Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics

by Lou Mougin

 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.

1077 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 10, 2020

About the author

According to Prose-Press Production:
LOU MOUGIN was corrupted into comic book fandom when he was in the hospital as a kid and his mother bought him a copy of MOUSE MUSKETEERS. Later, he grabbed a copy of COLD DEATH, a Doc Savage novel, and was introed to pulp heroes. Since then he's written a lot of articles on comics, interviewed a lot of comics pros, and wrote comic stories for Marvel, Heroic, and Claypool. Lately he's worked for Lucky Comics, Heroic (again), Warrant, AC, Charlton Neo, InDellible, and whoever else will have him. For ProSe, which brought him into the prose field again, he's done the Frankenstein novel MONSTER IN THE MANSIONS and tales of Flare, Liberty Girl, and the League of Champions. He has also done the first Joe the Detective Computer story for Airship 21. To quote Jack Benny: "There will be a short pause while somebody says, 'Who cares?'"

Reviews

[Boyce McClain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cat-Man, The Shield, The Black Terror and The Black Cat? Those names don’t sound familiar?
To most people they aren’t, but to die-hard Golden Age comic book fans they are just a small sampling of superheroes from the Golden Age of comic books

From the beginning to the end of the Golden Age (the late 1930s to the mid-1950s) there was a huge assemblage of lesser known superheroes.

Most were at the height of their popularity during the World War II years.

But many of them survived into the Silver, Bronze and Modern Ages of comic books.

Superheroes like The Green Hornet, The Blue Beetle and several more were either re-introduced in their original form or updated with new origins for modern times.

In author Lou Mougin’s book: Secondary Superheroes Of Golden Age Comics, published by McFarland,& Company, Inc., Publishers, superheroes from the Golden Age of comics are given their rightful recognition.

While it’s true many have not survived to modern times that does not mean they were unimportant.

Times change, comic book readers’ tastes shift and some of the superheroes were best suited for another time.

In the book every comic book publisher that existed during the Golden Age is spotlighted along with its group of superheroes.

Each hero is examined from their origin, their powers and creators along with their individual contributions to the superhero genre of the Golden Age.

To really understand how superheroes came about it’s important to know their history.

This book delves into the little known past of the secondary heroes complemented by art and more.

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." — Proverbs 11:25

[Amie Doughty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive guide to lesser known comics superheroes. Heavy on the plot summary.