Blue Ribbon Comics #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeBlue Ribbon Comics #2 (December 1939) marks the moment MLJ Magazines — the company that would one day become Archie Comics — made its first leap into superhero publishing, debuting Bob Phantom, the very first costumed superhero the company ever published. That pivot, just one issue into MLJ's existence, set the template for a superhero universe that would eventually include the Shield, the Fox, Mr. Justice, and the Mighty Crusaders. The issue also captures a singular snapshot of the Golden Age's creative ecosystem: it brought together a roster of contributors from the Harry 'A' Chesler shop who would go on to define the medium, including a pre-Plastic Man Jack Cole and a pre-Daredevil Charles Biro. As the direct precursor to one of North America's longest-surviving comics publishers, this issue is a founding document of the Archie/MLJ superhero lineage.
In "The Vandemeer Arson Case," a 1939 Blue Ribbon Comics gem, a desperate man’s choices spiral into danger when his romantic hopes clash with greed and deception. Written by Ken Fitch and illustrated by Clem Gretter, the story follows Barnes as he turns to treachery in pursuit of fortune, only to find redemption in the face of peril. The cover by Edd Ashe captures the tension of a tale where loyalty and consequence collide.
In "The Platinum Asteroid," Jo Barnes, a man of modest means, seeks the hand of Gloria Carter, only to be rejected—her father more enthralled by a rumored platinum meteorite than his daughter’s future. Sent to claim the asteroid with Dan Hastings, Barnes secretly enlists the help of Jan Crissman to sabotage Hastings, but when the betrayal unfolds, Barnes must confront his own choices. As danger mounts in the void, redemption comes not in grand gestures, but in quiet courage, when Barnes risks everything to save Hastings and the mission.
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Blue Ribbon Comics #2 was produced in the fall of 1939 — its on-sale date recorded as October 20, 1939, with a December cover date — by the Harry 'A' Chesler commercial shop on behalf of the newly formed MLJ Magazines Inc., whose three partners, Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater, had only just launched the company that same year. Silberkleit is recorded as editor on the first Statement of Ownership (October 1, 1939), with Abner J. Sundell also believed to have held editorial oversight in this period, given his concurrent role on Silberkleit's pulp publications. The 'Blue Ribbon' name itself was carried over directly from Silberkleit and Coyne's prior pulp imprint, Blue Ribbon Magazines, making it a brand bridge from the pulp era into the new comic book medium.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Bob Phantom (secret identity: Walt Whitney, gossip columnist and theater critic), MLJ's very first costumed superhero, created by writer/editor Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick.
- Bob Phantom's debut story is titled 'The Scourge of the Underworld'; his supporting cast introduced in this issue includes Butch Brady, Dan Danning, and the Purple Gang as villains (all first appearances per GCD).
- Cover features Rang-A-Tang the Wonder Dog, the series' lead star from issue #1, with interior art on the Rang-A-Tang story attributed to Edd Ashe (script by Norman Danberg).
- Jack Cole — working out of the Harry 'A' Chesler shop and not yet famous as Plastic Man's creator — contributed the humor strip 'Knight Off' and part one of the two-part adventure 'Devils of the Deep.'
- Charles Biro illustrated the 'Scoop Cody' story ('Enter: The Marvel') and 'Corporal Collins, Infantryman'; Bob Wood also contributed a one-page strip.
- The issue also continues the science-fiction serial 'Dan Hastings' (art by Clem Gretter) and a 'Buck Stacey' western chapter, reflecting the anthology's pulp-adventure roots alongside its new superhero content.
- The entire issue was produced through the Chesler shop packager arrangement — standard for fledgling publishers of 1939 — with MLJ soon afterward hiring Chesler's best contributors (including Biro and Cole) directly.
- The issue's Bob Phantom story was later reprinted in Gwandanaland Comics #2006 ('The Golden Age Firsts of MLJ Comics: Volume 1,' June 2018), making it accessible to modern readers and researchers.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Gwandanaland Comics #2006 (2018), Un Faux Livre #2 (2018)
Key issues in Blue Ribbon Comics
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