Category: Crime Comics

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Gil Kane’s UNDERSEA Agent


By Gil Kane, Steve Skeates, Gardner Fox & various (IDW)
ISBN: 978-1-63140-444-3 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Outstanding Action Adventure Comics… 9/10

April 6th 2026 marks the centenary of Gil Kane’s birth. As we might all be dead or scavenging in ruins and rubble by then, here’s a little something I was planning on adding to a month of Kane creations then…

The 1960s was the era when all assorted facets of “cool-for-kids” finally started to coalesce into a comprehensive assault on our minds – and our parents’ pockets. TV, movies, comics, bubble-gum cards and toys all began concertedly feeding off each other, building a unified and combined fantasy-land no kid could resist. The history of Wally Wood’s legendary comics Camelot is convoluted, and once the mayfly-like lifetime of the Tower Comics line folded, not especially pretty: wrapped up in legal wrangling and lots of petty back-biting. None of that diminishes the fact that the far-too brief run of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was a benchmark of quality and sheer bravura fun for fans of both a still-reawakening superhero genre and the popular media’s spy-chic obsession.

In the early 1960s James Bond movie mania was going from strength to strength, with action and glamour utterly transforming the formerly understated espionage vehicle. The buzz was infectious and soon A Man like Flint and Matt Helm were carving out their own pieces of the action, even as the gogglebox shanghaied the entire trope with the irresistible Man from U.N.C.L.E. (which premiered in September 1964), bringing the genre into living rooms across the world.

Before long, wildly creative narrative art maverick Wood was approached by veteran MLJ/ Archie Comics editor Harry Shorten to create a line of characters for a new distribution-chain funded publishing outfit: Tower Comics. Woody called on some pals – coincidentally many of the biggest names in the industry – to produce material in a broad range of genres; as well as T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, spun-off Dynamo & NoMan and adjunct title U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent, there was the magnificent war-comic Fight the Enemy and youth-oriented comedy Tippy Teen. Samm Schwartz and Dan DeCarlo handled the comedy book – which outlasted all the others – whilst Wood, Larry Ivie, Len Brown and others crafted landmark/benchmark tales for the industry’s top talents to illustrate in truly innovative style. It didn’t hurt that all Tower titles were in the beloved-but-rarely-seen 80-Page Giant format: there was a huge amount to read in every issue!

Tapping into the Swinging Sixties’ twin entertainment zeitgeists – subsea action and spy sagas – Tower supplemented their highly popular acronymic star-turn, The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents) with a United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis: an aquatic narrative vehicle deploying U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent against crooks, aliens, monsters, enemy agents and the inimical forces of the environment they operated in.

Unlike its dry-land counterpart series, however, U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent began with their strong, solid stories (by D. J. Arneson, Steve Skeates & Don Segall) being illustrated in a traditional manner by industry veteran Ray Bailey – albeit with occasional stints from Mike Sekowsky, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, John Giunta, Frank Bolle, Manny Stallman & Sheldon Mayer.

According to this collection’s appreciative Foreword by Greg Goldstein and reiterated in Michael Uslan’s fact-filled Introduction, that old school stuff didn’t sit well with kids and in issue #3 Gil Kane moved over from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, coming aboard to inject his unique, hyper-energetic human dynamism to the watered-down project.

Just a personal aside here: Although I bow to no one in my admiration for Kane and applaud this superb hardback compilation of his UA contributions, I also adore that other stuff – especially Bailey’s workmanlike, Caniff-inspired renditions – and eagerly anticipate the day someone finally gathers the entirety of the 6-issue run in one commemorative tome…

This superb book, however – compiled in 2015 to celebrate the astounding transformation in Kane’s own artistic endeavours which sprang from his brief time at Tower – reprints the breakthrough material which led to his sudden maturation into a world-class Auteur.

At that distant time Kane was a top-rated illustrator but would soon become one of the pivotal players in the development of the US comics industry, and indeed the art form itself. Working as an artist and, after this, an increasingly more effective and influential one, he has drawn for many companies since the 1940s, stamping his unique style on superheroes, action, war, mystery, romance, movie adaptations and most importantly, perhaps, Westerns and Science-Fiction tales.

In the late 1950s he was one of editor Julius Schwartz’s key artists in regenerating the superhero. Yet by the mid-1960s, at the top of his profession, this relentlessly revolutionary and creative man felt so confined by the juvenile strictures of the industry that he dreamed of bold new ventures which would jettison the editorial and format bondage of comic books for new visions and media.

In U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent #3-6 (spanning June 1966 – March 1967) he was allowed to ink his own pencils for the first time in decades and encouraged to experiment with composition, form and layout – and write, too – and Kane discovered a graphic freedom which opened up the way he told stories and led directly to his independent masterpieces His Name is Savage and Blackmark…

(His Name Is Savage was an adult-oriented black-&-white magazine about a cold and ruthless super-spy in the Bond/Helm/Flint mould; a precursor in tone, treatment and subject matter of many of today’s adventure titles. Blackmark not only ushered in the comic book age of Sword and Sorcery, but also became one of the first Graphic Novels. Technically, as the series was commissioned by fantasy publisher Ballantine as 8 volumes, it was also envisioned as America’s first comics Limited Series.)

So what have we here? Lieutenant Davy Jones is the U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent, a skilled diver who, whilst working at the international science lab Atlantis, had an accident which gave him magnetic powers that had to be controlled and contained by a hi-tech belt. His boss is affably brilliant boffin Professor Weston, and Jones had a young, impetuous apprentice seaman as sidekick. Skooby Doolittle joined him in tackling monsters, amok experiments and a remarkable number of crooks, mad masterminds and spies who thought pickings were easier under the waves…

Kane’s contributions commence with ‘The Will Warp’ – from UA #3 and written by Skeates – wherein our dashing heroes must contend with diabolical Dr. Malevolent who has perfected a ray to control minds. Soon the vile villain has taken over Atlantis, but has not reckoned on the speed of reaction and sheer determination of Jones & Doolittle…

Skeates also scripted Kane’s tale in #4 wherein Skooby has an unfortunate lab accident and is transformed into a colossal ravening reptilian. Amidst a storm of destruction and with his best friend now an actual danger to shipping, Davy is forced to extreme measures ‘To Save a Monster’…

‘Born is a Warrior’ (#5, written by Kane’s long-time collaborator Gardner Fox) sees hero and partner go above and beyond in their efforts to overthrow an undersea invasion by aliens, before the astounding adventures conclude with a potent, extra-length tale of triumph and tragedy. ‘Doomsday in the Depths’ (#6, by Fox) finds Jones lost at sea and swept into a utopia beneath the sea floor. Trapped forever in the paradise of Antor, he finds solace in his one true love: the sumptuous scientist Elysse. Sadly, Davy is compelled to abandon the miracle city and girl of his dreams to save them all from a horrific monster. Although ultimately victorious, he cannot find his way back…

A glorious cascade of scintillating fantasy action; these yarns – accompanied by a cover gallery by Kane – hark back to a perfect time of primal, winningly uncomplicated action adventure. This is a book to astound and delight comics fans of any stripe or vintage. Is that you?
Gil Kane’s UNDERSEA Agent © 2015: UNDERSEA Agent © 2015 Radiant Assets LLC. All rights reserved.

