Number 1269: “Nuts to you, Super-Brain!”

This posting begins another theme week, specifically costumed heroes of the early days of comics. It was brought to mind by seeing the name of old friend Raymond Miller pop up on Wikipedia. The article quoted Ray on Fiction House comics. Ray and I corresponded for a time in the sixties, when we traded some comics. Ray wrote me then that he considered the comics up to 1943 to be the best comic books. Ray, born in 1931, would have been about eleven or twelve-years-old in 1943, and, as someone once observed when asked the question, “So when was the Golden Age?” shot back the answer, “Twelve.”

There is truth in that, and I'm a good example.

First up in our theme week is Rangers of Freedom #2, a Fiction House comic from 1941. A couple of months ago in Pappy's #1248 I showed you the lead story from issue #1, which told us that a group of young boys were chosen to lead the fight against America's enemies. Now doesn't that sound like a twelve-year-old's fantasy? The Rangers of Freedom didn't last long, only seven issues. The lead feature was dumped and the comic became just Rangers Comics. Yes, the story is silly. Something that isn't silly is the beautiful artwork by Joe Doolin, another fantastic Fiction House artist.

Come back tomorrow for our second entry, a Captain America copycat, Lone Warrior.