Overstreet’s Golden Age Quarterly, July-August 1994

MEET MLJ: Heroes Who Died Laughing

By Steve Carey

In today's collector's market the MLJ line of comics could be classified as the "Rodney Dangerfield" books of the golden age- they just don't get much respect. Oddly enough, the MLJ titles like Blue Ribbon, Pep, Top Notch, and Zip do not appear very often on dealers' lists. Apparently there are collectors out there hoarding and cherishing these gems, and after perusing this article some insight into why this is will hopefully be imparted.

Although not many copies are sold now, when they came out they sold pretty well- so a fair amount should still exist, but the majority stay put in the collections they reside in. According to Richard O'Brien in his excellent book The Golden Age of Comics, combined sales figures for the four aforementioned MLJ titles were over 925,000 per month in 1940-1941. That's about half of what DC's big four (Action, Adventure, Detective, and More Fun) reported, but average sales of nearly a quarter-million copies per month for your best titles is quite impressive. It's all the more noteworthy when one thinks of the competition MLJ faced from the plethora of publishers five decades ago. With no Superman, Captain Marvel, or Captain America to spearhead sales, they still found eager buyers when they appeared on the newsstands.

Yet not everyone reveres, or even cares much about MLJ. Hubert Crawford's 400+ page Encyclopedia of Comic Books doesn't even discuss MLJ. Mention MLJ today and most who recognize the name will conjure up visions of Archie's high school hi-jinx. But that's not fair to the Black Hood or the Hangman or Mr. Justice or the Shield, the heroes who starred in the four monthly titles. Without the solid sales base on these, Archie couldn't have caught on the way he did, taking over and even renaming the company, and leading the switch from heroes to humor in the MLJ anthologies.

No one would argue that MLJ set the standard for golden age comic book art. Not being blessed by a supreme talent like a Sheldon Moldoff or a Lou Fine, MLJ nonetheless contributed a stable of talent that churned out thrilling adventures month after month. Interior art, if not spectacular, was certainly colorful and exciting. MLJ cover artwork is rarely praised, but a look at Gerber's Photo Journal shows a stream of pleasantly surprising exteriors, fully equal to the competition's superhero stuff. For example, Zip #9 (Nov 1940) with Charles Biro's work on Steel Sterling and Pep #9 (Nov 1940) with Irv Novick drawing the Shield in action are two classic covers that epitomize the golden age.

Irving Novick was probably MLJ's best artist. A fine draftsman, his art, most notably on the Shield in Pep Comics, was clean and attractive. Novick contributed his talent, as needed, to many other MLJ characters. His cover output was also impressive. Unfortunately, when Jack Kirby's sweeping style became the rage, Novick succumbed to the pressure to imitate it, and the results are less satisfying than his earlier work. Still, I consider Novick to be one of the top artists of the era.

Charles Biro was also one of the prime movers behind MLJ. Later renowned as the father of the crime comic, with Crime Does Not Pay for Lev Gleason, Biro went on to become one of the great golden age writers, if only a pretty good artist. His work has a certain raw appeal, and Biro was at his best on strongman Steel Sterling in Zip and Sgt. Boyle in Pep. One of my all-time favorite golden age cover runs is Biro's work on the early issues of Zip.

MLJ also had the honor of having Jack (Plastic Man) Cole for a brief time, chiefly on the first five Comet stories in Pep Comics. Other capable artists like Sam Cooper, Bob King, Lin Streeter, Carl Hubbell, Al Camerata, Bob Wood; and Mort Meskin helped fill in the background with various "knock-off" characters of the sort that most companies offered for filler.

The Hangman began in Pep #17 (Jul 1941), the same issue in which his brother, the Comet, was murdered. This "true" death of a hero (rare in comic books) served as motivation for the Hangman to track down and mete out justice to evildoers. Many other superheroes had their own trademark, but I doubt that any captured the attention of the underworld with a more grim and fearful fascination than the Hangman's gallows. In addition to his Pep appearances, the Hangman also managed an eight-issue run of his own title, and these last are very difficult to locate today.

