Wags v.1 18-33?? (Eisner/Iger 1937/38) / Pif-Paf: El Campeón de la Historieta #13 (Argentina 1939)

**This is likely the cover to a 1938 UK edition of WAGS v.1 between #16-33 from April to August 1937.

Wags was a weekly newsprint tabloid created in the USA by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger BUT it was created for the British and Australian markets so it was sold there and never sold in the USA. Wags reprinted comic strips including Terry, Dick Tracy, Tarzan, Little Orphan Annie, Moon Mullins, etc. There were 88 issues published between 1937-1938. Finding an issue of Wags is very hard as most were turned in during WW II paper drives -- I've never met a collector who has all 88 issues.

The Hawk was Spirit creator Will Eisner’s first major character. “Hawks Of The Seas” first appeared in April 1937, and this might be the very first cover design.

Will Eisner drew this cover in 1937 or 1938. In ~July 1938, Hawks of the Seas page 71 would have run in UK Wags. That page (see additional images) has a panel on which this cover was based. That page also ran in Jumbo Comics #8 (Fiction House June 1939).

Hawks of the Seas also ran in 1939 in Argentina in Pif-Paf magazine and, in the additional images, you'll see the cover to Pif-Paf: El Campeón de la Historieta #13 (1939) from Argentina. This is either a re-draw of the Eisner cover or some kind of re-inked job.

Eisner drew most of the WAGS covers and often drew them based on panels or clips from the actual story/character. Our assessment is that Will Eisner drew this cover based on the panel in the Hawks page. As noted, the Pif-Paf is either a redraw or a badly inked version.