I’ve mentioned Frank Godwin before in this blog, both the beautiful “Connie” reprints from Pacific Comics Club, and the upcoming “Rusty Riley” reprints from Classic Comics Press, but there may also be a third Frank Godwin project that needs our attention, reprints of the classic golden age comic strip, “War on Crime”. There’s some speculation as to whether it might not in fact be Frank Godwin who is the artist on these books, credited to a certain Rex Collier. Buy the books and judge for yourself. It sure looks like Frank Godwin!
from http://www.kenpiercebooks.com/woc.htm
Tales From the Ledger Syndicate
The Philadelphia Public Ledger was for a time Philadelphia’s best-selling paper. It was publlished from 1836 to 1942. As with many big city papers of that era, they syndicated many of their columnists and features. Among the comic strips the Ledger syndicated were:
Marjorie Henderson Buell’s pre-Little Lulu strips from the 1920s
Hairbreadth Harry, 1906-1940
The Shadow, by Walter Gibson and Vernon Greene, 1938-1942
Connie, by Frank Godwin, 1927-1942
Roy Powers, Eagle Scout, by Frank Godwin, 1936-1942
War On Crime, 1936-1938, ostensibly by Rex Collier, but Frank Godwin is credited with assisting.
Heroes of Democracy, 1942, credited to Stookie Allen, but again Frank Godwin is suspected of having in hand in this strip
Frank Godwin lived from 1889-1959 and was one of the great, versatile, artists of the 20th century. His work was in demand as a book and slick magazine illustrator. For a time he worked in comic books for DC and Lev Gleason. He created a series of well known ads for Coke, Texaco, and the US Armed Forces. He is best known for his work in newspaper comics, such as, Connie, Roy Powers, and Rusty Riley. Because of his fame and the prolific nature of his talents, he is suspected by many to have a hand in the output of most of the comic strips produced by the Ledger Syndicate.
Presented here by Comic Preserves is one of those latter examples. War On Crime. While it is frankly doubtful that he produced the entire run of these strips, one can see his style in many of these strips. Nevertheless, these strips have been printed here based on their merit alone and as a part of the preservation of our comic strip history. Due to the rarity of these strips they are reproduced as completely and with the best source material possible.
Credited to Rex Collier, War On Crime reprints strips from 1936-1938. War On Crime is a hard-hitting and violent strip retelling the stories of the most infamous criminals of the 1920s-1930s, such as, John Dillinger, Baby-Face Nelson, and Alvin Karpis. Volumes 1-4 are available, each is 11×8, softcover fanzine, black & white, $7.95 each
Volume 1 120 pages, $7.95
Volume 2 104 pages, $7.95
Volume 3 88 pages, $7.95
Volume 4 64 pages, $7.95