The Best of 1940-1944

[Jim Kelly]

I'm going by cover dates but you're right.

Like I say, I'm not trying to be picky, but in this instance timing is everything. If Fawcett had got the jump on All-American (now DC), the history of comics would be completely different. Then Fawcett would have FLASH COMICS and Captain Thunder. You've got to wonder how this would have affected the DC characters and even Marvel Comics decades later. It's also funny that "flash" of all words was so hot back in '39/'40 that two different companies wanted to plant their flag on that name. I'm guessing that the word had a different meaning for people back then.

It's really weird timing with the thunderbolt on the red shirt for Cap and Flash, Johnny Thunder being introduced in FLASH, Johnny commanding a magic Thunderbolt and everything else. It's one of those moments in comics history where a lot was going on all at once.

[Rikdad]

Obviously, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all made it big.

In my opinion, the best of the rest were the Spectre (more like the Twilight Zone or something out of Edgar Allen Poe than a superhero comic) and the original Green Lantern, which was pretty noir at first, before it got campy.

I did a writeup on my impressions of this era here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2009/07/g...ge-review.html

[Air Wave]

Like I say, I'm not trying to be picky, but in this instance timing is everything. If Fawcett had got the jump on All-American (now DC), the history of comics would be completely different. Then Fawcett would have FLASH COMICS and Captain Thunder. You've got to wonder how this would have affected the DC characters and even Marvel Comics decades later. It's also funny that "flash" of all words was so hot back in '39/'40 that two different companies wanted to plant their flag on that name. I'm guessing that the word had a different meaning for people back then.

It's really weird timing with the thunderbolt on the red shirt for Cap and Flash, Johnny Thunder being introduced in FLASH, Johnny commanding a magic Thunderbolt and everything else. It's one of those moments in comics history where a lot was going on all at once.

It's crazy to me that we even know when anything hit the stands.

And "flash" is a way better word than "whiz" lol.

[Air Wave]

I did a writeup on my impressions of this era here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2009/07/g...ge-review.html

This was great.

[Jim Kelly]

It's crazy to me that we even know when anything hit the stands.

And "flash" is a way better word than "whiz" lol.

Gotta hand it to all the people who have researched these little factoids.

If you go to Mike's Amazing World of Comics, there's a little magnifying glass icon next to the on sale date, which if you hover over it brings up a box that shows where he got his info for those dates. For FLASH COMICS, he got the newsstand date from house ads in DC titles--the copyright date, November 20, comes from the Library of Congress filing date. So a lot of deep research on his part.

No definite on sale date for WHIZ so I guess this is harder to track down. Fawcett did create an ash can issue of FLASH COMICS No. 1 (January 1940), followed by an ashcan of THRILL COMICS, which is the next title they were going to use before publishing WHIZ COMICS. And you can see reproductions of those ashcan covers and pages in SHAZAM! ARCHIVES Vol. 1.

[Starter Set]

And "flash" is a way better word than "whiz" lol.

No question there.

[Rikdad]

This was great.

Thanks! That was a character-by-character analysis. I took more of an overview on the whole era, and more, here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2015/02/h...1935-1985.html

and the JSA's origin issue, which has some interesting backstory to it, here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2014/09/r...-comics-3.html

[Air Wave]

Thanks! That was a character-by-character analysis. I took more of an overview on the whole era, and more, here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2015/02/h...1935-1985.html

and the JSA's origin issue, which has some interesting backstory to it, here:

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2014/09/r...-comics-3.html

I'm fairly fascinated by the history of Aquaman and Green Arrow during the Golden & Silver Ages, but I guess this is the wrong thread for that.

[Air Wave]

Comic Cavalcade #1 from 1942

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[Air Wave]

Action Comics #50 from 1942

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[Air Wave]

All-American Comics #50 from 1943

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[Air Wave]

Sensation Comics #25 from 1944

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[Air Wave]

Wonder Woman #10 from 1944

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[Air Wave]

All-Flash #1 from 1941

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[Air Wave]

Green Lantern #7 from 1943

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