Dark Mysteries editor William K. Friedman made a career of helping publishers push limits, and faced off against the Senate over the title.
Mark Seifert Archives
St. John's Abbott and Costello Comics featured artwork by the legendary Lily Renée and well-written stories by John Graham.
Wild Bill Hickok became Avon Publications' longest-lived series, but the title character took a back seat to Calamity Jane on his series debut
In 1946, the New York Times reported on tons of missing Uranium ore in Brazil, a historical incident forgotten by everyone, except for The Shadow.
A decade before The Jetsons, Dan DeCarlo's Jetta was a science fiction comedy about normal life in the far future we were promised.
Spicy History #1: William d'Alton Mann is credited by many with the creation of the blind item and blackmailed America's elite, but also left his son with a pulp publishing legacy.
MLJ ended the pulp-style character Scarlet Avenger in Zip Comics to make way for the style of teen humor that would make the publisher famous.
With the Flame seemingly near death, Linda Dale vows to continue his legacy, becoming Flame Girl in Wonderworld Comics #30.
In Top-Notch Comics #1, the Wizard foils a Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor -- two years before such an event occurred in real history.
Wonderworld Comics is a historically important title of the early Golden Age featuring work from Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Jack Cole and more.
Richard E. Hughes and Jon L. Brummer gave Standard/Better/Nedor character Fighting Yank a supernatural origin in Startling Comics #10.
Shortly after the Jack Kamen era of Blue Beetle began in 1947, the title showed up on comic book ban lists in cities around the country.
After Victor Fox got into financial trouble, his printer Holyoke published the Blue Beetle #12-30, and those issues are a wild ride.
1940 was Blue Beetle's year, with the launch of his own series, a newspaper strip and a radio show which combined to create a new origin.
National Comics #5 features an expanded origin for the Quality Comics version of Uncle Sam, plus the debut of speedster Max Mercury.
MLJ's the Comet has one of the most interesting story arcs of the Golden Age, and he likely inspired one of the X-Men in the process.
Chemist Shannon Kane aka the Spider Queen developed and used wrist-mounted web shooters to swing from buildings and entangle the bad guys.
Fox Feature's Samson was a superhero based on the biblical figure of the same name, and like his namesake, his hair was the key to his power.
A patriotic superhero with a weird helmet and an intelligent eagle sidekick, Captain Flag and Yank debuted in Blue Ribbon Comics #16.
The Golden Age's first Flame-based superhero, Fox Feature Syndicate's The Flame debuted in Wonderworld Comics #3.
The character Miss Masque took over Standard/Better/Nedor's Exciting Comics and America's Best Comics in the late Golden Age.
Fantastic Comics #3 might be Lou Fine's most famous cover art, but the story behind it happened in Fantastic Comics #4.
Discover Madam Satan's sinister beginnings in the elusive Pep Comics #16, a lurid gem from MLJ's Golden Age era.
All True Romance #11 features some of Pete Morisi's best work for Comic Media, an unusual Don Heck story, and a mix of the romance and crime genres.
The character Fireball, who debuted in Pep Comics #12 cover-dated February 1941, was MLJ's answer to Marvel/Timely's Human Torch.
The Zip Comics #25 Steel Sterling story written by Robert Kanigher seems to have been inspired by the 1941 Yankees/Dodgers World Series.
The Black Owl went through two quick reboots in the early days of Prize Comics -- one from a character called K the Unknown.
The product of a "mad physio-biologist" and the creation of composer George Gershwin's cousin, Marga was at home in Weird Comics.
Before the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion there was Captain Freedom and the newsboy gang called the Young Defenders in Speed Comics.
It was hard to be unique in the WWII patriotic hero market, but American Eagle's origin gave him "the strength and bouyances of an eagle."