''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics''.

Publication history

It was launched a month after '' Blue Ribbon Comics'' #1 (Nov. 1942) with an editorial page exclaiming '' 'Let's all whoop it up together for TOP-NOTCH....THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC BOOK!' ''. The series was edited by

Harry Shorten Harry Shorten (1914–1991) was an American writer, editor, and book publisher best known for the syndicated gag cartoon ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', as well as his work with Archie Comics, and his long association with Archie's publishers Louis Si ...

. The format of ''Top-Notch Comics'' was very similar to ''Blue Ribbon Comics''; 64 pages of short strips, initially featuring a mixture of science-fiction stories such as "Scott Rand in the Worlds of Time" (#1–2) written by

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

as '

Eando Binder Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando nam ...

' and drawn by his brother Jack Binder; and "Streak Chandler on Mars" (#4–8), the crime story "Lucky Coyne, Undercover Man" (#1) and true crime detection stories in "Manhunters" by future

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the fi ...

creator

Jack Cole (artist) Jack Ralph Cole (December 14, 1914 – August 13, 1958) was an American cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man, and his cartoons for ''Playboy'' magazine. He was posthumously inducted into the comic book indu ...

(#1–3); and a number of adventure tales, "Swift of the Secret Service" (#1–3), "The Mystic" (#1–3), "Dick Storm" (#2–8) and "Stacey Knight, M.D." (#2–4).http://www.comics.org/series/125/ ''Top-Notch Comics'', Archie, MLJ imprint, 1939 Series] at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. Furthering the similarities with ''Blue Ribbon Comics'', the medieval Knights of the Round Table tale "

Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Si ...

" by Lim Streeter (#5–11), mirrored the ''Green Falcon'' series in that title. Early issues of ''Top-Notch Comics'' also contained text stories, as all comic books did through the early 1960s to satisfy U.S. Postal Service requirements for magazine rates. A few short humor strips also featured in the first four issues, "Lonesome Luke", "Impy" by

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip '' Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film '' Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

and a rhyming funny animal strip "Pokey Forgets to Remember" (all in issue #1), while "Noodle" by Quincy featured in six issues (#2–7). The "Impy" 1-page strip was the only reprint during the ''Top-Notch Comics'' run. No single character lasted for the whole run of ''Top-Notch Comics''/''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'', although the costumed hero the Wizard – subtitled "The Man With the Super-Brain", which began in issue #1, ran until #27 (May 1942). A number of other costumed heroes accompanied The Wizard with long runs in ''Top-Notch Comics'', " Bob Phantom – The Scourge of the Underworld" (#3-25), initially by

Irv Novick Irving Novick (; April 11, 1916 – October 15, 2004) was an American comics artist who worked almost continuously from 1939 until the 1990s. Career A graduate of the National Academy of Design, Irv Novick got his start in the workshop of Harry " ...

but later written by editor Harry Shorten and drawn by Bernie Klein, had made two appearances in ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' prior to transferring to ''Top-Notch Comics''. The superhero the " Firefly" made 19 appearances (#8–26) while "Kardak the Mystic Magician", by the Shorten/Klein team lasted 25 issues.

Black Hood The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...

, who appeared from issue #9 (Oct. 1940) until the last issue of the renamed ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'' (#45, June 1944), was the longest running character in the title, displacing The Wizard to feature on every cover from #9. MLJ also introduced a wide range of long-lasting adventure characters early on in the series; "Air Patrol" (#1–27), re-titled "Wings Johnson of Air Patrol" from #3 (Feb. 1940), about an American flyer who enlists in the British

R.A.F. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

before America enters

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, was written and drawn by

, and later by Jo Blaire and Ed Smalle, "The West Pointer", later renamed "Keith Cornell, West Pointer" (#7–27) which followed Keith Cornell through

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

and into various theaters of war, "Fran Fraser"', about a girl photographer who travelled the world on adventure assignments, by Irv Novick and Joe Blair (#9–24) and a boxing story, "The St Louis Kid" (#14–26) with artwork mainly by Bob Montana best known for his work on

