Top Notch Comics #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTop Notch Comics #1 (December 1939) launched the second title from MLJ Magazines — the fledgling publisher that would one day become Archie Comics — and delivered the origin and first full appearance of the Wizard (Blane Whitney), one of the earliest super-scientist heroes to follow in Superman's wake. The debut story's central premise, in which the Wizard foils a fictional stand-in nation's plot to attack Pearl Harbor, proved eerily prescient two full years before the real-world attack of December 1941, giving the issue an unintentional historical resonance that no other Golden Age debut can quite match. The Wizard proved popular enough to earn his own companion title alongside the Shield in Shield-Wizard Comics (Summer 1940), making this issue the origin point of MLJ's most prominent pre-war super-hero team-up. The issue also contains the first appearances of Rex Swift of the Secret Service and the stage magician known as the Mystic (later renamed Kardak), and features early work by future Plastic Man creator Jack Cole and future Batman artist Irv Novick, making it a genuine cross-section of the talent flowing through the early Golden Age.
In "The Pearl Harbor Peril," 19-year-old Keith Kornell—a Kentucky mountaineer and descendant of Andrew Jackson—rises from poverty and loss to become a West Point cadet and a vigilant fighter against espionage. Written by Harry Shorten and illustrated in the interior by unknown hands, this 1939 adventure follows Keith as he confronts threats to national security with courage forged in hardship. The cover, by Edd Ashe, captures the tension of a nation on edge.
In a sleek, rocket-like time car, Scott Rand and Dr. Joel Meade journey through the ages, their adventure taking an unexpected turn when they rescue Thor the Viking and the mysterious Princess Elda from a distant past. With the past unfolding around them, the group finds themselves caught in a mystery that defies time itself.
In "Kornell Goes to West Point," a 19-year-old Kentucky mountaineer and descendant of Andrew Jackson, Keith Kornell, rises from poverty to earn a place at West Point after a chance encounter with Senator Crockett, an old friend of his late father. With grit and determination, Keith proves himself a standout cadet, facing challenges that test his courage and resolve—though his path to becoming a West Pointer is far from simple.
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Top Notch Comics #1 was produced by the Harry 'A' Chesler shop on behalf of the newly formed MLJ Magazines Inc. — a company whose name derived from the initials of co-founders Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater — and was edited by Abner Sundell, who had previously worked on Silberkleit's pulp publications. The Wizard was created by writer Will Harr and artist Edd Ashe Jr., who also provided the issue's cover art; the science-fiction backup 'Scott Rand in the Worlds of Time' was scripted by Otto Binder (writing as 'Eando Binder') and drawn by his brother Jack Binder, while Charles Biro handled art duties on the Rex Swift story and Irv Novick illustrated the aviation feature 'Vendetta with Von Schiller.' The title ran for 27 issues under its original banner before being retitled Top-Notch Laugh Comics from issue #28 onward as MLJ pivoted away from superheroes toward the humor comics that would define its future.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Wizard (real name: Blane Whitney), a super-scientist and gadgeteer billed as 'the man with the super-brain,' created by writer Will Harr and artist Edd Ashe Jr.; cover-dated December 1939.
- The Wizard's debut story, titled 'The Pearl Harbor Peril,' depicts Blane Whitney stopping the fictional 'Jatsonian' nation from attacking Pearl Harbor — a plot point that predated the actual Japanese attack by two years.
- First appearance of Rex Swift of the Secret Service, in a story titled 'Murder by Sock,' illustrated by Charles Biro.
- First appearance of the Mystic (the stage-magician character later renamed Kardak the Mystic Magician), who would run as a backup feature in Top-Notch Comics for 25 issues.
- The issue also includes a house advertisement for Rang-A-Tang the Wonder Dog (whose actual debut story appeared in Blue Ribbon Comics #1, November 1939), the first comic book title from MLJ.
- Art contributions from future Plastic Man creator Jack Cole (on the true-crime 'Manhunters' feature) and future Batman artist Irv Novick (on the aviation strip 'Vendetta with Von Schiller,' introducing Ben 'Wings' Johnson).
- The issue was edited by Abner Sundell and produced by the Harry 'A' Chesler studio for MLJ Magazines; the 68-page anthology was priced at ten cents.
- Wizard stories from this title were later reprinted by Gwandanaland Comics in The Golden Age Wizard Volume 1 (2017) and The Golden Age Firsts of MLJ Comics: Volume 1 (2018).
Cast · 4 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Punch Comics #10 (1944), Red Seal Comics #21 (1947), Authentic Police Cases #5 (1948), Gwandanaland Comics #2006 (2018), Gwandanaland Comics #3091 (2021)
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