421 – Lovely Rita

March 1949 ends another Timely (Marvel) superhero solo book with Captain America #73 (March 1949). With its next issue, it becomes “Captain America’s Weird Tales”, a horror comic, which maybe was fore-shadowed by the truly macabre ads for toys in this issue. Pictured above is Rita, a babygirl doll with long vivacious red hair that […]

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415 – The Beginning and End of the Human Torch

In Marvel Mystery #92 (February 1949), the Human Torch‘s origin story is re-told, with a framing story of his creator, Professor Horton, passing away. This is also the last appearance for years of the original Human Torch. After this issue, Marvel Mystery Comics is renamed to Marvel Tales and becomes a horror / supernatural anthology […]

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414 – Not the Phantom Stranger

In February 1949, Timely (Marvel) debuts Amazing Mysteries comics with issue #32, an odd first issue number. It seems like it picks up numbering from Sub-Mariner, except Sub-Mariner Comics has its final issue (#32) next month. Anyway, in Amazing Mysteries, an anthology of creepy tales, one story features a narrator character named “The Witness” that […]

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370 – Young Romance

In July 1947, Young Romance #1 debuts. Young Romance was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon for Prize Comics and is widely known as the first romance comic, which are distinguishable from teen comics of the day in that these stories are usually devoid of any humor, anthological, and make an attempt to take […]

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361 – Just a Ghost Story

Johnny Peril is finally named in a new “Just A Story” installment in Comic Cavalcade #22 (June 1947), “The Kid by the Side of the Road”. Johnny Peril gets involved with a murder mystery and a kid by the side of the road gives him some tips on where to find the murder weapon inside […]

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346 – Eerie!

In January 1947, Avon Periodicals published Eerie Comics #1, a one-shot horror comic. The comic features anthological horror stories and (as Wikipedia says) is “credited with establishing the horror comics genre” that EC Comics came to dominate. I have to also give credit to “Just a Story” (DC) and “The Spirit” (Quality) as contributing to […]

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340 – Just a Mister Nobody

Howard Purcell continues his “Just a Story” anthology series in Comic Cavalcade #19 (December 1946) but introduces a character called “Mister Nobody” as a kind of framing device. I believe “Mister Nobody” is really the first appearance of Johnny Peril. Johnny Peril and “Just a Story” are precursors to the horror anthology genre in comics.

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313 – Just a Story

In Comic Cavalcade #15 (April 1946), DC introduces a new anthology feature called “Just a Story” written by Howard Purcell. This story features a scientist who creates a time machine, then accidentally travels back to France in the 1400s and becomes trapped there, meets and falls in love with Joan of Arc, and then is […]

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