Today in 1914 author and batman scripter David Vern Reed was born. Thirty years so was later Brazilian comics master Léo (AKA Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira). You can find them all over this blog if you look. In 1965 the amazing Kyle Baker joined us and ditto for him.

In 1969 landmark British girls’ comic Lady Penelope ended after 204 issues, and six years later we said farewell to national treasure John Millar Watt, renowned for the strip Pop, but also a wonderful crafter of stuff for Thriller Comics Library, Robin Hood Annual, girls’ weekly comic Princess and especially Look and Learn.

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DC Finest Green Lantern (volume 2) – Earth’s Other Green Lantern


By Gardner F. Fox, John Broome, Bob Haney, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Ramona Fradon & Charles Paris, Murphy Anderson, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, Sid Greene & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-79950-326-2 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Pure & Superhero Sensationalism… 9/10

After a hugely successful revival and reworking of Golden Age all-star The Flash, DC (National Periodical Publications as they were then) built on a resurgent superhero trend. Cover dated October 1959 and on sale from July 28th, Showcase #22 hit newsstands at the same time as the fourth issue of the new Flash comic book (#108) and once again the guiding lights were Editor Julie Schwartz and writer John Broome. Assigned as illustrator was action ace Gil Kane.

Brash, cocky test pilot Hal Jordan was in California when an alien cop crashed on Earth. Mortally wounded, Abin Sur commanded his ring – a device which could materialise thoughts – to find a replacement officer: one both honest and without fear. Scanning the planet, the wonder weapon selected Jordan, whisking him to the crash-site. The dying alien bequeathed his ring, lantern-shaped Battery of Power and his profession (patrolman of Sector 2814) to the astonished Earthman.

In 6 pages the story established characters, scenario and narrative thrust of a series that would become the spine of all DC continuity. With the concept of the superhero being re-established among the buying public, there was no shortage of gaudily clad competition. Better books thrived by having something a little “extra”. With Green Lantern that was primarily the superb scripts of John Broome & Gardner Fox and astounding ever-evolving drawing of Gil Kane (ably abetted by a string of top inkers) whose dynamic anatomy and dramatic action scenes were maturing with every page he drew. Happily, the concept itself was also a provider of boundless opportunity.

Other heroes had extraterrestrial, other-dimensional and even trans-temporal adventures, but the valiant champion of this series was also a cop: a lawman working for the biggest police force in the entire universe.

This fabulous compilation gathers Green Lantern #40-61 (October 1965 -June 1968) plus contemporary guest appearances in The Flash #168, Detective Comics #350 and The Brave and the Bold #69. It all gets started without fanfare and opens with GL #40 which went on sale on August 26th 1965.

Conceived and delivered by Broome, Kane & Sid Greene (with conceptual input as always from editor Schwartz, ‘The Secret Origin of the Guardians!’ was a landmark second only to game-changing ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ (see DC Finest: The Flash – The Human Thunderbolt) as the Emerald Gladiator with his Earth-2 counterpart Alan Scott have to stop obsessed Oan scientist Krona, whose misguided attempts to discover the origins of the universe had introduced evil into our pristine reality billions of years ago. His actions forced his immortal brethren to become protectors of life and civilisation in an unending act of group contrition – the Guardians of the Universe.

Now he was back and still asking the wrong question, with his efforts also endangering a parallel earth. Happily for creation, that world had its own vastly experienced Emerald Avenger, who pitched in, and was so good at crisis management that the Guardians offered him Hal’s job…

Simultaneously high concept and all-action, the tale became a keystone of DC cosmology and a springboard for all those mega-apocalyptic publishing events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths. It has seldom been equalled and never bettered…

Gardner Fox scribed GL #41, spotlighting twisted romance in ‘The Double Life of Star Sapphire!’ as an alien power-gem again compels Jordan’s boss/true love Carol Ferris to subjugate and marry her sometime paramour Green Lantern. Fox also wrote another cracking magical mystery to end the issue as extraterrestrial wizard Myrwhydden triggered ‘The Challenge of the Coin Creatures!’

Next came ‘The Other Side of the World!’ wherein Fox continued a long-running experiment in continuity with a superb tale of time-lost civilisations and an extra-dimensional invasion by the Warlock of Ys co-starring peripatetic quester Zatanna the Magician as perfectly pictured by Kane & Greene.

At that time the top-hatted, fish-netted sorceress appeared in a number of Schwartz-edited titles, hunting her long-missing father Zatarra: a magician-hero in the Mandrake mould who had fought evil in the pages of Action Comics for over a decade, beginning with the very first issue. In true Silver Age “refit” style, Fox concocted a young, equally empowered daughter, promoting and popularising her in guest-team ups with superheroes he was currently scripting. If you’re counting, these tales appeared in Hawkman #4, Atom #19, Green Lantern #42 and an Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355 as well as a slick piece of back writing to include the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336. It all concluded after this GL segment in Justice League of America #51. You can enjoy the entire early epic by tracking down Justice League of America: Zatanna’s Search…

The Flash shared the spotlight in #43: a high-energy tussle with a debuting tectonically terrifying new supervillain for Fox’s ‘Catastrophic Crimes of Major Disaster!’ and the next issue provide two tales – an increasing rarity as book-length epics became the action-packed norm.

Second-class postage discounts had for years dictated the format of comic books: to qualify for cheaper rates periodicals had to contain more than one feature, but when the rules were revised single, complete tales not divided into “chapters” soon proliferated. Here though are two reasons to bemoan the switch; Fox’s ‘Evil Star’s Death-Duel Summons’ and Broome’s “Jordan Brothers” adventure ‘Saga of the Millionaire Schemer!’, offering high-intensity alien supervillain action and a heady, witty comedy-of-errors mystery as Hal visits his family and is embroiled in new sister-in-law Sue’s hare-brained scheme to prove that her husband Jim Jordan is actually Green Lantern!

