Super-Mystery Comics v6 #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSuper-Mystery Comics v6 #3 (Ace Periodicals, December 1946) represents a late-Golden Age snapshot of Ace's flagship anthology at a transitional moment — the superhero era was fading and the title's storytelling mix was shifting toward detective-mystery and crime genres. The issue is distinguished by its Warren Kremer cover, a striking torture/bondage image so arresting that IDW/Yoe Books selected it as the cover for their Haunted Horror #11 (2014) reprint anthology, introducing the art to a new generation. The presence of 'UNO, United Nations Trouble-Shooter' — a strip built around the newly formed United Nations — makes this one of the earliest comic-book attempts to dramatize postwar international institutions, a genuinely rare editorial impulse in 1946 genre comics. The issue also carries one of the final appearances of Magno and Davey, the magnetic superhero duo who anchored the entire Super-Mystery Comics run for 28 of its 48 issues.
This anthology issue contains multiple stories. One story involves a murder at the Palace of the Caliphate in Baghdad, where a character reports a crime to the Security Council of the United Nations, and officials discuss a religious war and a holy relic. Another story features characters named Voinon and Ryan dealing with a kidnapped blonde-haired child, with Voinon driving a yellow car and eventually being apprehended by police. A third story involves characters on an airplane and aboard a ship, where discussions center on threatening a character named Abdul and intimidating Mr. Lang into disposing of his company at a cheap price, with warnings about legal trials and gallows for crimes.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Ace Magazines was a publishing operation built by Aaron A. Wyn and Rose Wyn, who had been running pulp magazines under Periodical House since 1928 before launching their comics line in 1940. Super-Mystery Comics was the company's most successful and longest-running superhero title, with A. A. Wyn himself listed as editor on v6 #3. The issue was published bi-monthly by Ace Periodicals Inc. at the standard Golden Age cover price, running 52 full-color pages. Much of the series' Golden Age production history — including specific script and art credits for this particular issue — was preserved largely through Howard Keltner's Golden Age Comic Books Index, which the Grand Comics Database cites as a primary source for this issue's data.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October/December 1946 by Ace Periodicals Inc. (indicia publisher); 52 pages, full color, bi-monthly frequency.
- Cover art by Warren Kremer — later famous for creating Richie Rich and Hot Stuff at Harvey Comics — making this an early, pre-Harvey example of his work.
- The Kremer cover was reprinted as the cover of Haunted Horror #11 (IDW/Yoe Books, June 2014) and collected again in The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! Vol. 16 (August 2016).
- Story lineup: 'The Adventures of Bert and Sue: The Adventure of the Murdered Medium' (contains bondage and torture content); 'UNO, United Nations Trouble-Shooter'; 'Harry the Hack'; 'Mr. Risk: Case of the Crashing Cargo Planes'; and 'Magno and Davey'. Text story: 'Colt Conquest in Cuero' by Cliff Howe.
- 'UNO, United Nations Trouble-Shooter' is an early attempt to build a comic strip adventure concept around the newly established United Nations, reflecting immediate postwar optimism about international cooperation.
- Magno and Davey — Ace's most prominent superhero feature, appearing in 28 of the title's 48 total issues — are featured here in one of the character's late-run appearances, as the strip would end just one issue later with v6 #4.
- The series as a whole ran 48 issues (v1 #1–v8 #6, July 1940–July 1949), making it one of only a handful of comics that spanned the full Golden Age decade.
- Interior content from this issue was also reprinted in Gwandanaland Comics #2093 (The Complete Super-Mystery Comics: Volume 8, August 2018) and #2232 (A Super-Mystery Comics Giant Special, January 2019).
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