Cover: Irv Novick

Pep Comics #7

Aug 1940 · Archie · 0.10 USD

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About this Issue

Pep Comics #7 (August 1940) is a mid-run anthology snapshot from one of the most consequential titles of the Golden Age, produced by MLJ Magazines — the company that would eventually reshape American pop culture as Archie Comics. The issue marks the first appearance of The Claw in the Press Guardian strip, adding a new villain to MLJ's growing rogues' gallery, while simultaneously delivering a pivotal character-development beat for The Comet: John Dickering discovers how to consciously control his gas-induced powers, allowing him to pass as an ordinary human — a storytelling turn that deepened superhero identity fiction years before the genre codified those tropes. The issue also carries the renamed 'Perry Chase, The Press Guardian' strip from this issue forward, a small but trackable editorial refinement that illustrates how MLJ was actively workshopping its anthology formula in real time. All of this unfolds within a title already home to The Shield, comics' first flag-costumed patriotic hero, giving every early Pep issue outsized importance to understanding how the superhero genre's building blocks were assembled.

Contains 9 stories

The Ballpark Murders

13 pp · Superhero

Al Moroni (villain, introduction)

The Flying Juggernaut

6 pp · Superhero

a gang of spies (villains, introduction)

The Phony Ambassador: Part 2

6 pp · Superhero

The Claw (not the villain from SILVER STREAK and DAREDEVIL COMICS, villain, introduction)the phony ambassador (villain, death)

The Return of Joodar

6 pp · Detective-Mystery

Tay Ming (fiancee)Joodar (villain)

The Propaganda Peril

7 pp · War

Captain TwerpNazis (villain)

Shipley and the Smugglers

6 pp

J. P. Shipley (villain, introduction)

Forest of Fear

6 pp · Science Fiction

Prince FalkarQueen Abbie (villain)Retlek (villain)

The Fight With Joe Louis

6 pp · Sports

Joe LouisRupy La Vez (introduction)Jasper Twimbley (introduction)Mortimer J. Ginzburg (introduction)

The Case of the Congo Curse

6 pp · Detective-Mystery

Harry Harper (villain, introduction)Annie Douglas (introduction, death)John Martin (introduction, death)Tom Douglas (introduction)Dan Douglas (introduction)

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Good) $367

CGC 9.8 · 1 in census $45,681*

CGC 9.6 none in existence

CGC 9.4 none in existence

CGC 9.2 · 2 in census $10,058

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $4,777

Show all 20 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 2 in census $4,068

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $3,184

CGC 7.0 · 3 in census $2,712*

CGC 6.5 · 2 in census $2,165

CGC 6.0 · 3 in census $1,695

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $1,654*

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $1,554

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $1,343*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $1,167*

CGC 3.5 · 4 in census $1,040*

CGC 3.0 · 3 in census $921*

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $886

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $637

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $487*

* 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 was launched in January 1940 by MLJ Magazines Inc. — the precursor to Archie Comics — as its third anthology title, following Blue Ribbon Comics and Top-Notch Comics. The series was edited by Abner Sundell through its early run and featured strips assembled from a pool of MLJ's in-house and freelance talent, including Harry Shorten and Irv Novick on The Shield and Jack Cole on The Comet. Issue #7, cover-dated August 1940, sits in the period when MLJ was actively cross-pollinating characters across its titles: The Wizard (Blane Whitney), who had debuted in Top-Notch Comics #1 in December 1939 and was created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe Jr., was already making crossover appearances in Pep, and the Shield and the Wizard had teamed up as early as Pep Comics #4 — widely cited as the first superhero crossover in American comics, predating the Human Torch/Sub-Mariner meeting in Marvel Mystery Comics #8.

Trivia · 8 facts

Pep Comics #7 carries a cover date of August 1940 and was published by MLJ Magazines Inc. (later Archie Comics).
First appearance of The Claw: the villain debuts in the Press Guardian (Perry Chase) strip in this issue, according to the Archie Comics Wiki index for Pep Comics Vol. 1 #7.
Starting with this issue, the Press Guardian strip was retitled 'Perry Chase, The Press Guardian' — a renamed format that held through issue #11, as documented across multiple Pep Comics reference sources.
The Comet story in this issue, titled 'The Flying Juggernaut' (script attributed to Abner Sundell, art likely Jack Cole), contains a significant power-development moment: John Dickering's gas wears off and he discovers he can modulate his intake to control when he has — or suppresses — his superhuman abilities.
The Shield story in this issue, 'The Ballpark Murderers,' was produced by series creators Harry Shorten (writer) and Irv Novick (artist), the same team who originated the character in Pep Comics #1.
The Wizard (Blane Whitney) appears in this issue via his crossover presence in Pep; he was created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe Jr. and first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #1 (December 1939).
The Comet (John Dickering) and his supporting character Thelma Gordon appear; The Comet would go on to become the first superhero ever killed on the page, shot by gangsters in Pep Comics #17 (July 1941).
Other continuing anthology features in this issue include Fu Chang, The Queen of Diamonds / Sir Rocket (John Dickering's sci-fi strip), Sergeant Boyle, Lee Sampson (Midshipman), and Eddie 'Kayo' Ward — collectively representing the full breadth of MLJ's pre-war anthology formula of superheroes, crime strips, adventure serials, and sports drama.