Adventure Comics #34 for Sale - First Appearance of Red - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series)
Issue: #34
Publication date: January 1939
Key date: 1939-01-00
On-sale date: 1938-12-09
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 Red - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Death on record for: "Biff" Davis.

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
1	Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.7	letters: typeset
2	-	credits, title page	0.3	letters: typeset
3	Fang Gow of China, Part 32	comic story	6	script: Leo O'Mealia; pencils: Leo O'Mealia; inks: Leo O'Mealia	Barry O'Neill; Fang Gow (villain)
4	-	comic story	0.67	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab	Gran'pa (introduction, only appearance)
6	Mutiny on the Mary Ann	comic story	6	script: Jim Chambers; pencils: Jim Chambers; inks: Jim Chambers	Tom Brent; Morte (villain, introduction)
7	-	comic story	4	script: Siegel; pencils: Shuster; inks: Shuster	Steve Carson, "Biff" Davis Death, Red First, Sandy Kean, Larry Trent
8	-	in-house column	1	script: ? (in character as Steve Carson); letters: typeset
9	Six Man Football	cartoon	1	pencils: Sheldon Moldoff; inks: Sheldon Moldoff
10	The Plantation Uprising, Part 3	comic story	4	script: Will Ely; pencils: Will Ely; inks: Will Ely
11	The Lost Gold Mine, Part 6	comic story	2	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab
12	The Masked Man, Part 3	comic story	6	script: Win; pencils: Win; inks: Win	Captain Desmo; The "Masked Man" (villain)
13	Skiing	comic story	1.67	script: Bob Kane; pencils: Bob Kane; inks: Bob Kane	Professor Doolittle
14	Special Christmas Offer	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33	letters: typeset
15	Edward G. Robinson, John Boles, William Powell, Deanna Durbin	cartoon	1	script: Sheldon Moldoff; pencils: Sheldon Moldoff; inks: Sheldon Moldoff	Edward G. Robinson; John Boles; William Powell; Deanna Durbin
16	Argentina Honors Statesman; Christmas Seal; Australia's Queer Fauna; New Child Portrait	text article	0.7	letters: typeset	Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
18	-	comic story	2	script: Stan Asch; pencils: Stan Asch; inks: Stan Asch
19	-	cartoon	1	script: Bob Kane; pencils: Bob Kane; inks: Bob Kane	Snap U. Foto
20	-	cartoon	1	pencils: Sheldon Moldoff; inks: Sheldon Moldoff
21	In Arabia, Part 2	comic story	2	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab	Don Coyote
22	Mutiny!	text story	1.62	script: Jack Anthony
24	Statement of the Ownership, Management, Circulation, etc	statement of ownership	0.33	script: J. S. Liebowitz
25	The God of the Ruby Eye, Part 8	comic story	4	script: Jim Chambers; pencils: Jim Chambers; inks: Jim Chambers	Tod Hunter
26	Episode 29	comic story	6	script: Tom Hickey; pencils: Tom Hickey; inks: Tom Hickey
27	The Pirate Ship, Part 9	comic story	4	script: Bill Finger; pencils: Bob Kane; inks: Bob Kane	Rusty; Long Sin (villain)
28	El Diablo, Part 7	comic story	6	script: Fred Guardineer; pencils: Fred Guardineer; inks: Fred Guardineer	Ramon Fernando (villain)
29	The Palace That Was Used for 3 Hours	cartoon	1	script: George Papp; pencils: George Papp; inks: George Papp
30	-	comic story	0.67	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab	Tiny (introduction, only appearance)
31	Winners of the Cartoon Contest	text article	0.33	letters: typeset

Plus 1.68 pages of advertisements and other matter across 4 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's Pulp Comics #[nn] ISBN 9781613451649	2018	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

‹ #333 of 472#35 ›

Sources

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

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