Golden Age Manhunter (Paul Kirk) <orig. from DC Comics> Appreciation 2021

[MajorHoy]

The first costumed Manhunter from DC originally appeared in Adventure Comics #73 (April 1942).
But prior to that, DC had a feature called "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" that began in Adventure Comics #58 (January 1941).

That feature ran through issue #72 (March 1942).

The following issue (Adventure Comics #73, cover-dated April 1942) saw the introduction of a costumed character named "Manhunter":

but for some reason, he was referred to as "Rick Nelson" for this episode.
When the feature returned for issue #74, the character was now named "Paul Kirk", but there did not seem to be any connection to the previous "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" feature that had previously ran in that title.
Also, when DC later reprinted the Manhunter story from Adventure Comics #73 years later in The New Gods #4 (August-September 1971) they changed the name from "Rick Nelson" to "Paul Kirk".


In Detective Comics #437 (October-November 1973), Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson would begin their series featuring Paul Kirk revived in the "present day" (of 1973).

[Babylon23]

I loved this story when I first encountered it as a reprint in New Gods.

Did Simon and Kirby produce any pre-costume Paul Kirk Manhunter stories or was issue 73 their first?

[MajorHoy]

I loved this story when I first encountered it as a reprint in New Gods.

Did Simon and Kirby produce any pre-costume Paul Kirk Manhunter stories or was issue 73 their first?

It looks like a guy named "Ed Moore" is credited for the "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" stories; no indication that Simon and Kirby were at all involved.
And don't forget, Simon & Kirby's first Manhunter story didn't even name the character "Paul Kirk" originally. That didn't come up until the second issue where a Simon & Kirby Manhunter story was published.

[MajorHoy]

A few more pages of the Manhunter story that first appeared in Adventure Comics #73 (April 1942)
as reprinted in The New Gods #4 (August-September 1971):



To be concluded . . .