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Weird Menace: The 1930s rise of the Shudder Pulps followed by the rise of the forces that ended them and transformed horror on the newsstand.
Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, MLJ, Top-Notch Comics
The Wizard's Surprising Debut in 1939's Top-Notch Comics 1, at Auction
In Top-Notch Comics #1, the Wizard foils a Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor -- two years before such an event occurred in real history.
Article Summary
- The Wizard debuted in Top-Notch Comics #1, thwarting a Japanese plot to attack Pearl Harbor two years before such an attack happened.
- Created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe, Jr., the Wizard is a super-scientist with immense brainpower, not a magician.
- Early Wizard stories reflect pre-WWII American fears, with him battling fictional plots from Japan and Russia.
- The Wizard evolved into a traditional superhero with a sidekick by Top-Notch Comics #8 and his own tights by issue #7.
The Wizard is a pulp-style superhero character who first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #1, cover-dated December 1939. He was the earliest cover star of the Top-Notch Comics series, the second title launched by MLJ Magazines, the publisher who would eventually become known for Archie. The Wizard was created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe, Jr. and is the descendant of a long line of men who have fought for America in wartime. He also has a brother in Naval Intelligence. The character was not a magician as his costume and name suggested, but rather, he is a super-scientist possessing "the greatest brainpower on Earth." He uses this mental acumen to develop a wide array of inventions and abilities to foil plots against the U.S. government, and his battle with such plots against America is a fascinating window into the dawn of the World War II era. An underrated character who is much more fascinating than he appears,
The Wizard stories in the early issues of Top-Notch Comics are a glimpse at the fears of the country as World War approached. While actual countries were not named, their fictional stand-in names made it obvious. Famously, the debut issue saw the Wizard foiling a Japanese plot to attack Pearl Harbor — two years before that infamous event occurred in real history. Other early plots against the U.S. government that the Wizard faced included Russia attacking Alaska and Japan attempting to bomb the Panama Canal. The plot he uncovered in Top-Notch Comics #5 is particularly interesting from the historical perspective, as it has the Soviet Union (called "Mosconians" in the story) attacking "strategic military centers" in the United States, including the Capital Building with Congress in session, the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and West Point among others. The situation was so dire that fellow MLJ superhero the Shield also got involved to stop it — a fateful team-up that soon led to the Shield-Wizard Comics series.
As the Top-Notch Comics title progressed, the Wizard became more of a traditional type of superhero, trading his pulp-style magician's outfit for colorful tights in Top-Notch Comics #7 and even adding a sidekick the next issue. But those early issues are particularly fascinating in the context of their time,
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