When it comes to adventure, sci-fi and super heroes, the early 1930s were not a time of plenty. The early years of the Great Depression were likely more about survival than creativity for most people. In terms of heroes, that would all change in 1938, but this post is about what led up to that seminal year.
Still, a few notable characters emerged, some of which have already joined the public domain thanks to lapsed copyright, some of which are still protected and therefore will enter the public domain between 2026 and 2033.
All of this thin crop will one day soon be featured in the ranks of Public Domain Super Heroes.
Let's have a look!
1930 gave us one of Robert E. Howard's lesser known heroes, the dark and sombre chieftan of the Picts, Bran Mak Morn. Mak Morn appeared in only a few stories, debuting in 1930's Kings of the Night, a quirky Howard tale that brought Kull of Atlantis magically forward several thousand years to lead Mak Morn's allied force of Vikings into battle. Mak Morn returned in Worms of the Earth in 1932, the character entirely unchanged from his appearance in 1930, so as of January 1, 2026, Bran Mak Morn enters the public domain.
Where will Public Domain Super Heroes use him?
House of Justice? Unlikely, though he may meet some House of Justice types in his adventures.
House of Crom? Late winter or early spring of 2026, Bran Mak Morn will prowl the House of Crom. Watch this space.
House of Entropy? Unlikely, but he could. My sci-fi characters and concepts exist throughout human history, so I rule nothing out.
House of Dread? If you've read Worms of the Earth, you know the answer to that. If not, you should. In the dark.
In 1931, a couple of pulp icons debuted. One on the radio and one in something that we're rapidly losing in the 21st Century, the newspaper. Both will enter the public domain in 2027.
The Shadow began life as the host of a radio show, but the character proved so popular, he was soon retooled into his own show. Novels and comics have been produced regularly ever since.
House of Justice? Yep.
House of Crom? Not likely. More creepy justice than buckling the swash.
House of Entropy? Only the Shadow knows.
House of Dread? Absolutely.
Dick Tracy debuted in the 'made up for comic books' sounding Daily Mirror newspaper. With a rogues gallery of weird villains, the yellow trench coat and wrist radio took the world by storm. Warren Beatty will cry on January 1, 2027 when Dick Tracy enters the public domain for all to use.
House of Justice? Absolutely.
House of Crom? If I could figure out a way, I'd do it. A long shot.
House of Entropy? Hmm. Dick Tracy in Space....
House of Dread? Have you seen some of the villain designs from this IP? Shudder.
1932 has one entry on the list. And it's a doozy.
Conan the Barbarian. Technically, he's public domain in Canada (life plus 50 years at the time, 1936 + 50 = 1986) but 2028 will be 95 years since The Phoenix On The Sword first appeared in Weird Tales. Thankfully, almost everything about Conan is in that first tale, so he will stride mightily into the public domain for once and all on January 1, 2028.
House of Justice? Unlikely. He'll meet denizens of that House, no doubt, but 'Justice' isn't his major concern.
House of Crom? Um...your throne, sir?
House of Entropy? No. Conan in Space is not happening. He might run into sci-fi adjacent storylines and characters, but he's not a sci-fi charactrer.
House of Dread? Howard wrote tons of Conan vs. monster of the week stuff. Absolutely going to honour that!
1933 was a good year for pulp heroes. We got one of the all time great adventure heroes and his crew, one of the first hero/sidekick immortal pairings and the character I love most from before the advent of the 'super-hero' that Superman represents.
Doc Savage debuted in prose, not comics. Elements of his character, coincidentally (or not) are evident in Superman, Batman and many others. The Man of Bronze is in the dna of a LOT of the characters we know and love.
House of Justice? Absolutely.
House of Crom? Sure. He's a modern swashbuckler.
House of Entropy? You bet. Doc Savage belongs in the same breath as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, even if he's originally written as working in more 'real world' stories.
House of Dread? No reason why not.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto debuted on the radio. That's 1930s tv if you're not familiar with the concept.
House of Justice? Hi Ho Silver!
House of Crom? Not so much. Six guns are not swords...
House of Entropy? Oooh....
House of Dread? There were ghosts and vampires in the old west, I'm sure.
The Spider. Ah, my Dexter of the Depression. While he would eventually don cape and cowl, he never forgot his early roots. The Spider kills. Without mercy or compunction. He marks his victims with his Spider mark from a ring. Something the less serial killer-ish Phantom would copy a few years later.
My version of The Spider, the untrademark disputed The Sizzling Spider, is one of my first reworked characters. Rikki Wentworth takes the lead in the House of Justice, debuting in 2025's Dr. Satan and the Element of Evil. She will enter the public domain on January 1, 2121. Or 70 years after I die, in Canada.
House of Justice? Dr. Satan and the Element of Evil.
