Lightning Comics #6

History

Lightning Comics itself was a retitling of Ace Magazines' Sure-Fire Comics, which had been renamed starting with issue #4 to capitalize on the Flash Lightning character's popularity; issue #6 is the final entry in that first volume before the series was rebooted as a new Volume 2. The Flash Lightning strip throughout the volume was drawn by Jim Mooney, who also produced the covers, while the debut Dr. Nemesis story was illustrated by Harry Anderson, a prolific Golden Age journeyman who worked across Fawcett and other publishers. Aaron A. Wyn, Ace's publisher and editor, ran a reader-poll panel in the final page of the Dr. Nemesis story asking whether fans wanted more installments — an early example of direct audience engagement — and the character did continue for roughly eleven more appearances across Ace publications. All story writing credits in the issue are uncredited, as was common Ace practice.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Dr. Nemesis (Dr. James Bradley), a pulp-inflected crime-fighter who disguises himself with a surgical mask and trenchcoat and uses a truth-serum hypodermic as his signature weapon.
• The Dr. Nemesis story is titled 'Rx Doctor Nemesis' and was drawn by Harry Anderson; all writing credits in the issue are uncredited per Ace's standard practice.
• The Flash Lightning feature — depicting Robert Morgan, who received his powers from the Old Man of the Pyramids in Egypt — is drawn by Jim Mooney, who also painted the cover.
• This is the final issue in which the hero is billed as 'Flash Lightning': a New York Supreme Court consent decree arising from an All-American Comics lawsuit required Ace to stop using 'Flash' in their titles after the April 1941 issues; he was renamed 'Lash Lightning' from the next volume onward.
• The issue went on sale February 1, 1941 (cover-dated April 1941) and carries copyright registration number B 492271, as recorded in the U.S. Copyright Office Catalog of Copyright Entries.
• The issue is a 68-page, full-color anthology priced at 10 cents, also featuring recurring Ace strips: The Raven, Hap Hazard, Marvo the Magician, and Whiz Wilson.
• After Ace Magazines closed in the mid-1950s, Dr. Nemesis lapsed into the public domain; Roy Thomas and Dave Hoover revived the character in the 1993 Invaders miniseries (Vol. 2, #1–4) after editor Mark Gruenwald blocked Thomas from using Timely Comics heroes as Nazi sympathists, making the public-domain Nemesis an available substitute.
• Dr. Nemesis was later retconned into Marvel's Earth-616 as a mutant super-scientist and co-creator of the original Human Torch android, most prominently in Uncanny X-Men #512 (2009) by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen, where he joined the X-Club.

Cast · 4 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Lightning Comics

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#6 1st appearance — Dr. Nemesis