Shawn Clay’s GOLDCOMICS.com

Hello, and thanks for stopping by!

One of my passions in this world is collecting old comic books. Ever hear of Archie Comics? Archie Comics Publications began their comic empire with both a different name and a different focus. The name was MLJ – formed by combining the first initials of the founding fathers Morris Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John Goldwater and the focus was Superheroes.

In 1939 MLJ Comics started out in the comics industry with Blue Ribbon Comics featuring a variety of heroes and avengers including Mr. Justice (a variation of DC’s Spectre), Richy The Amazing Boy, and Rang-A-Tang The Wonder Dog. Artists working on the series included Jack Cole (of Plastic Man fame) and Mort Meskin (known for Johnny Quick and Vigilante). On month later MLJ published Top-Notch Comics which would later introduce the world to the Black Hood, Man of Mystery. Early Black Hood stories pitted our hero against a villain aptly named “the Skull”. The 3rd month of comic production, would launch a title that lasted up until current times. Pep Comics got its debut in January 1940, and introduced America’s first superhero sporting the Stars & Stripes. “The Shield” would later have a sidekick named Dusty, and lasted well after MLJ changed its name to Archie publications. February of ’40 would see the introduction of a fourth monthly title with Zip Comics, which lasted until mid 1944 and forty-seven issues. There were 2 other quarterly titles that appeared later; Shield-Wizard Comics in the summer of ’40 and Jackpot Comics in the winter. Lastly, the Hangman (featured in Pep Comics) received his own book entitled Special Comics in the winter of 1941, which name changed to Hangman Comics (7 issues) and later Black Hood Comics for another 11. In September 1941 there was a new story in Zip Comics #18 about a teenage boy named “Wilbur”. 3 months later Archie, Betty, and Jughead would appear in Pep Comics #22 (Email me if you have this or any early MLJ stuff for sale) and forever change the comic book genre. I’m a huge fan of both MLJ books and Archie comics, and have collected them since I was 5. I am now going to have a “COMIC OF THE MONTH” for you to read for your entertainment.

Why did I create this site? Well, I truly believe that MLJ was a pioneer in many aspects, and only 3 of the 219 MLJ titles have ever been officially reprinted. Other major companies such as Marvel and DC have put out reprints, or “Archive Editions” and/or “Famous First Editions” that showcase their golden age books. Also, these books are too expensive for the casual collector to afford and can be extremely difficult to track down. This is a collection of scans by fans, with 90% of the scans being completed by yours truly. Please enjoy the site, and feel free to email me if you have any questions, suggestions or would like to say “hey”! We will not let these great early artists (Irv Novick, Bob Montana, Bob Fujitana, Harry Lucey, Jack Cole, Sam Cooper, Carl Hubbell, Charles Biro, Al Camy, Lin Streeter, Ed Smalle, Joe Blair, Paul Reinman, Harry Sahle and others go forgotten!!!!!

Shawn Clay

FREE public domain Golden Age Comics. All files here have been researched by digitalcomicmuseum.com to make sure they are copyright free and in the public domain. The Golden Age MLJ heores are in public domain but none of the Archie Comics Publications after December 1959 are in public domain, all subsequent versions used by Archie Comics Publications and DC Comics as part of the Impact and Red Circle lines are NOT in public domain. Anyone wanting to check on copyrights can search the US Copyright Office HERE