Hit Comics #11
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHit Comics #11 represents a fine mid-run snapshot of Quality Comics at full editorial stride, assembling a remarkable concentration of Golden Age talent — Lou Fine on the cover, Reed Crandall on Hercules, and the continuing adventures of both the Red Bee and Neon the Unknown — characters that Quality publisher Everett 'Busy' Arnold would eventually sell to DC Comics, where they were folded into the broader DC universe. The issue also marks a documented shift in the Red Bee's interior art, with Witmer Williams taking over the feature from the original Iger-shop hand who had drawn it since the debut, giving the strip a noticeably more polished visual identity. As one of the richest anthology issues of the series in terms of contributor count, it illustrates how Quality routinely outpaced its contemporaries in sheer artistic depth. All of this makes it a genuine time-capsule document of early-Golden Age anthology comics at their most ambitious.
In "The Seaside Saboteurs," Hercules finds himself caught between the spotlight and his need for quiet, as a movie producer casts him in a jungle hero role—only to have the fame prove overwhelming. Written by an unknown hand and illustrated with bold, dynamic flair by Reed Crandall, the story captures the hero’s struggle with fame and the sudden shift from the jungle to the silver screen. The cover, a striking piece by Lou Fine, perfectly frames the tension between spectacle and solitude.
In "Damus the Wizard," a European dictator hiding in South America is exposed by Neon, who uncovers his alliance with the ancient wizard Damus. When the dictator turns on Damus, Neon convinces the sorcerer to break from his dark pact and join the fight against tyranny.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 19 grades ▾
Find on ebay
Read it digitally
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
Hit Comics was conceived and edited by S. M. Iger — co-founder of the influential Eisner & Iger studio — and published by Everett M. 'Busy' Arnold's Quality Comics imprint, which had quickly established itself as the industry's design-conscious alternative to the rougher output of rival shops. Lou Fine, who had joined the Eisner-Iger shop in 1938 and studied at Pratt Institute, served as the series' primary cover artist during its formative years; his work on the title between 1939 and 1943 was considered a benchmark of draftsmanship by fellow professionals. Reed Crandall, who contributed interior Hercules art to issue #11 under the house pseudonym 'Gregg Powers,' was himself a rising talent at Quality who would go on to define the look of that publisher's war and horror output in later years.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published May 1941 by Quality Comics (indicia publisher: Comic Magazines Inc.), cover-dated as part of the series' monthly schedule.
- Cover art by Lou Fine, who served as Quality Comics' premier cover illustrator from 1939 to 1943 and was widely regarded by peers as one of the finest draftsmen working in the medium.
- Interior features include the Red Bee (Rick Raleigh, assistant D.A. of Superior City), with art attributed to Witmer Williams — a documented change from the original Iger-shop artist who had handled the strip through issue #9.
- Neon the Unknown story continues in this issue; the character, created by Jerry Iger and debuted in Hit Comics #1, ran through issue #17 before Quality ceased using him.
- The Hercules story 'The Seaside Saboteurs' is drawn by Reed Crandall under his Quality house pseudonym 'Gregg Powers' — an early example of Crandall's work at the publisher.
- Betty Bates, Lady-at-Law — one of the era's rare female attorney protagonists, who had debuted in Hit Comics #4 — appears in 'Murder in the Machine Factory,' with art by Al Bryant.
- Additional stories feature Klaus Nordling on Bob and Swab, Alex Blum on The Strange Twins (scripted by S. M. Iger), Henry Kiefer on Lion Boy, and George Appel on the Old Witch — a full-ensemble anthology lineup.
- Both the Red Bee and Neon the Unknown were later acquired by DC Comics when Quality ceased operations in 1956; the Red Bee subsequently appeared in DC's All-Star Squadron continuity and the character has been used periodically in DC media since.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Prime Cuts #5 (1987), Divas, Dames & Daredevils #[nn] (2013)
Key issues in Hit Comics
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.