Edmond Hamilton was a comic book writer in the 1940s to 1960s. He wasn’t alone. Julius Schwartz, Mort Weisinger, Otto Binder, Alfred Bester, Henry Kuttner, Manly Wade Wellman (who called them “Squinkies”), Frank Belknap Long, and Gardner F. Fox wrote or edited for the Pulps and then the comics. Harry Harrison started in the comics then switched to Science Fiction. All that SF content, especially in the DC universe came from the Pulps.
Edmond Hamilton got a taste of comics when his Captain Future and the Space Emperor was adapted for Exciting Comics #1, April 1940 as “Beast Plague of Jupiter”. The author who adapted the novel is not known but art was supplied by Otto Binder’s older brother, Jack Binder (who used the pseudonym Max Plaisted). Getting the rights to do the adaptation was simple enough. Ned Pines owned both Captain Future and Exciting Comics.
Ed’s first comic script he wrote was for Batman #11 and then Detective Comics #91, but he would not join the DC crew until the end of 1946. In between 1942 and 1946, he wrote for the Black Terror character for Pines. These comics were wartime strips and their racism is quite unpleasant today.
Many people acknowledge Hamilton’s comic book writing past, but no one every seems to give a good listing of what he wrote. Here is my attempt at a list.
“Bandits in Toyland” (Batman #11, June-July 1942)
“The Case of the Practical Joker” (Detective Comics #91, September 1944)
“The Master’s Meteor” (America’s Best Comics #14, June 1945)
“One Corpse Too Many” (America’s Best Comics #15, October 1945)
“A Japanese Plot to Poison…” (Black Terror #12, November 1945)
“The Connisseur of Crime” (Green Lantern #18, Winter 1945)
“The Black Terror Faces the Most Dangerous Assignment of His Life” (The Black Terror #13, January 1946)
“The Ration Stamp Racket” (America’s Best Comics #16, January 1946)
“Prisoner in a Chinese Laundry” (America’s Best Comics #17, March 1946)
“Men Turned to Animals…” (The Black Terror #14, April 1946) Here Ed uses one of his favorite ideas, men who become subhuman. In this instance, it is mind control not a devolution ray.
“Death in Shanghai” (America’s Best Comics #18, June 1946)
1947 would see Hamilton working on DC’s top comics, Batman, Detective Comics, Action Comics, and World’s Finest. He would continue to do so until 1966.
“Peril in Greece” (Batman #38, December 1946-January 1947)
“The Crime Parade” (Detective Comics #124, June 1947)
“Pigmies in Giantland!” (Detective Comics #127, September 1947)
“The Man Who Could See the Future” (Detective Comics #133, March 148) reminiscent of the 1930 story in Amazing Stories.
“Superman For a Day! (Action Comics #119, April 1948)
“Killer For Hire” (World’s Finest Comics #34, May-June 1948)
“Superman in Valhalla” (Superman #52, May-June 1948) Another Hamilton chestnut, similar to “A Yank From Valhalla” (Startling Stories, January 1941).
“The True Story of Frankenstein” (Detective Comics #135, May 1948)
“Crime By the Book” (World’s Finest Comics #35, July-August 1948)
Hamilton’s production for 1949 was almost all DC comic scripts. Of fiction he wrote “The Star Kings” and “Alien Earth”, two of his best works.
“If There Were No Superman” (World’s Finest #38, January-February 1949)
“The Fatal Forecast” (World’s Finest #39, March-April 1949)
“The Menace of the Machine-Men” (Superman #57, March-April 1949)
“Batman and the Vikings” (Batman #52, April-May 1949) This one is not confirmed so only possibly Hamilton. Sounds like something he would write.
“The Case of Human Statues” (Action Comics #135, August 1949)
“The Way to Stop Superboy” (Adventure Comics #144, September 1949)
“The Man with the Charmed Life” (Action Comics #137, October 1949)
“The Holiday Hijackers” (Adventure Comics #145, October 1949)
“Superman Scoop Parade” (Action Comics #138, November 1949)
“The Substitute Superboy” (Adventure Comics #146, November 1949)
Next time we will look at 1950. Thanks to the Great Comic Database for art credits.
