Let's start things off with a look at MLJ and their superheroes of the Golden Age.
MLJ Magazines was the official name of the company, upon its inception, in 1939. The name came from the initials of the founders:
Maurice Coyne,
Louis Silberkleit, and
John Goldwater. Coyne and Silberkleit came together while working for magazine distributor Eastern Distributing Corp. and then went into publishing via their Columbia Publications. They started out with Western pulps, but soon branched into science-fiction and became noted for publishing work by Louis L'Amour, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke.One of Louis Silberkleit's proteges was a man by the name of Martin Goodman, who soon invested with him and formed his own pulp magazine publishing ventures. John Goldwater came from humble New York beginnings, orphaned pretty much at birth and raised by a foster mother. By age 17 he was travelling the country and found work as a sports writer, in Kansas. He continued westward, then went back to New York via boat. He ended up working for Independent News, the magazine distributor owned bu harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, owners of DC Comics. He started his own company, Periodicals-For-Export, Inc, which purchased old pulp magazine issues from Columbia Publications for a penny apiece and resold them overseas, for a nickel. The catalyst that brought these men together as business partners was the success of a new comic book and its title character: Action Comics #1 and Superman.
With the success of Superman, dozens of pulp magazine publishers jumped into the comic book publishing field. Coyne, Silberkleit and Goldwater formed MLJ Magazines and launched their first title, Blue Ribbon Comics. That would soon be followed by Top-Notch, Pep and Zip Comics.
These titles would launch the line of MLJ superheroes, as well as the smash hit humor feature, Archie. These anthology titles, a staple of the Golden Age, would soon be followed by other titles, including Shield-Wizard Comics, Hangman Comics (which started with #2, picking up the numbering of Special Comics #1), Black Hood Comics (which picked up the numbering from Hangman, starting with issue#9), and Jackpot Comics, which featured Steel Sterling, Mr Justice, the Black Hood and soldier Sgt. Boyle.
Blue Ribbon Comics lasted through 22 issues, the last published in 1942. Early on it was a mix of science fiction, westerns and humor strips, with the future world adventurer Doc Strong (a Doc Savage rip-off) as one of the key features. The first cover feature was Rang-Tang Tang, a Rin-Tin-Tin derivative. Superheroes debuted in the second issue, with Bob Phantom, who would be joined by The Fox, Mr Justice and Captain Flag. Bob Phantom only appeared in 2 issues; but, The Fox hung around until the end. Mr Justice debuted in issue 9 and hung on until the end, carrying the cover from issues 9-15. Captain Flagg arrived with issue #16 and shared covers with mr Justice until #22.
Top-Notch Comics launched with the Wizard, who was the lead feature through its 27 issue run. Bob Phantom moved over there in issue #3 and stayed until #25. The Firefly debuted in #8 and stayed to #26 and the Black Hood arrived with issue #9 and stayed to #27. With issue #28, the title became Top-Notch Laugh, with an emphasis on humor, with the lead feature being a Li'l Abner rip-off, called Pokie Oakie. Black Hood remained, but was featured in humorous scenes on the covers, when he appeared on them. With issue #46, Top-Notch Laugh became Laugh Comix, then closed shop after issue #48.
Zip Comics debuted with Steel Sterling as the lead feature and he stayed until the end, in issue #47. The only other hero there was a character called the Scarlet Avenger, who fought gangsters until issue #17, Issue 20 brought the next hero, Black Jack, who stayed until issue #35. The last hero to join the book was the Web, who was there from #27-38.
Pep Comics was the bestselling of all of the MLJ magazines and for good reason. The first issue launched the first patriotic superhero, with the Shield. The Shield quickly became MLJ's top superhero character, though he would soon be outdone by a freckle-faced teenager, one Archie Andrews. Archie debuted with issue #22. Archie followed on the heels of the successful Andy Hardy film series, with Mickey Rooney, as well as several other teen-oriented radio comedies. He quickly stole the spotlight and became the lead feature of Pep, eventually shoving the superheroes and adventure series completely out of the book. In fact, Archie was so successful that around 1943, John Goldwater decided to move their editorial focus squarely into humor. Humor strips increased and adventure and sci-fi decreased, until humor was all that remained. From about 1945/46 onward, MLJ was all Archie and changed its name to Archie Comics.
MLJ was a mid-level player in the Golden Age, until Archie started pushing them to the upper levels of the field. Coyne handled the financial matters at MLJ, while Silberkleit handled printing and distribution, where he had a rep for being a tough negotiator and cutting very favorable deals. He was a licensed pharmacist and also held a law degree, which he used to great effect. Goldwater focused on the editorial end of things and became the power within the company and the frontman in dealing with the rest of the industry. Goldwater was instrumental in the formation of what became known as the Comics Code Authority, even though he was firmly in the realm of humor long before its inception.
