The Best of the Decade - 1940 through 1949

[Air Wave]

What are your favorite DC stories of the 1940's?

[Air Wave]

Lex Luthor's first appearance in ACTION COMICS #23. April 1940.

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[Güicho]

Original kick-ass, acrobat, devil-may-care, pulp era Robin. The original and still the best.
Unabashedly Kicking Joker off the side of a building to his potential death! (DC has forever been trying to recapture this exceptional take on Robin, with their endless parade of creepy derivative Robin clones they try and pass off as new and edgy)



Saved only cause Batman intervenes,

[Air Wave]

What would you say is the best non-Superman or Batman stuff to come out of the second half of the decade?

[Jim Kelly]

What would you say is the best non-Superman or Batman stuff to come out of the second half of the decade?

In terms of comics that only appeared in 1946 or thereafter:

REAL FACT COMICS not only published historical information but it also was an early home for science fiction concepts--Tommy Tomorrow started out there. Bob Kanigher and Carmine Infantino's Black Canary took over the Johnny Thunder feature in FLASH COMICS. The seminal title, MORE FUN COMICS, met its untimely demise, with a new feature in its final seven issue--"Jimminy and the Magic Book" by Jack Mendelsohn and Howie Post. Popular radio shows--GANG BUSTERS, A DATE WITH JUDY and MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY--won their own comic books and would have long runs--JUDY 79 issues, ran until 1960, GANG BUSTERS 67 issues, ran until 1958, and MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY, also 67 issues, ran until 1959. Popular stars (with a Western bent) got their own comics, too--although these titles didn't last as long--DALE EVANS COMICS, JIMMY WAKELY and THE ADVENTURES OF ALAN LADD (too bad he never crossed over with Alan Scott). At the same time, Bob Oksner's MISS BEVERLY HILLS OF HOLLYWOOD was the place for star gazing. Romance was one of the new genres--with SECRET HEARTS and GIRLS' LOVE STORIES making their debut. Then there were the Westerns. Bob Kanigher and Alex Toth's Johnny Thunder rode into ALL-AMERICAN COMICS for its 100th issue--little did the super-heroes in that issue realize that Johnny would soon bring in his pards to make over the book as ALL-AMERICAN WESTERN. And there was also WESTERN COMICS starring the Wyoming Kid, as well as Nighthawk. Plus a short-lived romance and Western hybrid, ROMANCE TRAIL. To take advantage of the teen humour trend, there was LEAVE IT TO BINKY, BUZZY and SCRIBBLY. While PETER PORKCHOPS was the first funny animal to break out of the funny animal anthologies to star in his own title.

[Stingo]

What are your favorite DC stories of the 1940's?

All-Star Comics #36, "5 Drowned Men." Turned me into a complete and total fan of Earth-Two and the Justice Society of America.

[Jim Kelly]

Turning to Quality Comics (most of their intellectual properties would eventually be acquired by National Periodical Publications), they suffered during the war because of paper rationing. Without enough paper to publish their full line they had to cut back. In 1941 they had given DOLL MAN and UNCLE SAM their own quarterlies, but these came to an end in 1943. UNCLE SAM's numbering was continued for one issue of BLACKHAWK, but that was the first and last solo issue the airmen got for the duration of the war.

PLASTIC MAN received his own solo title--with one issue on the stands at the end of 1943 and a second at the beginning of 1944, but then nothing after that for the rest of the war era. However, these were published under a different publisher, Vital, which would have got around the paper quota imposed on Quality. Likewise, in 1944, THE SPIRIT got three issues also from Vital, and then nothing for the rest of the war.

After the war was over, the Quality titles made a comeback. In the fall of 1945 (dated 1946) BLACKHAWK and PLASTIC MAN returned in their own solo titles (issues 10 and 3). DOLL MAN and THE SPIRIT returned at the beginning of 1946 (10 and 4 respectively), while KID ETERNITY won a new title. In DOLL MAN there was a "Good Girl" back-up feature by Bill Ward--Torchy. Ward's blonde had already had her own newspaper strip before this. Quality also published a teen humour/Good Girl comic featuring CANDY. Torchy herself would have to wait until the 1950s to get a solo book.