Undercover Archie

PEP COMICS #1

(On Newsstands in November 1939)

More than a year before Captain America would come along, MLJ’s The Shield would explode onto the scene in Pep Comics #1

Created by Irv Novick and Harry Shorten, the Shield helped make Pep Comics an early success.

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Irv Novick)

Man, talk about summing things up and explaining it all before the first regular panel!

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Irv Novick)

No worries…he’s only stunned…. no deaths yet!

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Irv Novick)

The American introduction of Speed Lines? Irv Novick gets creative with the SHIELD!

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Irv Novick)

MLJ wasn’t kidding around with Superheroes: Also making his debut in Pep Comics #1 is The Comet, created by Jack Cole. The Comet, despite what the opening blurb says, can fly, and (one of my favorite superhero powers) shoot beams from his eyes!

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Cole)

An early example of Jack Cole’s creative use of the panel space...

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Cole)

Unlike the SHIELD, the COMET kills his bad guys! But that's not the only death going on in this issue...

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Cole)

Charles Biro’s Sgt. Boyle...

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Charles Biro)

Queen of Diamonds ‘The Rocket Lands’...

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Lin Streeter)

We only hear about it in the Fu Chang story ‘Duel with the Dragon’...

(from Pep Comics #1 - November 1939, artwork by Lin Streeter)

That’s a lot of murder in issue #1!

TOP-NOTCH COMICS #2

(On Newsstands in November 1939)

Whoa! Was this the first comic book with a Swastika on the cover?

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Edd Ashe)

Near the end of the Wizard story (taking on the Sybernians, who are preparing to attack us from north of Alaska), there’s an early first full page splash as a part of the story… HEY! That's a good idea... maybe it'll catch on...

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Edd Ashe)

Yep. Here’s Irv Novick doing it in the same issue… from an Air Patrol story...

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Irv Novick)

Gotta love those thick accents that are written as they sound… from Swift of the Secret Service!

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Charles Biro?)

In case you missed it from issue #1, Scott Rand and his group of time travelers includes the first appearance of ’Thor’ in comics… luckily for Thor that taxi missed him!

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Binder)

Talk about catching on... here's a full page story splash now from Jack Binder!

And I'll tell you what... this might be the coolest of them all!

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Binder)

Jack Cole’s ‘California Kidnap Murder Mystery’ (True Story it claims) was pretty harsh for it’s time...this is why comic book artists often didn't talk about their profession to people outside of comics!

(from Top Notch Comics #2 - November 1939, artwork by Jack Cole)