Pep Comics #18

Aug 1941 · Archie · 8d [0-0-8 AUP]

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About this Issue

Pep Comics #18 (1941, MLJ Magazines) holds a meaningful place in the brief, dark chapter of MLJ's Golden Age superhero output as only the second issue to feature the Hangman — a character born from one of the medium's most startling creative decisions, the on-panel death of a fellow hero, the Comet, just one issue earlier. The book also carries three additional installments of Madam Satan, one of comics' first recurring supernatural villainess features, a strip that ran only six issues before being replaced by an entirely different genre of storytelling that would redefine the company entirely. Sitting squarely in the four-issue window between the Hangman's origin (issue #17) and Madam Satan's cancellation (issue #21), #18 is a snapshot of MLJ at its most ambitious tonal crossroads: part super-patriotic war-era hero anthology, part supernatural horror. That particular combination of mature, often grim content in a ten-cent newsstand package would not be seen again at the company once Archie Andrews arrived in issue #22 and gradually displaced every superhero from the lineup.

Pep Comics #18 is an anthology featuring multiple stories. "He's a Hit! The Hangman" follows a criminal enforcer named the Hangman, whose supernatural strength allows him to incapacitate opponents with ease; when a man named Bob spots the Hangman and reports him to the police at 355 Elm Street, the Hangman intercepts the call and prepares to strike. The Fireball segment depicts a superhero trapped in a frozen refrigerator car aboard a speeding freight train; using heat-based powers, the Fireball melts the ice and the wooden crate holding him, then escapes the train to return to the city. Another story involves a character named Tom discovering his love interest Nita in a state of suspended death-catalepsy; after battling a demon-like entity called Madam Satan over her body, Tom declares he will keep Nita with him in death rather than allow her burial.

artist, inker George Frese · cover George Frese

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Good) $526

CGC 9.6 · 1 in census $42,635*

CGC 9.4 none in existence

CGC 9.2 none in existence

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 none in existence

CGC 8.0 none in existence

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CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $5,282

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 none in existence

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 none in existence

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $2,573*

CGC 4.5 · 3 in census $2,412

CGC 4.0 · 2 in census $1,908*

CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $1,700*

CGC 3.0 · 3 in census $1,506

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $817

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $817*

CGC 1.5 · 3 in census $797*

CGC 1.0 · 1 in census $666*

* 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 #18 was published by MLJ Magazines — the company co-founded by Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John Goldwater, whose initials formed the 'MLJ' imprint — and edited by Abner Sundell, who held the editorial chair through issue #23. The Hangman feature, now in its second chapter, was written under the house pseudonym 'Cliff Campbell' (most likely Abner Sundell during this period, though possibly Harry Shorten) with art credited to George Storm in the debut issue, while the Shield stories continued under Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick, who also provided the cover. Madam Satan — created by Sundell and initially drawn by Harry Lucey — was at this point three issues into her six-issue run, with Joe Blair scripting her later appearances including those in #18.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published by MLJ Magazines (the predecessor to Archie Comics) in 1941, cover price ten cents, 68 pages.
Second appearance of the Hangman (Robert Dickering), who debuted in Pep Comics #17 when his brother John Dickering — the Comet — was shot and killed by gangsters, making the Comet the first superhero to die on the page in comics history.
The Hangman story in issue #18 introduces his recurring villain the Jackal, who impersonates the Hangman by wearing his costume and committing murders in the hero's name; the Jackal is identified by having two thumbs on his right hand.
Continues the Madam Satan feature — a supernatural horror strip about a dead villainess dispatched by Satan to seduce and destroy men — which ran only in Pep Comics #16–21 before being cancelled to make way for Archie Andrews in #22.
Madam Satan was created by writer-editor Abner Sundell and artist Harry Lucey; her adversary in the strip is Brother Sunshine, a friar-like exorcist figure revived to combat her evil.
The Shield story (by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick) and Danny in Wonderland continue as ongoing anthology features alongside Fireball, Kayo Ward, and Bentley of Scotland Yard.
The Fireball story in this issue introduces new characters Eddie Collins, Suzie Collins, and the villain Palermo.
The Hangman appeared on every Pep Comics cover from issue #17 through #42, replacing the Shield as the dominant cover presence during this stretch of the series.