The Black Condor-John Cassone-1942

Quality's BLACK CONDOR strip is largely "What if Clark Kent was secretly a superhero but his only power was flight?" That said, it's often remembered as one of the best-drawn Golden Age strips due to the art of Lou Fine and Reed Crandall. But they weren't the only ones who handled the strip. Here's John Cassone, perhaps best-remembered--if at all--as the artist who created MLJ's distinctively-outfitted super guy, The Web!

Winged Fury-Carmine Infantino/Joe Giella-1952

Carmine Infantino quickly developed his art during the 1950s. By the beginning of the following decade, he was arguably one of the best stylists already and continued to develop throughout the '60s, mainly on THE FLASH and DETECTIVE COMICS. His move up the corporate ladder at DC denied fans his amazing work for years. By the time he picked up a pencil again, his style had evolved PAST its peak. Still interesting but sadly not always actually good.

Buck Duck-Ed Winarski-1951

So here we have "The Gay Ghost," not to be confused with National's long running strip, "The Gay Ghost," which was retitled "The Grim Ghost" during later reprintings but is not to be confused with "The Grim Ghost" published in the 1970s by Atlas. which, itself, was not to be confused with Atlas, the folks who published BUCK DUCK here back when they were more "Timely."

Larry Harmon's Laurel and Hardy-1974

This looks veddy British to me but I believe the source was Indian. That said, it's always a pleasure to  spend a little time with Stan and Ollie--or "Olly" as he's called here--no matter what versions it might be!

Skyman-Ogden Whitney-1940

Skyman's supersuit is one of my favorites of the Golden Age. This is one of his earliest adventures. One of his much later adventures can be found at PIX-C by none other than Steve Ditko and while you're there, check out my wife's MS. MOLECULE strip with art by Sandy Carruthers.

Supedupman-John Severin-1988

Writer George Gladir may have created Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, but he once told me that some of his favorite works were the CRACKED stories illustrated by John Severin. Here's a rather perceptive look at the changes in superheroes through the years.

Chic Carter, Police Reporter-Vernon Henkel-1942

Will Eisner used to say he wished he'd never given The Spirit a mask. Well, if you've ever wondered what a maskless Spirit story might have been like, look no further than this tale of blue-suited, fedora-topped Chic Carter, a near-ringer for Wildwood Cemetery's chief resident, and with Eisneresque art to boot!