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According to a lawsuit over the creation of Ace Periodicals comic books during this era, the material in the publisher’s earliest comics, including Sure-Fire Comics #1, was the creation of a comic production studio run by Patrick Lamar. And it has also emerged that several of the stories in this issue were based on plots from past Ace Periodicals pulps. While Flash Lightning and his origin are original to the comic, the villains and the rest of the story’s plot in this issue come from the May 1938 Ace pulp Captain Hazzard. Captain Hazzard’s “Python Men of the Lost City” become “Reptile Men” in the Flash Lightning story. Even more closely, well-known Ace pulp hero Secret Agent X becomes X, the Phantom Fed in the comic book line. Regardless, from this beginning, the Ace Periodicals comic book line took on a distinctive identity of its own, and you can get a copy of the rare first Ace comic book with Sure-Fire Comics #1 (Ace, 1940) Condition: FR up for auction in the 2022 August 14-15 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122233 at Heritage Auctions.
The character Flash Lightning was created by Robert Turner and Harry Lucey. A superhero with a broad range of lightning-powered abilities, Flash Lightning’s origin takes some fairly obvious inspiration from Fawcett’s Captain Marvel. But it is arguably even more similar to the origin of Dr. Fate, and Sure Fire Comics #1 pre-dated Dr. Fate’s first-told origin in More Fun Comics #67 by over a year. Robert Morgan was an American studying in Egypt who encountered an ancient Egyptian figure known as “The Old Man of the Pyramids”, who taught him ancient arts and sciences, and gave him “the Amulet of Annihilation, the weapon of the forces of right.”
Sure-Fire Comics was renamed Lightning Comics with issue #4 and lasted until issue #6. Lightning Comics was then rebooted with a new #1 later in 1941. While Flash Lightning’s adventures were far more standard superhero fare than Dr. Fate’s, the saga made references to Egyptian themes from the obvious “lightning pyramid” symbol on his chest, to the Mummy supervillain that was introduced in issue #5. DC Comics reportedly objected to the “Flash in the character name “Flash Lightning”, and the character’s name was shortened to simply “Lightning” with issue #6. The series was rebooted with volume 2 #1 in 1941, where he was renamed “Lash” Lightning and the character also appeared in Ace’s Four Favorites title. Volume 3 #1, the final issue of the title, introduced Lightning Girl.
One of the pillars of the Ace Periodicals comic book line, you can get a copy of the rare first Ace comic book with Sure-Fire Comics #1 (Ace, 1940) Condition: FR as well as Sure-Fire Comics #3 (Ace, 1940) Condition: FR up for auction in the 2022 August 14-15 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122233 at Heritage Auctions.
Sure-Fire Comics #1 (Ace, 1940) Condition: FR. First appearance of Flash Lightning. Harry Lucey and Martin Naydel art. Spine split, back cover detached, staples replaced, stains on cover. Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $295.
Sure-Fire Comics #3 (Ace, 1940) Condition: FR. Flash Lightning cover. The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books rates it an “8” (“rare”) in its Scarcity Index. Spine roll, spine splitting, page chews. Overstreet 2022 GD 2.0 value = $129.
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