Victor S. Fox and business associate
Bob Farrell launched Fox Feature Syndicate at 480
Lexington Avenue in New York City in the late 1930s. For content, Fox contracted with
comics packager Eisner & Iger, one of a handful of companies creating comic books on demand for publishers entering the field. Writer-artist
Will Eisner, at Victor Fox's request for a hero to mimic the newly created hit
Superman, created the
superhero Wonder Man for Fox's first publication,
Wonder Comics #1 (May 1939), signing his work "Willis". Eisner said in interviews throughout his later life that he had protested the derivative nature of the character and story, and that when subpoenaed after
National Periodical Publications, the company that would evolve into
DC Comics,
sued Fox, alleging Wonder Man was an illegal copy of Superman, Eisner testified that this was so, undermining Fox's case; Eisner even depicts himself doing so in his semi-autobiographical graphic novel
The Dreamer. However, a transcript of the proceeding, uncovered by comics historian Ken Quattro in 2010, indicates Eisner in fact supported Fox and claimed Wonder Man as an original Eisner creation. After losing at trial, Victor Fox dropped Eisner and Iger, and hired his own stable of comic creators, beginning with a
New York Times classified ad on December 2, 1939.
Joe Simon became Fox Publications' editor. As one of the earliest companies in the emerging field, it employed or bought the packaged material of a huge number of Golden Age greats, many at the start of their careers.
Lou Fine created the superhero
The Flame in
Wonderworld Comics;
Dick Briefer created Rex Dexter of Mars in the eponymous series.
George Tuska did his first comics work here with the features "Zanzibar" (
Mystery Men Comics #1, Aug. 1939) and "Tom Barry" (
Wonderworld Comics #4).
Fletcher Hanks wrote and drew
Stardust the Super Wizard in
Fantastic Comics in 1939 and 1940.
Matt Baker, one of the few African-American comic book artists of the Golden Age, revamped – in more than one sense – the newly acquired
Quality Comics character
Phantom Lady in 1947, creating one of the most memorable and controversial examples of superhero "
good girl art". Future comics legend
Jack Kirby, brought on staff here after freelancing for Eisner & Iger, wrote and drew the
syndicated newspaper
comic strip The Blue Beetle (starting Jan. 1940), starring a character created by
Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski in
Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939). Kirby retained the house name "Charles Nicholas" for the comic strip, which lasted three months. Kirby, additionally, created and did one story each of the Fox features "Wing Turner" (
Mystery Men #10, May 1940) and "Cosmic Carson" (
Science Comics #4, same month). Fox Feature Syndicate sponsored a "Blue Beetle Day" at the
1939 New York World's Fair on August 7, 1940, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and including 300 children in relay-race finals at the Field of Special Events, following preliminaries in New York City parks. The race was broadcast over radio station
WMCA. Throughout the 1940s, Fox produced comics in a typically wide variety of genres, but was best known for superheroes and humor. With the post-war decline in superheroes' popularity, Fox, like other publishers, concentrated on
horror and
crime comics, including some of the most notorious of the latter. Following the establishment of
Comics Code Authority in the mid-1950s, Fox went out of business, selling the rights to the Blue Beetle to
Charlton Comics. According to Nicky Wright: "Competing well in the 'most sexy, sadistic, and violent' category, Victor Fox's
Murder Incorporated and
Blue Beetle are noteworthy.... When historians describe sleaze, sex, and violence as Fox's obsession, they are masters of understatement. His best artists, Jack Kamen and Matt Baker, are much revered and collected for their good girl art. Of special note is the company's breasty crime-fighter-in-bedroom-lingerie,
Phantom Lady...along with the wild and scantily attired
Rulah, Jungle Goddess". Boyd Magers said of the publisher: "Never one to overlook a secondary sale, Fox often repackaged four remaindered (unsold) comics into a 25¢ Giant with a new cover, hence ''Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup
, 132 pages dated 1950. However, since Fox always started their stories on the inside front cover (where other publishers ran an ad), these repackaged comics are always missing the first page of story content. Also, since Fox used remaindered issues, contents will vary from copy to copy of Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup''". Fox Feature Syndicate, located at 60 East 42nd Street, filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in July 1950, listing liabilities of $721,448 and assets of $932,878, which included $567,800 in uncollected accounts receivables. Central Color Press of the same address filed likewise, listing liabilities of $513,587 and assets of $603,427. Fox was listed as president of both corporations. ==Victor Fox==