Crossovers were becoming increasingly common as shared continuity expanded and heroes popped up out of their regular jurisdiction. One brilliantly executed example follows…

Back in 1963 Schwartz had assumed editorial control of Batman & Detective Comics, allowing him space for a character who had been lying mostly fallow ever since his debut as a very long-legged walk-on in the April/May 1960 Flash. The Elongated Man was Ralph Dibny: a circus-performer who discovered an additive in popular soft drink Gingold which gave certain rare people increased muscular flexibility. Intrigued, Dibny isolated and refined the chemical and developed a serum granting him the ability to stretch, bend and compress his body to an incredible degree. From Detective #350 (April 1966) comes ‘Green Lantern’s Blackout!’ wherein Hal’s best friend Thomas Kalmaku seeks out the Stretchable Sleuth to solve the riddle of the hero’s abrupt disappearance – an entrancing, action-packed team-up with a future Justice League colleague by Fox & Carmine Infantino.

Scripted by Broome, Earth-2’s ring wielder returns for another power-packed pairing in Green Lantern #45’s fantasy & fisticuffs romance romp ‘Prince Peril’s Power Play’. The author raised the dramatic stakes with the hero’s first continued adventure in the following issue. GL #46 opens with Fox’s delightfully grounded crime-thriller ‘The Jailing of Hal Jordan’, before – preceded by a spectacular Kane pin-up – ‘The End of a Gladiator!’ details the murder of Sector 2814’s GL by old foe Dr. Polaris, concluding with his honour-laden funeral on Oa, home of the Guardians!

Broome was on fire at this time: the following issue and concluding chapter sees the hero’s corpse snatched to the 58th century and revived in time to save his occasional future home from a biological infection of pure evil in the spectacular triumph ‘Green Lantern Lives Again!’ Bizarrely garbed goodies and baddies were common currency at this time of incipient TV-generated Batmania, so when gold-plated mad scientist Keith Kenyon returned it was as a dyed-in-the-wool costumed crazy for Fox’s ‘Goldface’s Grudge Fight Against Green Lantern!’: a brutal clash of opposites. Sadly, Broome’s showbiz scoundrel Dazzler didn’t quite set the world afire in #49’s ‘The Spectacular Robberies of TV’s Master Villain!’ but the yarn was still a shocker, as Hal Jordan quit his job as a Coast City test pilot and went on the first of his vagabond quests across America…

Green Lantern had been the first hero to co-headline with Batman in The Brave and the Bold #59 (April/May 1965): a tale which became the blueprint of the title’s next 20 years as two colleagues joined forces for a specific case. There devious criminal scientist John Starr tricked Bruce Wayne into clearing his name and stole the Emerald Crusader’s power to fuel a chronal assault on Gotham as the Time Commander. Here and now, Win Mortimer joins scripter Bob Haney as Gotham Gangbuster and Green Knight endure a fractious reunion in B&B #69’s ‘War of the Cosmic Avenger’ (December 1966-January 1967) as John Starr repeats his tactic to unleash star-powered golem Cosmo upon the world, utterly unaware that the monster might have its own sinister agenda. Luckily, our heroes are smarter than the brilliant but bad time bandit…

With Green Lantern #50 Kane began inking his own art (probably in preparation for his forthcoming independent publications Savage and Blackmark), lending the proceedings a raw, savage appeal. The fight content in the stories was also ramped up, as seen in Broome’s murder-mystery treasure hunt ‘The Quest for the Wicked Queen of Hearts!’, complimented by an extragalactic smack-fest in Fox’s ‘Thraxton the Powerful vs Green Lantern the Powerless’, prior to Broome bringing the Emerald Crusader back to the 58th century to battle ‘Green Lantern’s Evil Alter Ego!’ in #52. Meanwhile, across the editorial aisle in The Flash #168 (cover-dated March 1967 but on sale from January 19th) Broome delivered a full-length thriller for Infantino & Sid Greene in which the Guardians of the Universe seek out the Scarlet Speedster after finding ‘One of our Green Lanterns is Missing!’ Bafflingly, as the Vizier of Velocity hunts for his missing best buddy, he is constantly distracted and diverted by a gang of third-rate thugs who have somehow acquired futuristic super weapons…

Back in GL #52, Broome & Kane have Alan Scott and comedy sidekick Doiby Dickles pop over from Earth-2 to aid against returning arch nemesis Sinestro in frankly peculiar ‘Our Mastermind, the Car!’, before finding far less outré plot or memorable foe for #53’s ‘Captive of the Evil Eye!’ wherein an alien giant stealing Earth’s atmosphere is ferociously foiled. The same issue sees Infantino & Greene step up to illustrate Broome’s thrillingly comedic Jordan Brothers back-up ‘Two Green Lanterns in the Family!’ as Hal finds employment as an investigator for the Evergreen Insurance company…

Broome & Kane reunite for positively surreal, super-scientific saga ‘Menace in the Iron Lung!’ (GL #54), with a manic shut-in orchestrating a deadly remote war against the Viridian Avenger followed by an all-out attack on the Guardians and their operatives in ‘Cosmic Enemy Number One’. The trans-galactic assassinations conclude in ‘The Green Lanterns’ Fight for Survival!’ and the appointment of a second Earthling to the now depleted Corps.

For #57, Fox scripts a sparkling Fights ‘n’ Tights duel in ‘The Catastrophic Weapons of Major Disaster!’ with the walking extinction event simultaneously tapping into and depowering the power ring before #58’s gripping psycho-thriller ‘Peril of the Powerless Green Lantern’ sees our hero seemingly suffering from debilitating combat fatigue. Sid Greene returned to inking with this yarn, staying on to embellish another continuity landmark.

In Green Lantern (volume 2 #59, March 1968) Broome introduced ‘Earth’s Other Green Lantern!’ in a rip-roaring cosmic epic of what-might-have-been. When dying Abin Sur originally ordered his ring to select a worthy successor Hal Jordan wasn’t the only candidate, but simply the closest of two. Here thanks to Guardian technology Hal sees what would have occurred if the ring had chosen his alternative Guy Gardner instead¦?

