Adventure Comics - "Manhunter"!

Next up in my "A 'Slight' History of Golden Age Comic Books" look at the heroes of National (DC) Periodical's "Adventure Comics" is a lesser known character in the DC universe, but oddly enough, one that's been used more than you might think, "The Manhunter"!

The feature "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" began in Adventure #58 (1940), but he wasn't a costumed adventurer as we're spotlighting here, but rather an investigator who helped the police with tough cases. Running around in a suit and a tie stopping the bad-guys like so many in the early golden age.

In issue #72 however, he got a make-over courtesy of the great Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and a snazzy red and blue outfit with a very unusual full face mask, and became "The Manhunter"! Um...kind of... The character's name was now Rick Nelson and NOT Paul Kirk...until 2 issues later in #74 when they changed his name back, but kept the costume and new feats of heroic derring-do!


Simon and Kirby only stayed with the character until #80 and the character fell to other staffers. I don't have any of the Kirby stories from this era, but here's a couple of cool Kirby Adventure Comics covers I did latch on to!

And even one without the funky mask!

The feature only lasted until #92, when wartime paper shortages cut back the magazine from 64 pages to 52 and the character wasn't seen again until he was ret-conned by Kirby himself in the early 70's during the bronze Age of comics, and that's not what we're talking about here, now is it.

Here's the only golden age Manhunter story I have, done by an unknown artist and writer. Still good stuff though, and a rare glimpse into this little used character with a cool mask.

Enjoy!

Meanwhile in the back room at "Ye Olde Drink Hole"...

Talk to you soon.