A Historical Overview of Comics: MLJ & Charlton

For those history buffs who want a good heaping helping of some heroic hot-stuff of the Archie Comics variety, we have a treat for you! You will find over at E-Dispatches from the Great White North as comprehensive an analysis on the "A Historical Overview of the MLJ Magazines/Archie Comic Publications Superhero Lines" as you'll find anywhere!

Consider, if you would, just a few factoids gleaned from this comprehensive essay on MLJ:

• "While a great deal has been written over the years about Archie Andrews and his pals the same cannot be said about Archie Comic Publications' superheroes. Few people seem to know that not only Archie Comic get its start-under a different name mind you-in 1939-as a publisher of superhero comics but that it was one of the more innovative comics publishers in the industry...chances are that appeared around the same time as Martin Goodman's "Marvel Comics" #1. "Blue Ribbon Comics" #1 hit the stands late in the summer of 1939. Cover-dated November 1939."
• "Debuting in December, 1939, "Top-Notch Comics" (called "Top-Notch Laugh" from no. 28 on) appeared until cover-date June, 1944, with the last issue being numbered 45. During its run Top-Notch introduced a number of now-classic MLJ heroes including "The Wizard", "The Firefly", "The Black Hood" and "Roy, the Super Boy" (the second costumed boy hero after DC/National's Robin). Top-Notch also featured the work of a number of talented artists Bob Montana, Mort Meskin, Jack Cole and Bob Novick."
• " Cover-dated January 1940 "Pep Comics", MLJ Magazines' third anthology, was the company's most successful and innovative anthology. Not only did Pep run for a total of 411 issues (the final one cover-dated March, 1987) but it was also where comics' first patriotic hero debuted, where the first comics hero died in the line of duty and where the comics character that the publisher eventually renamed itself after first appeared."

You owe yourself this treat to dive into the ups and downs of the publisher known for teen comics who, in fact, gave inspiration for some of their more profitable competitor's own creations. Which we'll begin dissecting in more detail on coming Mondays. As for a companion piece for Charlton Comics history, there are bits and pieces you can find throughout the internet, but perhaps the most comprehensive piece can be found at Comic Book Artist wherein the creative talents that be made the best of a pretty bad situation financially, a diamond in the rough.

Some quotations from this thorough article for your enlightenment and (hopeful) enjoyment:

• "Charlton Publishing Empire's humble beginnings stretch back to the 1930s, when an Italian immigrant named John Santangelo began selling unauthorized printed song lyric sheets in Central Connecticut"
• "In 1956, Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel briefly packaged titles for Charlton, bearing the eclectic names Mr. Muscles, Zaza the Mystic, and Nature Boy. Ditko's impressive work appears in Tales of the Mysterious Traveler, based on a Shadow-like radio show."

And later, the legendary (in these parts) Peter Cannon...Thunderbolt, appeared in Derby, whose origin is reprinted in this article for your entertainment. Good stuff.

Friday Fiends: Bad Dudes...Bad Breath!

Last week we considered a a couple of hot customers. Well, turns out we have another pair a bit hot under the collar, More specifically, hot under the larynx. Inferno and Mister Blaze. Let's introduce both side-by-side.

Inferno was a circus fire breather who seemed to emit from his mouth heat at will. He was lured into crime named Frank Verrano. This brought him into conflict with the man of steel, Steel Sterling.

Another circus performer, known only as Mr. Blaze also turned to a life of crime when his own act proved a dismal failure. And  he met Mr. Smith!

Now in prison, Inferno revealed a softer side despite his gruff demeanor, as he learned a new inmate may have cause the fare Dora Cummings to unnecessary danger. He soon learn that this prisoner is his old enemy, disguised as a fellow captive to ferret out a rumored prison break. Steel begins to realize that Mr. Verrano may have more in common with him than he knows. What will Inferno's future have in store for him?

Now coating himself and his special suit in Chris Smith's compound, Mr. Blaze is about to reveal his trump card, as he had discovered a  hidden race of underground lava men (all the rage in the hip 60's) ready to yield to his will when he displays an invincibility to fire. Still there is one obstacle... ex-diplomat now masked man... Peacemaker.

After Sterling's testimony, Inferno embarks on a heroic career getting one of those neat uniforms. From his initial appearances in Zip Comics 10-13... he then had his own series in Blue Ribbon Comics  13-19.

After drawing Peacemaker back to his hidden lair, Blaze does what all psychotic would-be world conquerors would do as reveals his scheme...to steal his rival's jet as a heat  missile of sort, and topple Washington D.C. 

Coming out of retirement, Inferno joined two other heated heroes, Firefly and  Fireball in Mighty Crusaders #4 in order to join the team. Sent to combat the threat Hangman (himself a former applicant of this team...turned evil on a reverse career path from Inferno). Later on, Inferno fights alongside with former foe and ally Steel, although neither seem to have much to say after all these years. And our hero leaves after his request to join...along with that of the others...is rejected by the Crusaders until later on.

Of course, Smith doesn't take the news of his invention being used as a weapon of war well, and pursues Blaze in his backup aircraft. Fortunately, he knows the flaws of his device well and this proves to be the undoing of Mr. Blaze, who disappears after ejecting. There is a hint that he would return...and had Peacemaker's series continued past issue #5, which was Blaze's debut, our turban tormentor may well have as he had potential. Oh...and the lava men slithered back into the hole they crawled out of. They got burned.


Both Inferno and Mr. Blaze started out in the same career, then followed up as felons. Would Blaze have also eventually repented and become a force for good? Doubtful but who know? Or cares? Meanwhile, Inferno makes one more silver age appearance...and it appears he may have turned back to the dark side! We'll leave that for a future Battling Blondes.

