That was the only way out for him -- he could have caused our national defenses to be destroyed! 
- — Black X
Feature Funnies #17 is an issue of the series Feature Funnies (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1939.
Synopsis for "Joe Palooka"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Joe Palooka"
Featured Characters:
- Joe Palooka
Supporting Characters:
- Knobby Walsh
Synopsis for "Jane Arden // Lena Pry"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Jane Arden // Lena Pry"
Featured Characters:
- Jane Arden
- Lena Pry (See Notes.)
Synopsis for Richard Manners: "The Stolen Pearls"
Appearing in Richard Manners: "The Stolen Pearls"
Featured Characters:
- Richard Manners (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Doris Winthrop (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Nick Gordon (First appearance)
Synopsis for Slim and Tubby: "Episode 17"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in Slim and Tubby: "Episode 17"
Featured Characters:
- Slim
- Tubby
Synopsis for The Bungle Family: "Help!"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in The Bungle Family: "Help!"
Featured Characters:
- Bungle Family
Synopsis for Archie O'Toole: "Vera Venom"
Appearing in Archie O'Toole: "Vera Venom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Suzy Sweet
Antagonists:
- Queen Vera Venom of Tewtimia
Other Characters:
- Minister Hodge
- Minister Podge
- Minister Fudge
- Lord Helpis
Locations:
- Pyromania
- Tewtimia
Synopsis for Reynolds of the Mounted: "The End of Black John"
Appearing in Reynolds of the Mounted: "The End of Black John"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Black John (Dies)
- four hench: Greasy, Shorty, & 2 others (one dies)
Other Characters:
- Istak
Locations:
- Canada
- Shani Eskimo Village
Vehicles:
- dog sleds
Synopsis for The Clock: "Murder of a Window Washer"
Two starveling desperadoes, Nick & Slug, decide to rob a radium shipment from Dr. T. Loden, at his office, but a window washer witnesses the hold-up, so Nick takes a scalpel to his safety harness, to fatal effect. The Clock questions very-reluctant witness Dr. Loden and gets descriptions, then drives directly to Nick & Slug's crappy rooms and punches them out and trusses them up for the cops.
Appearing in The Clock: "Murder of a Window Washer"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Nick
- Slug
Other Characters:
- Dr. T. Loden
Locations:
Synopsis for "Lala Palooza"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Lala Palooza"
Featured Characters:
- Lala Palooza
Supporting Characters:
- Vincent Palooza
Synopsis for "Ned Brant"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Ned Brant"
Featured Characters:
- Ned Brant
Synopsis for Espionage: "Dr. Steible's Spy Ring"
Circa probably 1938-Jan: Dr. Steible's Spy Ring is run from an old sedate mansion in a suburb of New York, and in Washington their agent Otto has been arrested by Army Intelligence, and from him Black X gets a torn card which he recognizes as a recognition signal, which he can exploit to infiltrate the ring. Black X is ordered to bring back no prisoners because spy trials get too much publicity, and after driving to New York, and leaving Batu outside with the engine running, he uses this card to get past Steible's butler Albert and into the mansion. Steible is quick enough to cover Black X with a pistol but not smart enough to avoid getting tear-gassed from X's trick pen. Black X soundly thrashes him and trashes his radio equipment, then he and Steible both grab some non-decorative swords from the wall and pointlessly fence for half a page before Albert the butler shows up with a gun and "at a signal, Batu brings the car zooming under the window just as "X" crashes through" so he lands in the car, just before, out of absolutely nowhere, a terrific explosion destroys the mansion.
Appearing in Espionage: "Dr. Steible's Spy Ring"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Major Murdock
- Batu
Antagonists:
- Doctor Steible (Apparent Death)
- his spy gang (Apparent Death)
Locations:
- Washington, D.C.
- Espionage HQ
- a suburb of New York
Synopsis for Gallant Knight: "The Black Baron, Part 3"
(reprints from the British comic "Wags")
Appearing in Gallant Knight: "The Black Baron, Part 3"
Featured Characters:
- Sir Tyrone Neville, the Gallant Knight
Antagonists:
- Black Baron
- his soldiers
Animals:
- panther (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Duke of Montecourt
- his army
Locations:
- Europe
- Black Baron's castle
Era:
- Early 9th Century, Reign of Charlemagne
Synopsis for "Big Top"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Big Top"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Dixie Dugan"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Dixie Dugan"
Featured Characters:
- Dixie Dugan
Synopsis for "Mickey Finn"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Mickey Finn"
Featured Characters:
- Mickey Finn
Supporting Characters:
- Uncle Phil
Notes
- Published monthly by Comic Favorites, Inc.
- Black X: Dr. Steible's spy ring supposedly got blown up with a deus ex machina bomb. We readers never even saw a bomb; no character mentioned a bomb either.
- First issue for Richard Manners by Frank Frollo.
- Reynolds of the Mounted: Jim Reynolds gets a bullet wound.
- Also featured in this issue of Feature Funnies were:
- Flossie by Al Zere ("Toddy" and "Flossie" share their two pages, with Flossie running on the bottom half)
- Good Deed Dotty by J.P. McEvoy and J.H. Striebel, running across the top 1/5 of all 4 of their Dixie Dugan pages.
- "Joe Palooka's Boxing Course" by Ham Fisher, running across the top 1/5 of all 4 of his Joe Palooka pages.
- Lena Pry by Monte Barrett and Russell E. Ross, running in the bottom-left 1/4 of all 4 of their Jane Arden pages.
- Little Brother by H.J. Tuthill, running across the top 1/5 of all 3 of his Bungle Family pages.
- Nippie ("He's Often Wrong") by Lank Leonard, running across the top 1/5 of all 4 of his Mickey Finn pages.
- Off Side (1-panel gags) by Jo Metzer
- Off The Record (1-panel gags) by Ed Reed, in two places in this issue.
- Strange As It Seems: "General Winfield Scott" by John Hix
- Strange As It Seems: "Raphael" by John Hix
- "The Barbarian, a Tale of Sybaris and Macedon in the year 507" (text story, part three, continued from last issue), by Robert M. Hyatt, illustration by Ed Cronin. The Barbarian's name is Konar.
- They're Still Talking: "...About The Man Who Broke a World's Record and Lost!" by Bob Zuppke and R.W. Depew
- Toddy, by George Marcoux ("Toddy" and "Flossie" share their two pages, with Toddy running on the top half)
Trivia
- George E. Brenner signs his Clip Chance story as "Scott Sheridan" and his The Clock Strikes story as himself.
- Will Eisner signs his Espionage strip as "Will Erwin" and his "Archie O'Toole" feature as "Bud Thomas."
See Also