The Funnies #45 (1940)
Story and art: Various (Dell Publishing Company, 1940)
Cover by E. C. Stoner. Stories and art by Roy Crane, John Coleman Burroughs, Gaylord Du Bois, Bob Jenney, E. C. Stoner, Walker Harman, and Win Smith. The Funnies presented reprints of classic comic strips, including Roy Crane’s influential Captain Easy, alongside original material. Phantasmo, the first true superhero in the Dell pantheon, makes his debut after Phil Anson returns from years of study in the Orient. With the ability to leave his body, he becomes Phantasmo, sort of a cross between the Spectre and Doctor Strange. (via mycomicshop)
Notes
My knowledge of Black comics from the Golden Era largely comes from Ken Quattro’s Eisner Award-winning book, Invisible Men: The trailblazing Black artists of comic books (National Geographic Books).
This week, I read the chapter on Elmer Cecil Stoner. Similar to some of his contemporaries like A.C. Hollingsworth and E. Simms Campbell, Stoner established a successful career as a fine artist and illustrator outside of the comic book industry. I believe this experience in white-owned media may have enabled him to create several comic books of significant historical importance, such as the following:
Funnies #45 (1940, Dell Publishing): Features the origin story and first appearance of Phantasmo, The Master of the World. This superhero, a first for Dell Publishing company, was created by Stoner himself. (Quattro, 2020, p.35)
Challengers #1 (1945, Interfaith Publications): Published under the auspices of Protestant Digest, Challengers was an attempt to battle antisemitism and racism in the United States. “It would be the first standalone effort to publish a comic book featuring minority characters in a positive light.” (Quattro, 2020, p. 38)
Rich Kane, Space Marshal (1951): Stoner is one of the few Black artists to illustrate comic strips for nationally syndicated newspapers. He co-created Rick Kane with writer Walter Gibson (the creator of the Shadow). (Quattro, 2020, p. 41)
In 2024, E.C. Stoner (1897-1969) was inducted into the Eisner Award’s Hall of Fame. Several other accolades have been attributed to Stoner although they have not been substantiated according to Quatro:
- He’s rumored to have illustrated the famous Mr. Peanut for Platners.
- It’s possible he was an illustrator for (National Comics) DC comics and worked on the first issue of Detective comics.
