THE COMPANION by Paul Castiglia The Complete History & Rik Offenberger of Archie Comics’ Super-Heroes! FROM THE GOLDEN AGE… THROUGH THE SILVER AGE… INTO THE 1980s… UP TO THE PRESENT DAY! Foreword of Contents Table by Paul Castiglia ..........................................................................................................7 Introduction by Rik Offenberger .....................................................................................................9 The Mighty Heroes of MLJ ...................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: MLJ Heroes in the 1930s and ’40s Publisher Profile: MLJ Comics ............................................................................. 12 All The Way With MLJ! The Saga of the Super-Heroes who Paved the Way for Archie ........................ 15 Interview with Irv Novick .................................................................................... 00 The Black Hood Hits the Airwaves ...................................................................... 00 A Brief History of Canada’s Golden Age Archie Comics ............................... 00 Chapter 2: Mighty Comics in the 1950s and 1960s Those Mighty, Mighty Crusaders: The Rise And Fall— And Rise And Fall And Rise—of Archie’s 1960s Super-Hero Group ........... 00 High-Camp Superheroes Invade Your Local Book Store! ............................... 00 The Mighty Comics Super-Heroes Board Game ............................................... 00 The Shadow’s Forgotten Chapter .......................................................................... 00 Chapter 3: The ’70s Red Circle Comics Group Sorcery Supreme! The Shortlived but Glorious Red Circle ............................ 00 Gray Morrow Interview ........................................................................................ 00 Chapter 4: Red Circle in the 1980s The Red Circle Years ................................................................................................ 00 Rich Buckler Interview ......................................................................................... 00 Cary Burkett Interview ......................................................................................... 00 Dick Ayers Interview ............................................................................................. 00 Bill DuBay Interview ............................................................................................. 00 Stan Timmons Interview ..................................................................................... 00 Fox in Archie’s Henhouse: Toth’s Edgy Take on the MLJ Hero .................... 00 Alex Toth at Archie: a Brief History .................................................................... 00 Chapter 5: The Ill-Fated Spectrum Comics Line The Ill-Fated Spectrum Line ................................................................................... 00 Kelly Jones Interview ............................................................................................. 00 Mark Ellis Interview .............................................................................................. 00 Jim Valentino Interview ........................................................................................ 00 Steve Englehart charts the Fly’s course .............................................................. 00 Chapter 4: !mpact Comics in the 1990s !mpact Comics: An essay ........................................................................................ 00 !mpact Comics Character Stats ............................................................................. 00 Brian Augustyn Interview .................................................................................... 00 Jimmy Palmiotti Interview ................................................................................... 00 Michael Uslan Interview ...................................................................................... 00 Sidebar: The Mighty Crusaders Make a Digital Comeback (of sorts) ......... 00 Chapter 5: Archie revivals and DC integration in the 2000s The Mighty Crusaders Meet Archie & Friends! ................................................ 00 Paul Castiglia Interview ........................................................................................ 00 MLJ at DC again (2009-2010) .............................................................................. 00 Rachel Gluckstern Interview ............................................................................... 00 Marco Rudy Interview .......................................................................................... 00 John Rozum Interview .......................................................................................... 00 Eric Trautmann Interview .................................................................................... 00 Brandon Jerwa Interview ...................................................................................... 00 Tom Derenick Interview ...................................................................................... 00 Chapter 6 “Dark Circle” and MLJ Today Alex Segura Interview ........................................................................................... 00 Collecting MLJ: An Interview with Jeffrey C. Vaughn ................................... 00 Chapter 7 The Characters Spotlight on The Shield My Brother the Shield or Two, Two Shields in One ......................................... 00 Spotlight on The Fly A Capsule History Of The Fly—And His Awesome Offspring ..................... 00 The Fly Wings His Way To France.. And Becomes A Mosquito! .................. 00 Fly on the Wall by Joe Simon ................................................................................. 00 The MLJ Comics Super-Hero Index (1939-1948) ............................................ 00 A Skeleton Key To The Golden Age Of What Became Archie Comic Publications, Inc. by Michelle Nolan .............. 00 The MLJ Comics Super-Hero Index (1949-present) ........................................ 00 Sidebar: Cameo and guest appearances of the MLJ heroes in Archie comics .......................................................................... 00 Additional Resources ............................................................................................... 00 THE JAGUAR: Zoologist Ralph Hardy, friend to all animals, picks up a mysterious jaguar belt left by the ancients and transforms into The Jaguar -- complete with super- heightened animal powers! THE SHIELD: Chemist Joe Higgins devoted his life to fighting evil after the murder of his father by the diabolical Eraser. Donning a patriotic costume, this G-Man has become an extraordinary hero! THE COMET: An experimental substance gives young scientist John Dickering powers beyond belief—including the power of flight! He soon decides to use his newfound powers in the fight for justice! THE FLY: Attorney Tommy Troy, using the powers of the magic ring given to him by Turan, emissary of the extraterrestrial Fly People, transforms into the Fly. He possesses the strength of 100 men, has the ability to see in all directions and is endowed with super quick insect reflexes—making him a super guardian of justice! 10 THE MLJ COMPANION Chapter MLJ Heroes in the 1One 1930s and 1940s Archie Comics put out a whole slew of super-hero characters beginning in their very first comic publication,Blue Ribbon Comics #1, way back in November 1939. Other super-hero titles they published during the 1940s included Zip Comics, Jackpot Comics, Hangman Comics, Shield-Wizard Comics, and even Pep Comics—which before Archie came along in issue #22, was home to the first-ever patriotic super-hero, The Shield. Publisher Profile: MLJ Comics by Rik Offenberger left that company and it was owned solely by Silberkleit and Coyne. [Editor’s Note: The following original- MLJ Comics Index Columbia was one of the last pulp ly appeared in slightly different form in BLACK HOOD COMICS companies, putting out its last pulp Borderline #19 (Mar. 1, 2003).] Winter 1943-44 to Summer 1946 in the late ’50s (only Pines’ Ranch #9–#19 Romance ran longer). Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John Goldwater formed MLJ BLUE RIBBON COMICS JOHN L. GOLDWATER Magazines and started publishing in (BLUE RIBBON MYSTERY (Feb. 14, 1906–Feb.26, 1999) November 1939. The company name COMICS 9-18) John Goldwater grew up as an was derived from the initials of the November 1939 to March 1942 orphan in Harlem, New York. As partners’ first names. #1–#22 a teenager, he traveled the country HANGMAN COMICS working odd jobs. Eventually return- MAURICE COYNE Spring 1942 to Fall 1943 ing to New York, he began working (Sept. 15, 1901–May 1971) #2–#8 loading magazines at the docks, Maurice Coyne had worked with before starting at Independent News. Louis Silberkleit in several publishing JACKPOT COMICS Goldwater served as editor-in-chief ventures, starting with employment Spring 1941 to Spring 1943 and co-publisher for MLJ. He was from Hugo Gernsback. Maurice #1—#9 focused primarily on the editorial end Coyne and Louis Silberkleit were PEP COMICS of the business. Goldwater was one of partners in Columbia Publishing. the founders of the Comics Magazine January 1940 to March 1987 Maurice Coyne also served as MLJ’s Association of America, and served as #1—#65 bookkeeper and chief financial officer. its president for 25 years. The CMAA SHIELD-WIZARD COMICS is best known to comics fans for its LOUIS HORACE SILBERKLEIT Summer 1940 to