MLJ boasted some fine art, by such Golden Age notables as Charles Biro, Jack Cole, Irv Novick, Bob Fujitani, Paul Reinman and Harry Luce, as well as Archie illustrator and co-creator Bob Montana. The key writing force at MLJ, through 1941, was Harry Shorten. Shorten created two of MLJ's top heroes, with The Shield and the Black Hood, as well as lesser figure The Firefly. The other big writing force for MLJ was Charles Biro, who came over from the Harry A Chesler studio (a comic packager, much like Eisner-Iger and Lloyd Jacquet's Funnies, Inc). Biro created and drew Steel Sterling, MLJ's closest analogue to Superman, as well as the military feature, Sgt Boyle, about an American soldier trapped in France, at the outbreak of WW2. Biro would soon move on to Lev Gleason, where he had a long tenure as writer, artist and editor, producing things like Crimebuster and the original Daredevil, as well as the hugely successful and infamous Crime Does Not Pay, the magazine most credited with launching the anti-comics crusade that led John Goldwater to form the Comics Code.
That's the basic history, now let's look at the key heroes, started with the biggies:
The ShieldThe Shield is Joe Higgins, an FBI agent and the son of Tom Higgins, who invents a serum that bestows superpowers on an individual. The serum is named SHIELD, an acronym standing for Sacrum Heart Innervation Eyes Lungs Derma, the key points where the formula enhances. Tom Higgins is killed by saboteurs and son Joe devotes his life to studying chemistry to perfect his father's formula. He succeeds and ingests the formula through his skin, then dons a suit of metallic fibers, making him nearly impervious to harm. From there, he brings to justice the man behind his father's death and joins the FBI. As you can see, a good many of the elements within the Shield would find their way into Captain America #1. John Goldwater noticed it and called Martin Goodman to his office, along with at least Joe Simon, if not both Simon & Kirby. Goodman knew and respected Silberkleit and Goldwater and likely feared them, as he knew of Silberkleit's legal acumen. Goodman made a compromise which eliminated Cap's triangular "templar" shield and replaced it with the iconic "buckler" shield.
The Shield operates with a kid sidekick, Dusty, the Boy Detective, who also predated Bucky. Dusty wears a suit similar to the Shield but has none of his powers. He would be a back-up feature, along with the Wizard's partner Roy the Super Boy, for several years.
Black HoodPolice patrolman Kip Burland is caught up in a crime spree by the evil Skull, who brutalizes him and leaves him for dead, after framing him for a jewel theft. Burland is found by The Hermit, a mysterious figure who nurses him back to health and trains him to become the Black Hood and bring the Skull to justice.
The Black Hood was one of the most popular and long-lived of the MLJ heroes and the only one to garner attention outside of comics. In a twist on the usual formula, he soon became the star of his own pulp magazine, with Black Hood detective, but only for 3 appearances.
He was also to be the subject of a Republic movie serial, starring Tom Tyler (Adv. of Captain Marvel and The Phantom, at Columbia) and Bela Lugosi, as the villain, Daggerface. 7 chapters were filmed; but, the finished reels were used as a counter-weight in the filming of a scene with deadly acid and the footage was destroyed. Lugosi was so distraught that the footage was lost that he was unable to continue. Tyler was also not happy with playing another character in tights and the project was shelved (most likely due to the cost of the lost footage, rather than the actors). That wouldn't be the end for the Black Hood, though, as he was soon the star of a radio series.
It debuted on July 7, 1943, on the Mutual Broadcasting System, and lasted until the following January, presenting 5 15-minute episodes weekly, but running without a sponsor. When it still had failed to attract advertising, it shut down. Scott Douglas voiced Kip Burland, while Marjorie Cramer was girlfriend Barbara Sutton. Because radio standards were stricter, the more violent pulp stories of the comics, with plenty of murder, bondage and torture, were greatly toned down. It was these elements that had made the Black Hood a popular feature within the comics, as the strip was filled with violent action.
Steel Sterling
John "Steel" Sterling was a man on a mission to stamp out crime. To this end, he developed a solution that would lead to near invulnerability. However, for it to work, the user had to coat himself with the chemical, then immerse himself into molten steel, which was mixed with the chemical. John does exactly this and somehow survives the process, emerging with skin as hard as steel, super strength and the ability to generate a magnetic field by rubbing his hand through his hair, allowing him to practically fly. He dons a circus strongman suit and stats his war on crime. Steel is so tough he even gets away with wearing ballet slippers!
That is pretty much the MLJ triumvirate; not quite as earthshattering as The Trinity or the Marvel Family; but, not too shabby.
