golden age Archives

Sometimes the desirability of comic books to collectors is not about a first appearance, origin, first issue, or pivotal events in the story.  Sometimes, it's more about an important moment in time, and the earliest-days collaboration of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby is one such moment.  The legendary pair are among the most famous creative[...]

Giant Comics Editions #12 Diary Secrets features one of the most iconic and infamous covers in comics history.  The Overstreet Price Guide has had it at the top of their list of top ten most valuable romance comic books for a long time.  And really, one can think of a list of perhaps hundreds of[...]

An underappreciated Golden Age character in the mold of the Spectre, there's a CGC GD/VG 3.0 copy of the first appearance and origin of Mr Justice in Blue Ribbon Comics #9 (MLJ, 1941), is up for auction in the 2025 July 18 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase at Heritage Auctions. Blue Ribbon Comics #9 featuring Mr Justice (MLJ, 1941) In[...]

Fate's first-told origin in More Fun Comics #67 by over a year.  Robert Morgan was an American studying in Egypt who encountered an ancient Egyptian figure known as "The Old Man of the Pyramids", who taught him ancient arts and sciences, and gave him "the Amulet of Annihilation, the weapon of the forces of right." [...]

Sheena is one of the most famous female comic book characters ever created, and one of the earliest in the context of Golden Age American comics But I feel sorry for any Golden Age Sheena completists out there — because some of this material is as tough as it gets for a vintage collector.  I've[...]

Señorita Rio was one of the premiere female spy thrillers of the Golden Age of comic books, drawn by a historically important artist Lily Renée and running through most issues of Fight Comics #19-71 The Fight Comics Señorita Rio feature appeared from 1942 to 1950 starring the titular character fighting Axis agents conducting espionage throughout[...]

One of several issues of the series with a very low census population, there's a CGC GD/VG 3.0 copy of Blue Ribbon Comics #21 (MLJ, 1942),  up for auction in the 2025 July 18 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase at Heritage Auctions. Blue Ribbon Comics #22 (MLJ, 1942). The last issue of this oft-overlooked series, Blue Ribbon Comics #22[...]

This issue is the first appearance of The Hangman, as well as chronicling the demise of The Comet, making it a significant piece of Golden Age history and one of the best origin stories of that era A stand-out cover by Irv Novick completes the picture of this noteworthy Golden Age MLJ key, and there's[...]

Among the icons of the Golden Age, Basil Wolverton is unique A creator who had a knack for imagining the unimaginable in comic books and beyond, Wolverton left an indelible mark on Golden Age history with one of his most memorable creations: Spacehawk This superhuman science fiction enforcer made his debut in Target Comics #5,[...]

Detective Comics v Bruns Publications is one of the defining historical moments of modern American comic books.  In a judgment handed down April 2, 1939, Judge Learned Hand of United States District Court, Southern District of New York, ruled that Victor Fox's Wonderman character in Wonder Comics infringed on DC's Superman copyrights.  In a lesser-known[...]

Fawcett's Wow Comics is a great Golden Age series that deserves more attention It debuted in winter 1940 and ran for 69 issues until August 1948, featuring work by CC Beck, Otto Binder, Dave Berg, and even Jack Kirby, among many others But the series really started to shine when Mary Marvel arrived, with beautiful[...]

The saga of the Fox Feature Syndicate character the Flame is more complicated than it appears.  The character, his powers, and his backstory evolved steadily, sometimes without explanation, from his 1939 introduction in Wonderworld Comics #3 through his final Golden Age appearances in the January 1942 cover-dated issues of Big 3, The Flame, and Wonderworld[...]

Centaur turned the Ultem titles into a solid and well-remembered comic book publishing company.  Ullman and Temerson jumped right back into the business less than two years later with another corporate shell and the made-for-the-moment title Speed Comics, put it out for 11 months, and then flipped it to Leo Greenwald, who was also publishing[...]

But one of the earliest and most interesting of these was Thor, God of Thunder, who debuted in Weird Comics #1 from artist Pierce Rice.  This Thor's adventures ran in Weird Comics #1-5, and while every issue of this Fox Feature series is a tough get, there's a CGC GD+ 2.5 copy of Weird Comics #1[...]

The short-lived and obscure title Future Comics may be one of the weirdest comic book series of the Golden Age — and that's saying something.  Best known for its covers that include a strange-looking science fiction character named Rebo wearing bizarre headgear, the story behind that imagery may be even stranger than the covers implies. [...]

Jackpot Comics was an early anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines during the Golden Age, which featured some of the publisher's most popular characters from other titles.  That group of characters originally included Steel Sterling, Black Hood, Sergeant Boyle, and Mr Justice, by creators including Charles Biro, Irv Novick, Ed Camy, and Sam[...]

Among other introductions in this issue is the Comet, who later in this series would become the first superhero to die, with his brother the Hangman rising up in vengeance.  The debut of a long-running historically important series with a cover by Irv Novick, and artwork from legends such as Jack Binder, Charles Biro, Manly[...]

In modern times, super pets have become a staple part of superhero franchises, and like those franchises themselves, the origins of such super animal companions can be traced back to the early Golden Age Bulletman #10, featuring the first appearance of Bulletdog, a historically significant comic book due to its introduction of what is arguably[...]

The earliest and one of the most rare of all Standard/Better/Nedor series, Best Comics featured the Adventures of the Red Mask.

The Challenger was a four issue series from 1945-1946 designed to fight prejudice and discrimination featuring work by Joe Kubert and others.

Crime Reporter #1 is a classic late-1940s crime comic featuring a villain named Dr. Morphine and an exclusive spot called Zombie Club.

Created by Jack Sparling for the newspaper PM, the comic book reprint of the strip caused some controversy with this Jack Kamen cover.

This Highest Graded CGC 9.6 Canadian version of Marvel's Astonishing with Marvel Boy features a Marvel Boy cover that didn't appear in the U.S. version.

Haunted Thrills was one of the most succesful of Farrell Publications' Pre-Code Horror series, featuring artwork from Iger Studio.

The post-war Doll Man era is an excellent example of the quality comics that were produced by Quality Comics in the 1950s, and there's a nice batch of several issues from Doll Man #27-47 many of which include Bill Ward's legendary character Torchy (often drawn by Gill Fox here) up for auction in the 2024[...]

Best remembered for his legendary DC Comics work, Sheldon Moldoff also made formative contributions to Pre-Code Horror comic books.

Fitzgerald was a part of the Army Signal Corps WB animation unit which produced the Private SNAFU cartoons and would work as an animator for the likes of Fleischer, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera throughout his career. Dizzy Dames #1 cover artist Ogden Whitney (1919-1975) was an underappreciated artist of the Golden Age and Silver Age of comic[...]

Dick Ayers' Magazine Enterprises Ghost Rideris a stand out example of the artist's work, combining western, supernatural and herioic themes.

Marvel launched situation comedy Lana Comics in the same month it debuted series featuring Blonde Phantom, Namora, and Venus.

While the 1953 Superior Comics title Mysteries may be a true mystery to some collectors, this PCH title is well worth your time.