Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Alex Schomburg, Ned Pines

Schomburg & the 1946 Fight for Democracy, Black Terror #16 at Auction

Black Terror #16 features a Schomburg cover and a story rooted in 1946 history about recruiting WWII vets into a deceptive organization that plans to subvert Democracy

The men trying to recruit returning soldiers in The Black Terror #16 have a useful disguise. They're wearing military uniforms, but these men didn't earn them. In a Black Terror story with pencils attributed to Ed Moritz, a group deceptively calling itself the Patriotic Americans attempts to turn World War II veterans into recruits for American fascism, and shockingly, this story was inspired by actual events of that moment. Cover-dated October 1946, one of this issue's Black Terror stories contains a deceptively potent message inside its superhero adventure: Who gets to speak for the men who fought the war, and what happens when someone tries to use their service against the democracy they defended?

Stolen Patriotism in The Black Terror #16

The Patriotic Americans group in the story, an organization with the kind of deceptive naming that is historically common in such groups, has intentions that go well beyond recruiting. The conspiracy includes a city council bombing and funding from Nazi financier Hans von Schlye. The uniforms are used to give organizers the perception of an authority that they haven't earned. But the returning veterans of this story aren't victims waiting for the Black Terror to rescue them. With their help, the scheme is stopped, and the Nazi financier is delivered to the FBI.

The story appears to have been inspired by the recent activities of a figure connected to domestic fascist organizations throughout the war era and beyond, which in turn inspired other comic book villainy we've talked about here: Gerald L. K. Smith. Writing in Labor Action on March 25, 1946, James M. Fenwick warned that Smith and his associates were seeking to organize a group called the Christian Veterans of America around veterans' grievances, but had other goals. Both religious organizations and the mainstream media of that year recognized that this was another attempt by Smith and others to promote fascist ideology in America. As reported about the real events of 1946 and in the story those events inspired, the veterans didn't buy it.

This wasn't the first time that comic books had taken notice of fascist organizations with ties to Smith. The Purple Shirts in National Comics #1 (1940) parallel William Dudley Pelley's Silver Shirts and the German American Bund, with foreign-backed organizers exploiting distressed farmers. In Wonder Woman #7 (1943), the Man's World Party and its Purple Shirts appear to draw on Smith's America First Party as well as the Silver Shirts. That story even featured a figure resembling Smith as a character who had founded the Man's World Party.

Alex Schomburg's cover is connected to a different Black Terror adventure in this issue. The opening story, with pencils and inks attributed by GCD to Mike Suchorsky, involves rival carnival sideshows and sabotage. There are 44 Universal entries on the CGC census for this issue, with two at 9.2 and one at 9.4. This one has appeal on several fronts: it's a high-grade pedigree comic book with an Alex Schomburg cover and a historically important story inside, and there's a copy of The Black Terror #16 (Nedor, 1946) Ohio pedigree CGC NM- 9.2 copy with off-white to white pages up for auction at the 2026 September 24-26 Comic Books Signature Auction #7469.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!