Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics

When Superman debuted in 1938, he ushered in a string of imitators—Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Captain America. But what about the many less well-known heroes who lined up to fight crooks, super villains or Hitler—like the Shield, the Black Terror, Crimebuster, Cat-Man, Dynamic Man, the Blue Beetle, the Black Cat and even Frankenstein?
These and other four-color fighters crowded the newsstands from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. Most have since been overlooked, and not necessarily because they were victims of poor publication. This book gives the other superheroes of the Golden Age of comics their due.

The late Lou Mougin was a comics writer, historian, and interviewer with credits at Marvel, Heroic, Claypool, Warrant, Lucky, Charlton Arrow, and others. He lived in Abilene, Texas.

Lou Mougin

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 446
Bibliographic Info: 141 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7513-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3860-7
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction    1
1. Centaur Comics    5
2. Fox Comics    23
3. Harvey Comics    55
4. MLJ Comics    89
5. Nedor Comics    143
6. Lev Gleason Comics    179
7. Novelty Comics    236
8. Hillman Comics    260
9. Prize Comics    273
10. Street and Smith    292
11. Columbia Comics    309
12. Holyoke Comics    319
13. Ace Comics    342
14. Chesler Comics    356
15. Everybody Else    377
Bibliography    421
Index    423

• “Highly recommended…massive and thorough…a major book…[Mougin has] done a superlative job…worth the price of admission”—Bud’s Art Books

• “Mougin does a lot more than tantalize us…overwhelming wealth of information…one highly informative volume…[Mougin’s] writing style is always accessible and concise but sometimes laced with affectionate humor…highly recommended…definitely a major book…a superlative job”—ComicBookHistorians.com

• “An incredibly absorbing book… If you have an interest in comic books, then you really do need to read this book”—SF Crowsnest

• “[Mougin] speaks in his introduction of waiting for a book like this to come along. A more definitive history of some of these long-forgotten characters. When such a book refused to show up, Lou wrote it himself. And I’m glad he did.”—First Comics News

• “Anyone who ever enjoyed one of Lou’s Hero Histories back in the glory days of Amazing Heroes would certainly never question that and that love shines through on every text-heavy page of Lou’s new book… His writing is informed and informative… A fount of trivia, Mougin constantly offers up fascinating little asides… Comic fans of my generation, who just had to find out every little detail of what came before the Silver Age of Comics, will cherish Lou Mougin’s Secondary Heroes of Golden Age Comics.”—Forces of Geek