The Mouthpiece-Fred Guardineer-1942

 There were a lot of comic book crimefighters in the 1940's who wore blue suits, fedoras and little blue masks. The most memorable ones were, of course, Will Eisner's SPIRIT and Jack Cole's MIDNIGHT. Here we have THE MOUTHPIECE by Fred Guardineer. Interestingly enough, note the last page where you find a plug for MIDNIGHT!

Captain America-Syd Shores-1948

 Timely Comics had a habit of sticking CAPTAIN AMERICA stories in just about every title they had shy of GAY COMICS. This one's from the first issue of the 1948 revival of ALL WINNERS COMICS. GCD says it's by Syd Shores and it may well be but the style seems different to me from his later Cap tales. Very nice art, though.

Vinny the Vet-Mort Walker Studio-1962

 VINNY THE VET was a backup strip in Dell's BEETLE BAILEY comic book. It's a mildly amusing look at a character who, based on his appearance (courtesy of anonymous artists at Mort Walker's studio) and his designation as a vet could well be considered Beetle after he gets out of the army...if that ever happens.

Ghoulash-Bill Savage-1954

 Here's a very EC-like black-humored horror tale with a twist ending (which one can spot a mile away) by one Bill Savage. the absolute only thing I can fid out about Bill Savage is that he drew comic books in the fifties. I could have guessed that part.

Superman-Tim from 1947

We lose color today in order to present an extremely rare Superman story! The first time I ever heard of SUPERMAN-TIM was in Overstreet's Price Guide in the mid-seventies. For the whole story on this little known series, go here.

As "Robby Reed" put it on DIAL B FOR BLOG, "Reading them is like finding a whole ’nother Man of Steel in a parallel universe. In these stories, Tim uses the “Whirlaway Watch,” a device he invented with Superman to travel into the past and explore different cultures and civilizations firsthand. Not even Jimmy Olsen's famous signal watch could do that!"

Thor, God of Thunder-Pierce Rice-1940

 Minimalist cartooning taken to the extremes--giant panels, virtually no backgrounds, all with a pre-war version of the Thunder God that really isn't all that different than the one that would be popular decades later.