The Hangman

The Hangman was one of the grimmer heroes of the early 1940s, published by MLJ — the company that would later reinvent itself around a wholesome teenager named Archie. Debuting in this period, the Hangman took up his identity after tragedy: in his origin he becomes a relentless, vengeance-driven crimefighter following the death of his heroic brother. His noose-and-gallows motif and darker tone set him apart from cheerier costumed fare, part of a strain of Golden Age heroes who leaned into menace and grim justice. The character was a notable seller in his day before the superhero boom cooled and MLJ pivoted decisively toward humor and teen comedy. The Golden Age Hangman stories entered the public domain, and the character has since been revisited in various revivals of MLJ's early heroes, who have been periodically dusted off and reintroduced to new readers. He appears in this gallery as a reminder that even the publisher we now associate with sunny small-town comedy began, like everyone else, by chasing Superman — fielding a dark avenger in a cape when that was what the newsstand demanded.