Gotham City's Hero and An Atomic Power Ring, Wow Comics at Auction

Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: ed herron, Fawcett Publications, jack kirby

Gotham City's Hero and An Atomic Power Ring, Wow Comics at Auction

Wow Comics #1 from Fawcett Publications featured a caped crusader in Gotham City, and a power-ring wielding boy of the atom.

Published Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:28:10 -0500
by Mark Seifert
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Article Summary

• Wow Comics #1 is an early Fawcett key, notable before Mary Marvel and rich with Golden Age superhero history.
• Mister Scarlet, a Gotham City vigilante by Jack Kirby and Ed Herron, gives Wow Comics a dark pulp flavor.
• Atom Blake, the Boy Wizard, blends atomic-age concepts with a magic ring, making Wow Comics #1 especially unusual.
• With just 24 CGC census copies and few high-grade examples, Wow Comics #1 remains a scarce Fawcett standout.

Fawcett Publications' Wow Comics series is best known for its regular feature Mary Marvel beginning in Wow Comics #9, but the first eight issues of the series are historically fascinating as well. The cover star of many of these issues is Mister Scarlett, a fairly typical caped crusader based in Gotham City in these early issues who was created by the legendary Jack Kirby and writer Ed Herron. But another regular character in the series, Atom Blake, the Boy Wizard is equally as interesting. The beginning of an important and overlooked series, there's a Wow Comics #1 (Fawcett Publications, 1940) CGC Apparent VF 8.0 copy for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions.

Mister Scarlet is described as "an underworld legend, a myth who strikes with merciless reality and brings justice to those who escape the law through its legal loopholes" and has some obvious inspirations among previous urban vigilantes from pulps and comics including Batman, Atom Blake appears to draw some inspiration from another DC Comics character — the Green Lantern. Atom gets his Dr Manhattan-like array of god-like powers from his father's experiments in exposing him to radiation in order to make him super-human. The story presents a fairly deep dive into the notion of atomic energy for a comic book of this era, and he may be the first character of this type. But that's only half of the story. Only by wielding a special metal formed into a ring can Atom Blake fully unlock his powers. An inscription on the ring reads, "If the man in need or by evil oppressed can this message read, I will grant his request."

While Jack Kirby is, of course, one of the legends of American comics, Ed Herron is deserving of much more attention than he gets. France Edward Herron (1917-1966) got his start working for Harry A. Chesler in 1937, reportedly with titles such as Star Ranger Funnies. He then met Joe Simon and Jack Kirby while working for Victor Fox in 1939. This led Simon and Kirby to hire Herron, and, according to later accounts by both men, Herron played a role in creating the Red Skull.  Herron also co-created Captain Marvel Jr. with Mac Raboy for Whiz Comics #25.

A bondage cover by the legendary C.C. Beck rounds out the picture of this underappreciated 1940 Fawcett key issue.  This one is much more difficult to get than you'd think, particularly in high grade.  There are only 24 copies on the CGC Census, with the Edgar Church / Mile High CGC 9.4 being the sole Universal copy above CGC 7.5.  Given that, there might never be a chance to get a better-looking copy than this CGC Apparent VF 8.0 copy for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions.

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