Popular Comics #62 – Key Highlights
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Publisher: Dell Publishing
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Publication Date: April 1941 (the supplied introductory description states April 1951; issue indexing lists April 1941)
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Editor: Helen Meyer
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Cover Artist: Possibly Ralph Carlson; attribution is unconfirmed.
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Genre: Adventure / Superhero / Humor / Crime / Science Fiction
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Pages: 68 pages (the introductory description lists 64)
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Original Cover Price: $0.10
🔥 Key Significance
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An early Dell anthology combining reprinted newspaper comic strips with original comic-book material.
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Features Professor Supermind and Son, a relatively obscure superhero duo later included in Jon Morris's 2015 book The League of Regrettable Superheroes.
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Professor Supermind uses his Televisoscope, described as a machine capable of receiving wireless television pictures from anywhere in the world, while pursuing kidnappers.
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Features an eclectic lineup of characters, including The Voice, Martan the Marvel Man, Wally Williams, The Sky Hawk, and The Masked Pilot.
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Combines superhero adventures, espionage, crime stories, humor, and factual features.
📖 Story Highlights
- “Look Dad, Another Kidnap Case” – 8 pages
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Professor Supermind and Son.
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Professor Supermind employs his latest invention, the Televisoscope, to help pursue kidnappers.
- “Shipwrecked on an Unmapped Island” – 8 pages
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Features the Hurricane Kids in an adventure involving an unmapped island.
- “Tim, There's a Man in the Outer Office” – 8 pages
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Features The Voice, the Invisible Detective.
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Art by Jim Chambers.
- “Well, They Dug the Train Out of the Snow” – 8 pages
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Features Wally Williams, American Boy.
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Script by Victor Boni; art by Tom Hickey.
- “Hermit Hacker, a Backwoods Farmer” – 6 pages
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A Gang Busters crime story.
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Art by Dan Gormley.
- “Hey, Boss—Look at This!” – 6 pages
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Features The Masked Pilot.
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Script and art by Bob Jenney.
- “Martan's Space Plane Is Leading the American Expeditionary Fleet” – 7 pages
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Features Martan the Marvel Man.
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Script by G. Ellerbrock.
- “We're Heading into the Mountain” – 7 pages
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Features The Sky Hawk.
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Script by Robert Turner; art by Tom Hickey.
📌 Additional Features
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“Herky” – 1-page children's humor story, written and illustrated by Clyde Lewis.
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“Carnival” – 1-page gag feature, printed in black and white with a red tint.
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“Timberline” – Half-page factual feature from This Curious World.
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“The Ordeal of Edith Cavell” – Text feature from True Spy Stories, concerning the wartime figure Edith Cavell.
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“Red-Bearded Fakir of IPI” – 1-page True Spy Stories feature.
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“Did You Know That” – 1-page factual feature written and illustrated by Roy Humphries.
📌 Additional Details
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Cover Characters: Professor Supermind and his son Dan.
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Cover Credits: The cover indexing identifies the characters but does not establish an artist. Ralph Carlson is a possible attribution from the introductory description.
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Editorial: Helen Meyer.
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Publication Date Discrepancy: The introductory description states April 1951, while the detailed issue record lists April 1941.
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Page Count Discrepancy: The introductory description lists 64 pages, while the detailed issue record lists 68.
Popular Comics #62 is an interesting Dell anthology, bringing together obscure superheroes, newspaper-strip adventures, espionage features, and early science-fiction storytelling.
