Number 2472: The man with the magnetic personality

I imagine a 1940 Ace Publishing Company editorial conference on the creation of Super-Mystery Comics. Men smoking cigars, jackets off, wearing white shirts and suspenders to hold up their pants are kicking around ideas for superheroes. Someone says “a magnetic guy.” But what would be his origin? How did he get those magnetic powers? Well, who cares? It's a comic book, and they are flooding the market so let's get it out now and worry about the details later.

That is just from my imagination, but what I understand from Toonopedia is that Paul Chadwick, who created and wrote Secret Agent X pulp stories, also wrote the story of Magno, the Magnetic Man. Chadwick used as its basis a story he wrote in 1934 called “The Octopus of Crime,” starring Secret Agent X.

In future issues Magno got a boy named Davey to help him. In this first story Magno is alone, yet up to the task. The artist on the story is unidentified.

From Super-Mystery Comics Volume 1, Number 1 (1940):

Number 2465: Vulcan: Out of the fire and into more fire

The comic book character Vulcan (presumably no relation to Mr Spock from Star Trek) is found in the Public Domain Superheroes website: “A descendant of the Roman God of Fire who shares his name, Vulcan could control all forms of fire, flame, and heat. His powers also included flight, fire projection, super strength, and being virtually bulletproof (bullets always melted before they hit him).”

Vulcan was inside the volcano taking time to study and decide when to make his debut. He popped out of the volcano in costume, speaking English, ready to fight evil. He became active  in time to get to an American city and rescue a man on fire. The man turned out to work for the arson squad. Amazing coincidence, wouldn’t you say? That reminds me, I once thought Amazing Coincidence Comics would have been an apt title for an early comic book.

There are no credits in the Grand Comics Database for whomever did the writing or drawing. It is crude, especially the lettering. Vulcan lasted a little bit longer than some of the early superheroes, but not by much. His stories were in Super-Mystery Comics for 17 issues, and three issues of Four Favorites Comics, then someone put out the fire on this character.

Grand Comics Database leaves us with this tantalizing sentence: “Per information from the NY Superior Court hearing, Ace art director, Fred Gardener, stated that Patrick "Pat" Lamar's studio provided all of the artwork for this issue, as well as script, lettering, and coloring.” What Superior Court hearing, and why? And it is the first and only time I have seen any reference to Patrick Lamar’s studio, which is unknown to me, and another question mark.