[Robb_K]

Positronic1, I sincerely doubt that this particular issue was an MLJ production, even though its insides are all reprints of MLJ's "Top Notch-Laugh Comics" and "Laugh Comics stories. The Black Hood comes from Top Notch Laugh # 42, and all the comedy stories come from Laugh Comix #46. As far as I know, MLJ never had a series of Pirate-related comics. Just as Green Publishing's "Liberty Comics", "Roly Poly Comics", and "Atomic Comics" printed several reprints of early 1940s MLJ comic books' insides, and just commissioned artists to draw new front covers for them, I would guess that The so-called "Pershing Square Publishing Co." was a bargain-basement publisher, who bought old comic book art printing plates at warehouse and printing company going-out-of-business sales (like I.W./Super Comics, Norlen Publishing, and perhaps Green Publishing did. Such Fly-by-night publishers used various publishing company names, and often the address of their printer, and, like Black Swan, didn't even place a date on their indicia, IF the even bothered to print that information, which was required (at least the publisher name and address was). Green's "Liberty" and "Roly Poly" Comics printed material that was still being printed in MLJ series, like "Top-Notch", "Top-Notch Laugh", "Zip", and "Jackpot" Comics. But they put new covers on them, and their company names and addresses show no relationship, whatsoever to MLJ's. I'm guessing that "Pershing Square Publishing Co." paid an artist to draw the pirate-related front cover for this "Laugh Comix"/"Top-Notch Laugh Comics" reprint, because they did want MLJ's bosses to find out someone was infringing on their copyrights, and would then sue them for damages. There was no entry for any
Pershing Square Publishing Co. on Grand Comics Database, and Black Swan Comics is stored with MLJ (I think, erroneously).

Link to the book: Black Swan Comics 1