A1 Comics (1944 Life's Romances) comic books

Cover by Alfred Andriola. Stories and art by Alfred Andriola, Mart Bailey, Frank Engli, and Jack Ryan. Sometimes listed as Kerry Drake Detective Cases (1944) #0 or A1 Comics #1 (there is no issue number, but it appears to be the first issue published). Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of Alfred Andriola's detective strip Kerry Drake and other adventure tales. Kerry seeks escaped convict Fingers, who has taken an unfortunate young farm couple hostage and torments them to get what he wants; Streamer Kelly battles a (female) villain called The Joker; Johnny Devildog is a gung-ho United States Marine during World War II. Kerry Drake; Johnny Devildog; Rocky the Stone-Age Kid; Streamer Kelly; Facts on Firemen Tools. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Stories and art by Bert Whitman, Milt Youngren, Frank Engli, Evans Krehbiel and Bulford Tune. Sometimes listed as A1 Comics #2. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured Tribune Syndicate newspaper comic strip reprints from the 1940s. Mr. Ex investigates after a child is hit by a car, but recovers suspiciously quickly; Bush Berry, a farm boy from Iowa, sets out to become a baseball pitcher for the big leagues; Dotty Dripple's hubby Horace argues with the neighbor about a rake. Mr. Ex; Lew Loyal; Rocky the Stone-Age Kid; Bush Berry; Dotty Dripple. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Ferd Johnson. Stories and art by Ferd Johnson, Vernon Henkel, Phil Hustis, Chas. M. Quinlan, Paul McCarthy, Jack Ryan and Wood Cowan. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. Detective Hank Smith, the master of disguise called the Masquerader, fights the criminal mastermind known as The Dwarf; Farm boy Jonathan Gallant becomes the high-seas hero The Corsair during the age of pirates; Streamer Kelly, a fireman detective, enters a boxing match as part of an investigation. Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton; Dotty Dripple; The Masquerader; Flipper; The Corsair; Gertie O'Grady; Streamer Kelly; Sissy. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Ferd Johnson. Stories and art by Ferd Johnson. Sometimes listed as Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton #4. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured Ferd Johnson's Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton. Texas Slim is a ranch hand who works for Dirty Dalton, a rancher with a floating moral code. The result is slapstick comedy involving Slim, Dalton and Slim's horse Loco; Little Mexico is a boy who has comedic misadventures, much like Nancy or Henry. Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton; Little Mexico. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

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Stories and art by Ferd Johnson, Chas. M. Quinlan, Ted Miller, and Mike Senich. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. The Corsair meets the pirate captain called The Raven; Inca Dinca takes an energy pill that is supposed to allow him to work all day and night without tiring; Tim Hennessey is a deck-hand on the tugboat Jezebel Jones. Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton; The Corsair; Teddy Rich; Inca Dinca; Tommy Tinker; Tugboat Tim; Little Mexico. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Stories and art by Dale McFeatters, Ferd Johnson, Chas. M. Quinlan, Vernon Henkel and Mike Senich. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. The Corsair thought the pirate called the Raven was dead, but his ghost appears to the crew of the Silver Spray; Private eye Carter Mason, aka Mr. In-Between, tries to prove a woman innocent of her husband's murder; Boy inventor Tommy Tinker uses homemade walkie-talkies to cheat on a test, but accidentally broadcasts to the whole school. Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton; The Corsair; George and the Dragon; Mr. In-Between; Tommy Tinker; Tugboat Tim; Sheriff Shudders. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Chas. M. Quinlan. Stories and art by Ted Miller, Chet Jasinski, Chas. M. Quinlan, Vernon Henkel and Gregory d'Alessio. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. The Corsair welcomes the pirate captain called The Raven to his crew, after learning she's actually a woman; Insurance investigator Taffy Blake uses both her brains and her beauty to crack a case; Boy inventor Tommy Tinker believes his creation will improve his life, but it only causes chaos. Cuckoo; The Corsair; Teddy Rich; The Masquerader; Tommy Tinker; A-1 Humor; Tugboat Tim; Taffy. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Chas. M. Quinlan. Stories and art by Ted Miller, Paul Parker, Chas. M. Quinlan, and Walter Johnson. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. Cowboy Rodeo Ryan pursues on horseback after his car is stolen by "bank robbers and such"; The Masquerader and Chris track a missing heiress to a phony psychic, but the heiress is in on the plot; The Corsair investigates the crooked governor of a port city, but someone has tipped him off. Squirt O' Water; The Corsair; Teddy Rich; The Masquerader; Tommy Tinker; Rodeo Ryan; Tugboat Tim; Roger Wright; Danny Dude. 48 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton. Cover by Ferd Johnson. Edited by Raymond C. Krank. Stories and art by Ferd Johnson. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton newspaper reprints. Dirty Dalton thinks he's following a monster's tracks, but it's just Little Mexico's burro cart; Hotel room service thinks Slim and Dirty are dead because they sleep on the floor; The sheriff tries to keep an angry mob away from a convict. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.

Cover by Chas. M. Quinlan. Edited by Raymond C. Krank. Stories and art by Ted Miller, Paul Parker, and Chas. M. Quinlan. Part of A1 Comics, an anthology from Magazine Enterprises with content that varied from month to month. This issue featured reprints of 1940s comic strips. The Corsair's ship is boarded by the pirates of the hideous Captain Skull; The Masquerader and Chris go undercover at a masquerade party, curiously enough; Tugboat Tim tells the story of his first job, on the worst tugboat ever. The Corsair; Roger Wright; The Masquerader; Tugboat Tim; Rodeo Ryan. The A-1 series continued for 139 issues through the 1950s, but most of those issues were listed under the feature's title, starting with Teena (1948) #11. 32 pages, Full Color. Cover price $0.10.