The Shield debuted in Pep #1 (Jan 1940) and was the first patriotic superhero, beating out Captain America by over a year. FBI agent Joe Higgins' special costume was the source of his strength; not only was it bulletproof, but it also allowed his body to absorb a secret chemical formula. The Shield later distinguished himself when he actually lost his powers in Pep #29 (Jul 1942). It was an interesting twist to see how the mere mortal Shield battled the bad guys without any fantastic powers. As stated earlier, Novick's art admirably rendered the character in a style that was pure 1940s. Dusty, the Shield's boy sidekick, debuted in Pep #11. The Shield proved popular enough to have half his own magazine, sharing with the Wizard from Top Notch, the aptly named Shield-Wizard Comics. He also appeared in all nine issues of MLJ's All Star-like entry (featuring the main characters from the four monthlies), jackpot Comics.

Mr. Justice first appeared in Blue Ribbon #9 (Feb 1941), and he has been most correctly described as a clone of DC's Spectre. A ethereal spirit hailing from medieval times, Mr. Justice also could fly and seemed possessed of almost limitless magic powers. He was fond of battling the Devil and zombie merchants, amongst other weird adversaries.

The Black Hood first saw duty in Top Notch #9 (Oct 1940), and, at a glance, seemed rather ordinary. A cop who was framed by an arch criminal (the Skull), the Black Hood had plenty of incentive to fight evil incognito. His costume consisted of a black facemask and a yellow jump suit, and his stories were fast-paced and well crafted. The Black Hood was tough, and he really took the abuse. It wasn't uncommon for him to be K-O'ed in a fight against impossible odds, shot, and dumped into the ocean and left for dead- all in a single story. He was well enough received so that he was given what had been the Hangman's title, which changed to Black Hood with #9. He appeared in the jackpot issues, and finally ended his career in the later issues of Pep Comics.

Super-strong Steel Sterling began in Zip #1 (Feb 1940), drawn by the irrepressible Charles Biro. I enjoy some of those early panels- a close-up shot of a woman's face in the sway of intense emotion, or a double-panel of a crook being punched through a wall by the muscular Sterling. The stories and the art both made action and brute force their trademark. Although he wasn't quite popular enough to warrant his own title, Steel Sterling did show up in all the jackpot issues.

Another MLJ star, one without any superpowers or even a set of "long underwear" (the standard costumed hero outfit), was Sgt. Boyle. A British Sergeant who wreaked havoc upon the Nazis, Boyle was a Biro creation, and added to the force and action was a more humorous edge. Boyle's adventures were raucous and loaded with laughs. The good Sergeant wasn't beyond donning a blond wig and a red dress to infiltrate German lines, and getting a "Hi, cube!" from the myopic Nazi sentries. Of course the guards were rewarded for their interest by having their jaws broken by the big Brit. Boyle's "first string" status was confirmed by his place on the jackpot team.

MLJ, like Timely and Centaur, had their share of bizarre heroes. A fascination with flame led to Mr. Satan- a wealthy playboy type who made things hot for hoodlums in Zip, the firefly (a scientist who specialized in insects) in Top Notch, and the Fireball- a fireman who was exposed to strange chemicals while battling an arson-set blaze and received the power of control over fire in Pep. Branching out from this vein, Inferno, the flame breather, put a different spin on high temperature powers. Starting out as a crook who could blast open a bank vault with his hot breath, Inferno made the switch to good guy in Zip #11, after Steel Sterling saved his life. Inferno then enjoyed a short run as a hero in Blue Ribbon Comics.

However, not everything MLJ did turned out to be compelling. Rang-A-Tang was a dog adventure strip that was a lead feature in Blue Ribbon. The publisher apparently hoped that the pooch would be popular enough to merit a fan club, which they ran ads for. The Wizard was another fellow that MLJ initially placed a lot of faith in. The "super brain" Wizard turned out to be a poor man's Masked Marvel (one of Centaur's better superheroes), and he lost his lead status after only 8 issues of Top Notch. His team-up with the Shield in Shield-Wizard lasted 13 issues, but a look at the covers of these books reveals the Shield as the dominant half of the duo. This is not to say the Rang-A-Tang or Wizard stories were never interesting, but, in general, the strips have not aged very well.

MLJ carved a niche into golden age history, and maybe the Shield or the Black Hood could have been a long-term contender if that redheaded teenager hadn't come along and changed the company's course. I almost hope that collectors continue to bypass MLJ while shopping for gold at comic cons, and to skip over the MLJ offerings that make infrequent appearances on mail-order dealers' lists. After all, I'm having a hard enough time locating these elusive beauties, and I don't really need any more competition.