Spøk og Spenning
| Spøk og Spenning | |
 First issue | |
| Country/language: |  Norway / Norwegian
|
|---|---|
| Publishing company: | Magasinet for Alle |
| Publishing years: | 1941–1945 + 1950-1954 |
| Issues: | 174 |
| Format: | 32,5 x 23,5 cm, b/w & color |
Spøk og Spenning is a Norwegian magazine, published by Magasinet for Alle between 1941 - 1945 and by Oddvar Larsen (Odvar Lamer) between 1950-1954.
Issue overview
Regular series
Spøk og Spenning reprinting various comics serialized form such as: "Mesterdetektiven X-9 (Secret Agent X9)" by Charles Flanders and Robert Storm, "Bobby Gløgg (Bobby Dazzler)" by Otto Messmer, "Dingelhofer og bikja hans (Dingle-Hoofer Und His Dog)" by Harold Knerr, "Elmer" by Doc Winner, "Etta Kett" by Paul Robinson, "Huckleberry Finn" by Clare Victor Dwiggins, "Connie" by Frank Godwin, "Mandrake (the Magician)" by Lee Falk and Phil Davis, "Mikke Mus (Mickey Mouse)", "Ming Fu (Ming Foo)" by Brandon Walsh and Nicholas Afonsky, "Obersten og Hertuginnen (Colonel Potterby and the Dutchess)" by Chic Young, "Prinsesse Pusekatt (Pussycat Princess)" by Grace Drayton, "Præriens Sorte Maske (The Lone Ranger)" by Charles Flanders, "Radiopatruljen (Radio Patrol)" by Eddie Sullivan and Charlie Schmidt, "Rossi (Rosie's Beau)" by George McManus, "Sappo" by E. C. Segar, "Skippy" by Percy Crosby, "Tarzan" by Hal Foster / Burne Hogarth, "Tilly (Tillie the Toiler)" by Russ Westover and "Valemon (Prince Valiant)" by Hal Foster.
The comics are mostly US Sunday strips but four series are edited daily strips such as the stories with: "Huckleberry Finn", "Mandrake", "Radio Patrol" and "Secret Agent X9".
1941
The issues in the 1941 edition has 16 pages and printed (issues 1 to 30) the Mandrake daily story "Den vandrende mumie (The Museum Mystery)" from 1940. This story is in color and is identical to the one printed in the Swedish weekly magazine "Allers", translated into Norwegian. The second Mandrake daily story in "Spøk og Spenning", "Blekkspruten (The Octopus Ring)" (also from "Allers") started in issue 31.
The "Tarzan" stories have a somewhat strange publication. It started printing translated Sunday pages which ended abruptly in issue 11 (US page 1935: March 3). The next story is the "Tarzan" Sundays from January 5 to April 26, 1936. These 17 Sunday pages are edited to fit 18 pages in "Spøk og Spenning". Many panels have been edited out in this version, the text has been removed and placed under the individual panels. Some panels are enlarged, some with extra ink to fill the panel. In addition, there are also some extra panels, which do not exist in the original story. In issue 30, the magazine takes up the translated original Sunday pages. This time starting with Sunday pages by Burne Hogarth from 1941 (May 4).
When it comes to the drawn covers, there are two different ways in which this is done. One way is that a panel is enlarged and lines in the background are extended to fill out the format of the cover. The other way is that a panel (or elements from several panels) is used more as a reference or model so that the cover appears more like a personal made drawing.
Kjell Steen have mentioned that Gunnar Tandberg made several covers for "Spøk og Spenning". As Tandberg was a well-known artist at this time, he is probably the artist behind the covers which do not look like just as a copy of a panel.
Kjell Steen also indicates that several covers in 1941 are lifted from story panels that never were published in "Spøk og Spenning". This can be seen looking at the four Mandrake covers this year: The cover of issue 16 has a panel from "Mandrake in America" (January 11, 1938), issue 23 has a panel from "The Treasure Hunt" (February 1, 1938), issue 29 has a panel from "Chamber into the X Dimension" (January 31, 1937) and issue 30 has a panel from "Blozz the Champion" (September 6, 1938). None of these stories were printed in the magazine.
