After the success of A-list superheroes during the previous three years, 1941 saw the introduction of many more “next-tier” heroes. As you’ve been reading right here on Codex Omniversa, Starman made his debut (on the cover no less) in Adventure Comics #61 in March, Johnny Quick in More Fun Comics #71 in July, and, after a three-page preview in Action Comics #40, the Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy in Star-Spangled Comics #1 in August.
In September, More Fun Comics #73 introduced two characters whose histories would be re-written following the infamous “Crisis on Infinite Earths”: Green Arrow and Aquaman. On Codex Ominversa, you won’t read about them until later. Instead, you’ll read about their retcon replacements, Alias the Spider and Neptune Perkins.
For our existing heroes, two major characters were introduced that have remained to this today. Superman’s pal was given the name “Jimmy Olsen” in Superman #13 in August. (An unnamed character that may have been Jimmy was around since Action Comics #6 but was fully realized in comics form after appearing on the Superman radio show.) One of Batman’s arch enemies, the Penguin, debuted in Detective Comics #58 in October.
Jay Garrick (The Flash) received a second title in May, All-Flash Quarterly and Alan Scott (Green Lantern) got his own title with Green Lantern #1 in September (also a quarterly publication.) And over at Fawcett Publications, the origin of Captain Marvel Jr. was told in Whiz Comics #25 in December.
Finally, the end of 1941 saw the debut of a second superhero team following the Justice Society of America: the Seven Soldiers of Victory (sometimes called the Law’s Legionnaires) in Leading Comics #1 in December. We’ll pick up their story in a future entry…
Murray Boltinoff
After Murray Boltinoff graduated from New York University in 1933, he was hired as an assistant editor at the New York American, a newspaper that hired his brother, Henry, as a cartoonist. Around 1940, Henry sold cartoons to Whitney Ellsworth, who acted upon Henry’s recommendation to hire Murray.
In 1941, Murray began editing a run of Adventure Comics from #66 through #81. Later that year, he wrote a series of Air Wave stories that ran in Detective Comics #60 through #72. During his nearly 50-year career at DC, he’s perhaps best known for overseeing the creation of the Doom Patrol in 1963, writing their tagline, “The World’s Strangest Heroes.” He retired in 1988; his final editing credit was Sgt. Rock #422.
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