Treasure Chest (comics)

:"This is an article about the comic book series. For other uses, see Treasure Chest (disambiguation)""Treasure Chest" (full name "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact") was a Catholic-oriented comic book series created by Dayton, Ohio publisher George A. Pflaum and distributed in parochial schools from 1946 to 1972.

Its inspirational stories of sports and folk heroes, saints, school kids, Catholic living, history, science and similar topics were drawn by artists that included such prominent figures as EC's Reed Crandall, Graham Ingels and Joe Orlando, Marvel Comics' Joe Sinnott, and DC Comics' Murphy Anderson and Jim Mooney. Other features included literary adaptations and such typical comics fare as funny animal humor strips.

Pflaum also published the magazines "Junior Catholic Messenger", "Our Little Messenger" and "Young Catholic Messenger".

Publication history

Debuting March 12, 1946, "Treasure Chest" was published biweekly throughout the school year until the 1960s, when it became monthly and doubled the number of pages. It was available solely by student subscription, and delivered in bulk to classrooms. Initially, the covers were of the same paper stock as the interiors; comic books' more typical slick covers were added in 1948. Six-issue summer editions were published in 1966 and 1967. Sometime during the 1960s, "Treasure Chest" began to be published by T.S. Dennison. The final issue was that of July 1972.

Features and contributors

A long-running series, "Chuck White" (later "Chuck White & His Friends"), created by Capt. Frank Moss, featured the son of a mixed marriage, Catholic and Protestant, and even in its early days casually depicted such relatively daring concepts as racially integrated friendships. Series contributors after Moss included writer Max Pine and comic strip artists Frank Borth and, in the 1960s, Fran Matera.

A non-fiction historical feature about the Soviet Union, "This Godless Communism", drawn by Reed Crandall, debuted in vol. 17, #2 (Sept. 28, 1961) and appeared in every second issue through #20.

Others who worked on "Treasure Chest" included writer-editor Bob Wischmeyer, writers Ruth Barton, Frances E. Crandall, Helen L. Gillum, Arch Ward, and Barry Reese, and artists or writer-artists Bernard Baily, James O. Christiansen, Ed Hunter, E.A. Jurist (possibly comic-book writer Ed Jurist), Jim Mooney, Bob Powell, Sid Quinn, and Ozella Welch.

References

* [http://www.toonopedia.com/treasure.htm Don Markstein's Toonopedia: "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact"]
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2002-09-04 Oddball Comics: "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact"]
* [http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/collect/treasure/treasure.shtml WRLC Libraries Digital and Special Collections: "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact"] Note: List of contributors is not comprehensive
* [http://www.authentichistory.com/1960s/treasure_chest/godless_communism.html AuthenicHistory.com: "This Godless Communism"]
* [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2003_11_24.html#007749 News From Me (column of Nov. 24, 2003): "Commie Comics", by Mark Evanier]
* "Alter Ego" #26, July 2003: Interview with Joe Sinnott

External links

* [http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/TreasureChest.html American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives: Finding Aid for the "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact" Bound Volumes]
* [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_04_05.html#011290 News from Me (column of April 5, 2006): "More on Treasure Chest", by Mark Evanier] (On "Treasure Chest" and the Comics Code)
* [http://www.nostalgiazone.com/doc/zine/06_V2N2/thataintfunny.htm "Religious Comic Books in the Forties"] , Mark Carlson, the Nostalgia Zone