An interesting court decision[1] on contracts between "Bulls Pressetjeneste" and a publisher took place in February 1942. "Damm & Søn" started what is considered Norway's first comic book in January 1941 under the title "Damms billed-serier". This monthly comic book was dedicated to "King, prærierytteren (King of the Royal Mounted)" by Charles Flanders. Damm interpreted his contract with Bulls to mean that they had bought the rights to all the American comics that Bulls could deliver, so that Damm could publish these in its own monthly comic books with exclusive rights in the Norwegian market.
When Damm became aware of another comic book ("Spøk og Spenning") on the market and that this consisted of American comics supplied by Bulls, they sued the press agency for breach of contract.
In the trial that followed, however, the judge came to the ruling that "Spøk og Spenning" consisted of serialized stories, and was not a comic book that came out as an independent publication. Bulls was acquitted and "Magasinet for alle" could continue its publication of "Spøk og Spenning". As a curiosity, it must be mentioned that Damm in January 1942 replaced "King" in "Damms billed-serier" with a Norwegian-produced protagonist, "Hjortefot" (based on "Deerfoot" by Edward. S. Ellis) by Hans Braarvig and Jacob Grundt.
1942
The Mandrake story, "Blekkspruten (The Octopus Ring)" continues in all 1942 issues. "Secret Agent X9" ended in issue 21 with the story "The Land of Disappearing Men", and was replaced with "Bobby Dazzler" and "Pussycat Princess". Between issues 24 and 27 "Tarzan" was replaced by "Prince Valiant".
Because of paper rationing in Norway, the publication frequency was changed from a weekly magazine to a fortnightly magazine, starting with issue 15.
As a result of the ongoing paper rationing the number of pages in "Spøk og Spenning" from issue 33 was reduced from 16 pages to 12 pages. "Colonel Potterby and the Dutchess", "Connie", "Etta Kett" and "Rosie's Beau" disappear from the magazine and the "Prince Valiant" page replaces the previously drawn covers.
1943
The Mandrake story, "Blekkspruten (The Octopus Ring)" continues in all 1943 issues.
1944
In the year 1944 no issues of the magazine were published.
1945
The Mandrake story, "Blekkspruten (The Octopus Ring)" ending in issue 1 and in issue 2 a new Mandrake story, "Penger som forsvinner (The Great Grando)", started. Unlike the first two Mandrake stories in "Spøk og Spenning", this one was not taken from the Swedish weekly magazine "Allers". "Prince Valiant" had been named "Valemon" in the previous issues but in 1945 his name was changed to "Valiant".
Second series
A second series of "Spøk og Spenning" started in 1950, but this time without Mandrake the Magician. It was published monthly the two first years. In 1952 20 issues were released, increasing to 26 issues in 1953. The series ended with issue 18 in 1954.
Mandrake stories in Spøk og Spenning
The Mandrake stories printed in Spøk og Spenning is dailies edited into Sunday pages.
| Title | US Title | Issues | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Den vandrende mumie" | "The Museum Mystery" | 1941: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 | Translation of the Allers Familj-Journal version |
| "Blekkspruten" | "The Octopus Ring" | 1941: 31, 32, 33, 34 and 1942: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 1943: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 1945: 1 |
Translation of the Allers Familj-Journal version |
| "Penger som forsvinner" | "The Great Grando" | 1945: 2, 3, 4 |
References
- ↑ "Mesterdetektiven X9, Mickey Mouse og King prærierytteren m. fl. i Oslo byrett", Morgenbladet (Oslo), 1942 6 February, p 2
Sources
- GCD: Spøk og Spenning
- Mine Tegneserier: Spøk og Spenning
- Serienett: "Norges første serieblad" by Kjell Steen