Super Comics No. 20 / January 1940 (THE COPY OF THE FUTURE INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER FERDINAND GROFE, JR., SON OF NOTED COMPOSER FERDE GROFE)

Gould, Chester; Milt Caniff, Harold Gray, Frank Willard, Frank King, Bill Holman, etc.

Published by Chicago Tribune - N.Y. News Syndicate, 1940

About this Item

Cover rolled and separated but present. Includes Smilin' Jack, Dick Tracy, Gasoline Alley, Moon Mullins, Tiny Tim, Terry and the Pirates, Smitty, Little Orphan Annie, Smokey Stover, etc. Original owner Ferdinand Grofe, son of noted composer Fer de Grofe, filled out Daisy Air Rifle coupon to rear cover but did NOT clip, remove, or mail. Coupon was for the Daisy Mfg. Co.'s "Carbine for Christmas Secret Plan," in which the kid was supposed to list to top line the "full name of person most likely to give you what you want for Christmas," the youth in this case having named "Fer de Grofe," below which the 9-year-old filled in the family's Santa Monica street address and (for "You can get my Daisy at:") the name of a local hardware store. Fer de Grofe (now usually spelled "Ferde Grofe") wrote the Grand Canyon Suite, and first orchestrated Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (originally written for two pianos) for Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. (In 1928, Gershwin complained to ASCAP that Grofé had listed himself as a composer of Rhapsody in Blue. The dispute was settled, with Grofé receiving a portion of the royalties for the expanded piece. Despite the dispute, Grofé served as one of Gershwin's pallbearers at his funeral in 1937, according to the New York Times.) In Hollywood, the elder Grofe scored the films "Diamond Jim" (1935), "Minstrel Man" (1940, nominated for an Academy Award), "Rocketship X-M" (1950, first science fiction film score to employ a theremin), and "The Return of Jesse James" (1950.) Fer de Grofe. Sr., died in Santa Monica in 1972. The breakout films of his son, Ferde Grofe, Jr. -- born July 4, 1930, in Passaic, N.J., and who did much of his independent work in the Philippines and in Colombia -- were "Fortress of the Dead" (1965) and "Warkill" (1968). In 1971 he filmed the cult movie "The Day of the Wolves" (1971) at Lake Havasu, Arizona -- his only feature shot in the continental U.S. In 1976 he returned to the States from Colombia to make "Sentimental Journey," a documentary short about the retirement of the Douglas DC-3 aircraft, featuring and narrated by Hollywood star Jimmy Stewart, a project Grofe described as the high point of his career. (Stewart, already a movie star as well as an experienced aviator, was rejected by the Army as "underweight" in 1940, and as "too old" to fly at age 33 in 1942. He nonetheless talked his way into piloting B-24s over Europe, surviving 20 missions, earning two DFCs and the French Croix de Guerre, retiring a Brigadier General in 1968.) This comic, with its unusual provenance, came out of the Henderson, Nevada estate of comic book and cartoon illustrator Ken Landau. Here reduced from $140.

Seller Inventory # 010795

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Super Comics No. 20 / January 1940 (THE COPY OF THE FUTURE INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER FERDINAND GROFE, JR., SON OF NOTED COMPOSER FERDE GROFE)
• Publisher: Chicago Tribune - N.Y. News Syndicate
• Publication Date: 1940
• Language: English
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Chester Gould, Milt Caniff, Harold Gray, Frank Willard, Frank King, Bill Holman, etc.
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Show Biz
  • Rare Books
  • Comics & Graphic Novels