A month before the debut of Star-Spangled Kid in STAR SPANGLED COMICS #1, readers got a sneak peak of the new feature, created by Jerry Siegel and artist Hal Sherman, in the form of an original three-page teaser in ACTION COMICS #40.
The preview, while by its very nature a rarity (few new strips were given this kind of promotion in the Golden Age), is another example of using Siegel’s co-creation of Superman, hands down their most popular character, in an attempt to sell another strip. It had been just over three years since Superman’s debut and both strips launched by Siegel in the meantime, “Red, White and Blue” and “The Spectre,” were also promoted with Siegel’s and Superman’s names attached and had gone on to phenomenal success.
Also note the photo of Siegel himself in the ad, another rarity at the time, and an appearance by Blooey Blue, of the aforementioned “Red, White and Blue” strip, on the final page pitching in with the schill.
Like all of Siegel’s Star-Spangled Kid stories, save their chapter in LEADING COMICS #1, this preview has never been reprinted.
This is great!!! I’ve never seen this before — goes to show how famous Siegel was as a comics writer.