centaur Archives

An illustration from Amazing Man Comics featuring two action-packed scenes. On the left, a muscular superhero with a red 'A' emblem is breaking chains while being challenged by a machine, and on the right, another superhero is running while holding a red box amidst explosions at a building.
According to a letter that surfaced on eBay in 2009, Bill Everett's mom Grace Everett is likely the co-creator of Centaur superhero Amazing Man.  In a letter dated March 1, 1939, she wrote, "Bill has a lot of work to do on his present three comic strips, and Centaur Publications wants him to do a[...]
A dynamic comic book illustration showing a superhero in a red cape diving into action over a chaotic scene at sea, with explosions and characters in combat below.
Liberty Scouts Comics #3 from Centaur is one of those Golden Age books where the timing is everything With a June 1941 on-sale window and an August 1941 cover date, it lands in the narrow range of months when the United States was still officially at peace while also bracing for the possibility of all-out[...]
A colorful cartoon illustration featuring a large eye emitting beams of light, surrounded by vibrant flames and colorful circular patterns. In the foreground, two startled characters react to the spectacle, one pointing and the other looking surprised.
Dan Dennis plays G-Man in a fifth-column espionage scenario.  Dean Denton faces a "Magnetic Mine Menace" that borrows directly from Admiralty briefings.  The most memorable character of the series is The Eye, who tackles "alien smugglers" running illegal flights from Canada into Montana in this issue.  If you've ever seen an image of The Eye,[...]
A vintage comic cover illustration featuring a superhero in a black costume and red cape battling a large gray robot. The background is bright yellow with lightning bolts, creating a dynamic and action-packed scene.
An apt symbol of the Centaur mystique and so much more, there's an Amazing Mystery Funnies V2 #11 (Centaur, 1939) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages copy up for auction at the 2025 December 11 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase Auction IV #40315. Amazing Mystery Funnies V2 #11 (Centaur, 1939) The cover story of this issue is[...]
A vibrant comic book illustration featuring a superhero in a blue costume and cape, leaping through the air to save a woman with long red hair dressed in green. The background shows a colorful city skyline and a ship on the water, suggesting an action-packed scene.
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[...]
A vibrant cartoon illustration featuring a masked figure in a yellow outfit, performing a mystical gesture with explosive energy erupting from their hands against a bright background.
Newspapers were full of talk about both German and American super-soldiers before Captain America Comics #1 hit the newsstands.  The dreaded German V-1 influenced several comic book robot planes.  A number of efforts and rumors surrounding stealth technology influenced Wonder Woman's invisible plane.  In the context of the times, it should come as no surprise that one of Nikola Tesla's most[...]
Funny Pages V3#7 (Centaur, 1939)
Widely considered the first costumed comic book hero to appear after Superman and comics' first archer superhero, The Arrow was the creation of Paul Gustavson, whose other early Golden Age credits include Fantom of the Fair and Man of War for Centaur, The Angel beginning in Marvel Comics #1, and humor strips for DC Comics in Action[...]
Amazing-Man Comics #6 (#2) featuring The Shark by Lew Glanzman.
The earliest issues of Amazing Man Comics from Centaur are an obscure but important part of the early Golden Age.   The series features work from Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and Submariner creator Bill Everett, and was on newsstands at the same time as Marvel Comics #1.    Amazing-Man Comics #5 had introduced Burgos's The[...]
Funny Picture Stories #1 (Comics Magazine Co., 1936) featuring The Clock. A vintage magazine cover featuring a mysterious man in a tuxedo with a black mask, holding a microphone, and gesturing dramatically against a bright yellow background. The scene includes hints of other characters in shadowy outlines.
Subsequent events would also seem to imply that Ultem had access to at least art or stats of the Comics Magazine Company titles, as when Ultem quickly threw in the towel and sold its titles to Centaur, The Clock made two appearances from that publisher in Keen Detective Funnies #v1#8 and v1 #9 (1938) which[...]
Super Weird Heroes v2.4: We Never Sleep
As Wikipedia puts it, the company that published The Eye, the… um, character? … which is my subject today from Craig Yoe's Super Weird Heroes Volume 2, (in stores today!) has a genesis which history remembers like so: Centaur developed primarily from the Comics Magazine Company, Inc In 1936, comic-book entrepreneur Everett M "Busy" Arnold gave[...]
CGC Insider #3: Tanning
If you’ve ever visited this site to stare in amazement at a nice high grade copy of Wonder Woman #1 or Superman #2 and wondered how they became known as