Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, lev gleason, The Saint

The Saint & Lev Gleason's Silver Streak Comics, Up for Auction

Publisher Lev Gleason had high hopes for the inclusion of The Saint in his flagship comic book title Silver Streak Comics.

Publisher Lev Gleason apparently had a lot riding on the appearance of The Saint in the company's early-days flagship title Silver Streak Comics.  In an editorial in issue #20 of that series, he noted, "I have spared no expense to give you the very best. We lead off in this issue with The Saint by Leslie Charteris. As far as we know this is the most expensive feature ever to appear in a comic magazine. Written by Leslie Charteris himself, The Saint comes to you right out of the movies — to perform here exclusively his terrific adventures and clever detective work that have made him world famous."

Gleason's expensive gamble didn't pay off.  The Saint had started in Silver Streak Comics #18, and three issues later (and one issue after Gleason had boasted about how much he was paying Charteris to get The Saint in comics) the title was dead — to be replaced by a completely different and even more legendary title that picked up its numbering two months later with Crime Does Not Pay #22.  What happened?  Those final issues and their context tell an interesting story, and there are copies of the four-issue run of The Saint in Silver Streak Comics up for auction in the 2024 August 1 – 2 Rarities of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40259 at Heritage Auctions.

Like many Golden Age comic book anthologies, Silver Streak Comics featured a scattershot variety of characters right from the start. The series is best known for its early covers and features of villain character The Claw and then the debut of the Golden Age Daredevil in Silver Streak Comics #6. That combination and its blatant wartime propaganda was quickly spun off into one of the most notorious WWII propaganda comics of all — Daredevil Battles Hitler, which served as the launch of Daredevil Comics.  Established in his own series, Daredevil disappeared from the covers of Silver Streak Comics, and by the time of the debut of The Saint in Silver Streak Comics #18, Daredevil had vanished from the title's story lineup as well.

Despite apparently having spent a fortune to get The Saint into Silver Streak Comics, Lev Gleason didn't demonstrate a lot of tangible faith in the property.  The character's debut in issue #18 features the only true The Saint cover for the title.  Issue #19 features a humorous Dickie Dean cover that stands in sharp contrast with the tone of the rest of the covers of the series.  Ned of the Navy makes his first and only cover appearance on issue #20.  Unusually for the title, the cover of issue #21 is simply the start of The Saint comic panel story that continues on page one.  The inside front cover contains a plea from Gleason to readers to write in to tell him which Silver Streak Comics feature they like best, and which comic book from any publisher they like best as well.  Gleason seemed to be looking for a direction for Silver Streak Comics, but he didn't find it.  The title promptly disappeared with that final issue, to be replaced by Crime Does Not Pay.  Meanwhile, Boy Comics featuring the young superhero Crimebuster had joined Daredevil Comics in the Lev Gleason lineup.  Silver Streak Comics was briefly revived for two issues in 1946.

Silver Streak Comics #18-21 was not the first appearance of The Saint in comic books, nor was it the last.  The character had actually appeared in the DC Comics 1939 release Movie Comics #2, in a short adaptation of the film The Saint Strikes Back that featured a combination of art and cutouts from movie stills to create a comic story.  More famously, Avon Publications released a short-lived The Saint comic book series beginning in 1947.  There is evidence from that era that Charteris was an exacting licensor.  He was critical of the Avon material in the early going, and the evidence suggests the publisher struggled to produce comic book covers that Charteris liked.  Charteris was a harsh critic of The Saint comic strip artist Lew Schwartz in the developmental stage of the strip as well.  The lack of more real The Saint covers on this Silver Streak Comics run and the character's 4-issue lifespan in the title may suggest Lev Gleason faced similar issues on the property.

Then again, when Boy Comics #4 hit the newsstands the month after the final issue of Silver Streak Comics, it contained a contest encouraging readers to push newsdealers to promote Lev Gleason titles Boy Comics, Daredevil Comics, and Silver Streak Comics.  Boy Comics and Daredevil Comics would go on to have successful runs, but it was apparently too late for Silver Streak Comics. — for the moment.  The title did return for two more issues four years later in 1946, although its contents were just reprints of earlier issues of the series. The final original issues of this historically important run featued The Saint, and there are copies of that four-issue run of Silver Streak Comics up for auction in the 2024 August 1 – 2 Rarities of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40259 at Heritage Auctions.

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