Dark Mysteries editor William K. Friedman made a career of helping publishers push limits, and faced off against the Senate over the title.
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St. John's Abbott and Costello Comics featured artwork by the legendary Lily Renée and well-written stories by John Graham.
Wild Bill Hickok became Avon Publications' longest-lived series, but the title character took a back seat to Calamity Jane on his series debut
In 1946, the New York Times reported on tons of missing Uranium ore in Brazil, a historical incident forgotten by everyone, except for The Shadow.
A decade before The Jetsons, Dan DeCarlo's Jetta was a science fiction comedy about normal life in the far future we were promised.
MLJ ended the pulp-style character Scarlet Avenger in Zip Comics to make way for the style of teen humor that would make the publisher famous.
With the Flame seemingly near death, Linda Dale vows to continue his legacy, becoming Flame Girl in Wonderworld Comics #30.
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.
Wonderworld Comics is a historically important title of the early Golden Age featuring work from Lou Fine, Will Eisner, Jack Cole and more.
Richard E. Hughes and Jon L. Brummer gave Standard/Better/Nedor character Fighting Yank a supernatural origin in Startling Comics #10.
Blue Ribbon Comics was the first comic title MLJ published, and it was also the first one they canceled, but not because of its contents.
Shortly after the Jack Kamen era of Blue Beetle began in 1947, the title showed up on comic book ban lists in cities around the country.
After Victor Fox got into financial trouble, his printer Holyoke published the Blue Beetle #12-30, and those issues are a wild ride.
1940 was Blue Beetle's year, with the launch of his own series, a newspaper strip and a radio show which combined to create a new origin.
National Comics #5 features an expanded origin for the Quality Comics version of Uncle Sam, plus the debut of speedster Max Mercury.
In late 1939, it appeared that pulp hero the Black Bat would be heading to comic books, and there's a glimpse of that in Exciting Comics #1.
One of the earliest and most rare of all Standard/Better/Nedor comic books, Best Comics #4 featured the Adventures of the Red Mask.
Dive into the unusual circumstances behind Special Comics #1, the series launch of the Hangman, one of MLJ's best-remembered superheroes.
Vowing to take revenge for the murder of his brother The Comet, The Hangman's chilling debut is chronicled in Pep Comics #17.
MLJ's the Comet has one of the most interesting story arcs of the Golden Age, and he likely inspired one of the X-Men in the process.
Created by Richard E. Hughes and David Gabrielsen for 1941's Exciting Comics #9, the Black Terror became Ned Pines' most popular superhero.
Thor, God of Thunder from Fox Feature Syndicate's Weird Comics was one of the most interesting comic book takes on the character.
Chemist Shannon Kane aka the Spider Queen developed and used wrist-mounted web shooters to swing from buildings and entangle the bad guys.
Fox Feature's Samson was a superhero based on the biblical figure of the same name, and like his namesake, his hair was the key to his power.
The Green Mask who debuted in 1940s Green Mask #1 was a complete reboot of the character whose previous existance had been a mystery indeed.
A patriotic superhero with a weird helmet and an intelligent eagle sidekick, Captain Flag and Yank debuted in Blue Ribbon Comics #16.
Dick Briefer's Rex Dexter of Mars was meant to be a multi-media star, with aspirations for film, radio, merchandise, and syndicated strips.
Characters such as Dr. Doom, Electro, and Marga the Panther Woman made their debuts in Fox Feature's Science Comics #1.
The Golden Age's first Flame-based superhero, Fox Feature Syndicate's The Flame debuted in Wonderworld Comics #3.
The character Miss Masque took over Standard/Better/Nedor's Exciting Comics and America's Best Comics in the late Golden Age.