In Captain America #71 (December 1948), we see some rare glimpses of Marvel continuity when Bucky Barnes is finally healed up in the hospital after being shot six months prior and returns to active duty. I guess it was too premature to call Timely (Marvel) done with boy sidekicks – Bucky was not written out […]
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In Action Comics #129 (December 1948), we get an odd story about Superman thawing out a caveman, and that caveman becoming sort of a celebrity. What’s odd is that the women in the comic seem to all be harboring secret fantasies of being treated poorly by their men, like being dragged about by their hair. […]
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In Flash Comics #104 (December 1948), the Rival makes his first appearance. Though he is not the first evil speedster, he is the first recurring evil speedster and the first to style himself after The Flash. Dr. Edward Clariss worked on a chemical formula to give himself temporary superspeed after learning that the Flash was […]
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Harvey Kurtzman really started to get work in the late 1940s. He had a regular 1-page comic called “Hey Look!” with a distinctive crazy style to it, as evidenced by the above picture from November 1948. I love the stark black backgrounds, they really stand out in the Patsy Walker comic. Harvey would eventually go […]
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Tommy Tomorrow makes his way from “Real Fact Comics” to something more fitting: a feature in Action Comics #127 (October 1948). In this first story, he is given the task of collecting alien fish from the solar system for a new Space Aquarium and we meet some stock supporting characters (Joan Gordy, a radio reporter). […]
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No, I didn’t quite lie. The last 1940s appearance of Two-Face was back in 1943, but Batman #50 (October 1948) brings us one last Two-Face story in the Golden Age. In it, Harvey Dent, cured with kindness and some plastic surgery these past five years, suddenly seems to be sleep-walking and moonlighting again as the […]
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In October 1948, Star-Spangled Comics #87 has Merry the Gimmick Girl taking over for poor ol’ Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. The story features Merry and Mr. Pemberton, her foster father – but Sylvester and Pat are nowhere to be seen. The comic industry really seems to have declared itself done with boy sidekicks, with basically […]
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The cowboy continues to replace the superhero in September 1948, as DC’s All-American Comics follows “More Fun” out of the superhero genre. It gets a name tweak to “All-American Western” and a new cover star: Johnny Thunder. This means no more solo stories for Dr. Mid-Nite in the Golden Age. Green Lantern still has his […]
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August 1948 was a big month for new Batman characters, also introducing The Riddler in Detective Comics #140. The Riddler would join the Joker, the Penguin, and Catwoman as one of Batman’s most popular and well-recognized villains.
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In Action Comics #125 (August 1948), a gimmicky story about a Nostradamus-like hermit who discovers predictions in a cave turns into a slightly interesting moment where one of Luthor’s henchmen surfaces that idea that Superman’s secret identity might be Clark Kent. Of course Superman convinces them otherwise thanks to his super-speed.
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