Ned Pines Archives

The unusually-titled 1953 one-shot Who Is Next? from Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor line is a crime comic book with a point to make.  While even the most extreme crime comics of the Pre-Code era made at least some effort to stress that they were pro-law enforcement rather than glorifying crime, Who Is Next? took an entirely[...]

Perhaps best known for titles such as Exciting Comics and Startling Comics, publisher Ned Pines put out 1211 comic book issues across 117 titles from 1939 to 1959, using imprints including Better, Nedor, and Standard.  As those numbers imply, many of those titles were short-lived, and like many comic book publishers, Pines was quick to[...]

Richard E. Hughes and Jon L. Brummer gave Standard/Better/Nedor character Fighting Yank a supernatural origin in Startling Comics #10.

As a glimpse at the Ned Pines Standard/Better/Nedor line that could have been, Exciting Comics #1 is quite a bit more important than many collectors realize.  The first issue of the third comic book series that Pines launched seemed to indicate that he would use this title to debut some of his pulp characters into[...]

One of the earliest and rarest comic book series from Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor, Best Comics features the historically important Adventures of the Red Mask.  A little-known character due to the difficulty in obtaining the source material and the mystery behind his creator, the Red Mask was a Pacific Islander who defended the people of the island[...]

Debuting in Exciting Comics #9 with a May 1941 cover-date and a February 18, 1941 release date, the Black Terror is perhaps the most popular and best-remembered superhero character from Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor comic book line.  The character soon garnered his own series as well as appearances in the anthology title America's Best Comics, and[...]

The character Miss Masque took over Standard/Better/Nedor's Exciting Comics and America's Best Comics in the late Golden Age.

The 1961 novel The Blue Man may be Platt's best-known work of science fiction. There are only 23 entries for America's Best Comics #2 on the CGC census, indicating that this a pretty tough get even by the standards of the 1942 era.  An underappreciated Ned Pines offering with a stand-out cover, America's Best Comics #2 (Nedor[...]

Best remembered for titles such as Exciting Comics and Startling Comics, and for the pulp and comic versions of Captain Future, publisher Ned Pines put out 1211 comic book issues across 117 titles from 1939 to 1959, using imprints including Better, Nedor, and Standard.  As those numbers imply, many of those titles were short-lived, and[...]

The Ned Pines Standard/Better/Nedor empire is full of mysteries and obscurities.  The rarity of the handful of pulp material that Ned and Robert Pines produced in the first few years after their 1927 incorporation of Better Publications.  The little-known origins of the formation of Syndicated Features Corp in 1936 by Benjamin Sangor and former New[...]

While Standard/Better/Nedor's art director, Graham Ingels created standout covers there before being hired by Al Feldstein for EC Comics.

Joker co-creator Jerry Robinson teamed with Mort Meskin to create the little-known Black Terror villain named Lady Serpent in 1948.

The American Crusader was created due to an atom smasher accident which rearranged his atomic structure, giving him limitless power.

Startling Comics #20 features a classic Standard/Better/Nedor WWII-era cover by Jack Binder and a Pyroman story by Ken Battefield to match.

A comic book including work by three comic book legends in Sheldon Moldoff, Alex Schomburg and Frank Frazetta?  Sign me up.  The hidden gem in question is Black Terror #22, a March 1948 cover-dated classic from Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor This issue features a "Xela" cover by Schomburg, a Black Terror science fiction story by Moldoff,[...]

Woman in Red artist co-creator George Mandel had become a novelist by the 1950s, and worked on a script draft of 1967 Bond film Casino Royale

Anthology titles combining stories featuring a publisher's best characters was a standard practice of the Golden Age.  DC Comics had World's Finest Comics and All-Star Comics, Fox Feature Syndicate had Big 3, and Marvel/Timely had All-Winners Comics, for example.  In 1942, Ned Pines' Standard/Better/Nedor followed suit by launching America's Best Comics, featuring the Black Terror,[...]

Captain Future, the lead character of the debut of Startling Comics, might be one of the most confusing characters in Golden Age comic book history.  The pulp character of that name (and from the same publisher, Ned Pines' Standard Magazines group) was, according to legend, created by Standard Magazines editors Mort Weisinger and Leo Margulies[...]

Thrilling Comics #1, cover-dated February 1940 and published by Ned Pines' Better Publications, features the first appearance and origin of Dr Strange — but it's not the later Marvel character you're probably familiar with A scientist-adventurer clearly in the Doc Savage mold, the Thrilling Comics Dr Strange got his powers from his miraculous formula Alosun, "a[...]

Schomburg created around 40 airbrushed covers for Ned Pines's Standard/Better/Nedor titles during the period of 1947-1948, and these are often referred to as the "Xela" covers due to Schomburg signing his work from this time frame using his first name spelled backward The iconic airbrushed Schomburg cover for Startling Comics #49 has become one of[...]

When it came to illustrating covers, there was simply no one else in Alex's league." Perhaps best known for his early pulp covers and his beautifully detailed artwork for Marvel/Timely covers on titles like Marvel Mystery Comics, Captain America Comics, Human Torch, and many others, Schomburg's later-era airbrushed comic book covers for titles like Wonder[...]