The Ephemerist

Smilin’ Ed’s Buster Brown Comics Book was a publication by Nillsen’s from Oklahoma, and featured all the characters from Smilin’ Ed McConnell’s weekly radio show. That show, a major hit on the NBC roster in the 1930’s and 40’s, was sponsored by Buster Brown, by that time long forgotten as a seminal comics character, but rather a trademark of a particular brand of children’s shoes (which, it turns out, is still in business).

Which only goes to show that the wheel goes round and round : you start as a comic book hero, and end up giving your name to a comic book that you don’t appear in. Or almost – these pages come from issue 23, and feature Buster Brown alongside Smilin’ Ed and his menagerie. The rest of the book contains exotic adventure stories, and one Smilin’ Ed story.