Retro is a huge market. Bellbottoms came back, record players and vinyl…zombies. While some characters who debuted in the Golden Age of comics have never left the public eye (Captain America, Superman, Batman, others had their copyrights expired and have been auctioned off to the highest bidder. Dynamite entertainment, publisher of Red Sonja, Vampirella, and Army of Darkness have been busy in the past year buying many classic Golden Age characters…characters even OLDER than Batman(1939) and Superman(1938)!
The oldest character in their arsenal would be Zorro, created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 for All-Star Weekly, a weekly pulp magazine with various text stories. Many characters originated in different mediums and later migrated to comic book pages. The Green Hornet was a radio program created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. The property has inspired many other successful endeavors, most recently a 2011 movie starring Seth Rogen. Dynamite has taken full advantage of the hero with a solo series written by industry pillar Mark Waid and illustrated by Ronilson Freire. Green Hornet also teamed up with The Shadow for Michael Uslan and Keith Burns’ mini-series The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Nights. The Shadow also debuted on a radio show, this time in 1930 in the Detective Story Hour. The following year he appeared in pulp stores by Walter B. Gibson. DC Comics held the license for a time in the 70s. Dark Horse Comics released some stories a few years ago before Dynamite acquired the rights. The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow, a six issue mini-series by Howard Chaykin, debuts in May.
The Spider was created as a pulp character by Harry Steeger in 1933 for Popular Productions. Similar to Batman, he was a millionaire playboy who enjoyed fighting crime. Moonstone Books published The Spider: Judgment Knight in 2009. He is now owned by Dynamite. Also very similar to Batman is The Black Bat, who debuted the same year as Batman, 1939. Norman Daniels created the character for Thrilling Publications. The Black Bat is a blind district (who inspired Marvel’s Daredevil, perhaps?). His story inspired DC’s Two Face and Doctor Mid-Nite(a blind superhero). Dynamite is completeing their 9 issue Black Bat series this month with Brian Buccellato and Ronan Cliquet. June Tarpe Mills was a rare sight in the Golden Age; she was one of the few female creators. She created Black Fury (now known as Miss Fury) in 1941, a strong empowered female superhero. Mills won an Eisner decades later for her contribution to comics. You can see Miss Fury now in her solo series by Rob Williams and Fritz Casas. Writer Chris Roberson brought together Zorrow, The Shadow, Green Hornet, The Spider, The Black Bat and Miss Fury in his mini series Masks, illustrated by Dennis Calero with covers by the masterful Alex Ross.
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| Masks(Dynamite Comics) Staring(clockwise) The Spider, Green Hornet, Kato, Miss Fury, The Secret, Zorro and The Black Bat |
Many classic characters appeared in comic strips syndicated for national newspapers. Flash Gordon originated in his own strip, by Alex Raymond, in 1934. Since then he has appeared in various TV shows, cartoons, movies and has been handled by most of the major players in comics (Dell, Harvey, Gold Key, Charlton, Dark Horse, Marvel AND DC). Lee Falk created two internationally popular characters in his newspaper strips. He created Mandrake the Magician in 1934 who went on to be published by Dell Comics, Marvel and Moonstone Books. His creation of The Phantom in 1936 is what really took the world by storm. Much like Disney comics, the character has spawned his own tales exclusive to other countries. Egmont publishes Phantom comics in Nordic countires and Frew Publications boosts his legacy in Australia and New Zealand. Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician are currently teaming up in Dynamite’s Kings Watch by Jeff Parker and Mark Laming.
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| Kings Watch (Dynamite) With The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and Flash Gordon |
Dynamite is now focusing on Western Publishing characters. Turok the caveman was created in 1954 by a collaboration of Rex Maxon, Matthew H. Murphy, Gaylord Du Bois and Paul S. Newman. The dinosaur hunter went to Dell and Gold Key before they joined the Valiant Universe in the 90s. Dynamite’s Turok: Dinosaur Hunter premiered last month by Greg Pak and Mirko Colak. Magnus the Robot Fighter from 4000 A.D. premiered in 1963 for Gold Key Comics by Russ Manning. Like Turok, he gave Valiant an expanded universe. Magnus: Robot Fighter by Fred Van Lente and Cory Smith premiers this month. Doctor Solar is a product of the atomic age. Created by Paul S. Newman and Matt Murphy for Gold Key Comics in 1962, he followed the other futuristic and prehistoric counterparts to Valient, Dark Horse and finally Dynamite. Solar: Man of the Atom is by Frank Barbiere and Joe Bennet.
Dynamite also holds the licenses of Edgar Rice Borroughs’ characters, Tarzan(1912) and John Carter of Mars(1911), as well as Man of Bronze Doc Savage, created in 1933 by Lester Dent, Henry Ralston and John Nanovic for pulp publisher Street & Smith. And the legacy lives on!
