MLJ Archives

Inside, this issue delivers on the cover's promise with an onslaught of stories from the pre-Archie MLJ era, featuring two of its top heroes, The Shield and The Hangman in a pair of rather wild superhero tales, a dose of supernatural horror with the spectacularly underrated Madam Satan, a story with the little-known superhero Fireball[...]

The character may not be the best known of the pre-Archie MLJ Magazines superheroes, but he is definitely one of the most fascinating Created by writer Joe Blair and artist Sam Cooper, Mr Justice was very obviously MLJ's answer to DC Comics' the Spectre He is essentially a spirit who hauntingly enacts justice on those[...]

Published by MLJ, this issue is a stand-out example of the comic book output of their pre-Archie era, a time when the company was an aggressive competitor in the rising superhero market Featuring a noteworthy group of creative talent, including formative work from Jack Cole, Mort Meskin, and Irv Novick, the comic is also a[...]

As the comic book market was undergoing significant expansion in late 1939, MLJ Magazines — the entity that would one day be known as Archie Comics — entered the industry with their debut title, Blue Ribbon Comics During its short lifespan, Blue Ribbon Comics offered a variety of adventure fiction and, soon, some superhero stories,[...]

A stand-out cover by Irv Novick completes the picture of this noteworthy Golden Age MLJ key, and there's a CGC Apparent FN+ 6.5 copy of Pep Comics #17 (MLJ, 1941) up for auction in the 2025 July 18 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase at Heritage Auctions. Pep Comics #17 (MLJ, 1941) featuring the Hangman. The roots of The Hangman[...]

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[...]

Best known as the publisher who debuted Archie and the rest of the gang of Riverdale during the Golden Age, MLJ Magazines was better than most publishers at navigating the rapidly evolving industry of that era The character the Scarlet Avenger was a good example of that Zip Comics #17 featured the end of the[...]

The Wizard is a pulp-style superhero character who first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #1, cover-dated December 1939.  He was the earliest cover star of the Top-Notch Comics series, the second title launched by MLJ Magazines, the publisher who would eventually become known for Archie The Wizard was created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe, Jr[...]

Surprisingly, MLJ debuted the series for this foreboding character under the blandly neutral title Special Comics #1, rather than with the eponymous "Hangman Comics" name right from the start — like MLJ editor Abner Sundell said they would.  The series launch quickly recaps what was likely the best character origin of the Golden Age with[...]

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[...]

A patriotic superhero with a weird helmet and an intelligent eagle sidekick? That sounds like Peacemaker and Eagly, but before that, MLJ's Captain Flag and his impressive eagle sidekick named Yank also fit that description Captain Flag and Yank made their first appearance in Blue Ribbon Comics #16, cover-dated September 1941, in a story written[...]

Madam Satan is something of an oddity from MLJ's Golden Age.  Seductive and macabre in a manner that largely seems intended for older readers, the character first appeared in the background of the cover of Pep Comics #15.  But her story began in Pep Comics #16 from 1941, which revealed her rather tawdry origin story[...]

The character Fireball, who debuted in Pep Comics #12, was MLJ's answer to Marvel's Human Torch The company that became Marvel, Timely Publications, had debuted the Human Torch in its first comic book, Marvel Comics #1, initially cover-dated October 1939 The Human Torch character continued to be cover-featured often on Marvel Mystery Comics and got[...]

Combat #59 story about the exploits of a soldier and former major leaguer nicknamed "Boy Wonder."  But the Zip Comics #25 Steel Sterling story written by Kanigher and drawn by Irv Novick holds its own among these strange baseball stories, and it seems to have been inspired by the 1941 World Series between the Brooklyn[...]

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 While the series would perhaps best become known for the addition of Archie beginning in issue #4, the first issue featured Steel Sterling, Black Hood, Sergeant[...]

Blue Ribbon Comics was the debut comic book title from MLJ Magazines, the publisher which would soon become known as Archie Comics But MLJ's earliest star was a wonder dog named Rang-A-Tang Created by Norman Danberg and Will Harr, Rang-A-Tang was a German Shepherd who ran away from a small-time carnival after being abused by[...]

