Adventure Comics #66
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAdventure Comics #66 (September 1941) is the debut issue of the Shining Knight — Sir Justin of Camelot — marking one of the most inventive character premises of the Golden Age: a sixth-century Knight of the Round Table preserved in suspended animation for fourteen centuries and thawed into World War II-era America, becoming DC's earliest example of a time-displaced medieval hero. The issue established a framework — enchanted Arthurian weapons, a winged horse granted by Merlin, and a fish-out-of-water identity as museum assistant 'Justin Arthur' — that kept the feature running in Adventure Comics all the way through issue #166 in 1951. Within months of this debut, Sir Justin joined the Seven Soldiers of Victory in Leading Comics #1 (Winter 1941), making him a founding member of DC's second superhero team ever, after the Justice Society of America. The Shining Knight's origin also anticipates, by well over a decade, the Silver Age frozen-hero convention later associated with other famous suspended-animation revivals.
In "The Case of the Camera Curse!", Dian finds herself caught in a bizarre accident when her train is mysteriously derailed and pulled toward a strange ball-tank device emitting a comet-ray that siphons gold from the train. As the Sandman investigates, he uncovers a mad scientist harnessing the power of a comet’s tail—using it not only to fuel his device but also to reverse his aging. Paul Norris handles both pencils and inks for the interior art, while Jack Burnley delivers the striking cover. A 10-cent comic from 1941, this issue blends pulp sci-fi with early superhero mystery.
In "The Case of the Camera Curse!" from Adventure Comics #66 (1941), Starman confronts a sinister foe wielding a mysterious camera that traps souls using a forbidden voodoo formula and the power of photo-electric cells—turning every captured image into a weapon of control.
In "The Comet-Ray," Jo finds herself caught in a bizarre accident when her train is pulled off the tracks by a mysterious ball-tank device, its comet-ray siphoning gold from the train with eerie precision. When Sandman steps in to investigate, he uncovers a mad scientist wielding the raw energy of a comet’s tail—power that not only fuels his machine but also renews his youth.
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The Shining Knight feature was written by Henry Lynne Perkins and drawn by Creig Flessel, with the debut issue also carrying the Starman story scripted by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Jack Burnley (with inking credited to Ray Burnley), all produced under executive editor Whitney Ellsworth and edited by Murray Boltinoff. Adventure Comics in 1941 was a genuine anthology powerhouse, hosting Starman, Hourman, Sandman, Manhunter, Steve Carson's Federal Men, and Steve Conrad in a single 64-page issue, reflecting DC's strategy of flooding newsstand anthologies with as many costumed-hero serials as the page count could sustain. The Shining Knight's later run in the series would attract artwork from Frank Frazetta in a handful of stories, though those postdate this debut issue considerably.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and complete origin of the Shining Knight (Sir Justin), created by writer Henry Lynne Perkins and artist Creig Flessel; cover date September 1941.
- Sir Justin's origin: a Knight of the Round Table sent by King Arthur to slay the ogre Blunderbore; he frees Merlin from a tree, receives enchanted golden armor and a magical sword in gratitude, then is buried in a glacier after killing the ogre — preserved in suspended animation for fourteen centuries before being dynamited free off the New England coast by archaeologist Dr. Moresby.
- The Shining Knight serial ran as a backup in Adventure Comics from this issue (#66) continuously through #166 (July 1951), one of the longer Golden Age feature runs in the title.
- Sir Justin became a founding member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory — DC's second superhero team — debuting as a team in Leading Comics #1 (Winter 1941), just months after this issue.
- The issue also features an early Starman (Ted Knight) story, 'The Case of the Camera Curse,' written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Jack Burnley; that story was later reprinted in both Golden Age Starman Archives Vol. 1 and 100-Page Super Spectacular #20.
- Steve Carson — the Federal Men agent featured in this issue — is one of DC's oldest recurring characters, a Siegel & Shuster creation who first appeared in New Comics #2 (January 1936), making his Adventure Comics #66 appearance a late chapter in a five-year serial run.
- The 64-page anthology also includes appearances by Hourman, Sandman (Wesley Dodds, still in his original gas-mask costume), Paul Kirk (Manhunter), and Steve Conrad, illustrating Adventure Comics' role as the primary showcase for DC's entire Golden Age hero roster outside of All-Star Comics.
- The Shining Knight later appeared in the CW live-action series Stargirl (portrayed by Mark Ashworth) and in Justice League Unlimited (voiced by Chris Cox), demonstrating the character's enduring presence in DC adaptations rooted directly in this debut.
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Reprinted in 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-20 (1973), All Star Adventure Comic #94 (1975), Golden Age Starman Archives #1 (2000)
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