The possibility that craze fans could find as many as fifteen or more different Davy Crockett comic books, at one time, on the newsstand, may be mind-boggling, but true! To begin with, Dell Comics, who held the licensing for all the Disney characters, published six newsstand and one non-newsstand giveaway, six of which had Fess Parker photo covers. Fess Parker photo cover comics: Four Color Comics # 631 "Davy Crockett Indian Fighter", Four Color Comics # 639 "Davy Crockett at the Alamo", all new 100 page Dell Giant "Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier", Four Color Comics #664 "Davy Crockett in the Great Keelboat Race", and Four Color Comics #671 "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates". Donald Duck in Disneyland” Dell Giant September 1955. This Comic has a 22 page story that tells the tail of Davy Crockett’s fight with Big Foot! Plus, along with these Fess Parker versions, Dell also came out with Disney's 'Li'l Davy', a younger, cuter, version of our "King of the Wild Frontier", who grins down b'ars while singing "The Balled of Davy Crockett", in Dell Giants: Mickey Mouse in Frontierland #1, Donald Duck Beach Party #'s 3- 5, and Disneyland Birthday Party #1.
The other publishing houses, in a hurry to get their own Crockett comics out on the racks before the craze ended, cut their production time of six months down to a few weeks. One such "overnight title" was Harvey Comics' Davy Crockett Western Tales #'s 31 & 32. Joe Simon, Captain America creator, and half of the creative team of Simon & (Jack) Kirby who did these books said, "Trends were very important in the comic book industry, we also did (Alamo hero) Jim Bowie," in Western Tales #33.
DC Comics, most noted for Superman and Batman, had three different Crockett-themed comic titles come out in the same month: It's Game Time #1 with Davy cut-outs & activities, Tomahawk #'s 35 & 36 featuring "Young Davy Crockett", and Frontier Fighters #'s 1-8. The other Crockett craze comic book companies included Charlton with Davy Crockett, Frontier Fighter #'s 1-8 and Wild Frontier #'s 1-6, Ace with Heroes of the Wild Frontier #27 (really #1) & #2, Avon with Fighting Davy Crockett #9 (one shot), Gilberton with Classic's Illustrated #129, and ACG with Forbidden Worlds #39. ACG's Forbidden Worlds #39 gave us "The Davy Crockett Mystery!" written by editor Richard E. Hughes and illustrated by Kurt Schaffenberger. Talk about your oddball stories! This one has our frontier hero, almost dead from the battle of the Alamo, drinking from a fountain of youth that allows him to live on to fight in every major American war, up to World War II, where, dying heroically, he decomposes into a clump of smoldering bones. |
