Manhunt #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeManhunt #1 (October 1947, Magazine Enterprises) is the debut issue of one of the Golden Age's most distinctive crime-and-espionage anthologies, and it marks the first appearance of Starr Flagg, the 'Undercover Girl' — a rare female secret-agent protagonist in an era when espionage comics were overwhelmingly the province of male leads. The title arrived at virtually the exact moment the Cold War was crystallizing as a cultural reality: the CIA was signed into law on September 18, 1947, and Flagg's adventures — centered on atomic secrets, enemy spies, and global intrigue — made Manhunt an unusually timely mirror of postwar American anxiety. The issue also introduced the science-fiction strip Space Ace, giving the anthology a multi-genre sweep unusual for a single periodical. Together, these debuts made Manhunt #1 a meaningful early example of the crime-anthology format that would define a significant strand of pre-Code comics publishing.
# Manhunt #1 This anthology issue contains multiple crime and adventure stories. "The Avenging Axe" follows a manhunt for a woman whose portrait was painted by a mysterious European operative, with intelligence agents attempting to locate her before enemies do. "Jet Black of Space Patrol" involves the pirate Jak Tal and a cosmigun capable of focusing cosmic rays into destructive energy beams, with conflict over uranium crates on the moon. The final story depicts FBI agents pursuing bank robbers who have stolen from the Assyrian Bank, culminating in a high-speed chase and shootout at the bank's location.
When Cecil Blake brings home a prized hobbyhorse, Inspector Ronald Kirk of Scotland Yard is called to investigate his brutal murder—and discovers the seemingly innocent collectible holds a fortune that the killer desperately wanted. With three suspects nursing grudges and a cunning trap set to catch the culprit red-handed, Kirk must piece together a mystery where a tiny detail glimpsed in the darkness becomes the key to unmasking the murderer.
When a gold strike in the Arctic turns deadly and an innocent man takes the fall, Sergeant Red Fox must race across the frozen north to stop a murderer before he silences the only witnesses—including the woman he loves. A gripping tale of justice and survival where the real criminal hides in plain sight, and the Red Fox must use every ounce of his skill to catch a killer on the unforgiving northern frontier.
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Magazine Enterprises was founded by Vin Sullivan, a former DC Comics editor who brought with him a strong editorial sensibility and a network of talented freelancers. Manhunt was edited by Raymond C. Krank and assembled a creative team that included writer-scripter Gardner Fox (handling a prose text story in this issue), cover artist and interior illustrator Ogden Whitney, cartoonist and 'Good Girl' specialist L. B. Cole (drawing the Red Fox strip), and veteran artist Fred Guardineer on Space Ace. Ogden Whitney is believed to have been developing the Undercover Girl character during the summer of 1947, a period that coincided — apparently by design or fortuitous timing — with widespread press coverage of former OSS operative Elizabeth McIntosh's memoir also titled 'Undercover Girl,' whose real-world story of a female reporter turned spy seems to have directly shaped the fictional Starr Flagg's cover identity as a foreign correspondent. The Grand Comics Database notes that at least one page of the Space Ace story in this issue carries inking identifiable as the work of a very young Frank Frazetta, making the issue a point of early interest for Frazetta scholars as well.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Starr Flagg, the 'Undercover Girl' (Undercover Girl), created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Ogden Whitney — a female secret agent who would carry her own solo title by 1952.
- First appearance of Space Ace (Jet Black), the series' science-fiction strip, drawn by Fred Guardineer; the character appeared in seven of the anthology's thirteen issues before being replaced by the Western strip Trail Colt.
- Cover art and Undercover Girl interior art by Ogden Whitney; L. B. Cole contributed the Red Fox story 'The Girl and the Gold'; Fred Guardineer penciled Space Ace; Gardner Fox wrote the text story 'The Avenging Axe.'
- The Grand Comics Database documents that page 6 of the Space Ace story in this issue carries inking strongly attributed to Frank Frazetta (with John Giunta and possibly Ray Willner on other pages), representing very early Frazetta comic work.
- Published by Magazine Enterprises, founded by Vin Sullivan (a former DC/National editor), with Raymond C. Krank as editor — a company that operated from 1943 to 1958 and published Western, crime, adventure, and humor titles with virtually no superhero content.
- The anthology ran for 13 issues (1947–1953), and Starr Flagg's Manhunt appearances were collected in their entirety in Boardman Books' 'Undercover Girl: The Complete Adventures of Starr Flagg' (September 2015), with stories also reprinted across Starr Flagg's own short-lived solo series (A-1 Comics #98 and #118).
- The issue's Undercover Girl story opens with a direct reference to the atomic bomb, establishing from page one the Cold War anxieties that would define the strip's thematic identity throughout its run.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Undercover Girl #7 [A-1 #118] (1954), Jet Black and Jak Tal: The Complete Space Ace #[nn] (2014), A-1 Comics: A Retrospective #142 (2015), Undercover Girl: The Complete Adventures of Starr Flagg #[nn] (2015), Lurid Little Nightmare Makers #7 - Black & White (2016), Lurid Little Nightmare Makers #7 - Color (2016)
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