After first appearing in Feature Comics #27, Doll Man made his cover debut on Feature Comics #30 with a cover by the great Lou Fine.
golden age Archives
Some definitive moments of Golden Age comic book history took place in and around courtrooms and law offices. Detective Comics, Inc Against Bruns Publications, Inc., Kable News Company, and Interborough News Co (aka the Superman vs Wonder Man lawsuit) and National Comics Publications v Fawcett Publications (aka the Superman vs Captain Marvel lawsuit) come to[...]
The Clock was the first masked hero of the Golden Age of American comic books The character was created by George Brenner and first appeared from publisher Comics Magazine Company in Funny Pages #v1#6 and Funny Picture Stories #1, both cover-dated November 1936. These issues hit newsstands 18 months before Superman's debut in Action Comics[...]
Frank Frazetta's Ghost Rider cover on Magazine Enterprises' Tim Holt #17 proved to be a pivotal moment for the western franchise.
There are at least a couple of Golden Age characters named Dr Doom. One of them is a super-science supervillain who debuted in Fox Feature Syndicate's Science Comics #1. The other is a heroic mad scientist made famous by Gus Ricca's wild and iconic cover of Dynamic Comics #11, published by Harry A Chesler. The Chesler[...]
Written by Leslie Charteris himself, The Saint comes to you right out of the movies — to perform here exclusively his terrific adventures and clever detective work that have made him world famous."
Gleason's expensive gamble didn't pay off. The Saint had started in Silver Streak Comics #18, and three issues later (and one issue after[...]
As the volume of Matt Baker's Fiction House contributions declined, he worked with other publishers, leading to his Fox Feature Syndicate era
Ace Periodicals' Sure-Fire Comics series featured the superhero Flash Lightning, whose origin is similar to the later Dr. Fate origin.
The mysterious Ace Periodicals character The Unknown narrated Four Favorites stories, then jumped to Hands of Fate as Fate himself yrs later.
Crime Smashers was a 15 issue crime comics series that included art from Joe Kubert and Wally Wood, from a company owned by Harry Donenfeld.
Gangsters Can't Win was a title from the late-1940s crime comic book era which featured some classic covers and stories.
D.S. Publishing's short foray into comic books includes an extensive line of crime comics like Exposed, which came to Wertham's attention.
Daredevil Battles Hitler might be the most infamous propaganda comic book in American history, but it also doubles as the first issue of the Golden Age Daredevil's solo series for Lev Gleason Publications. The creation of Jack Binder, the character debuted in Silver Streak Comics #6, and was pitted against Lev Gleason star supervillain The[...]
The Flag's abilities included trailing stars & stripes while using his power of flight & an American Flag birthmark that warned him of danger
Observing the flight of bats at the mission one day, the monk, Padre Martier, recalled that renaissance genius Benvenuto Cellini had once likewise been inspired by bat wings as a possible method of human flight (and incidentally, a rather remarkable historical reference on the part of Biro and/or Wood there). Padre Martier proceeded to design[...]
The short-lived title Seven Seas Comics was a turning point of sorts in the context of Matt Baker's career.
The short-lived Major Victory Comics series contains a range of great examples of the Chesler line. Even the superheroes and adventure characters are off-beat and weird, and tend to be viewed through a horror-tinged lens at times. Patriotic character Major Victory's origin moment is sparked by a character called Father Patriot, "a spirit born in[...]
A little known title from an incredibly obscure publisher, Lucky Comics has stand-out covers and stories from Henry Kiefer.
1950 was a turning point of sorts for publisher Quality Comics. Everett "Busy" Arnold bought out his longtime partners in the business John Cowles, Sr and Gardner Cowles, Jr not too long after the comic book industry had shifted from a focus on superheroes to a variety of other material. Long-running Golden Age titles like Smash[...]
Crime comic title Justice Traps the Guilty was launched by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in 1947, and continued for an impressive 92 issues.
One of the most iconic images associated with The Spirit saga, Will Eisner channeled Lauren Bacall for the character Skinny Bones.
Simon Templar, better known as the Saint, has been a multimedia star over the decades, including a 12-issue comic book series from Avon.
Ahead of his first "real" appearance in More Fun Comics #52, the Spectre made a one-panel appearance in More Fun Comics #51.
Ace Magazines' Baffling Mysteries series during the Pre-Code Horror comic book era of the early 1950s had a spectacular run of covers.
Legendary artist L.B. Cole might have thought more about what made comic book covers sell on the newsstands than any other artist of his era.
Created by Otto Binder and Al Gabriele, the Golden Age Miss America debuted in Marvel Mystery Comics before getting her own title.
Considered by many as the first DC Comics superhero, Dr. Occult was created by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
After debuting a year prior, Dr. Fate's origin moment with the debut of Nabu was finally told in More Fun Comics #67.
Along with Gus Ricca, distinctive stylist Paul Gattuso is one of the key artists who gave Harry Chesler's comic books their distinctive look. Gattuso worked for Chesler beginning around 1944, on titles such as Dynamic Comics, Punch Comics and Scoop Comics among others. The character Black Dwarf who appeared in Spotlight Comics and Red Seal Comics is perhaps his best-remembered[...]
Marvel Mystery Comics #56 from 1944 is an example of the intense detail that has made Alex Schomburg famous among collectors.