Black Owl

The Black Owl is the name of two superhero characters. Both appeared in the Prize Publications title Prize Comics in the 1940s.

In 1940, Prize Publications, which was already established as a producer of pulp magazines, began publishing superhero comic books with a new title, Prize Comics. The first issue featured "K the Unknown", whose name was changed to the Black Owl in issue #2 (April 1940). The lead character, like many in superhero comics at the time, was a bored, wealthy sophisticate who fought crime to pass the time.

In issues #7-9, the Black Owl stories were written and drawn by legends-to-be Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. This was Kirby's first superhero feature.

In issue #24 (Oct. 1942), the Black Owl was part of a large, one-time crossover story called "Utter Failure!!" in which a group of heroes, including Yank & Doodle, Doctor Frost and the Green Lama, fought together against Frankenstein's monster.

In issue #34 (Sept. 1943), the identity of the Black Owl was passed on from Doug Danville to Walt Walters, a character who was already established as the father of Yank & Doodle; the two series were merged. In issue #64 (June 1947), the father was sidelined by means of a bullet, and the focus was almost entirely on Yank & Doodle.

In Superhero Comics of the Golden Age, Mike Benton says that making a connection between these two features was a clever move:

"By making the Black Owl the father of Yank and Doodle, the editors found a logical way to combine their best heroes into one popular feature with intriguing results. For the first year after assuming the mantle of the Black Owl, Walt Walters never told his sons his secret identity. After they learn their father is the Black Owl (Prize Comics, September 1944), the boys and dad are just one happy crime-fighting family — a healthy outlet for any father-son or sibling rivalry".

With issue #69 (April 1948), Prize Comics became Prize Comics Western, and everything that didn't fit the new Western format — including Yank, Doodle, and the Black Owl — was discarded. The three characters have since fallen into the public domain.^{[citation needed]}