The next tier of MLJ is taken up by these folks:
The WizardThe Wizard is Blaine Whitney, latest generation to an old American dynasty which has helped protect the country since its inception. Blaine has tremendous mental abilities, both in the form of ESP/telekinesis and in IQ, creating super-scientific gadgets. He dons a red domino mask and a blue tuxedo and goes off to fight crime and foreign saboteurs, before trading in his evening duds for some tights and a kid sidekick, Roy the Super Boy. The Wizard follows along such types as Mandrake the Magician and Zatara, though he wasn't a stage magician. The look is very much of those characters and Mandrake's powers were mental in nature, crafting illusions to trick his enemies (though early stories had more actual powers). The Wizard was popular enough to appear in all issues of Top-Notch (before the title switch) as well as share the spotlight with the Shield. However, he was never really revived in later eras of the MLJ heroes. He was one of the characters who was turned into a villain, during the Mighty Comics revival, along with the Hangman.
The CometThe Comet was the brainchild of Jack Cole, who drew his early adventures. He was John Dickering, a scientist experimenting with gases. he discovers one that, when injected (which would make it a liquid; but, that's comic science for you) gave him super powers, including flight and disintegrator eyebeams, which require a special visor to control (sound familiar?). He uses his abilities to fight crime, until his death, in issue #17 of pep Comics, where his brother, the Hangman takes over.
The HangmanThe Hangman is Robert Dickering, whose brother is killed by gangsters, while trying to protect Bob. He then swears to carry on his mission, using an executioner's garb as a costume, and a light that projects the image of a gallows. The Hangman was pretty grisly stuff; but, was a rather unique feature in being the first hero to be inspired by the death of another hero, The Comet, who became the first superhero to die (and the first to get better). Harry Lucey did many of his stories,as did Bob Fujitani.
The FoxThe Fox is Paul Patten, a photographer who created a costume identity to be on the scene of the crime firsthand. Hmm, that sounds familiar......... He appeared in Blue Ribbon Comics and had a stylish costume, which would bear similarities to the later features of Wildcat and Miss Fury, though he predates those characters by a year (Miss Fury) or two (Wildcat). He was seen in the Mighty Comics revival and got a few issues of Blue Ribbon Comics, in the Red Circle revival. He has been one of the central features of the Dark Circle revival, thanks to work by Dan Haspiel, Mark Waid and JM DeMatteis.
The WebThe Web is criminologist John Raymond, whose brother is a crook. He dons a costume and brings his brother to justice, then continues his war on crime. The Web came late to the game for MLJ, in Zip Comics #27, which means he didn't get much time before MLJ shifted focus to humor. However, he made a big enough impact to join in on the Mighty Comics revival (as a hen-pecked husband and superhero) and the Red Circle line. He would go on to be replaced in the Impact line by a team of superspy/special agents, known as THE WEB (wasn't fond of that one, myself). He had one of the more distinctive costumes at MLJ, borrowing the split color scheme of Daredevil, though in yellow and green. He added a boss web cape to the ensemble, which made for a great silhouette, long before a certain web-slinger.
Mr JusticeMr Justice had much in common with the Spectre. He is the ghost of the murdered Prince James of England, who wanders the globe, punishing the wicked. As you can imagine, he isn't nice about how he does it. Mr Justice had a brief after-life, with a couple of appearances during the Mighty Comics revival (as part of the Terrific Three, with Jaguar and Steel Sterling; and would be ignored until the Red Circle revival, in the second issue of Blue Ribbon Comics, which was to be his only appearance. He was slated to return as part of the more adult and darker Spectrum line, which was squashed before it was ever released, consigning Mr Justice to the comic book grave.
The third tier of heroes features the following:
Bob Phantom, Firefly, Black Jack and Captain Flag
You can see them on the left side of the double page spread. Captain Flag is at the top, with the red and white striped cape, Firefly is below his leg, in the red and blue costume (with the energy powers). Bob Phantom is the guy in green, just below Capt. Flag's arm, and Black Jack is the guy in the red and black costume, holding a gun. They were pretty minor figures at MLJ. mostly in back-up strips, though Captain Flag did share the cover of Blue Ribbon Comics, before its end (with Mr Justice). Captain Flag is a wastrel of a playboy, who becomes a hero after his father's murder, when he is saved by an eagle, who nurses him back to health (somehow). Um, yeah.....
Bob Phantom is Walter Whitney, who can become intangible. That's about it, though the Vision did alright with that, later. Firefly is Harley Hudson, a chemist who develops a formula that gives him insect-like abilities, including bioluminescence. Not bad, not spectacular. Black Jack is Jack Jones, a detective, who is captured by crooks and left for dead. he dons the Black Jack disguise and launches a war on crime, using card motif. It was a more unique idea, but didn't last very long, come in at the end of adventure stories in top-Notch.
So, those are the heroes and the beginning. Next, we will look at Archie's first attempt at return to superheroes, with a little help from Simon & Kirby.