Pep Comics #9
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freePep Comics #9 (cover-dated November 1940, on sale September 15, 1940) is a vivid cross-section of MLJ Magazines' sprawling Golden Age anthology at full throttle — nine continuing strips packed into 68 pages, all under editor Abner Sundell. It belongs to the first year-long run of a title that would eventually reshape American comics history: the same series that housed the Shield, comics' first flag-costumed patriotic hero, and the Comet, who would become the first superhero to die in the line of duty (in issue #17, less than a year after this issue shipped). Issue #9 captures Jack Cole's Comet strip while Cole was still its primary creative engine, and preserves the full pre-teen-humor anthology lineup — The Press Guardian, Fu Chang, Sergeant Boyle, Kayo Ward, Bentley of Scotland Yard, and the Queen of Diamonds — most of which would be retired by issue #11 or #12 as the book reorganized. It thus documents a pivotal, unrepeatable moment: MLJ at its most expansive, before Archie Andrews arrived in issue #22 to redirect the entire company's identity.
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Pep Comics launched with a January 1940 cover date under MLJ Magazines — the company whose partners' initials (Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, John Goldwater) named the imprint — and was the publisher's third anthology title. The series was edited throughout its early run by Abner Sundell, who held that post through issues #22–23 before Harry Shorten took over. The Shield strip was written by Harry Shorten and drawn by Irv Novick, who also produced most of the early covers; the Comet strip was created and initially drawn by Jack Cole, who handled writing and art through approximately issue #8, meaning issue #9 falls at or just past the boundary of Cole's personal involvement with the feature. The Grand Comics Database records the issue's on-sale date of September 15, 1940 from the U.S. Copyright Office's Catalog of Copyright Entries.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #9 carries a November 1940 cover date and an on-sale date of September 15, 1940, as recorded in the U.S. Catalog of Copyright Entries; it was published by M.L.J. Magazines, Inc. and edited by Abner Sundell.
- The Shield story (written by Harry Shorten, art by Irv Novick) is titled and features Joe Higgins alongside supporting character Betty Warren; the GCD records new villain introductions for Stacey and Crutch in this installment.
- The Comet strip — featuring John Dickering and reporter Thelma Gordon — was penciled by Jack Cole for approximately the first eight issues of Pep Comics; Jack Cole, who later created Plastic Man, is credited through roughly issue #8, placing #9 at the very end of or just past his personal run on the feature.
- The Comet (John Dickering) was destined to become the first superhero killed in the line of duty in mainstream comics, shot by gangsters in Pep Comics #17 (July 1941) — less than a year after this issue was published.
- 'Bentley of Scotland Yard,' the interactive mystery strip drawn by Sam Cooper, appears in this issue in its signature format: a horror/gothic crime story in which apparent supernatural phenomena are ultimately revealed as human deception, with a 'Bentley knows who...' puzzle panel inviting reader participation.
- The 'Queen of Diamonds' / 'Sir Rocket' science-fiction strip — a John Carter of Mars-style planetary romance by Lin Streeter — continued in this issue and was cancelled with issue #11 (January 1941), making #9 one of its final installments.
- 'Perry Chase, The Press Guardian' (retitled from 'The Press Guardian' beginning with issue #7) and 'Fu Chang, International Detective' also appear here and were likewise cancelled with issue #11, giving #9 significant status as a late-run appearance for three simultaneous strips.
- The Shield cover art was drawn by Irv Novick, who signed the work; a Shield story from this period was later reprinted in The Golden Age of Comic Books (Random House, April 1977), demonstrating the early critical recognition of the MLJ superhero line.
Cast · 16 characters
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Reprinted in The Golden Age of Comic Books #[nn] (1977)
Key issues in Pep Comics
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