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Cannonball Comics publisher Rural Home Publications seemed to be making a big splash in the later days of World War II. The publisher launched no fewer than a dozen titles within an 8-month span in late 1944 through early 1945. Many of these titles are memorable to serious Golden Age comic book collectors for various reasons. Mask Comics and Eagle Comics feature stand-out L.B. Cole covers, for example. Blazing Comics hero, the Blue Turtle, is considered the first Asian-American superhero by many. Rural Home Publications publisher Lindsey L. Baird must have been delighted when Humphrey Bogart, one of the biggest movie stars of the era, was photographed reading a copy of Blue Circle Comics #3. Cannonball Comics #1 is another fascinating example of Rural Home’s ambitious foray into comic book publishing, with a stand-out skeleton cover buy an unknown artist. The interiors feature a dizzying array of material from a Superman and Bugs Bunny parodies, and Archie-style teen drama, superheroes and a touch of horror. There’s a solid copy of Cannonball Comics #1 (Rural Home, 1945) Condition: GD+ up for auction today in the 2022 May 8-9 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122219 from Heritage Auctions.
But then, right around the time that Baird was sending Cannonball Comics #2 to press, it all came crashing down for Rural Home. The government’s War Production Board, an entity in charge of allocating paper rations to publishers during the WWII era, began to crack down on comic book publishers who were misusing paper allocations. A February 6, 1945 WPB order amendment further made printers and distributors responsible for the fulfillment of services for comics or magazines they suspected were in violation of WPB guidelines. This proved to be the undoing of several little-remembered publishers of this era, including Rural Home. Lindsey L. Baird, publisher of titles including Blazing Comics, Blue Circle Comics, Eagle Comics, and Cannonball Comics was sentenced to 60 days in prison and fined $20,000 for misuse of 600 tons of newsprint, effectively ending his Rural Home comic book line.
Nevertheless, many issues among the Rural Home line remain prized by serious collectors today, and Cannonball Comics #1 is among them. An eye-catching example of a weird moment in Golden Age comic book history, there’s a Cannonball Comics #1 (Rural Home, 1945) Condition: GD+ up for auction today in the 2022 May 8-9 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122219 from Heritage Auctions.
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