Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: black hood, golden age, MLJ

Black Hood Debuts in MLJ's Rare Top-Notch Comics #9, at Auction

The saga of the Black Hood during the WW2 era and beyond makes the character a historically unique part of the Golden Age.

Published Mon, 01 May 2023 14:27:08 -0500

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Fri, 27 Sep 2024 06:45:04 -0500

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Article Summary

The Black Hood debuted in Top-Notch Comics #9 by MLJ in 1940, created by Harry Shorten, Abner Sundell, and Al Camy.
Kip Burland, a framed cop trained by a hermit, becomes the crime-fighting Black Hood to clear his name.
Black Hood was a successful MLJ superhero, inspiring a pulp title, radio show, and his own comic series.
After WWII, Black Hood becomes detective Kip Burland; Top-Notch Comics evolves into Laugh Comics, featuring Archie.

One of publisher MLJ's pre-Archie superheroes, the Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #9, cover-dated October 1940. Title editor Harry Shorten created the character with writer Abner Sundell and artist Al Camy. The Black Hood's real name is Kip Burland, a former police officer framed for grand larceny by a costumed supervillain known as the Skull. After being shot and left for dead by the Skull's henchmen, Burland is saved and taken in by an old hermit who turns out to be a former sheriff himself. With the hermit's help, Burland trains his body and mind to become the world's greatest crime fighter, using a costume to assume the identity of the Black Hood. One of the most successful early superheroes published by MLJ, the company that would subsequently become best known for Archie, Top-Notch Comics #9 has long been known as a tough comic to get among knowledgeable collectors. There's a very nice high-grade CGC FN/VF 7.0 copy of Top-Notch Comics #9 (MLJ, 1940) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

Although Top Notch Comics editor Harry Shorten is said to be the creator of the character, fellow MLJ writer/editor Abner Sundell wrote the first Black Hood story for Top-Notch Comics #9. The character was arguably MLJ's biggest superhero success of the Golden Age and soon spawned a pulp title, a short-lived radio show, and his own comic book series. The character even survived the decline of the superhero era as WWII ended. The last issue of his series in Black Hood #19 contains an interesting and clear-cut early example of a comic book reboot. Due to the machinations of a criminal, a police sergeant was able to unmask Black Hood and reveal his identity. Once his alter ego becomes known, the Black Hood (aka Kip Burland) makes an interesting move — he decides to reboot himself in his real identity as Burland and launch the Black Hood Detective Agency — becoming a private investigator. The change stuck, and although the Black Hood series ends with this issue, he continues as private detective Kip Burland in a handful of Pep Comics stories afterward.

Meanwhile, the Black Hood series was retitled as Laugh Comics with issue #20 and featured the exploits of Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the Riverdale crew. It's a historically interesting move that seems to be foreshadowed by the tenor of the issues leading up to the series and would seem to indicate that MLJ anticipated the rise of other genres in the comic book industry for the post-WW2 era. All of this makes the Black Hood one of the most fascinating superheroes of the Golden Age, and his first appearance in Top Notch Comics #9 is worthy of the attention of any serious comic book collector.