Sergeant Preston of the Yukon Comic Books

From 1951 to 1959, a series of 29 comic books featuring adaptations of the radio scripts, were published by Dell Comics, which was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. The Dell Publishing Company was founded in 1921, and from 1929 to 1974, published comic books under the Dell Comics line, the bulk of which (1938-68) was done in partnership with Western Publishing. The company formed a partnership in 1938 with Western Publishing, in which Dell would finance and distribute publications that Western would produce. While this diverged from the regular practice in the medium of one company handling finance and production and outsourcing distribution, it was a highly successful enterprise with titles selling in the millions. By 1953, Dell claimed to be the world’s largest comics publisher, selling an estimated 26 million copies every month. 

Dell Comics was best known for its licensed material, most notably such characters as Mickey Mouse, Tarzan, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck and The Lone Ranger. The latter of which was the reason why the company sought interest in Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. 

With routine profits coming in from The Lone Ranger comic books, and George W. Trendle promising television was being considered for the property, Dell entered into a license agreement to publish comic books based on the same property. Hired to create oil paintings for Dell, artist Morris Gollub (1910-1984) was commissioned to create lavish art for the covers of the Sergeant Preston comic books. Gollub began his career in 1937 as an animator and lay-out artist for the Walt Disney Studios, having worked on such classics as Bambi (1942). Beginning in 1946, he was hired by Dell Publishing/Western Comics to handle such tasks as Lassie, Robin Hood and The Lone Ranger. The paintings he created for the front covers always told a story, suggestively revealing the scenes that occurred both before and after the action scene depicted. Gollub’s art was featured prominently for the first 18 comic books. Beginning with Issue #19, his art was replaced with the publishing company’s budget-cutting measures of utilizing a publicity still from the television series.

Personally, I am not a fan of the covers with Richard Simmons on the front. I prefer those from the oil paintings. The cover art for those early issues featured dramatic action on the part of King, often telling a story in itself even though the cover art had nothing to do with any of the plots in the comic books. As an example the one above where Preston and his dog are locked in a shed and King races to extinguish the fuse in the death trap that was set for them. Gorgeous covers!

Each of the comic books contained an average of three short adventures. None were originals; all were adaptations from the original radio scripts. (The majority from 1951 and 1952 radio adventures.) As an example:

Issue #10, February – April 1954

Date of Publication: December 29, 1953

Copyright Registration # © B-456418

“A Fight for the Future” by Tom Dougall, broadcast December 30, 1952

“McAllister’s Bonanza” by Steve McCarthy, broadcast December 23, 1951

“Stand-In for Cheeka” by Fran Striker, broadcast April 15, 1952

 

Issue #11, May – July 1954

Date of Publication: April 8, 1954

Copyright Registration # © B-483743

“The Calumet Gold Robberies” by Betty Joyce, broadcast June 29, 1952

“The Shelf Ridge Incident” by Dan Beattie, broadcast May 29, 1952

“The Stolen Horse” by Betty Joyce, broadcast September 30, 1952

Internally, the art was drawn by Alberto Giolitti (1923-1993), an artist with a style unique and high attention for detail. It was clear from an early age that he had a talent for drawings. After the war, Giolitti emigrated to Argentina, where he produced police stories and novel adaptations. In 1949, he emigrated to New York City, where he had a long and happy collaboration with Dell Publishing, and later Gold Key. He would become known for his work on Dell’s Gunsmoke and Tonto, and Gold Key's Twilight Zone and Star Trekcomic books. His unique style was evident in the art for Sergeant Preston, which often looked better in black and white than in color. He made use of shadows for numerous panels, storyboarding what could be described as an adaptation of a filmed production, often with views from the side hip or from alongside the hero.

 

The art style of Giolitti works better in black and white, not color, which diminishes the shading and style for which Giolittli was able to pull off on the drawing board. This is a darn shame when you see the occasional inside back cover with the conclusion of a story, in black and white, while in contrast with the colored page the left.

All of the stories inside the comic books were adaptations of the radio scripts, selected and submitted by Fran Striker, who as story editor was best suited to select suitable stories from the radio program. None of the stories were adapted from the television rendition, though, to be technical, the television stories were adapted from the radio adventures. Radio scripts authored by Dan Beattie, Steve McCarthy, Betty Joyce and others were used in the comic books, although none of the authors were credited in the comic books, nor did they receive a royalty from George W. Trendle for their use and adaptation. (For a complete list of which radio scripts were adapted into each issue of the comic book, see Appendix D.) 

The first issue, published in the summer of 1951, was titled Sergeant Preston from Challenge of the Yukon, because it was believed the name of the character would sell better than the title of the radio program. It was soon after that the radio program changed its name to Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and, beginning with the second issue, dropped all reference to Challenge of the Yukon. The copyright registration for the first four issues were cited “Challenge of the Yukon,” before the name change was applied on the copyright. 

Beginning with Issue #18, a new feature was added to the comic books, the adventures of Gray Wolf, Leader of the Wolf Pack. As suggested by the title, these were adventures of a wolf and his experiences across the wilderness. In one adventure, Gray Wolf and his tribe faced off against a pack of white wolves for a downed caribou, necessary to survive during the winter months in the Yukon. In another adventure, Gray Wolf staved off a large grizzly bear to save the life of his mother, Neetka, who was chased down and cornered. These adventures of the wild were included in every issue through no. 29.

In the spring of 1956, four additional comic books were printed, distributed in boxes of Quaker Oats, and were smaller in size (7 inches by 2.5 inches) and 16 pages. There were four comics total, each reproducing a story that was used on the radio program.

 

No. 1, The Case That Made Him a Sergeant

© March 9, 1956, A245582

 

No. 2, How He Became a Mountie

© March 9, 1956, A245585

 

No. 3, How He Found Yukon King

© March 9, 1956, A245584

 

No. 4, How Yukon King Saved Him from the Wolves

© March 9, 1956, A245583