golden age Archives

According to a lawsuit over the creation of Ace Periodicals comic books during this era, Magno the Magnetic Man and the rest of the material in Super-Mystery Comics #1 was the creation of a comic production studio run by Patrick Lamar.  At least two stories in this issue were based on plots from past Ace[...]

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. [...]

The emphasis is on story and character values."  While Air Fighters Comics, which introduced Airboy in its second issue, is certainly not a superhero comic book, Victory Comics is another matter entirely.  That series features a character called the Conqueror, very decidedly a superhero, created by the legendary Bill Everett of Sub-Mariner fame.  An overlooked[...]

But all this is getting a bit heavy, right? And it's time for Obsidian to make the joke that everyone has been making since Bleeding Cool first scooped the story of Alan Scott being a gay man back in 2012. Yup, the Golden Age Green Lantern's power weakness is wood… ALAN SCOTT THE GREEN LANTERN #6 (OF[...]

In early 1945, he hurled out his ultimatum: "You buy me out or I'll buy you out." We do know that Gaines's relationship with Donenfeld was volatile during this period, to the point that he severed the branding tie-up with DC Comics that year, briefly using the All-American brand on covers rather than the DC Comics[...]

take part in an epic battle against a character called Captain Nazi, who had been ordered by Hitler to take America's heroes down.  This iconic battle of good vs evil began in  Master Comics #21, then continued in Whiz Comics #25 and Master Comics #22.  There's an affordable copy of the beginning of this historic[...]

One of the most memorable female characters of the Golden Age with an iconic cover by Kida, there are copies of several of her appearances up for auction in the 2024 May 30 Adventures in the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40261 at Heritage Auctions. Air Fighters Comics V2#2 featuring Valkyrie (Hillman, Fall, 1943) Valkyrie's greatest desire[...]

Ace Periodicals' Four Favorites title was a similar concept to Fox's Big 3, DC Comics' All-Star Comics and All-Winners Comics.  It was an anthology series that featured some of the publisher's most popular characters that ran for 32 issues from 1941 to 1947.  This started out as including the superheroics of Magno and Davey, Vulcan,[...]

"Busy" Arnold's Quality Comics, Smash Comics started out as an anthology featuring a fairly typical if well-executed mix of pulp-inspired adventure heroes and humor.  But by issue #14, the superhero character The Ray was introduced in stories beautifully drawn by legendary artist Lou Fine.  The character began to get periodic cover-features in the title by[...]

Despite working on and co-creating numerous characters now considered obscure, Lou Fine was considered one of the best artists of the Golden Age.  He was an artist that even other comic book greats admired, and his cover work for publishers Fox Feature Syndicate, Fiction House, and Quality Comics is still highly regarded by collectors to[...]

It has occasionally been remarked that Bozo the Iron Man from the Golden Age of comics can be seen as an early precursor to Marvel's Iron Man, albeit with a more comical appearance and a name that has come to be identified with something else entirely But the original concept basically embodies the concept of[...]

Dell Publishing is best known for its iconic Disney comics, but the company also dabbled in other genres during the Golden Age, including pulp-style heroes and superheroes One such example is the Super Comics series, which featured an eclectic mix of comic strip reprints but eventually included original characters from Dell Among these characters is[...]

Streak the Wonder Dog was not the first dog hero of the Golden Age of comics.  Bulletdog (Bulletman #10, cover-dated December 1942) and Rang-A-Tang (Blue Ribbon Comics #1, November 1939) among others came along earlier.  But Streak did debut seven years before Krypto (Adventure Comics #210, March 1955), and his history and legacy have taken[...]

An incredibly accomplished and talented woman takes on a job in her profession that brings her into contact with one of the most famous and mysterious men in the world.  The job becomes an obsession which in turn leads her into a life as a costumed criminal so she can become closer to the legendary[...]

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[...]

Popper & Co.-published items, Vital Publications published at least two Blackstone comic book giveaways, in 1948 and 1949, one of which also includes Timely-published material.  Proskauer was in the Blackstone publishing business throughout this entire period. Meanwhile, Street & Smith's Super-Magician Comics lasted for nine issues after Blackstone's departure.  Two of the final three issues also[...]

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[...]

In today's Alan Scott: Green Lantern #5, published by DC Comics today, Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey have a new history to tell.

I am sensing a theme from those titles, I wonder what it is? Kidding aside, these books are some of the most fun to collect as far as golden age books are concerned Weird to think about a time when these books were dominating the shelf, but they did, and Marvel published a ton of them[...]

Underappreciate artist Joe Doolin produced nearly 150 covers for Fiction House 943-1950 on titles like Fight Comics, many of them classics.

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[...]

Judy Garrick is The Boom! In the New Golden Age one-shot reprinted early this month, and currently gaining new attention, we met characters who did not previously exist in the DC Universe because they were removed from it and now are being returned. Full Name: Judy Garrick Occupation: Student Marital Status: Single Known Relatives: Jay Garrick (father), Joan Garrick (mother) Affiliation:[...]

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[...]

Zolnerowich is one of the most underappreciated artists of this period, and he and Cardy, along with others including Bob Powell and John Celardo turned in what has to be considered one of the best cover runs of the Golden Age on this series This week's 2023 October 19 The Fiction House Comics & Comic Art[...]

Tiger Man's launch in Rangers Comics #28 was a weird addition to a title that was already wonderfully strange by this time.  We've recently talked about features such as Lily Renée's Wolf-less Werewolf Hunter and Kazanda, Wild Girl of the Lost Continent from this period of the Rangers Comics title, but the addition of Tiger[...]

Jumbo Comics #69 is widely considered as containing the first published comic book artwork from legendary artist Matt Baker.  An artist whose name has become synonymous with beautiful women in comic book art, this issue would contain two stories that Baker contributed to, Sheena and Sky Girl.  While Baker's contributions to the iconic jungle girl[...]

Kazanda the Wild Girl of the Lost Continent is a little-remembered comic book saga that ran in the U.S. in Rangers Comics #23-28.

Created by Fletcher Hanks (best known for the wildly creative Stardust the Super Wizard who debuted in Fox's Fantastic Comics #1), Fantomah's debut was one of the earliest examples of a super-powered woman in Golden Age comics.  This early Fiction House release also features a Kaanga cover by Will Eisner, the debut of the Red[...]

And telling the Golden Age stories of Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman and member of the Justice Society Of America Created by Gardner Fox and Bert Christman, he was a street vigilante created in 1939 alongside many others He was rather overshadowed by Neil Gaiman's reimaging of the Sandman in the eighties, but that also[...]

Fiction House's 1947 release Jumbo Comics #102 features Sheena by Bob Webb, ZX-5 by Jack Kamen and a Sky Girl story by Matt Baker.