In the spring of 1940, as the New York World's Fair prepared to open for its second and final season in Flushing Meadows, Queens, by all appearances, it had become a towering success. Exhibits centered around its theme "The World of Tomorrow" inspired numerous pulps and comic books, as we have discussed here extensively. While Amazing Adventure […]
We've previously discussed the rather unusual take on the elements that played into the run-up to World War II in early issues of Top-Notch Comics from MLJ, particularly in the historic Shield/Wizard crossover saga in Top-Notch Comics #5-7. That crossover directly set up the Shield-Wizard Comics series, so it's no surprise that this sophisticated brand […]
While many World War II-era comics offered broad patriotic themes, as we've chronicled here over the years, some of them reflected specific events of the war a short time after they happened. The lead features of MLJ's Zip Comics #34 have been inspired by war activities in three different theaters of operation. The Web confronts […]
In the summer of 1939, American newsstands were places of both fantasy and dread. Just over a year after Superman's debut, a legion of new heroes was inspiring wonder on the newsstands, but the newspapers and magazines beyond the comic section more often inspired dread. The world was on the brink of a war that […]
American newsstands were a battleground of magazine genres by 1953, but few were as popular as the confession magazine. Titles like True Story and True Confessions captivated the emerging post-war female readership with first-person tales of sin and eventual redemption. In comic books, pioneers like Joe Simon and Jack Kirby had successfully established the romance […]
Silver Streak was a foundational early Golden Age title, and issue #3 featured the origin and first appearance of that title's namesake hero, the speedster Silver Streak. In a wonderfully bizarre 10-page origin story by Jack Cole, "The Mystery of the Monstrous Fly" a race car driver is killed in a crash orchestrated by a […]
Prior to Jumbo Comics #17, the covers of the Jumbo Comics series featured a rotating cast of characters, including the weird science fiction hero Stuart Taylor, Spies in Action, and the superhero called The Lightning. While Sheena had appeared on a few earlier covers, her status as the book's main draw was not yet solidified. […]
While its lurid and fantastic Maurice Whitman cover promises traditional gothic ghouls and phantoms, Ghost Comics #1's most historically potent story, "Phantoms from the Sea," delivers a Pre-Code Horror tale of unexpected complexity. Instead of a straightforward tale of a vengeful enemy spirit, this story, originally created in the waning days of the war, presents […]
The post-World War II era was marked by a range of new challenges which were reflected in comic books and the broader American culture. The Second Red Scare began to take root under the influence of Senator Joseph McCarthy, as Americans were told that subversive Communist influences could be lurking anywhere, even in the sprawling […]
Black Terror #24 represents a fascinating convergence of the past, present, and future of comic art from its 1948 perspective. On the cover, legendary artist Alex Schomburg delivers a combination of Good Girl art and superhero action, the likes of which helped define that era's newsstand appeal. Inside, Joker co-creator Jerry Robinson and superhero comics […]
Alex Hillman's first foray into the comic book publishing business began in 1939 and involved a pair of science fiction-oriented titles, Miracle Comics and Rocket Comics. While Hillman was an experienced hand in the publishing business by that time, like most entrants into the field that year, he was new to the comics business. Almost […]
MLJ's Pep Comics was locked in on the war themes of its era before most other comic book titles. Pep Comics #1 debuted the Shield in early 1940, America's first patriotic hero and an iconic figure who would be the first among the likes of Captain America and countless others to follow. As America's entry […]
One of publisher MLJ's pre-Archie superheroes, the Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #9, cover-dated October 1940. Title editor Harry Shorten created the character with writer Abner Sundell and artist Al Camy. The Black Hood's real name is Kip Burland, a former police officer framed for grand larceny by a costumed supervillain known as […]
Valkyrie was a German fighter ace and leader of the Airmaidens squadron during WWII. First appearing in Air Fighters Comics V2#2, she was created by artist Fred Kida and an unknown writer (possibly Warren Kuhn or Ed Cronin). Swayed by the courage of Airboy, she and the Airmaidens ultimately turned against the Nazis in her […]
When Writer's Digest announced that former Funnies, Inc editor John H. Compton would be editing two new titles for Hillman Periodicals (Victory Comics and Air Fighters Comics), they only got the details half right: "There are no super-men in these. The emphasis is on story and character values." While Air Fighters Comics, which introduced Airboy […]
Dick Briefer's Frankenstein has a complicated history in the context of comic book horror. The debut of Briefer's take on the Frankenstein monster mythos began in Prize Comics #7, December 1940, which has come to be considered an important milestone in the context of comic book horror. Early on, this version of the character was […]
Silver Streak Comics is a rarity among Golden Age titles in that it was launched with a villain as the cover feature. That villain, The Claw, was both an obvious example of war-era propaganda and based on a blatant racial stereotype. Publisher Lev Gleason was so intent on focusing on this wartime enemies theme that […]
Mystery Men Comics #3 is best known for its spectacular Lou Fine cover featuring the Green Mask. Comics featuring Fine's covers are highly sought after on that basis alone, and virtually all the comics he worked on have historical importance for many other reasons as well. While Mystery Men Comics #3 features one of the […]
An artist who became legendary for his cover artwork in particular, Matt Baker had only done six of them before his first South Sea Girl cover, on Seven Seas Comics #3. What's more, this piece is his first true Good Girl cover, on a series that very likely helped raise his profile in the comic […]
Hitting newsstands around the same time that All-Star Comics #8 gave the world its first look at Wonder Woman, Bang-Up Comics #1 debuted another female superhero who, unfortunately, would not achieve the Amazon's popularity or longevity. But Bang-Up Comics' Lady Fairplay is still an underappreciated and unusual character in a series full of such forgotten mysteries. Released in […]
