In August 1942, Quality Comics started reprinting Will Eisner‘s “The Spirit” stories in Police Comics #10, which is the first time the character appears in a comic book. But the Spirit’s distinctive style started to exert itself a couple issues later in Police Comics #12 (October 1942) where we see comic narration appearing in stylized […]
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One of the uglier Wonder Woman nemeses is introduced in Wonder Woman #2 (October 1942): The Duke of Deception! He was one of several generals that the God of War, Ares / Mars kept around. His demigod peers were the Lord of Conquest and the Earl of Greed.
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Although Batman was first called “the Dark Knight” in Batman #1 (1940), writers for DC were also using the nickname to describe their own heroes, as seen here for the Spectre and Starman from October 1942.
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In Superman #19 (September 1942), we find what I can only assume is an intentionally-whimsical story in which Clark Kent takes Lois Lane to the movies and Clark has to prevent Lois from seeing key parts of the Superman cartoon to protect his actual secret identity from being discovered. Of course this makes no sense […]
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The first Two-Face story from Detective Comics #66 skips a month and continues from its cliff-hanger in Detective #68 (August 1942). Two-Face flips a coin (with a green hand!) to determine if he will lead a life of crime or try to get help. The coin stands on its edge so he lets fate decide. […]
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Just your average innocent thought bubble from an adventure that Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (Captain America) had in a Nazi-infested bowling alley.
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In the Superman story of World’s Finest Comics #7 (July 1942), Superman is shown spending time in his “mountain retreat”, working out and staying fit. This is the first sort of expanding of the Superman storylines to feature things he would do in his off-hours between adventures.
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In July 1942, Wonder Woman joins the ranks of Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern in getting her own self-titled regular comic book. Wonder Woman #1 features a much expanded origin story both of Wonder Woman and of the Amazons, including Queen Hippolyte (later Hippolyta) facing off against a ridiculously muscle-bound Hercules.
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Detective Comics #66 (June 1942) saw the introduction of another great macabre Batman villain: Two-Face! This origin story features everything: Handsome public defender, angry criminal court scene, acid splash and then a psychotic break into a supervillain with a fascination for the number 2. The only difference from the modern day version is that he […]
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In June 1942, Superman gains a new supervillain in his roster: The Prankster. Looking like a creepy human representation of a vaudeville style ventriloquist dummy, complete with half-lidded eyes, he plagues Superman with practical joke-themed crimes.
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