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

. This line-up gave ''Top-Notch Comics'' a roster of characters that changed very little over the life of the title, outlasting its companion ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' by a year – over two if the revamp to ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'' is included. MLJ ran a reader-participation competition in ''Top-Notch Comics'' #6 (June 1940), offering 100 prizes to readers who completed a coupon listing their favorite characters.First prize – $10, 2nd prize – $5, 3rd–12th – 'a fully colored original drawing by the artist suitable for framing of your favorite character in Top-Notch comics', 13th–22nd – $1, 23rd–100th – a year's free subscription to 'Top-Notch Comics' (actually worth more than the previous prize) Another feature unusual in early superhero strips was used several times by MLJ. In ''Top-Notch Comics'' #5 (May 1940), MLJs ''Pep Comics'' character the Shield guests in the Wizard story, while The Wizard appeared in the "Keith Cornell, West Pointer" story. This cross-over gimmick was repeated in #7 by The Shield and The Wizard again (although only in a 3-panel cameo). This time the appearance was designed to set up the announcement of a new MLJ title, '' Shield-Wizard Comics'' #1, advertised in the issue.

''Top-Notch Laugh Comics/Laugh Comix''

In a change of editorial direction, from issue #28 (July 1942) the story emphasis changed to humor strips and the title became ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'' to reflect this. All the long-running adventure series from ''Top-Notch Comics'' ended between issue #24 (Feb. 1942) and #27 (May 1942), leaving only Black Hood and Kardak the Mystic Magician as non-humor strips in the title; although Kardak only lasted until issue #30 (Nov. 1942). This change of emphasis to humor strips had been presaged in ''Top-Notch Comics'' #25 (March 1942) when "Snoopy McGook, the Soapy Sleuth" joined the roster. From issue #28 he was joined by "Pokey Oakey", "Senor Siesta", the boxing humor strip "Canvas Back Corkle", "Percy The Three Monkey-teers" and, from issue #29 (Sept. 1942), "Gloomy Gus – the Homeless Ghost".http://www.comics.org/series/288/ ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'', Archie, MLJ imprint, 1942 Series] at the

One of these new humor strips, "Dotty and Ditto" by Bill Woggon (best known for his "

Katy Keene Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the bo ...

" comic) was unusual as it featured a continuing storyline as opposed to single-issue scripts. A peculiar effect of MLJ retaining Black Hood, one of their most popular characters, on the cover of ''Top-Notch Laugh Comics'' was that he shared the covers in humorous situations with the other featured characters, despite maintaining the dark, violent tone of his previous stories within the issues. Despite the switch to a humor theme, ''Top-Notch Comics'' first went to a bi-monthly schedule with #43 (Feb. 1944), and then was retitled ''Laugh Comix'' with issue #46 (Summer 1944) for three more issues before being canceled with #48. (''Laugh Comix'' is not to be confused with the later '' Laugh Comics'' series).

Series features

* "

The Wizard Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to: * Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic * Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...

" – superhero (#1–27) titled 'The Wizard and Roy the Super-Boy' from #7 * "Scott Rand in the Worlds of Time" – science-fiction (#1–2) * "Swift of the Secret Service" – spy/detective (#1–3) * "Air Patrol" – (#1–27) titled "Wings Johnson of Air Patrol" from #4 * "The Mystic" – adventure/crime (#1–3) * "The West Pointer" – adventure/war (#1–26) titled "Keith Cornell, West Pointer" from #7 * "Manhunters" – true crime detection cases (#1–3) * "Dick Storm" – adventure (#2–8) * "Stacey Knight M.D." – adventure/crime (2–3) * "Bob Phantom – The Scourge of the Underworld" – superhero (#3–25) * "Moore of the Mounted" – crime (#4) * "Streak Chandler on Mars" – science fiction (#4–8) * "Kardak the Mystic Magician" – costumed hero (#4–28) * "Galahad" – medieval knight (#5–11) * "Shanghai Sheridan" – adventure (#5–8) * "The Firefly" – superhero (#8–26) * "Black Hood" – costumed hero (#9–27) * "Fran Fraser" – adventure (#9–24) * "The St Louis Kid" – boxing/adventure (14–26) * "Dotty and Ditto" – humor (#27–45) * " Suzie" – humor (#28–48)

Footnotes

References

* '' 'Comics: Between the Panels' '' by Mike Richardson and Steve Duin (Dark Horse, 1998), * Overstreet,Robert M., ed. ''Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'', 38th Edition (Gemstone Publishing, 2008) * Thompson, Maggie, Brent Frankenhoff and Peter Bickford, eds. ''Comic Buyer's Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books'' (Krause Publications, 2008)

External links

{{Archie Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United States Archie Comics titles 1939 comics debuts 1942 comics endings Golden Age comics titles