Speed Comics #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSpeed Comics #1 (October 1939) marks the first appearance of Shock Gibson, one of the earliest electricity-powered superheroes to enter comics, arriving in the same foundational wave as Superman, Batman, and the original Human Torch. The issue established the long-running Speed Comics title that would eventually anchor Harvey Comics' early superhero line for nearly a decade, running through issue #44. Shock Gibson's origin — a scientist who self-administers a chemical formula granting electrical powers — pioneered a 'lab accident begets hero' template that would echo through Golden Age and Silver Age comics alike, most notably in DC's reinvention of the Flash decades later. As the sole comic-book output of the short-lived Brookwood Publishing Company, the issue is also a document of the scrappy entrepreneurial churn that defined comics' earliest years.
Speed Comics #1 is an anthology featuring multiple action-packed stories. The lead story stars Shock Gibson, "The Human Dynamo," who confronts the villainous Von Kampf, a madman with plans to destroy civilization using an army of radio-controlled zombies created from animal parts; Gibson must stop Von Kampf's destructive schemes. Another story features Ted, a costumed hero who battles thugs and henchmen in an elaborate stone fortress, rescuing a girl from captivity while fighting off numerous armed adversaries. The issue also includes a tale of Tony Torrence battling a gigantic green brute creature that abducts his fiancée, forcing him to pursue the beast through underground passages.
When a lightning strike merges young scientist Charles Gibson with powerful electrical forces, he transforms into Shock Gibson—a superhuman protector sworn to defend justice. As Shock begins his crusade against a graft-ridden city, his intervention in a construction scandal draws the attention of a mysterious plane and its operator, leading him on a chase across the country toward secrets hidden within the Rocky Mountains. Maurice Scott and the creative team deliver action-packed superhero thrills as Shock discovers there's far more to this conspiracy than petty corruption.
Three crack aviators—Crash, Cork, and the Baron—answer a desperate call for help in Arabia, where a band of murderers and thieves are terrorizing the region around Abd-Murad. Posing as a wealthy loudmouth, Crash infiltrates the gang's hideout at the Sahmed Oasis to locate their camp, but his cover is blown when a young woman recognizes his accent and warns him that striking an Arab with bare hands has made him a marked man. Now hunted across the desert, Crash must rely on Cork and the Baron's firepower to survive the onslaught.
Ted Parrish, a restless movie idol fed up with Hollywood's romantic leads, stumbles upon a mad doctor's sinister plot to transform a kidnapped girl into a statue—and decides to trade tinsel for real-world heroics. Using quick wits and his talent for disguise, Ted infiltrates the villain's island lair to rescue her from the doctor's diabolical experiment. It's a thrilling night of action that leaves Ted questioning whether he's finally found the he-man role he's been craving.
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Brookwood Publishing Company was formed by pulp-industry veterans Frank Z. Temerson and Isaac W. Ullman — Alabama-born business partners who had already cycled through several publishing shells, including Ultem Publications — along with the Rosenfield family; Speed Comics was edited by Maurice Rosenfield, son of co-owner J. A. Rosenfield. The company took its name from a small town near Birmingham, Alabama, close to Temerson's roots, and Speed Comics was its one and only periodical title. Artist Maurice Scott created and illustrated Shock Gibson's debut, though the scripter has never been identified; the title sold modestly on an already crowded newsstand and Brookwood published only eleven issues before selling to Leo Greenwald, who passed the title to Alfred Harvey in mid-1941.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Shock Gibson (real name Robert Charles Gibson), cover-dated October 1939, published by Brookwood Publications.
- Debut story titled 'The Human Dynamo': scientist Gibson perfects a chemical formula enabling humans to store, generate, and control electricity, tests it on himself, and gains super-strength, the ability to fire lightning bolts, and flight.
- Art on the Shock Gibson feature by Maurice Scott, who drew the character through issue #11; the writer of the debut story is unidentified.
- Speed Comics #1 was an anthology: other features in the issue include The Three Aces (Klaus Nordling), Ted Parrish (Bob Powell), Spike Marlin (George Tuska), Smoke Carter (Munson Paddock), Landor Maker of Monsters (Bob Powell), Texas Tyler, and Biff Bannon (Dick Briefer).
- The opening Shock Gibson story ran approximately 26 pages — an unusually long feature for the era.
- Speed Comics was the first and only comic-book title ever published by Brookwood; after 11 issues the title was sold and ultimately acquired by Harvey Comics, which continued it through issue #44 (c. early 1947).
- Shock Gibson transitioned to Harvey's line in 1941, received a new costume at Speed Comics #12, and went on to team up with Harvey characters including the Black Cat, Captain Freedom, and the Girl Commandos.
- Shock Gibson has entered the public domain and was revived by Image Comics in the anthology series The Next Issue Project (2007).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933-45 #[nn] (2011), Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] (2017)
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