Cover: Irv Novick

Pep Comics #16

Jun 1941 · Archie · 0.10 USD

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About this Issue

Pep Comics #16 (June 1941) is the first interior appearance and origin story of Madam Satan, one of the Golden Age's most unusual supernatural characters — a dead villainess resurrected by Satan himself to seduce and destroy mortal men. That debut replaced the final chapter of the six-year 'Lee Sampson, Midshipman' serial, marking a deliberate editorial pivot at MLJ from straightforward adventure strips toward darker, pulp-horror territory. Decades later, the character received a high-profile television revival on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, giving this obscure 1941 issue a renewed cultural afterlife. The issue also represents a snapshot of MLJ's anthology format at its most varied, assembling a roster of talent — Irv Novick, Lin Streeter, Charles Biro, Harry Lucey — that rarely appeared together in a single book.

Contains 9 stories

The Vulture and the Robot Plane

13 pp · Superhero

The Shield [Joe Higgins]Dusty [Dusty Simmons]The Vulture (villain)

The Menace of Playland

7 pp · Fantasy

DannyKupkakethe Mermaid QueenPeg Leg (villain, introduction)Patch (villain, introduction)

The Skyscraper Sabotage

6 pp · Superhero

The Comet [John Dickering]Thelma Gordon (newspaperwoman)Spike (villain, introduction)a construction foreman (villain, introduction)

Untitled Superhero story

5 pp · Superhero

The Fireball [Ted Tyler]Stein (villain, introduction)his Bund group (villains, introductions)

The Masquerade of Captain Twerp

7 pp · War

Sergeant Boyle [Henry Boyle]Corporal CollinsCaptain TwerpHirsch (introduction)Mr. Brown (introduction)Adolf Hitler (villain)the Nazis (villains)

Graduation Week

6 pp

Lee Sampson (Midshipman)Franklin D. Roosevelt (guest-star)

Origin of Madam Satan

6 pp · Horror-Suspense

Madam Satan [Tyra] (introduction, origin, death, return)Satan (villain)Madam Satan (villain)John (introduction, death)his father (introduction, death)his mother (introduction, death)

The Marriage of Kayo Ward

6 pp · Sports

Kayo Ward [Eddie Ward]Crusty (villain, introduction)Biff Bioni (villain, introduction)Ronald Duckman (villain, introduction)

The Case of the Pirate's Ghost

6 pp · Detective-Mystery

Inspector BentleyHarley Lane (villain, introduction)Martin Lane (introduction, death)Bart Lane (introduction, death)Wilks (introduction)Miss Allen (introduction)Miss Lane (introduction)

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Good) $535

CGC 9.6 · 1 in census $52,931*

CGC 9.4 none in existence

CGC 9.2 none in existence

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 2 in census $11,098*

CGC 8.0 none in existence

Show all 21 grades ▾

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $6,843

CGC 7.0 · 2 in census $6,167

CGC 6.5 · 2 in census $4,871*

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $4,544

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $3,541*

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $3,367*

CGC 4.5 none in existence

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $2,497*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $2,225

CGC 3.0 · 3 in census $1,970*

CGC 2.5 · 3 in census $1,820

CGC 2.0 none in existence

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $1,043*

CGC 1.0 · 1 in census $872*

CGC 0.5 · 1 in census $685*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Pep Comics #16 was published by MLJ Magazines, Inc. (the precursor to Archie Comics) and edited by Abner Sundell, who also wrote the Madam Satan origin story himself. Harry Lucey, who would later become one of the defining artists of the Archie house style, drew the Madam Satan feature; Irv Novick, the series' regular Shield artist, handled the cover and lead story as usual. Sundell came to MLJ from the pulp-magazine world, having crossed paths with publisher Louis Silberkleit, and brought a distinctly lurid, pulp-horror sensibility to the Madam Satan concept that stood apart from the patriotic superhero fare surrounding it in the same issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: June 1941, published by MLJ Magazines, Inc. (predecessor to Archie Comics); this comic is in the public domain.
First interior appearance and origin of Madam Satan (originally named Tyra, later Iola), created by writer Abner Sundell and artist Harry Lucey — her only prior appearance was a cover cameo on issue #15.
Madam Satan's origin depicts a mortal woman who murders her fiancé's parents out of jealousy, is killed in turn, and is then transformed by Satan on Bald Mountain into his supernatural agent on Earth, granted a lethal kiss as her chief weapon.
Final appearance of 'Lee Sampson, Midshipman,' a serial that had run since issue #6 (July 1940) and concluded with Lee Sampson graduating from Annapolis; President Franklin D. Roosevelt appears in the story as a guest character.
The Shield (Joe Higgins) and sidekick Dusty appear in the lead story, written and drawn by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick; the villain is 'The Vulture.'
The Comet (John Dickering) appears in a story in which he is still depicted as a fugitive from the law, written by Joe Blair and drawn by Lin Streeter.
Other strips in the issue include Danny in Wonderland (Harry Shorten/Lin Streeter), The Fireball, and Sergeant Boyle (pencilled and inked by Charles Biro).
Madam Satan ran in Pep Comics from this issue through #21 (November 1941), after which her slot was replaced in #22 by the first appearance of Archie Andrews; her character was later reimagined for the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.