Super Snooper

What do you do when you just can't stay out of people business, but aren't really all that skilled about your snooping? Clearly you become a comedic detective. The pay is not so good, but you get top billing even if it isn't deserved!

This is Super Snooper, a regular from Police Comics.

Police Comics #1 

Super Snooper final appearance was Police Comics #23. From issue #1 to his end, Snooper stayed under the pen of Gil Fox.

Police Comics #9 (left) Police Comics #23 (right) 

Lil' Eightball

Three "Lil EightBall" cartoons were produced and distributed through Universal Pictures in 1939. Black Like Me: The History Of Black Comic Book Heroes Through The Ages Part One 1900-1968 by Dart Adams makes mention of one of the Lil Eight Ball cartoons and give a short background on the character with pictures. "A-Haunting We Will Go" provides more screen shots for the last of the cartoons with a light background.

Dell took the short-lived, animated character from 1939 and dropped him into the pages of New Funnies. Lil' EightBall is a black boy growing up in the rural south. It has all the racist stereotypes one might expect with that setting.

From New Funnies #106 (Dec 1945)
page 01 // page 02 // page 03 //page 04//page 05 //page 06 // page 07//

More information...

Lil' Eightball (Big Cartoons Database)
Der Captain give his thoughts on Lil Eightball after seeing "A-Hunting We Will Go"
Here is the story of Lil Eight Ball B-17G-35-DL 42-107215 from the 709th Bomb Squadron which featured the character as it's nose art.
I am not sure who owns it now, but New Funnies is not in the Public Domain. It is safe to say Lil Eightball will never be re-printed, but you can still find the cartoons running around and unadvertised episodes on Walter Lantz's Cartoons DVDs.

Fight Comics #47 Highlight Reel

See Señorita Rio drawn by Lily Renee! (See more of her here!)

See Rip Carson, a creation of "Rollin Bell" (Later written Rollin W. Bell) and artist Jack Kamen, staring Fighting Comics #19. Rip was a parachute trooper during WWII, later an ace fighter pilot in Korea. His run is Fight Comics #19 to 85, except #69 when they made the magazine shorter.

See Patty Pinup, a humor strip, by "Sista Swing."

See part of Kayo Kirby, originally a creation of Will Eisner, here by "Chuck Walker."

See Hateful Herman, a humor strip, by "Happy Larke."

See pirate captain "Captain Fight" who appeared in Fight Comics #44-69.

See Hooks Devlin, spy/detective.

See it all here!

The Jester

The Jester never made it on a single cover, but he made it into every issues from Smash Comics #22 (1941) to Smash Comics #85 (1949; Last issue). He was a creation of Paul Gustavson and an unknown writer (possibly Gustavson too).

DC Comics acquired the Jester along with the other Quality Comics characters in 1956, but has sparsely used him. He shows up in All-Star Squadron #31 and #60, mostly as face in the crowd. His only modern appearance was in Starman #46, where, in flashback, he teams up with the first Starman against Icicle, Fiddler, and the Gambler. He gives up being a costumed hero and becomes a normal cop. His final fate is unknown.
There is good info already out there on The Jester, and no need of me repeating it here. After his origin story below, you'll find links to some informative pages on the funnyman hero.

From Smash Comics #22, the first appearance of the Jester...

page 1

page 2 // page 3 // page 4 // page 5

Be sure to check the tags for more of the Jester.

Links

The Jester - Don Markstein's Toonopedia
The Jester (Quality Comics) - Wikipedia
Comic Book DB - The Jester (DC)

"Daffy and Deke."

Staring in Smash Comics #41 (March 1943), Gill Fox began a humor strip called "Daffy and Deke." Daffy Dill is a lady wrestler, moved from a small town to find Deke Parsons. Deke is her crooked wrestling manager. He fled to the big city to escape people he owed money. You can check out their first story below.



























































After Gil Fox left to fight in World War II, Bart Tumey took over duties for the title. He continued on the comic till Smash Comics #85 in 1949, the last issue. The writer is listed as Tumey by Comic Book DB for a number of issues after he starts his run, but it is a good bet that he continued to do them the rest of the run too. (Not proven, do not quote me.)

As of Smash Comics #43, the comic was renamed to just be "Daffy." The strip underwent more changes in the coming years. Daffy stayed tall and strong, but slimed down and began to reflect the times more in dress and looks.

In Daffy size jokes are a consent, and many of the plots over the years are about losing weight.

If you're still looking for more Daffy check out Smash Comics - Daffy and Deke on Flicker for the story from #42

Inferior Man

Inferior Man was a creation of MAD's Al Jaffee. This is long before the magazine and early in his career.
From Military Comics #11...