The Hood-Alan Mandel-1942

Kind of a nifty-looking super-suit on this fellow. I spent the whole story trying to figure out just how his hood stays on with all that action, though.

Captain Marvel and the Lie Detector-1942

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY IN 2010.

Odds are that unless you were in Canada in 1942 or a subscriber to THE BUYERS GUIDE FOR COMICS FANDOM in 1973, you have never seen this CAPTAIN MARVEL story no matter how big a fan you might be of the Big Red Cheese. In the early seventies, around the time DC brought back SHAZAM, TBG began running some old stories in their entirety that DC would never have printed. These included some with Billy's stereotype "valet" and comic relief, Steamboat, as well as a handful of not bad tales that had been crafted solely for the Canadian market! I used to keep all of my TBG issues (and later CBG issues) in the closet but over the years this became a big and rather ominous firetrap so about twenty years ago I went through them and clipped or ripped out a couple of boxes of fun, informative, nostalgic or important pages. Now, through the modern miracle of scanning, I can pass them on to you! Oddly enough, looking at this story now it reminds me of nothing less than Mick Anglo's original UK MARVELMAN tales, currently being reprinted by Marvel and themselves originally based on...CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Apologies for the few tears and blurs and the illegible panels on page two which were apparently that way in the original printing. Hope you enjoyed it. I have a few more if anyone's interested. Let me know.

The Return of Astro-Howard Sherman-1963

Looks kind of like Ramona Fradon art to me but it's generally accepted to be by Golden Age artist Howard Sherman. This is yet another DC story that seemed to be floated as a type of "pilot" for a regular series.

The Blue Streak-Crash Comics-1940

The Blue Streak was...well...the defender of the people. Says so. A bit of a wordy but kind of fun early superhero tale from unknown hands. In spite of the last panel's plug, this was his final appearance. 

Johnny Rebel-George Tuska-1941

Just when you think you've seen it all as far as goofy sidekicks, you find Johnny Rebel, a southern-fried superteen whose sidekick is--and I'm not making this up, Rufus, the old family retainer. Words fail me. Even in 1941, this seemed like a good idea to someone? GCD says it's probably George Tuska and I think I see it...although he's clearly imitating Lou Fine.

Black Venus-Harvey Kurtzman-1946

Black Venus was a reasonably non-descript superheroine (revived in recent years by AC Comics and others do to her PD status). This installment is of interest for the very early stylized comic book art from Harvey Kurtzman. Kurtzman went on to be unquestionably one of the most influential comics creators of all time but mainly in the humor genre.  

Miss America-Ken Bald/Sid Greene-1944

Timely's MISS AMERICA was more than just a comic book. It was an attempt at coming up with an all-around magazine that appealed to female readers with articles, columns and features on things that would interest girls. IT also featured Miss America comics, as seen here.