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CGC #1213387013, White pages, Fall/1941 - Origin & 1st appearance of Uncle Sam, Lou Fine and Will Eisner cover.
Lou Fine/Will Eisner cvr! origin of Uncle Sam (Fall 1941)
Although Uncle Sam first appeared in National Comics #1 this is his 1st appearance in his own title! Legendary creators including Lou Fine, Will Eisner and Jack Cole's work can be found in this premier issue. Uncle Sam was an interesting character in the annals of comicdom, one of the few based on existing Americana in the tradition of Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed, and although undergoing several iterations through to the Modern Age, Sam always took his visual cues from the iconic J.M. Flagg recruitment poster, which was a self-portrait.


Artists Information

Louis Kenneth Fine was born in New York. He studied at the Grand Central Art School and Pratt Institute. He was partially crippled by childhood polio and longed to be an illustrator. Among his major influences were Dean Cornwell, J.C. Leyendecker, and Heinrich Kley. Fine joined the Eisner-Iger comic shop in 1938 and soon was drawing for the Fiction House and Fox lines on such features as 'Wilton of the West', 'The Count of Monte Cristo', and 'The Flame'. Within a short time he became one of their best artists. He drew parts of the 'Jumbo' and 'Sheena' comics, and he also produced several adventure comics. Between 1939 and 1943, he worked for the Arnold's Quality Comics group. He produced 'Black Condor', 'Stormy Foster' and several issues of 'Uncle Sam'. From early on, Fine's specialty was covers, and he turned out dozens of them. Lou Fine left the comic book industry in 1944 and moved into drawing Sunday advertising strips for the funnies. On his advertising work, he cooperated extensively with Don Komisarow. Together, they created characters like 'Charlie McCarthy' and 'Mr. Coffee Nerves' for Chase and Sanborn Coffee, and 'Sam Spade' for Wildroot Cream Oil. They also made 'The Thropp Family' for Liberty magazine, using the combined signature of Donlou (scripts by Lawrence Lariar). Next, Fine drew two newspaper strips, 'Adam Ames', and 'Peter Scratch', about a tough private eye who lived with his mother. Fine died in 1971 and according to Will Eisner, he was one of the greatest draftsmen ever.

Jack Ralph Cole was an American cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man, and his cartoons for Playboy magazine.

Will Eisner is an American cartoonist, writer and entrepreneur who's one of the earliest cartoonist to contribute to the comics industry. Will is famous for his experiments in content and form in comics as well as popularizing the term "Graphic Novel". Will Eisner's most recognized works are The Spirit and A contract with God.