Blane Whitney

Few characters can claim roots stretching all the way back to the very first issue of a Golden Age anthology, but Blane Whitney made that entrance in Top Notch Comics #1 in 1939, courtesy of creator Harry Shorten. A product of comics' earliest, most adventurous era, Whitney went on to share pages with some of Archie's most storied figures — The Wizard, The Shield, Joe Higgins, and Roy the Super-Boy among them — appearing across beloved titles like Shield-Wizard Comics and Pep Comics in some of the genre's most collectible real estate. With 44 catalog appearances spanning an remarkable arc from 1939 all the way to 2020 and two key issues to his name, Blane Whitney is a genuine Golden Age survivor, the kind of character who rewards the curious collector willing to dig into the rich, patriotic pageantry of early Archie Comics.