Action Comics #4 (August 1938) brought the most unusual Superman story thus far. It seems clear that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were still experimenting with this character at this time. In it, Superman tries to capture a hit & run drunk driver, but in the process the driver has a heart attack as his […]
Read More »
Centaur Publications included a new strip in Funny Pages #21 (vol. 2 #10) July 1938 called The Arrow (no, not the TV show and nothing to do with DC’s Green Arrow, still three years away). The Arrow was a superhero that relied on archery as a gimmick and had a costume and a secret identity. […]
Read More »
The Golden Age of Comic Books begins in May 1938 with the single most important comic book ever published: Action Comics #1 and the debut of the first full-fledged superhero: Superman. Crime fighter for justice. Crazy costume. Super powers. Secret identity. A supporting cast of two Daily Star employees: his un-named editor and his romantic […]
Read More »
The witty repartee between Bart and Sally continue in Spy from Detective Comics #14 (March 1938).
Read More »
Sally Norris is mostly definitely not a damsel-in-distress and is continuing to prove her worth as Bart Regan’s partner / sidekick in “Spy”, by Detective Comics #9 (October 1937). She bails out her boyfriend with tear gas from her purse (!) and rescues everyone.
Read More »
The name of the villain in Doctor Occult‘s adventure from More Fun Comics #24 (August 1937) was Henri Duval. This is the second time I’ve seen Jerry Siegel re-use a name of one of his characters (Jor-L being the first).
Read More »
Superheroes die all the time these days and are resurrected in various forms months or years later, so it’s kind of meaningless. However, back in May 1937 it wasn’t so common, so I’m sure this cliffhanger where Doctor Occult is declared dead was upsetting to fans of Leger and Reuths’ “More Fun” strip.
Read More »
By 1937, Siegel & Shuster had five comic strips going in National Allied Publications / DC Comics. “Spy” debuted in Detective Comics #1, but the dynamic between Bart Regan (newly minted spy for Uncle Sam) and his ex-fiance Sally Norris started taking shape in the second issue, March 1937. Sally became Bart’s reluctant sidekick / […]
Read More »
In February 1937, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the owner of National Allied Publications, put out its third comic book title, Detective Comics. The book was published by “Detective Comics Inc” due to a partnership Wheeler-Nicholson entered into to get out of some debt. Detective Comics was notable for having much longer stories than was normal for the […]
Read More »
The Federal Men start the new year (January 1937) by taking a bite out of drugs, or something like that. Steve Carson takes on a “dope” ring and is captured and threatened with becoming an addict. Of course he escapes and arrests the ring leader. New Adventure Comics #13 also features a 12-page story “Foe […]
Read More »