Action lovers and fans of fantasy fiction couldn’t find a better example of everything that defines superhero comics, but by the time of these later stories began DC was a company in transition – as indeed was America itself – with new ideas (for which, in comic-book terms, read “new, young writers”) granted greater headway than ever before: in turn generating an influx of new kids unseen since the very start of the industry, when excitable young artists and writers ran wild with imagination. Green Lantern #60 (April 1968), however, was an all-veteran outing as Fox, Kane & Greene introduced a fantastic new foe in ‘Spotlight on the Lamplighter!’, a power-packed, crime-busting morality play inadvertently foreshadowing a spectacular Green team-up classic in the next issue.

We end as we began for the last tale in this collection, wherein Mike Friedrich pens ‘Thoroughly Modern Mayhem!’ Mercifully the story is as wonderful as the title is not, since it cut to the quick of a problem many a kid had posited. If the power ring was so powerful why not just command it to end all evil? When the old and world-weary Emerald Crusader of Earth-2 does just that, it takes both him and his Earth-1 counterpart to remedy the shocking consequences to all of humanity…

Augmented with covers by Kane, Murphy Anderson, Jack Adler, Infantino, Greene & Joe Giella, these costumed drama romps are in themselves a great read for most ages, but when also considered as the building blocks of all DC continuity they become vital fare for any fan keen to make sense of the modern superhero experience. This blockbusting book showcases the imaginative and creative peak of Broome, Fox & Kane: a plot driven plethora of action sagas and masterful thrillers that literally reshaped the DC Universe. If you love superheroes you will never read better…
© 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 2025 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1908 key comics personage, DC editor, writer and media intermediary Whitney Ellsworth was born, and in 1970 so was Mexican maestro Humberto Ramos who has excelled on everything from Amazing Spider-Man to Young Justice.

You’ve probably never heard of her, but Dorothy Woolfolk shattered a bunch of glass ceilings and was DC’s first woman editor. We lost her today in 2000, but her legacy lives on.

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The JSA All Stars Archives volume 1


By John Wentworth, Ken Fitch, Bill O’Connor, Sheldon Mayer, Charles Reizenstein, Bill Finger, Stan Aschmeier, Bernard Baily, Ben Flinton & Leonard Sansone, Howard Purcell, Hal Sharp, Irwin Hasen & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1472-2 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Golden Aged but Evergreen Enjoyment …8/10

In the JSA’s anniversary year, here’s yet another DC classic collection long overdue for revival and digital return. Until then – and if you can find it – this hardback will make a perfect present for you or yours…

After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – indisputably Action Comics’ debut of Superman in June 1938 – the most significant event in the industry’s history was the combination of individual sales-points into a group. Thus what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers couldn’t get enough of garishly-hued mystery men and combining a multitude of characters inevitably increases readership. Plus, of course, a mob of superheroes is just so much cooler than one… or one-and-a-half if there’s a sidekick involved…

The creation of the Justice Society of America in 1941 (with copies of All-Star Comics #3 going on sale today waaay back then) utterly changed the shape of the budding business. However, before that team could unite they had to be popular enough to qualify, and this superb hardcover sampler gathers the debut adventures of a septet of beloved champions who never quite made it into the first rank but nonetheless scored enough to join the big team and maintain their own solo spots for much of the Golden Age of American Comics.

Whilst most favoured 1940s stalwarts all won their own DC Archive collections (some even making it into digital modern editions this century), this particular tome bundles a bunch of lesser lights – or at least those who never found as much favour with modern fans and revivalists – and features the first 5 appearances of 7 of the JSA‘s “secondary” mystery men: all solid supporting acts in their own anthology homes but who were potentially so much more…

Gathered here are short, sharp, stirring tales from Flash Comics #1-5; Adventure Comics #48-52; All-American Comics #19-29 and Sensation Comics #1-5, collectively spanning January 1940 to May 1942. They are preceded a sparkling, informative and appreciative Foreword by Golden Age aficionado and advocate Roy Thomas… himself enjoying an anniversary today so a very happy 85th birthday to you, sir!

The vintage vim & vigour begins with a character equally adored and reviled in modern times. Johnny Thunderbolt – as he was originally dubbed – was an honest, well-meaning, courageous soul who was also a grade A idiot. However, what he lacked in smarts he made up for with sheer luck, unfailing pluck and the unconscious (at least at first) control of an irresistible magic force.

The series was played for action-packed laughs, but there was no getting away from it: Johnny was, quite frankly, a simpleton in oblivious control of an ultimate weapon. At least his electric genie was more plausible than an egomaniacal orange-toned cretin in control of America’s nuclear arsenal…

John Wentworth & Stan Aschmeier introduced the happy sap in ‘The Kidnapping of Johnny Thunder’ from January 1940’s Flash Comics #1: a fantastic origin detailing how, decades previously, the infant seventh son of a seventh son in America was abducted by priests from mystical island Badhnisia. The child was to be raised as the long-foretold wielder of a fantastic magical weapon, all by voicing the eldritch command “Cei-U” – which sounds to western ears awfully like “say, you”…

However, ancient enemies on neighbouring isle Agolea started a war before ceremonial indoctrination could be completed and at age seven the lad, through that incomprehensible luck, returned to his parents to be raised in relative normality of the Bronx. Everything was fine until Johnny’s 17th birthday, when the rite finally came to fruition and – amid bizarre weather conditions – Badhnisians cultists intensified the search for their living weapon.

By the time they tracked him down, he was working in a department store and had recently picked up the habit of blurting out the phrase “say you.” It generally resulted in something very strange happening. One example being a bunch of strange “Asiatics” attacking him and being blown away by a mysterious pink tornado…

Pattern set, each month Johnny looked for gainful employment, stumbled into a crime or crisis where his voluble temperament resulted in an inexplicable unnatural phenomenon that solved the problem but left him no better off. It was a winning theme that lasted until 1947, by which time the Force had resolved into a wisecracking thunderbolt-shaped humanoid genie, while Johnny was ousted from his own strip by sexy new crimebuster Black Canary.