Friday Fiends: Fire Fiend & Fiery Friend

We break a pattern this week, as this post should be retitled "Friday Fiend & Friend" as only one of our candidates is a villain who only appeared twice yet is unique enough to consider among the hordes of other hot and cold criminals. The other is a golden age hero who's initial run was short and rarely appeared since, yet started out as a novel idea. Let's start the latter.

Fireball first appeared as Ted Tyler, fearless firefighter, who as often happened in comics both in the golden and then silver ages was exposed to "those" funky experimental chemicals that always seemed to be lying around. Thankfully his buddies are there to bring their unconscious comrade from the flammable structure...or would he have survived considering what was about to occur within his mutating body? Only his unknown creator knew for sure.

Ted then makes miraculously quick recovery (considering the page count of those 1940's comics) and immediately resolves to use his heat absorption and projection powers to fight fire bugs...and decided to track down the cause of his transformation before others are  then transformed as well into superhuman human torches. After all, who needs the competition in the long-underwear set? He still needed to nail the right color scheme, however.

Tracking down "the Bug" (as in firebug), Fireball shows how invincible his powers make him...bullets melt on impact...heat is his to command...his stamina is tremendous and his legs allow him to leap vast distances! And the Bug gets while the getting is good...we're unsure exactly where he landed but we are sure it wasn't pretty. As for Fireball, he continued his career as a one-man firefighting force, preventing fires from getting out of hand and burning bad guys who were their cause.This lasted about a year or so.

After 11 issues in the back pages of Pep, Fireball's fleeting fame burnt out. He next appeared in the 1960's as a potential member of the Mighty Crusaders, in fact he was the first applicant in issue #4. After an outing alongside fellow flaming fellows Firefly and Inferno then working alongside "too many heroes", he returns to retirement until Archie's Weird Mysteries #3 when he's finally accepted as a Crusader himself. Along with two dozen others!

August 1967's Captain Atom #87, a new adversary of our Atomic Ace appeared with an interesting set of abilities, the ability to project scourching heat from his right hand, and biting cold from his left hand...via his projectors attached to his specialized armor. Atom in his alias of Captain Adam, while swimming in the sea, came upon this baddie and his henchmen. And while the hired help aren't exactly pulling their wait, F-I is ready for this new challenge.

After cornering Atom into a trap which his henchmen sent thanks to their freezing cannon, Fiery-Icer mistakenly believes this is the end of the good Captain...sealed in a icey tomb underneath several tons of ocean. Ah if only he knew what was in store...a battle royale with our hero. Apparently Icer's objective is to disable a new missle tracking station which might have interfered with his "purposes" although what those were is unknown. Was he a foreign agent or simply a criminal opportunist?

It seems like Icer comes equipped for any opposition, including a nuclear powered sentinel, and uses a one-two combo of heat and cold to stun Atom. Note that Icer doesn't simply rely on his gadget, using his brawn as well as brains to pin down the Atomic Avenger!  The chips seems down until Cap finds the reserves necessary to deck his truly tempermental temperature foe. Knocking out Icer, Atom frees the ever annoying Abby Ladd from his clutches.  Sigh, oh well.

After years in the lockup, Fiery-Icer learns to folly of tying his career to a bunch of green clad goons and instead ties his future to a bunch of...green-red-and-yellow clad goons i.e. Blue Beetle's foes the Madmen as well as the Manipulator and another foe of Captain Atom, Iron Arm. Despite sheer numbers on their side, Icer's sinister Squad is no match for the fully assembled Sentinels of Justice. Still he manages to squirm away from Nightshade, to be seen nevermore.

The Gang's All Here - Micro-Heroes Style!

Our new header pic shows some of the members of the Charlton/Mighty stable of characters. Some we have touched on (such as the Blue Beetles, Firefly, Fly, Shield, Judomaster, Thunderbolt and Web, and of course the Steels, Sarge and Sterling). Others such as Peacemaker and Comet, and Nightshade and Darkling,...and more oldies, we will visit with later. Enjoy!

What Bugs These Golden Agers? Bad PR?

While the world clamours for a wall-crawling wise cracker derived from a spider bite, insect heroes are nothing knew. Consider our two entries for today, the Blue Beetle (aka Dan Garrett) and the Firefly (aka Harley Hudson). Two red-haired scientists favouring similar color schemes in their clothes, two men who harnessed the power of insects to grant them wonderful strength, agility, and bio-illuminesence. And they made their marks in the golden and silver age (sort of).

Whereas Blue Beetle of the mid-60's added a "T" to his civilian identity and a scarab to his heroic alias, he seemed to be on the surface the same man who pounded a beat as a officer hyped up by Vitamin K pills from the local pharmacy. Except now, he could fly and zap other bugs (poor Preying Mantis never had a chance, either time they clashed). Firefly may not have dug into ancient Egyptian mythology to gain his powers as did the Beetle, but he apparently dug into the right research material to obtain the means to replicate the physically prowess of his namesake. And later, of its brightness to stun foes.

Alas, Firefly lasted only 20 issues in Top Notch and a sole appearence in Mighty Crusaders #4 (attempting to join said group). Blue Beetle didn't do much better in the silver age with only about 10 appearences (11 if you count his death and intoduction of a successor).

Of course they both were brought back in the 80s. One as a coral clone from Atlantis, the other as a resurrected Beetle (who was in some perpetual cycle-thingy where he was continually recycled from police officer to archeologist to secret agent) and later an android replica. Swan songs for trend setters without whom, perhaps we wouldn't have a movie franchise about the trials and tribulations of a common house hold pest.

Oh, and apparently dragons can't stand them.

Nope, not one bit.