Jack, Sandra, and "Mac"

From when "New" was new.

Last time, I mentioned New Fun #1 (1935) as a claimant to the title of “first comic book.” That means the first comic-book hero might be Jack Woods. Woods was a Texas Ranger surrounded by the kind of Mexican caricatures who shout “Carramba” (sic) and “Get heem!” His first comics adventure began even before page one of the comic—kicking off on the cover itself!

Who wrote this one? Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the company’s publisher—who based it on a real anecdote from his adventurous life.

However, Jack Woods wasn’t an original character! As disclosed elsewhere in the issue, he was basically Jack Wood from the contemporary adventure serial Rustlers of Red Dog. Adding an “s” to Jack's name is a thin defense against charges of copyright infringement. But, fortunately, nobody cared.

The first original character in the publication was Sandra McNeil—another by Wheeler-Nicholson. Her feature was titled Sandra of the Secret Service, though she’d have over two years of international adventures before the story gave any hint that the Secret Service had actually hired her. As you can see from her first installment, she starts out stumbling into one peril after another without signing up for any of it…

…until, 25 issues later, she strolls into the Secret Service offices as if she’s worked there all along. (She shared her first page with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a Walt Disney film creation who predated Mickey Mouse.)

I enjoy the passive-aggressiveness of Sandra’s last line there. “You want me to stop a guy who’s menacing the country with a poison-gas delivery system we know nothing about. Perhaps you could give me a suggestion as to just how this can be accomplished?”

Today, Sandra and Jack Woods are as forgotten as all the other title characters New Fun #1 rolled out—Jigger, Ginger, Barry O'Neill, Wing Brady, Judge Perkins, Don Drake, Loco Luke, Scrub Hardy, Jack Andrews, Cap'n Erik, Buckskin Jim, Bubby, Beevil, Pelion, Ossa, and the Super-Police. The only hero in New Fun #1 comics fans might know is the one who wasn’t mentioned in the table of contents.

Because he appeared in an ad.

His name was “Mac,” and nine small frames chronicled his journey from zero to hero.

What to say about “Mac”? His story plays into myths sadly still with us today, like “what women really want is a violent hunk of muscle, so be one.” Still, at least it argues that if you’re unattractive, you should work on yourself rather than wait for fate to correct this karmic injustice. Other romance arcs just seem to urge frustrated guys to wait for their number to come up.

The Charles Atlas bodybuilding ads continued until the late 1970s, with a brief revival in the 1990s. Some were in a more magazine-style format, but “The Insult That Made a Man out of ‘Mac’” was the most popular and received several updates over the years.

Here’s one from later in the century. Note the different swimwear and emphasis on black-and-white TV. Note also that Grace no longer flirts with the bully and labels him a nuisance, implying she cares about considerate behavior as well as looks and strength. Mild progress!

Even when the company tried other comics-format ads, it stuck pretty close to the same formula.

So of the various “first comic-book heroes” we’ve discussed, “Mac” is the longest-lived. Ally Sloper is the most “comical.” Detective Dan Dunn—whose name reminds me of the Dragnet theme (DAN dunn-dan-dunn…DAN dunn-dan-dunn-DUNN…) and Jack Woods foreshadow major genres in comic-book history.

Sandra McNeil belongs more to the espionage genre—and of course, she’s the one who’s not a dude. Naturally, demographic representation is pretty spotty among the six. But Obadiah is the “queerest” of the bunch. He does some cheerful cross-dressing in his escapades, and he prefers his ladye-love to be plump and well-fed rather than the traditional standard of female beauty. I suppose you could also read Sandra as ace-aro—she’s comfortable in the company of men but never shows or expresses special interest in any of them.

All in all, this group comprises a wide, wild variety of characters. If you gathered them in a room, they wouldn’t form a Justice League or Avengers; they’d split up within hours like the Watchmen. I think that says something about the delightful variety of comics themselves—and for that reason, perhaps it’s better to have six “firsts” than to try paring the list down to one.

Next: The last first crossword!