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

Black Hood & the Changing of the Guard in Top Notch Comics, at Auction

Published Mon, 09 May 2022 13:32:09 -0500

Publisher MLJ Magazines was far better than most at navigating the changing tides of the comic book business throughout the Golden Age, and the Top Notch Comics title is an excellent example of that. The series launched as a relatively basic adventure title featuring the magician The Wizard and then shifted hard into superheroics when Top Notch Comics #9 introduced the Black Hood in 1940. But the publisher who rode the popularity of the citizens of Riverdale to great success also anticipated the peak superhero moment of the 1940s far better than most others. Top Notch Comics #45 is notable for what it does not contain and what happened next, and there's a Top-Notch Comics #45 (MLJ, 1944) Condition: VG+ up for auction in the 2022 May 8-9 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122219 at Heritage Auctions.

Black Hood's exit from Top-Notch Comics #45 (MLJ, 1944)

The shift of the Top-Notch Comics title to become Top-Notch Laugh Comics with issue #27 in 1942 was one of the early signs of Archie's impact on MLJ. While Black Hood was still a regular feature in every issue, they began to experiment with a wide variety of humor in the series as well. By the time the series ended with Top-Notch Laugh Comics #45 in 1944, Archie had taken over the cover of Pep Comics and gotten his own series as well. The only Black Hood content in Top-Notch Laugh Comics #45 is a page directing fans of that character to the recently launched Black Hood Comics.

Notably, the Heritage blurb on this one is not quite right. Top-Notch Laugh Comics was retitled to simply Laugh Comix (comix with an "x" being the operative issue here), featuring teen humor characters Suzie and Wilbur, but this lasted only three additional issues. Wilbur then got his own series, while the Suzie series took over the numbering from Laugh Comix. Eventually, Black Hood himself was rebooted into a pulp-style detective character, and when his series ended with #19, it is that title that subsequently became Laugh Comics (comics with a "c"), with issue #20 in 1946, featuring the adventures of Archie and co.

All of which is to say that MLJ Magazines charted a careful course through the Golden Age, and Top-Notch Laugh Comics #45 is a noteworthy example of that. There's a Top-Notch Comics #45 (MLJ, 1944) Condition: VG+ up for auction in the 2022 May 8-9 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122219 at Heritage Auctions.

Top-Notch Comics #45 (MLJ, 1944) Condition: VG+. Last issue of the title. Becomes Laugh Comics with the next issue. Harry Sahle cover. Bill Vigoda and Bill Woggon art. Staple pull. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $114.