The Second Hawkman Story

So continuing our look at the second storys featuring noteworthy characters who would last the test of time, here is the second outing from the Winged Wonder, Hawkman. In the early days of FLASH COMICS, it was clear that the staff weren't quite sure which feature was going to click with readers, and so they … Continue reading The Second Hawkman Story

The Second Flash Story

So we begin this feature with my favorite comic book super hero, the Scarlet Speedster known as the Flash. Introduced in FLASH COMICS #1 in late 1939, by the second issue Jay Garrick had been relegated to a small cameo image on the left side, the primary cover area given over to the almost-as-popular Hawkman. … Continue reading The Second Flash Story

The Last Black Canary Story

Just like her fellow heroes the Flash and the Hawkman (though not the Atom, as we've previously discovered), Black Canary also had her final solo outing of the Golden Age in the pages of FLASH COMICS #104. She'd continue to appear regularly in ALL-STAR COMICS as a member of the Justice Society of America for … Continue reading The Last Black Canary Story

The Actual Last Atom Story

After we ran our piece on the Last Atom Story last week: https://tombrevoort.com/2024/11/03/the-last-atom-story/ A reader identifying himself as Zoomy wrote in to the comments to let me know that there'd actually been one additional Atom story published a week later, snuck into the back pages of an issue of SENSATION COMICS, #86. So I figured … Continue reading The Actual Last Atom Story

The Last Atom Story

Continuing to pick the bones of this final issue of FLASH COMICS, the long-running series that had introduced the Flash, Hawkman and Johnny Thunder to the world, this time we're looking at the final published adventure of the Mighty Mite, the Atom. Like his fellow Justice Society members, the Atom's last published solo adventure of … Continue reading The Last Atom Story

The Last Flash Story

As with Hawkman, the Flash's final golden age appearance was in ALL-STAR COMICS #57 in 1950 as part of the Justice Society of America. But we're talking about the Scarlet Speedster's solo exploits here. And by that metric, Jay Garrick's final run in his winged helmet took place in the final issue of FLASH COMICS, … Continue reading The Last Flash Story

The Last Hawkman Story

Well, not quite. For the members of the Justice Society of America, most of them made their final appearance of the Golden Age of Comics in the last JSA adventure, published in ALL-STAR COMICS #57 in December of 1950. But before that, many of the heroes' home anthology series came to an end, and with … Continue reading The Last Hawkman Story

Lost Crossovers: FLASH COMICS #77

While Golden Age publishers in general were relatively averse to having the stars of their assorted strips meet and team up on any sort of regular basis, the folks at DC/National Comics were a little bit more open to the idea of an occasional appearance or reference. Especially when it came to the features and … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: FLASH COMICS #77

Introducing “Comics” McCormick

The closest contender to Supersnipe for self-reflective comic book series of the Golden Age of Comics was the "Comics" McCormick feature, which ran for about half-a-dozen issues of TERRIFIC COMICS ("Loaded with Action!") beginning in 1944. "Comics" McCormick was the brainchild of Ed Wheelan, a former newspaper strip artist who had originated the Minute Movies … Continue reading Introducing “Comics” McCormick

The Last Human Torch Story

Here's the answer to a weird bit of Golden Age trivia: which two long-running super heroes debuted in 1939, had their last solo story in 1949, and featured the character's origin in both that first and last issue of their anthology titles? The answer is the Flash and the Human Torch. (Somebody will point to … Continue reading The Last Human Torch Story