Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, Ned Pines, Standard/Better/Nedor

The Adventures of the Red Mask and the Best Comics Mystery, at Auction

One of the earliest and most rare of all Standard/Better/Nedor comic books, Best Comics #4 featured the Adventures of the Red Mask.

Published Thu, 23 Feb 2023 11:47:09 -0600

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:17:22 -0500

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Article Summary

The Red Mask: One of the earliest superheroes of color, defending the island of Kaukura in the South Seas.
Best Comics #4: A rare and historically significant issue featuring the adventures of this mysterious character.
Character mystery: The true identity of Red Mask and his creator remains unknown, adding intrigue to this series.
Comic rarity: Best Comics' unusual large-size format contributes to its scarcity and collector's value.

One of the earliest and rarest comic book series from Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor, Best Comics features the historically important Adventures of the Red Mask. A little-known character due to the difficulty in obtaining the source material and the mystery behind his creator, the Red Mask was a Pacific Islander who defended the people of the island of Kaukura from danger. The character is widely considered to be an early example of a superhero of color in comics. There's a rare opportunity to get a CGC VG/FN 5.0 copy of Best Comics #1 (Better Publications, 1939) and a CGC VG 4.0 copy of Best Comics #4 (Better Publications, 1940) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

Adventures of the Red Mask syndicated strip from December 1936 (representative, not necessarily in contents of Best Comics #4). — Adventures of the Red Mask syndicated strip from December 1936 (representative, not necessarily in contents of Best Comics #1 or #4).

The Adventures of the Red Mask first appeared as a comic strip in color newspaper inserts from Syndicated Features Corp in 1936. The particulars of the strip and its creator have been the subject of significant research and discussion in recent years, made difficult by the historical obscurity of the material and the fact that its creator is unidentified. Further, few have been able to read much of the source material due to the rarity of the original strip and of the Best Comics series itself. The identity of the Red Mask was kept a mystery throughout the storyline, and the strip was ended before that mystery could be revealed. When later collected in the comic books, the character Red Mask himself was colored as a white man on the covers of Best Comics #2-4. All this said, given the location of the South Seas, the initial action taking place on an island, and the story context provided, the most straightforward explanation of the character based on available information is that he's a Pacific Islander.

The Red Mask material was signed by George West, although this is likely a pseudonym for an as-yet unidentified creator. In syndication, the Red Mask strip was replaced after 26 weeks by a strip called Adventures of Nervy Nerts by another unknown creator named George Scott, thought by some to be another likely pseudonym, possibly the same person as the George West who created the Red Mask.

Best Comics is one of the rarest Standard/Better/Nedor comic books, likely due in part to its unusual large-size, landscape format. There are only 13 entries for issue #1 on the CGC census, with only three copies higher graded than this CGC VG/FN 5.0 copy. Issue #4 has only 10 entries on the CGC census with only two copies higher than this CGC VG 4.0 copy of Best Comics #4 (Better Publications, 1940) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.