Flash Comics #2 featured ‘Johnny Becomes a Boxer’. Upon stepping in to save a girl from bullies, Johnny somehow convinces vivacious Daisy Darling to be his girlfriend. He then becomes Heavyweight Champion, leading to his implausibly winning a fixed bout in #3’s ‘Johnny versus Gunpowder Glantz’. Only now, Daisy refuses to marry a brute who lives by hitting others. The solution came in ‘Johnny Law’ when kidnappers attempt to abduct Daisy’s dad. Following his sound thrashing of the thugs, and at his babe’s urging, Johnny then joins the FBI. This tantalising taste of times past concludes with ‘G-Man Johnny’ (#5 May 1940) as the kid’s first case involves him in a bank raid and results in his own dad being taken hostage…

Although he eventually joined the JSA, and despite affable, good-hearted bumbling carrying him through the war, shifting peace-time fashions found no room for a hapless hero anymore, and when he encountered a sultry masked female Robin Hood who stole from crooks, the writing was on the wall. Nevertheless, fortuitously imbecilic (and remarkably Millennial in outlook and prospects) Johnny Thunder is fondly regarded by many modern fans, still having much to say and a decidedly different way of saying it…

Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily’s Hourman was a far more serious proposition. He actually had a shot at stardom and began by supplanting The Sandman as cover feature in Adventure Comics #48 (March 1940). Here, his exploits run through #52 (July) establishing the unique and gripping methodology which made him such a favourite of later, more sophisticated fans.

In an era where origins were never as important as action, mood and spectacle, ‘Presenting Tick-Tock Tyler, the Hour-Man’ begins with a strange classified ad offering assistance to any person in need. Chemist Rex Tyler had invented Miraclo: a drug super-energising him for 60 minutes at a time, and his first case sees him help a wife whose man is being dragged back into criminal endeavours by poverty and bad friends. Then ‘The Disappearance of Dr. Drew’ finds Tyler locating a missing scientist kidnapped by thugs before ‘The Dark Horse’ has the Man of the Hour crush a crooked, murderous bookie who swipes both horse and owner before a key race. Mad science and a crazy doctor employing ‘The Wax-Double Killers’ adds scary thrills and supervillain cachet for our timely hero to handle, and ‘The Counterfeit Hour-Man’ concludes the offerings here as he again defeats Dr. Snegg in a scurrilous scheme to frame the hooded hero.

Hourman always looked great and his adventures developed into tight and compulsive affairs, but as simply another strong, fast, tough masked guy, he never caught on and eventually timed out at the beginning of 1943 with Adventure #83.

Our third second string star is Calvin College student Al Pratt: a diminutive but determined kid fed up with being bullied by jocks. Al remade himself by effort and willpower into a pint-sized, two-fisted mystery man ready for anything. One of the longest lasting Golden Age greats, The Mighty Atom was created by writer Bill O’Connor and rendered by Ben Flinton & Leonard Sansone. He debuted in All-American Comics #19 and, after an impressive run there, transferred to Flash Comics in February 1947. The Atom sporadically appeared until the last issue – #104, cover-dated February 1949 – and made his final bow in the last JSA tale (All Star Comics #57) in 1951.

The cases here span AAC #19-23 (October 1940 – February 1941), beginning by ‘Introducing the Mighty Atom’ as the bullied scholar hooks up with down-&-out trainer Joe Morgan, whose radical methods soon have the kid at the very peak of physical condition and well able to take care of himself. However, when Al’s hoped-for girlfriend Mary is kidnapped, the lad eschews fame and potential sporting fortune to bust her loose, thereafter opting for clandestine extracurricular activities….

The Atom sported a costume for his second adventure, going into ‘Action at the College Ball’ to foil a hold-up before tackling ‘The Monsters from the Mine’ – actually enslaved victims of a scientific maniac intent on conquest. The college environment offered plentiful plot opportunities and in ‘Truckers War’ the hero crushes hijackers who bankrupt a fellow student and football star’s father. These episodes conclude with ‘Joe’s Appointment’ as Al’s trainer is framed for spying by enemy agents and needs a little atomic assistance…

Although we think of the Golden Age as a superhero wonderland, the true watchword was variety. Flagship anthology All-American Comics offered everything from slapstick comedy to aviation adventure on its four-colour pages and one of the very best humour strips featured semi-autobiographical exploits of Scribbly Jibbet: a boy who wanted to draw.

Created by actual comics wonderboy Sheldon Mayer, Scribbly: Midget Cartoonist debuted in AAC #1 (April 1939) and built a sterling rep for himself beside star reprint features including Mutt and Jeff and all-new adventure serial Hop Harrigan, Ace of the Airways. However, when contemporary fashions demanded a humorous look at mystery men, in #20 (November 1940) Mayer’s comedy feature evolved into a delicious spoof of the trend as Scribbly’s formidable landlady Ma Hunkel decided to do something about crime in her neighbourhood… so she dressed up as a husky male masked hero.

‘The Coming of the Red Tornado’ sees her don cape, woollen longjohns and a saucepan for aN identity-obscuring helmet to crush gangster/kidnapper Tubb Torponi. The mobster had made the mistake of snatching Ma’s terrible nipper Sisty and Scribbly’s little brother Dinky (who would later become her masked sidekicks), so Ma was determined to see justice done…

An ongoing serial rather than specific episodes, the dramedy concluded in ‘The Red Tornado to the Rescue’, with irate, inept cops deciding to pursue the mysterious new vigilante, with the ‘Search for the Red Tornado’ only making them look (more) stupid. With the scene set for outrageous parody ‘The Red Tornado Goes Ape’ pits the parochial masked manhunter against a zoo full of critters before the superb, sublime silly selection ends with ‘Neither Man nor Mouse’ (All-American Comics #24) with the hero apparently retiring and crime resurging – until Dinky & Sisty become crime- crunching duo The Cyclone Kids…

A far more serious and sustainable contender debuted in the next AAC issue, joining the growing horde of grim masked avengers. Delivered by Charles Reizenstein & Aschmeier in All-American Comics #25 (April 1941), ‘Dr. Mid-Nite: How He Began’ reveals how surgeon Charles McNider is blinded by criminals but subsequently discovers he can see perfectly in darkness. Becoming an outspoken criminologist, the maimed medico devises blackout bombs and other night paraphernalia to also wage secret war on gangsters, aided only by his new pet owl Hooty…

After bringing his own assailant to justice, the good doctor smashes river pirates protected by corrupt politicians in ‘The Waterfront Mystery’ and rescues innocent men blackmailed into serving criminals’ sentences in jail in ‘Prisoners by Choice’ (#27, illustrated by Howard Purcell). With Aschmeier’s return, Mid-Nite crushes aerial wreckers using ‘The Mysterious Beacon’ to down bullion planes and then smashes ‘The Menace of King Cobra’: a secret society leader lording it over copper mine workers.

