Flash Comics #13
Flash Comics #13 (January 1941) is a representative mid-run entry in one of the Golden Age's richest anthology titles, packing seven separate features into 68 pages and showcasing the full breadth of All-American Publications' superhero stable just as the Justice Society of America was taking shape across the line. The issue is notable for containing a full-page house advertisement for All-Star Comics #3 — the very issue that debuted the Justice Society of America, comics' first superhero team — making it a contemporaneous artifact of that landmark moment. The Hawkman chapter, 'Satana, the Tiger Girl,' features one of the more imaginatively grotesque villains of the early Moldoff run, a woman who transplants human brains into tigers and targets Shiera Sanders, deepening the romantic stakes of the Carter Hall stories. Both its lead Flash story and its Hawkman chapter were later deemed significant enough for reprinting in DC's archival hardcover program, confirming their standing within the Golden Age canon.
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Flash Comics was published by All-American Publications under the editorial stewardship of M.C. Gaines as managing editor and Sheldon Mayer as assistant editor — the same team that oversaw the simultaneous launch of All-Star Comics and its Justice Society experiment. By issue #13, the anthology had settled into a stable rotating roster with Gardner Fox as its primary scripter, contributing both the Flash lead ('The Silver Mine Mystery') and the Hawkman closer ('Satana, the Tiger Girl'), while John B. Wentworth handled Johnny Thunder and The Whip. Sheldon Moldoff, who had been drawing Hawkman since issue #4 of the series, penciled and inked the Hawkman story, signing his work as 'Shelly' on both the splash and penultimate panels — a personal trademark well documented in Grand Comics Database credits.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: January 1941; published by All-American Publications (DC); cover art by Everett E. Hibbard; 68 pages, full color.
- Lead story: 'The Silver Mine Mystery' starring Jay Garrick (The Flash), written by Gardner Fox with art by Everett E. Hibbard; reprinted in Golden Age Flash Archives Vol. 1.
- Hawkman chapter: 'Satana, the Tiger Girl,' written by Gardner Fox, art by Sheldon Moldoff (signed 'Shelly') — Hawkman foils a villain who has devised a way to transplant human brains into tigers, with Shiera Sanders as the intended victim; reprinted in Golden Age Hawkman Archives Vol. 1.
- Issue contains a full-page house advertisement for All-Star Comics #3, which was the first appearance of the Justice Society of America — the inaugural superhero team in comics history.
- King Standish feature: 'Warning from the Witch,' written by Gardner Fox with art by Harry Lampert, continuing the ongoing cat-and-mouse romance between the disguise-artist King and his recurring foe/love interest, The Witch.
- Additional stories: Johnny Thunder in 'The Creeps' (John B. Wentworth / Stan Aschmeier); The Whip in 'The Distilatomic Dynamo' (Wentworth / Homer Fleming); Cliff Cornwall in 'The Capture of Snowland' (art by John Ayman); and a Flash picture novelette, 'Shadows of the Past,' by Ed Wheelan.
- Editorial team: M.C. Gaines (managing editor) and Sheldon Mayer (assistant editor), the same pair who shepherded the entire All-American superhero line including All-Star Comics and Green Lantern.
- The issue exists in a Canadian price variant, as documented in the Grand Comics Database.
Cast · 25 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
When Jay Garrick's long-time friend Jim Carter is found shot in the back near his recently opened mine, Jay decides the Flash should find out why the local sheriff has not brought the criminals to justice.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).