Movie Comics #1 for Sale - First Appearance of Frankenstein's monster - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Movie Comics (DC, 1939 series)
Issue: #1
Publication date: April 1939
Key date: 1939-04-00
Indicia publisher: Picture 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 Frankenstein's monster - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Igor - 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	Gunga Din	cover	1	pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Sgt. Cutter (Cary Grant); Mac Chesny (Victor McLaughlin); (Ballantine) Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
2	Now Showing	table of contents	1	script: C. Elbert; colors: Jack Adler
3	Gunga Din	comic story	11	script: Rudyard Kipling; pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Sgt Cutter (Cary Grant); Mac Chesny (Victor McLaglen); Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.); Gunga Din (Sam Jaffee); Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine); Col. Weeks (Monatgue Love); Higginbotham (Robert Coote)
4	Fisherman's Wharf	comic story	8	pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Tony (Booby Breen); Carlo (Leo Carillo); Beppo (Henry Armetta); Stella (Lee Patrick); Angelina (Rosina Galu); Rudolph (Tommy Bupp)
5	Scouts to the Rescue	comic story	6	script: Irving Crump, Wyndham Gittens, George Plympton, Basil Dickey, Joseph Poland; pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Bruce Scott (Jackie Cooper); Rip Rawson (Dave Durand); Skeets Scanlon (Bill Cody Jr); Mary Scanlon (Vondell Darr)
6	Scouting Trail	activity	1
7	Killer on Location	text story	2	script: Loring Dowst
8	Movie-Make Up	text article	1	pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Boris Karloff; Bela Lugosi
9	Screen Scoops	text article	3	script: Walter Galli; pencils: Walter Galli; inks: Walter Galli; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	John Barrymore; Jackie Cooper; Peter Holden; Henry Armetta; Virginia Weidler; Cary Grant; Victor McLaglen; Leo Carrillo; Bobby Breen; Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; Bela Lugosi; Lionel Atwill; Josephine Hutchinson; Boris Karloff; Basil Rathbone; Donnie Dunagan
10	The Great Man Votes	comic story	9	script: John Twist, Gordon Hillman; pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Gregory Vance (John Barrymore); Donald Vance (Peter Holden); Joan Vance (Viginia Weilder)
11	Going to Hollywood	comic story	1	pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Phoozy
12	Action Camera	comic story	1	script: Smitty; pencils: Smitty; inks: Smitty
13	Terrors of the Tomb	comic story	8	script: Ed Wheelan; pencils: Ed Wheelan; inks: Ed Wheelan; letters: Ed Wheelan
14	Horace Hope	comic story	3	script: Harry Lampert; pencils: Harry Lampert; inks: Harry Lampert	Horace Hope
15	Son of Frankenstein	comic story	8	script: Willie Cooper; pencils: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; inks: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor; colors: Jack Adler, Emery Gondor	Frankenstein's monster First, Igor First
16	Coming Attractions	promo (ad from the publisher)	1
17	Here It Is Folks!	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	pencils: Sheldon Mayer; inks: Sheldon Mayer	Scribbly; Mutt and Jeff; Toonerville Folks; Tippie; Skippy

Plus 2 pages of advertisements and other matter across 2 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
All-American Comics #1	1939	On eBay ›
Detective Comics #26	1939	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

1 of 6#2 ›

Sources

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

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