The Master of Darkness also lasted until the era’s end and appeared in that last JSA story. Since his 1960s return he’s become one of the most resilient and mutable characters in DC’s pantheon of Golden Age revivals, whereas the next nearly-star was an almost forgotten man for decades. Of course his nineties reboot successor is a big shot screen star now…

When Sensation Comics launched (on sale from November 5th 1941) all eyes were rightly glued to uniquely eye-catching Wonder Woman who hogged all the covers and unleashed a wealth of unconventional adventures every month. However, like all anthologies of the era, her exploits were balanced by other features. Sensation #1-5 (cover-dates January to May 1942) also featured a pugnacious fighter who was the quintessence of manly prowess and a quiet, sedate fellow problem-solver who was literally a master of all trades.

Crafted by Reizenstein & Hal Sharp, ‘Who is Mr. Terrific?’ introduced physical and mental prodigy Terry Sloane who so excelled at everything he touched, that by the time of the opening tale he was planning his own suicide to escape terminal boredom. Happily, on a very high bridge he found Wanda Wilson, a girl with the same idea. By saving her, Sloane found purpose: crushing the kinds of criminals who had driven her to such despair…

Actively seeking out villainy of every sort, he performs ‘The One-Man Benefit Show’ after thugs sabotage performers, travels to the republic of Santa Flora to expose ‘The Phony Presidente’ and helps a rookie cop pinch an “untouchable” gang boss in ‘Dapper Joe’s Comeuppance’. Sloan’s last showing here sees him at his very best, carefully rooting out political corruption and exposing ‘The Two Faces of Caspar Crunch’…

Closing out this stunning hardback extravaganza is another quintet from Sensation #1-5, this time by Bill Finger & Irwin Hasen: already established stars for their work on Batman and Green Lantern.

‘This is the Story of Wildcat’ premieres one the era’s most impressive lost treasures and a genuine comic book classic in the tale of Ted Grant: a boxer framed for the murder of his best friend. Inspired by a kid’s hero-worship of Green Lantern, Grant clears his name by donning a feline mask and costume and ferociously stalking the true killers. Finger & Hasen captured everything which made for perfect rollercoaster adventure in their explosive sports-informed yarns. Mystery, drama and action unfolded unabated in sequel ‘Who is Wildcat?’ as Ted retires his masked identity to compete for the vacant world boxing title, but cannot let innocents suffer as crime and corruption befoul the city. ‘The Case of the Phantom Killers’ sees Wildcat stalk mobsters seemingly striking from beyond the grave, before his adventures alter forever with the introduction of hard-hitting hillbilly hayseed ‘Stretch Skinner, Dee-teca-tif!’ He came to the big city to be a private eye and instead became Grant’s foil, manager and crimebusting partner. The capsule comic craziness then concludes for now with a rousing case of mistaken identity and old-fashioned framing, as Wildcat saves his new pal from a murdering gambler in ‘Chips Carder’s Big Fix’…

These eccentric early adventures might not suit some modern fans’ tastes but they stand as an impressive and joyous introduction to the fantastic worlds and exploits of the World’s oldest if not always greatest superheroes. If you have an interest in the way things were or just hanker for simpler times, less complicated and angsty fun, this may well be a book you’ll cherish forever…
© 1940, 1941, 1942, 2007 DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Also Today, in 1901 Roy Crane was born. His Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer all shaped the way comics evolved and deserve your attention. In 1923 Belgian cartoonist Paul (Corentin) Cuvelier was born. You can celebrate the birthday of Marjane Satrapi who joined the world in 1969 by checking out Persepolis – The Story of a Childhood & Persepolis 2 – The Story of a Return or recall the wonders of C.C. Beck who died today in 1989 just by heading to The Shazam! Archives volume 1. Better yet, you could skip my blather and just read the actual books I’m plugging…

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Lucky Luke: The Complete Collection volume 4


By Morris & René Goscinny, with Christelle & Bertram Pissavy-Yvernault: translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-169-9 (Album HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Family Thrills and Frolics No Movie Can Match… 8/10

On the Continent, the populace has a mature relationship with comics: according them academic and scholarly standing as well as meritorious nostalgic value and the validation of acceptance as an art form. Whilst tracing the lost origins of a true global phenomenon, this hardback and digital compilation celebrates the formulative early triumphs of a fictional hero who is certainly a national treasure for both Belgium and France, and it’s also timely in that this worldwide western wonder celebrates his 80th anniversary next year.

As we know him now, Lucky Luke is a rangy, good-natured, lightning-fast cowboy roaming the fabulously mythic Old West, having light-hearted adventures with his horse Jolly Jumper and interacting with archetypes, historical figures and mythic icons. His ongoing exploits have made him one of the best-selling comic characters in Europe (83 collected books plus around a dozen spin-offs and specials, totalling over 300 million albums in at least 33 languages thus far). That has generated all the usual spin-off toys, computer games, puzzles, animated cartoons, TV shows and live-action movies that come with that kind of popularity. It has also spurred a bunch of academicians to steer studies his way and garnered a lot of learned words. Some of those you can read here, if you’re keen…

Lucky debuted in 1946, courtesy of Belgian animator, illustrator and cartoonist Maurice de Bévère (“Morris”). For decades we all believed his first appearance was in autumn release Le Journal de Spirou Christmas Annual (L’Almanach Spirou 1947) prior to being catapulted into his first weekly adventure ‘Arizona 1880’ on December 7th 1946. However, the initial volume in this superb archival series proved the value of scholarship by revealing that the strip actually premiered earlier that year in the multinational weekly comic, albeit sans title banner and only in the edition released in France.

This fourth curated outing presents – in strict chronological order – strips published between February 2nd 1956 through September 1957 with all the art and pages fully restored, rejiggled and remastered to achieve maximum contemporary authenticity and synchronicity with the original weekly serialisation. Those stories were subsequently gathered as albums The Bluefeet are Coming!, Lucky Luke vs Joss Jamon and The Dalton Cousins and there’s even a few little extras scattered about for fascinated completists.

Before all that, though, there’s a wealth of background and unseen other works to enjoy, beginning with a lost cartoon gem as an old goldminer waggishly details ‘The Thousand Uses… of a Hat’…

A precocious, westerns-addicted, art-mad kid, well off and educated by Jesuits, Maurice de Bevere was born on December 1st 1923 in Kortrijk, Belgium. A far from illustrious or noteworthy scholar – except in all the ways teachers despise – Maurice sought artistic expression in his early working life via forays into film animation before settling into his true vocation. While working at the CBA (Compagnie Belge d’Actualitiés) animation studio, “Morris” met future comics superstars Franquin & Peyo, and worked as a caricaturist for weekly magazine Le Moustique. Morris quickly became one of la Bande des quatre (Gang of Four) comprising Jijé, Will and old comrade Franquin. Each was a leading proponent of a loose, free-wheeling artistic style known as the “Marcinelle School” which came to dominate Le journal de Spirou in aesthetic contention with the “Ligne Claire” style of Hergé, E.P. Jacobs and others in Le Journal de Tintin.

