gardner fox Archives

The character would eventually become All-Star Western's regular cover feature.  But by 1960, comic book readership trends came for All-Star again, and this time, it would appear that DC Comics made a last-ditch attempt at reviving the title with the introduction of a new character, Madame .44, to the regular Johnny Thunder cover feature with[...]

An espionage title that got underway in the early years of the Cold War era, there are three issues of Undercover Girl up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122227 Undercover Girl (1952-1954, Magazine Enterprises). The Undercover Girl feature in Manhunt and the subsequent title is a fascinating reflection[...]

This issue by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, with a cover by Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson, is the first appearance of the Justice League of America and Starro the Conqueror. Brave and the Bold #28 Justice League of America (DC, 1960) Beyond the obvious inspiration of the DC Comics Golden Age's Justice Society of America, the influences[...]

Sullivan tapped his industry contacts for Columbia, and foundational Golden Age greats like Gardner Fox, Creig Flessel, Fred Gardineer, Ogden Whitney, and others produced work for Big Shot Comics.  An underappreciated title featuring work by a number of important creators, there's a number of Big Shot Comics issues including a Big Shot Comics #1 up[...]

I'm a complete sucker for vintage collectible comics that have storylines about the concept of collecting itself, and Flash Comics #5 is a fun example of that.  The Flash story written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Everett E Hibbard gets straight to the point:  the Flash rescues a painter from the middle of the[...]

But there are also a few notable names missing… Suicide Squad screencap John Ostrander (above) – creator of the modern-day Suicide Squad, co-creator of Amanda Waller, John Economos, Flo Crawley, and Briscoe. Luke McDonnell – artist on the original Suicide Squad series, co-creator of John Economos, Flo Crawley, and Briscoe. Ross Andru – co-creator of Rick Flag, co-creator of original[...]

Sullivan tapped his industry contacts for Columbia, and foundational Golden Age greats like Gardner Fox, Creig Flessel, Fred Gardineer, Ogden Whitney, and others produced work for Big Shot Comics.  An underappreciated title featuring work by a number of important creators, there's a Big Shot Comics #1, #2, #11 and #14 available in this week's 2021[...]

In a heavy-water nuclear reactor, when neutrons bombard U-238, some uranium atoms absorb an additional neutron and are transformed into Pu-239. Heavy water was popularly (and wildly) speculated to have a wide range of effects on living beings when Flash Comics #1 was written in 1939 — including significantly increasing the human lifespan.  Given this in[...]

Might have to be a series of posts, because there really are a lot of them.  Say what you will about Snyder, but it's clear that he's read, studied, and absorbed quite a lot of the most important material from DC's 80+ year history. I'm fairly indifferent to the tone argument about his films, particularly so[...]

 It's not the first appearance of Shiera Sanders (Flash Comics #1, late 1939), and it's arguably not the first 'official' appearance of Sanders as Hawkgirl (Flash Comics #24, later in 1941), but what this does have is Shiera putting on the hawk costume and wings, and taking part in an adventure by Gardner Fox and Sheldon[...]

Getting to know Allred creations like the Atomics helped the reader to understand just how bracingly weird characters like the Fantastic Four must have been to those accustomed to Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky's Justice League (which was, come to think of it, pretty weird itself). [*Mild spoilers for Silver Surfer #1 below!] But if Madman is[...]

 With widespread belief that DC/WB is building towards making the Justice League a more mainstream property in film and/or television, copies of the team's first appearance in The Brave and the Bold #28 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky have been going crazy at auction recently. To throw out one fresh example, a CGC 6.5 copy[...]

Can anyone beat this? From Zatara The Magician by Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer, in Action Comics #12 from 1939, courtesy of Comic Book Tit Bits… Zatara, as some may mention, was essentially of the ilk of Mandrake the Magician.  Wearing a top hat and tuxedo he would perform various astounding feats, aided by his manservant, Tong. [...]