BLACK ADAM "Who He WAS, and How He Came to Be..." Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...Black Adam, the first person the old wizard Shazam granted powers to, has returned after 5,000 years to continue his attempt to conquer the Earth!

But a duo of new Shazam-created champions, Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr, stand in his way.
But all three combatants discover their magical powers are equal, and neither side can gain an advantage!
As Black Adam retreats to rethink his strategy against these new enemies, the Marvels head to the Rock of Eternity to consult Shazam as to how to defeat a foe exactly like themselves...

This tale, written by Otto Binder, penciled by C C Beck, and inked by Pete Costanza from Fawcett's Marvel Family #1 (1945), was Black Adam's sole Golden Age appearance!

(Amazing, considering how often villains considered deceased managed to reappear in comics!)
After Shazam and his champions were revived by DC in the Bronze Age, Black Adam was left in literary limbo...

...until he was literally resurrected!

But that's a story you'll have to return tomorrow to read!

Please Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Black Adam

Box Set

(Featuring the current version of the character, not the original incarnation we're showing!)

BLACK ADAM "Who He WAS, and How He Came to Be..." Part 1

Before you see the new movie starring Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam...

...perhaps you should see who (and what), the nominal "hero" was!

Let's begin at the beginning...during the Golden Age of Comics...

...a story old Shazam will relate...
TOMORROW!

Please Support Hero Histories
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Black Adam
Box Set
(Featuring the current version of the character, not the original incarnation we're showing!)

He's Coming...

...to theaters this Friday!

But, before that, we're doing a special four-day presentation of his origin (and only Golden Age appearance)...and his Bronze Age revival!
Be Here Tomorrow!!!
(because you really don't want to piss him off!)

Russkie-Smashers YOUNG MEN COMICS "Captain America: Back from the Dead!"

Wonder why Simon & Kirby created Fighting American?

Because Atlas (Once Timely, later Marvel) didn't ask them to handle this revival of the character they created, so they decided to show how it should be done!
Now., let's look at what inspired them to do a new patriotic superhero...

Written by Don Rico and illustrated by John Romita Sr (with a splash panel by Mort Lawrence), this story from Atlas' Young Men #24 (1953) ostensibly continued the adventures of Captain America, Bucky, and The Red Skull from the 1940s.
When Cap was revived in 1964, this (and other 1950s Atlas superhero tales) were considered apocryphal, since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby postulated the Star-Spangled Avenger had been frozen since the end of World War II until he was defrosted in Marvel's The Avengers V1N4 (1964).

But, in 1968, writer Stan Lee, pencilers Larry Lieber and John Romita Sr and inker "Mickey Demeo" (actually Mike Esposito), revealed the 1950s Red Skull was a Russkie imposter who killed CIA agents Richard and Mary Parker (Peter Parker/Spider-Man's parents) in Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (1968)

Then, in 1972, writer Steve Englehart and penciler Sal Buscema revived the 1950s Cap and Bucky, showing them to be government-approved replacements for the original Cap and Bucky in Marvel's Captain America and the Falcon #153-156 (1972...

...thereby bringing their 1950s tales (and, presumably the Sub-Mariner's and Human Torch's 1950s stories) into official continuity!
It also created the concept that others filled-in for Cap and Bucky during that era.
In fact, the "1950s Cap" is actually now considered the fourth official "Captain America", after already-existing patriot-themed heroes The Patriot and Spirit of 76 filled-in in the 1940s after Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were believed to be KIA (Killed in Action)!

Please Support Hero Histories!
Visit Amazon and Order...

Marvel MasterWorks
Atlas-Era Heroes
Volume 1

(which features this tale)

Russkie-Smashers GREEN HORNET "Proof of Treason" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Green Hornet and Kato...

Why does Mayoral candidate Wilkes Sherman hire a criminal to bomb the home of nuclear scientist Professor Baldwin?

When the police track down the bomber, an assassin kills him before he can talk.
The Green Hornet, who followed the police to the bomber, trails the murderer back to Sherman, and discovers the politician is actually a Commie spy!

In addition, he learns Professor Baldwin is a former Communist now working for the US, and the Russkies want him brought back behind the Iron Curtain!

When The Green Hornet enters the meeting, the assassin tries to shoot him, but the Hornet KOs the killer with his gas gun.

The Hornet then makes a deal to grab the professor and turn him over to Sherman for $5,000. (It was 1953, remember?)

As a free bonus to Sherman, he'll "get rid" of the unconscious murderer (whom he turns over to the police along with the murder weapon.)

Curiously, the Green Hornet radio show ended in 1952...but this issue of Dell's Four Color Comics (#496) was published in...wait for it...1953!
Note: The second-to-last page of the tale is black-and-white rather than four-color because it appeared on the inside back cover (Both the front and back inside covers were black and white to save money).
The final page of the story was the comic's back cover...in four-color, of course!
The radio episode the comic story is derived from aired 10/17/52 during the final season of the show.
It's available, digitally-remastered, on the Radio Spirits cd collection Green Hornet: Endpoint (which features the final episodes of the show, yet uses the cover of the Hornet's first comic book as it's cover), which you can order below.
And, you can listen to a un-restored version of the episode...

Proof of Treason

(Click on the title to open player in a new window)

The Green Hornet and Kato didn't appear again in comics until early 1967, when the first issue of their Gold Key series, based on the tv show starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee, was published.

Please Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Green Hornet: EndPoint

(which includes the radio episode this comic story is adapted from!)