House of Crom? Unlikely. She'd get blood on those spectacular boots.
House of Entropy? Captain Midnight already had a cameo appearance in The Mongo Machine, so why not?
House of Dread. She'll be quaking in those spectacular boots. Then she'll kick the monster in the face.
1934, in the teeth of the depression, saw the debut of arguably sci-fi's greatest hero of the first half of the 20th Century. There was also a stage magician who fights crime alongside his African sidekick, and for one very short moment, a red headed woman warrior strode the stage.
Flash Gordon exploded onto the pop-culture scene and soon rivalled (or eclipsed, depending on your perspective) Buck Rogers in popularity. Comic books, movie serials and eventually books and tv shows followed.
House of Justice? Sure. He's a good guy and might meet some super hero types along the way.
House of Crom? I can see pairing him with John Carter in a swords and ray guns swash buckler.
House of Entropy? Um...your chair's right this way, sir.
House of Dread? Scary stuff out there. In space.
Mandrake and Lothar. I love the idea of a stage magician crime fighter. Lothar, as originally written, is a bit problematic, but I am confident he'll be a great character once I get rid of the 1930s casual racism.
House of Justice? Yep.
House of Crom? Unlikely. His swords all collapse when he thrusts them into the box.
House of Entropy? Mandrake in Space? Not out of the question.
House of Dread? Oh, I think stage magic and creepy horror stuff go very well together.
And then there's Robert E. Howard's Red Sonya. She appeared once in 1934's The Shadow of the Vulture and thanks to the publisher folding before they could renew the copyright, she's public domain. I've reimagined her as "Red SonYa of Rogatino" and she leads the House of Dread novel, Red SonYa of Rogatino The Shadow of Tanaghaara.
House of Justice? She's not exactly a super hero and justice isn't her first concern. She'll meet Justice affiliates, no doubt.
House of Crom? Oh, yes.
House of Entropy? Sci-fi adjacent stories and characters along the way? Check.
House of Dread? My first effort in the horror genre.
1935 didn't make much of an impact on the pop culture landscape, with one notable exception. The movie, The Bride of Frankenstein, introduced the world to the most iconic, original movie monster of the black and white era. All the other well known monsters were direct derivations of literature or folklore, but The Bride was entirely made for the movies and she still resonates.
House of Justice? You never know. She's been a hero and a villain in multiple incarnations.
House of Crom? Put a sword in her hand and stand back.
House of Entropy? It's where she comes from.
House of Dread? See above.
!936 might be considered the warm up to the main event. Two characters who embody the 'super-hero' ethos hit comic strips and radio that year, close enough to the start of the Comic Book Golden Age that they could probably see it coming.
The Phantom, Lee Falk's first truly 'costumed' hero debuted that year. Dedicated to fighting piracy since the 1500s, the legacy of the Phantom passes from father to son across hundreds of years.
House of Justice? Pirates beware.
House of Crom? Absolutely, there's every chance the Phantom could meet up and adventure with a swashbuckler, in any lawless age.
House of Entropy? He's a legacy character. The father to son thing means he's around in the age of swords and in the age of rocketry.
House of Dread? Horror in the jungle? Absolutely!
The Green Hornet and Kato, like the Lone Ranger and Tonto before them, debuted on radio before leaping to comics and screens big and small.
House of Justice? Yup.
House of Crom? Unlikely. Unless...
House of Entropy? Hmm....
House of Dread? Why not? Horror menaces everyone, some day.
The 1936 serial, The Undersea Kingdom, was built to compete with Flash Gordon. They hired stunt player Ray Corrigan, tagged him with the moniker "Crash" and put him in a metal Speedo. Gladiators, tanks, Atlantis, funny named villains, submarines...
House of Justice? Sure. Crash is a good guy.
House of Crom? Metal speedo, gladiator roots. Check.
House of Entropy? Crash stars in the House of Entropy short story, The Mongo Machine and will headline his own tale in The Marine Moon of Mongo, coming January, 2026.
House of Dread? Atlantis based horror stories...why not?
Finally, the calm before the storm. 1937 gave us only one notable character that fits the Public Domain Super Heroes mould. Slam Bradley, a hard boiled detective, debuted in Detective Comics #1. Two years later, in Detective comics #27, the World's Greatest Detective would debut in that same magazine and Gotham City would never be the same.
House of Justice? Absolutely. I love characters like Bradley who have a tiny footprint. Plenty of wiggle room to re-imagine them.
House of Crom? Yeah, not a lot of call for the detective type here.
House of Entropy? They do need detectives in space...
House of Dread? Cops and monsters. You betcha.
Next time, I'll tell you the tale of the year an alien landed on our shores...and changed the face of adventure for ever.
Visit my site and check out the revamped public domain timeline here.
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