Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog
Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog is a fictional canine adventure hero who appeared in "Blue Ribbon Comics", published from 1939 to 1942 by MLJ Comics (later renamed Archie Comics) during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The character was created by writer Norman Danberg and artist Will Harr, although another creative team, writer Joe Blair and artist Ed Smalle, produced most of his adventures.

Rang-a-Tang is a circus-trained German shepherd who solves crimes at a movie studio in Hollywood, California, with the help of detective Hy Speed and former child actor Richy the Amazing Boy. The unusually intelligent dog, described as having an "almost-human brain", can understand human speech, including the person's tone of voice and moral character. He was inspired by the famous canine silent film star Rin Tin Tin, a real-life German Shepherd considered intelligent and talented. When Rang-a-Tang reaches Hollywood in issue #5, his stories feature thinly-disguised caricatures of 1940s film stars, including Nawson Swelles, Tana Lurner, Stark Brable and Harly Shaplyn.

Rang-a-Tang was the first cover star of "Blue Ribbon Comics" and therefore the first in Archie Comics' long history, premiering in issue #1 (Nov 1939) and running through the end of the title, issue #22 (March 1942). Starting with issue #4, "Blue Ribbon" offered membership in the Rang-a-Tang Club for ten cents, as well as the Rang-a-Tang Honor Legion for young readers who performed an exceptional deed in the service of animalkind.
Q4929673
Blue Ribbon Comics
MEDIA
Q633812
MLJ Comics
ORG
Q784877
Golden Age of Comic Books
ORG
Q16025016
Norman Danberg
PER
Q34006
Hollywood, California
LOC
Q1502051
Rin Tin Tin
MISC
Q24829
Nawson Swelles
PER
Q201034
Tana Lurner
PER
Q71243
Stark Brable
PER
Q882
Harly Shaplyn
PER
Q92120855
Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog
UNK
1939-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1939
DATE
1942-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1942
DATE
1940-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1940
DATE
1939-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
Nov 1939
DATE
1942-03-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 1942
DATE
+5^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
5
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+1^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1
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+22^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
22
NUMBER
+4^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
4
NUMBER
characters
publisher
publisher