Daring Mystery Comics #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeDaring Mystery Comics #1 (January 1940) stands as Timely Comics' second ongoing anthology title after Marvel Comics #1, arriving just months into the Golden Age and immediately expanding what the nascent publisher was willing to try: within 68 pages it packed a costumed superhero with a full origin, a globe-trotting soldier-of-fortune, an illusionist-adventurer, a western gunslinger, a football hero, and a sci-fi mystery strip, collectively mapping the full range of genre experimentation happening at Timely in early 1940. The issue is the first appearance of the Fiery Mask — the first superhero Joe Simon ever created, predating his landmark Captain America by more than a year — as well as the debut of John Steele, a superhuman soldier later retroactively woven by Ed Brubaker into the backbone of Marvel's entire super-soldier mythology as America's 'real first' enhanced warrior. While most of its characters never returned, the issue's two survivors, the Fiery Mask and Monako, proved durable enough to anchor the series through its early run, and the Fiery Mask was eventually resurrected as a principal member of J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston's 2008–2012 miniseries The Twelve. Its cover — Alex Schomburg's very first for Timely — also marks the beginning of one of Golden Age comics' most recognizable visual voices.
In "The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses," Harry Campbell crafts a pulpy, mind-bending mystery that blends wartime wonder with eerie twists, exploring bizarre real-world curiosities like a wood-and-air explosive and a pilot who fell back into his own plane—each clue leading deeper into the unknown. With art and inks by the writer himself, and a striking cover by Alex Schomburg, this 1940 Daring Mystery Comics #1 offers a uniquely unsettling glimpse into the strange science and secrets of its time.
In "The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses," Dr. Jack Castle dives into a chilling mystery as eight men vanish and eerie, reanimated corpses begin appearing—each driven by the sinister will of a mad scientist with world domination on his mind. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, this 1940 tale blends pulp suspense with early superhero intrigue in a gripping, no-holds-barred mystery.
In the tense shadows of wartime Europe, a wounded soldier named Steele finds himself drawn into a dangerous mission when he rescues a nurse from a collapsing building. With the Nazis closing in, he must guide her through a series of perilous encounters, each one bringing them closer to a vital message that could turn the tide—though neither knows what awaits them at the end of the road.
In "The Menace of Mr. Muro," Monako steps in to protect Al, the brother of his ally Josette, after Al develops a dangerous new explosive for the government—just as the sinister Mr. Muro sets his sights on stealing it. With the stakes high and time running short, Monako must outwit a foe whose motives are as ruthless as his methods.
In "The Football Fixing Scheme," Nick Bruno orchestrates a daring kidnapping, taking the girlfriend of Midwestern College’s star football player to manipulate the game’s outcome and sabotage their Rose Bowl bid—putting the entire season in jeopardy.
In the shadowy streets of 1940, Detective Denton spins a dangerous web, posing as a doctor to gain access to crime boss Perrone—his only lead a secret waiting to be uncovered. With a single office and a forged identity, he’s one step closer to the truth, but the line between cover and consequence is thinner than he thought.
"Wartime Wonders" offers a fascinating glimpse into the strange and surprising realities of early WWII aviation, revealing lesser-known facts like how wartime steel was recycled from old battleships, the fleeting lifespan of current aircraft, and the eerie physics of a pilot who fell back into his plane—each detail illustrated with the crisp clarity of a 1940s informational comic.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 20 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Publisher Martin Goodman launched the title nominally under his own editorial credit, but the first five issues of Daring Mystery Comics were assembled almost entirely from material purchased wholesale from two prominent comics packagers: Funnies, Inc. and the Harry 'A' Chesler studio, both of which supplied ready-made stories to publishers entering the fledgling medium. Joe Simon contributed the Fiery Mask specifically at the request of Lloyd Jacquet of Funnies, Inc., who had been asked by Goodman to deliver a flaming superhero in the mold of the already-successful Human Torch; this made the Fiery Mask Simon's very first comic-book character. The John Steele story was produced by Larry Antonette writing under the pseudonym Dean Carr, a pen name confirmed decades later through Antonette's own personal records; the 'Monako, Prince of Magic' feature was also an Antonette creation, meaning a single packager artist supplied two of the issue's key strips. Goodman would not appoint Timely's first true in-house editor — Joe Simon himself, in a different capacity — until the series reached issue #6.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Fiery Mask (Dr. Jack Castle), created by Joe Simon for the Funnies, Inc. packager at Goodman's request; the character was Simon's very first superhero, created before his landmark Captain America.
- First appearance of Monako, Prince of Magic, a stage-magician-turned-adventurer created by Larry Antonette (under the pseudonym Dean Carr); Monako was one of only two characters from this issue to receive a follow-up appearance at Timely.
- First appearance of John Steele, Soldier of Fortune — a superhuman WWI/WWII operative created by Larry Antonette (as Dean Carr) — who was later retroactively identified in Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's The Marvels Project (2009) and Secret Avengers (2010) as the inspiration behind Abraham Erskine's super-soldier program, making him Marvel's in-universe 'Weapon Zero' predating Captain America.
- First appearance of Flash Foster (football hero, by Bob Wood), the Texas Kid (western hero, by Ben Thompson), Barney Mullen, and the Phantom of the Underworld — all one-and-done Golden Age appearances whose characters never returned to Timely Publications.
- Cover by Alex Schomburg — his first cover for Timely Comics — depicting a bondage/peril scene that became a signature stylistic convention of Golden Age Schomburg covers throughout the 1940s.
- The issue was assembled entirely from outsourced 'packager' material (Funnies, Inc. and the Chesler studio); publisher Martin Goodman held the nominal editorial credit but had no in-house editorial staff at this point.
- The Fiery Mask's debut story is titled 'The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses,' establishing Dr. Jack Castle as a scientist-investigator who gains superstrength, super-breath, and a glowing face after exposure to a mad scientist's electrical ray — making him an early precursor to the radiation-powered origin formula Marvel would refine for decades.
- The Fiery Mask's first appearance was reprinted in The Twelve #1/2 (2008) and collected in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery Vol. 1 (2008), and the character appeared as a main cast member across J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston's The Twelve (2008–2012) miniseries.
Cast · 9 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Gibi #155 (1940), Gibi #210 (1940), The Complete Jack Kirby #1 (1997), Golden Age of Marvel #2 (1999), Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery #1 (2008), The Twelve #1/2 (2008), Marvel Firsts: WWII Super Heroes #[nn] (2013), Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Simon & Kirby Omnibus #[nn] (2019)
Key issues in Daring Mystery Comics
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.