golden age Archives

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.

My Friend Irma was the franchise that brought Martin & Lewis to film, but it was also some of the best Dan DeCarlo work outside of Archie.

In 1945, paperback publisher Avon Publications entered the comics with Molly O'Day, including work by George Tuska, Paul Gattuso, and Jack Cole.

The character appeared in numerous other series during the Golden Age, and was included in Miss America (which eventually transformed back into a comic book) for the remainder of its 93-issue run Meanwhile, the Patsy Walker series itself ran for 124 issues 1945 – 1965.  A spinoff series also starring her frenemy Hedy Wolfe, Patsy[...]

Dark Mysteries editor William K. Friedman made a career of helping publishers push limits, and faced off against the Senate over the title.

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.

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[...]

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.

Blummer, and with a cover by Elmer Wexler.  Long considered an important key by collectors, there's a CGC VG/FN 5.0 copy of Startling Comics #10 (Better Publications, 1941) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions. Startling Comics #10 (Better Publications, 1941) featuring[...]

We've mentioned his Fox work on Dagar, Desert Hawk, and Rulah, Jungle Goddess recently, and his Blue Beetle work is also highly sought after by collectors.  This era of the Blue Beetle series is well known to have garnered a couple of mentions in Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, but that's only part of[...]

On March 6, 1942, the notorious Golden Age publisher of Blue Beetle and much more, Victor Fox was forced into bankruptcy by creditors.  Fascinatingly, one of those creditors, printer Holyoke Press took over the title, and with Fox's Blue Beetle and other titles the publisher acquired under similar circumstances from Frank Z Temerson, Holyoke decided[...]

1940 was the Blue Beetle's year.  After launching in June 1939 in Mystery Men Comics #1, Dan Garrett, the Golden Age Blue Beetle would get a newspaper strip starting in January 1940, and his own series which hit newsstands around the same time A radio show started in May 1940 Like a lot of superheroes,[...]

Although you may not have heard of him, MLJ Magazines' 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 The Comet was created by Jack Cole, the writer/artist best known for creating Plastic Man The character ran in[...]

Although Fox Feature Syndicate published its last comic book in 1951, several characters it published have had life after Fox.  The Flame, Phantom Lady and Samson were later used by Ajax-Farrell for example, and more famously, Phantom Lady (who had started life at Quality Comics) and Blue Beetle ended up at DC Comics.  The little-known[...]

A historically important part of the Golden Age, there are copies of five of the six-issue Samson series up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions. Samson #1 (Fox Features Syndicate, 1940)   Samson, based on the biblical figure of the same name, was a super-strong[...]