Previous volumes detailed Morris’s life, career, and achievements, and here Christelle & Bertram Pissavy-Yvernault augment past pictorial essays with ‘Wanted: Lucky Luke’ exploring life after returning to Belgium after his American holiday. It was May 1955 and the artist and his family had been gone for seven years…

Back home and back at work, Morris added to his output by illustrating novels, adding editorial content like quizzes to his Lucky workload and tasting new styles with a vast range of magazine covers, an inordinate number of which were ‘Sappy Moments’ for romance magazines and periodicals…

For Flemish readers he did cartoon sports columns and generally traded as a jobbing commercial artist, but all the while, he was still watching westerns and producing cowboy wonders and other comics stuff, such as the ‘Wild West Journalism’ article he wrote and included here in full. He was also constantly chatting with one of the Europeans he’d met in the US: cartoonist and scripter René Goscinny…

Accompanied by published cartoons, covers, script pages, contemporary ads, family photos and tons of original art, the in-depth treatise focuses on artistic development and the team building that resulted in one of comics’ most fruitful double acts Goscinny.

Morris had taken nearly a decade to craft nine albums of affectionate sagebrush parody and action. Now, with Goscinny as regular wordsmith, Luke would attain dizzying heights of super swift superstardom, commencing with Des rails sur la Prairie (Rails on the Prairie), in Le Journal de Spirou in August 1955. Before that though we enjoy a lost treat that first appeared in Risque Tout #11 (February 2nd 1956) prior to inclusion in Under A Western Sky. ‘Androcles’ details animal lover Luke’s interactions with a mistreated circus bear and proves that western justice applies equally to all…

Then the main event begins with all-Morris action as originally serialised in LJdS #938-957 (April 5th – August 16th and released in 1958 as Alerte aux Pied-Bleus/The Bluefeet are Coming!) It’s seen here with original French cover, editorial material and even ads.

A procession of linked gags sees Morris pile on and kick hard familiar themes and scenarios as the town of Rattlesnake Valley welcomes wanderer Lucky. The lone rider is just in time to save super-superstitious sheriff Jerry Grindstone from sneaky gambler/professional card cheat Pedro Cucaracha. His plans to fleece the old codger result in his painful and shameful eviction from civilisation; so naturally, the scoundrel tries to rob and blow up the bank on his way out. Chased into the surrounding desert, the scurvy Mexican then gulls the alcoholic Great Chief of the local Bluefeet Indians into laying siege to the town, tempting the old warrior with promises of unlimited booze…

Old Parched Bear is happy to oblige, and soon the town is forming a militia, telegraphing for the cavalry and erecting barricades. As food and water grow scarce profiteering proliferates, with Lucky and Jerry battening down the hatches and bolstering morale for a protracted and perilous defence of their lives and loved ones…

Against that framework of classic movie moments there are rich slapstick pickings as spies, crossdressers, raids & counter-raids and devious secret weapons all build to a bombastic finale, with Pedro and Parched Bear attempting all manner of nefarious invention to get respectively vengeance and more “firewater”…

… And then, when it’s almost too late, the Cavalry arrive… just after the deployment of late arriving support from Greenfeet and Yellowfeet branches of the family of First Nations. It can only end in catastrophe unless Lucky can contrive a solution…

Daft and Spectacular in equal amounts, this is perhaps a tale for older kids who have gained a bit of historical perspective and social understanding, although the action and slapstick situations are no more contentious than any old movie – as if that’s any help or comfort…

Rushing right on, Le Journal de Spirou #966-989 (October 18th 1956 – March 28th 1957) offered an uncredited Goscinny script as La bande de Joss Jamon and/or Lucky Luke contre Joss Jamon pitted our laconically lanky hero against a very different kind of bad guy. Again on view with original cover and ads, what we know as Lucky Luke vs Joss Jamon finds our happy wanderer facing guns, lynching, slander, a diabolical frame-up and political office, after Confederate soldiers turn their wartime skills to garnering personal profit in the years of Reconstruction that followed the American Civil War.

However, as vile as sly conman Pete the Wishy-washy, brutish Jack the Muscle, murderous Indian Joe, ruthless trickster Sam the Farmer and cardsharp Bill the Cheater may be, their combined villainy cannot match that of their ambitious scheming leader Joss Jamon. He has a dream of running the state if not the country and enough drive to make it happen…

How that doesn’t happen sees Luke battle them singly and in a wild bunch as Jamon moves into Los Palitos and frames Luke for robbery. Barely escaping the neck-stretching, Luke swears to bring back the real culprits in six months or surrender himself for the waiting noose…

The trail finds Jamon in bustling metropolis Frontier City where, after taking over businesses by making offers nobody dares to refuse, Jamon is running for Mayor. Despite physically a match for his enemies, Luke now needs to change tactics to unseat the entrenched plutocrat. That means a menace-packed war of nerves and even running as a rival candidate…

Even though election day is the farce you’d expect, and Lucky is branded an outlaw, he has one last card to play… civil dissatisfaction and unrest…

Witty, wry and cynical, this yarn is actually more socially relevant mow than it ever was when politicians at least feared the repercussions of being caught doing wrong…

Still anonymous, Goscinny also wrote closing inclusion. The Dalton Cousins was first enjoyed in LJdS #992-1013 (April 18th to September 12th 1957) and reappears here with original cover and ads. For this manic mirth-fest Goscinny performed a much-demanded act of necromancy, resurrecting a quartet of killers Lucky had already dealt with, but whom readers want not dead but alive…

Published back in December 1954 Hors-la-loi was Morris’ 6th album and included a strip which saw our hero meet and beat Emmett Bill, Grat & Bob Dalton: real life badmen who had plagued the west during the 1890s. On those funny pages, Lucky was hired by railroad companies to end the depredations of the desperados who had been imported into the strip, but given a comedic, yet still vicious spin. A cat & mouse chase across the wildest of wests saw Luke constantly frustrated by close calls and narrow escapes in superbly gripping movie set-pieces until, inevitably, justice claimed the killers. At the close, Morris had Lucky end the gang forever, but they and the story itself were insanely popular with fans. These owlhoots were comedy gold and ideal foils, so eventually they returned in the form of their own cousins…