For obvious reasons, MLJ, the publisher that would rebrand itself as Archie, may have had less confidence in the staying power of the superhero genre than most comic book publishers.  The Golden Age lifespan of one of its most famous superhero characters, the Black Hood, provides us with another fascinating example of how the publisher[...]

It seems almost inconceivable to consider the Golden Age comic book output of MLJ as a whole without discussing Archie and his pals, and that's probably why researching the comic books in this auction surprised me as much as it did.  There's been so much focus on collecting Archie in recent decades, and deservedly so,[...]

One of publisher MLJ's pre-Archie superheroes, the Black Hood was arguably one of the most interesting superheroes of the Golden Age.  He certainly had an unusual publishing history during that time The character first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #9, took that title over, started getting elbowed aside in the Top-Notch series 18 issues later in[...]

At a time when competition was so fierce to stake claims on superhero territory that lawsuits and legal threats were common, MLJ managed to launch a super strong, super durable, super fast, flying superhero with a red and blue costume who was soon boldly proclaimed the Man of Steel on covers, and there is no[...]

These significant issues and many other Top-Notch Comics are available during the 2023 May 4 The MLJ Heroes Showcase Auction #40222. Top-Notch Comics #5 (MLJ, 1940) In Top-Notch Comics #5, the Wizard and the Shield determine that their combined efforts would be crucial in the fight against the Moscovians, a thinly veiled portrayal of the Soviet Union[...]

A well-remembered MLJ superhero due to his spider web-themed costume, the Web debuted in Zip Comics #27, cover-dated July 1942 The character was created by artist John Cassone and an unknown writer, possibly Zip Comics series editor Harry Shorten The Web was a criminologist who used the principle that a criminal can always be caught[...]

One of publisher MLJ's pre-Archie superheroes, the Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #9, cover-dated October 1940 Title editor Harry Shorten created the character with writer Abner Sundell and artist Al Camy The Black Hood's real name is Kip Burland, a former police officer framed for grand larceny by a costumed supervillain known as[...]

A well-remembered MLJ superhero due to his spider web-themed costume, the Web debuted in Zip Comics #27, cover-dated July 1942 The character was created by artist John Cassone and an unknown writer, possibly Zip Comics series editor Harry Shorten The Web was a criminologist who used the principle that a criminal can always be caught[...]

A patriotic superhero with a weird helmet and an intelligent eagle sidekick? That sounds like Peacemaker and Eagly of course, but before that, MLJ's Captain Flag and his amazing eagle sidekick named Yank also fit that description Captain Flag and Yank made their first appearance in Blue Ribbon Comics #16, cover-dated September 1941, in a[...]

Shield-Wizard Comics #11 is a stand-out horror cover of this unique MLJ Magazines series Though a little-known name in comics history, cover artist Clem Weisbecker (sometimes known simply as "Clem") worked in comics from about 1941 to 1943 for publishers including MLJ Magazines, Marvel/Timely, and Fawcett Publications He often combined superheroics or adventure with horror[...]

Not only had he gotten his own series, Archie Comics, the previous winter, but he took over the covers of Pep Comics from the Shield, Hangman, and other MLJ superheroes with Pep Comics #41 A moment that helped show just how big Archie was becoming in the comic book industry, there's a Pep Comics #41[...]

One of the MLJ superhero line's most interesting bad guys, The Black Knight was a powerful and dangerous supervillain who debuted in Zip Comics #1 and returned for revenge in Zip Comics #2 — and beyond "The Death-Master of the Underworld" as he was called, the Black Knight was a ruthless leader and super-scientist with[...]

The character Fireball, who debuted in Pep Comics #12, was MLJ's answer to Marvel's Human Torch The company that became Marvel, Timely Publications, had debuted the Human Torch in its first comic book, Marvel Comics #1, initially cover-dated October 1939 The Human Torch character continued to be cover-featured often on Marvel Mystery Comics and got[...]