of The Americommando - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Vitamin Vic - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Clancy the Cop - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Handy Andy - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

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: Wayne Boring; inks: Stan Kaye	Clark Kent, Oswald Loomis First, The Prankster First, Superman
1	Editorial Advisory Board	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33	letters: typeset
2	-	in-house column	0.67	script: Josette Frank
3	The Lost-and-Found Mystery!	comic story	12	script: Jerry Siegel; pencils: Sam Citron; inks: Don Komisarow	Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Oswald Loomis First, The Prankster First, Superman, Perry White
5	-	comic story	1	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff; letters: Henry Boltinoff	Private Pete
6	The Little Men Who Were There!	comic story	10	script: Joe Samachson; pencils: Mort Meskin; inks: Joe Kubert	The Dummy First, Greg Sanders, Stuff First, Vigilante
7	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	1
8	The Rain Maker	comic story	4	script: Jack Farr; pencils: Jack Farr; inks: Jack Farr; letters: Jack Farr	Vitamin Vic First
9	Kangaroo Capers!	comic story	5.67	pencils: Edwin Smalle; inks: Edwin Smalle	Congo Bill
10	-	public service announcement	0.33
11	-	comic story	1	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff; letters: Henry Boltinoff	Clancy the Cop First
12	Traitor's Bait!	comic story	7.67	script: Joseph Greene; pencils: Bernard Baily; inks: Bernard Baily	The Americommando First, Tex Thomson
13	Leading Comics	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33
14	-	comic story	1	script: Jack Farr; pencils: Jack Farr; inks: Jack Farr; letters: Jack Farr	Handy Andy First
15	Revenge, Rationed	text story	2	script: Jack Miller
16	East Meets West!	comic story	8	pencils: Joe Sulman; inks: Joe Sulman	Zatara

Plus 4 pages of advertisements and other matter across 4 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Wanted. The World's Most Dangerous Villains #3	1972	On eBay ›
Superman: The Action Comics Archives #5 ISBN 1-4012-1188-7	2007	On eBay ›
Superman in Action Comics #1 ISBN 1-55859-595-3	1993	On eBay ›
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus #4 ISBN 978-1-4012-7257-9	2017	On eBay ›
DC's Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Super-Villains #[nn] ISBN 978-1-77950-173-8	2020	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

‹ #6869 of 866#70 ›

Sources

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

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