Hit Comics #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHit Comics #3 is a sharply early chapter in Quality Comics' flagship anthology title — published just months after the line launched — and it demonstrates how rapidly the Eisner & Iger studio was able to build and sustain a full roster of original characters across a 68-page package. Both Red Bee and Neon the Unknown, who had debuted in Hit Comics #1 (July 1940), appear here in their third outings, allowing creators to deepen these characters beyond their origin issues and establish the serialized storytelling rhythms that would define Golden Age anthology comics. The issue also preserves some of the earliest interior work credited under the pseudonyms common to Quality's studio system, making it a documentary artifact of Golden Age production practices.
In "The Burns Koffin Gang," Neon takes on a new case in 1940’s Hit Comics #3, chasing a mysterious criminal crew across frozen tundras and hidden tropical islands beneath the Arctic ice. Written by S. M. Iger and illustrated with sharp detail by Alex Blum, the story blends pulp adventure with surreal twists, all framed by Lou Fine’s dynamic cover art.
Tommy Tinkle discovers a treasure map left by his uncle that points to riches hidden on Koko's Island, and with the Professor's help, he builds a boat to seek it out. When they find the chest and strike it rich, their celebration is cut short by unexpected trouble—but fortune takes some peculiar turns before they make their escape.
In "The Savage Land," Neon ventures to the North Pole on a daring rescue mission, uncovering a hidden tropical isle buried beneath the ice. As he navigates the unexpected jungle and its mysterious dangers, he must save a stranded British explorer from an environment far removed from the frozen wasteland above.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Hit Comics was published by Everett M. Arnold's Quality Comics and packaged almost entirely by the Eisner & Iger studio, whose pool of talent — including Jerry Iger (Neon the Unknown's creator) and writer Toni Blum (co-creator of the Red Bee, one of the very few women writing comics in this era) — produced the anthology's rotating cast of features. Issue #3 carries a September 1940 cover date but was released on July 3, 1940, with interior art credited to a roster that included Dan Zolnerowich, Alex Blum, Munson Paddock (signing as 'Pad Docke'), Klaus Nordling, Courtney Thompson, and others working under studio pen names. The Red Bee strip continued to credit its art to the pseudonym 'B. H. Apiary' — a pun on the word for a bee colony — a house byline used throughout the character's early run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Hit Comics #3 carries a cover date of September 1940 and was published on July 3, 1940, by Quality Comics.
- Both Red Bee and Neon the Unknown had their debut (first appearance and origin) in Hit Comics #1 (July 1940), not issue #3; their appearances in #3 are continuing adventures.
- Red Bee's secret identity is Rick Raleigh, an assistant district attorney in Superior City, Oregon, created by writer Toni Blum and artist Charles Nicholas — Toni Blum being one of the very few women writing comics during the Golden Age.
- Neon the Unknown was created by Jerry Iger; his origin involves Foreign Legion soldier Tom Corbet gaining energy-projection powers and flight after drinking from a glowing, mysterious desert oasis.
- The Red Bee story in issue #3 ('The Graff Construction' case) features the notable story beat of Raleigh escaping a burning building by releasing trained bees from a belt pouch to retrieve a razor blade and cut his bonds.
- The Neon the Unknown story in issue #3 ('The Savage Land') sends Tom Corbet to the Arctic, where he discovers a hidden tropical island beneath the glaciers while searching for missing polar explorer Sir Humphrey Walker.
- The issue's cover art was produced by Lou Fine, the celebrated Quality Comics cover artist who provided many of the title's early covers and whose figure work became a visual signature of the line.
- Red Bee ran in Hit Comics from issue #1 through #24 (October 1942); Neon the Unknown ran from issue #1 through #17. Both characters were later acquired by DC Comics when Quality Comics ceased operations in 1956, and both have since fallen into the public domain.
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