From the response to that tale eventually came this aforementioned revival, as Goscinny’s third collaboration. When this iteration of the appalling Dalton Brothers – now and forever after Averell, Jack, William & devious, slyly psychotic, tyrannical diminutive brother Joe – showed up, the course of the strip altered forever…

It opens on a remote farm in Arizona where four brothers mourn the loss of the murderous bandits they resemble and are related to. They know they aren’t nearly good enough to fill the dead men’s boots or kill their killer Lucky Luke… but they are willing to try their hardest to change all that…

The replacement Daltons’ first attempt to settle the score is frankly embarrassing, but fortune and persistence gradually harden and hone them. They even at one stage have the happy wanderer train them…

Ultimately, however, after they besiege a town and regularly succeed in theft and terrorism, Lucky is forced to take action before they become as great a menace as their dearly departed favourites ever were…

Sadly, he leaves it too late and is forced to resort to tricky tactics of dividing to conquer. It either that or be hunted down like a dog: a role he’s just not suited for…

As much thriller as comedy romp, this yarn proved how crucial great villains are to any hero and started a western showdown that fruitfully persists and thrives to this day…

Graced with biographies of Morris and Goscinny and peppered with contemporaneous extras this is perfect for kids with a smidgen of historical perspective and social understanding, although the action and slapstick situations are no more contentious than any Laurel and Hardy film – perfectly understandable as Morris was a huge fan of the duo. These formative forays are a grand old hoot in the tradition of Destry Rides Again or Support Your Local Sheriff, superbly executed by master storytellers, and a wonderful introduction to a unique genre for anyone who might well have missed the romantic allure of the Wild West that never was…
Original edition © Lucky Comics 2022. English translation © 2025 Cinebook Ltd.
All pages & illustrations relating to The Thousand Uses of a Hat, Androcles and The Bluefeet are Coming! © Morris/Goscinny/Dupuis 2022.
All pages & illustrations relating to Horse Thieves, Lucky Luke vs Joss Jamon and The Dalton Cousins © Morris/Goscinny/Dupuis 2022.
All documents relating to Morris are © Morris/Dupuis 2022.
All documents relating to René Goscinny are © Anne Goscinny 2022 barring cited exceptions.

Today in 1948 Underground Commix cartoonist and proud pornographer Larry Welz (Yellow Dog, Captain Guts, Cherry PopTart) was born, whilst in 1992 epically long-running UK adventure weekly The Victor published its last issue.

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Fearless Fosdick


By Al Capp (Kitchen Sink Press)
ISBN: 978-0-87816-108-9 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. This book also contains Discriminatory Content included for satirical and comedic effect.

Al Capp’s Li’l Abner is rightly considered one of the greatest comic strips ever created, a devastatingly satirical, superbly illustrated, downright brilliant comedic masterwork which lampooned anything and everything America held dear and literally reshaped their popular culture. Generations of readers took Capp’s outrageous inventions and graphic invectives to their hearts. Many of the strips best lines and terms entered the language, as did the role-reversing college bacchanal known as Sadie Hawkins Day. Some fictional shticks even became licensed and therefore “real” – just Google “Shmoo” and “Kickapoo Joy-juice” to see what I mean.

Apart from the satirical and funny bits you can say pretty much the same about Chester Gould’s legendary lawman Dick Tracy – a landmark creation which has influenced all popular fiction, not simply comics. Baroque villains, outrageous crimes and fiendish death-traps have pollinated the work of numerous strips, shows and movies since then, but the indomitable Tracy’s studied use – and startlingly accurate predictions – of crime fighting technology and techniques gave the world a taste of cop thrillers, police procedurals and forensic mysteries such as CSI decades before our current fascination took hold.

In August 1942 Alfred Gerald Caplin, as he didn’t prefer to be known, took a studied potshot at the cartooning game, joyously biting the hand that fed him (grudgingly and far from enough) when he introduced a frantic, barbed parody of Tracy into Li’l Abner.

As depicted by cartoonist-within-a-cartoon “Lester Gooch”, Fearless Fosdick was a deadpan, compulsively honest, straight-laced cop who worked for a pittance in a corrupt, venal crime-plagued city, controlled by shifty, ungrateful authorities – i.e. typical bosses. Fosdick slavishly followed the exact letter of the law, if not the spirit: always over-reacting, and often shooting litterbugs or Jaywalkers whilst letting bandits and murderers escape.

The extended gag began as a sly poke at strip cartoonists and syndicates whom Capp portrayed as slavering maniacs and befuddled psychotics manipulated by ruthless, shameless, rapacious exploiters. It became so popular on its own admittedly bizarre merits that Fosdick’s sporadic appearances quickly generated licensed toys and games, a TV puppet show and a phenomenally popular advertising deal for Wildroot Cream-Oil hair tonic.

The hard-hitting, obtuse he-man hero was impulsive Abner’s “Ideel” and whenever the crime-crusher appeared as a strip within the strip, the big goof aped his behaviour to outlandish degree. When Fosdick married as part of a bizarre plot, Abner finally capitulated to devoted girlfriend Daisy Mae’s matrimonial aspirations and “married up” too… even though he didn’t really want to!

Fosdick made the jump to comic books when edited reprints of the strip appeared from Toby Press, and a promotional comic – ‘Fearless Fosdick and the Case of the Red Feather’ – followed. Thus in 1956 Simon and Shuster published Al Capp’s Fearless Fosdick: His Life and Deaths which forms the basis of the classy Kitchen Sink softcover under review here.

Prefaced with an absorbing and informative introduction by award-winning crime and comics writer Max Allan Collins – who took over Dick Tracy when Gould retired – this outrageous tome relates five of the very best felonious fiascos and forensic farces beginning with ‘Introducing: AnyFace!’ from 1947, wherein Abner is hired to protect cartoonist Lester Gooch as he crafts the tale of a crook with a plastic face. The fiend is un-catchable since he can mimic anybody, constantly fooling Fosdick into shooting the wrong guy. Eventually the cop starts killing people pre-emptively – just in case – but in the “real” world as Abner gets more engrossed in the serial, Gooch, always as bonkers as a bag of badgers (because only certified loons create comics strips), is suddenly cured, casting the conclusion into desperate doubt! Confused? Good: that’s the point!

From 1950 comes ‘The Case of the Poisoned Beans’ in which madman Elmer Schlmpf randomly contaminates a tin of “Old Faithful” – the city’s most popular brand of beans. So popular are they that most shops and restaurants refuse to take them off sale and the populace won’t stop buying them. As no panic ensues and indifference rages, Fosdick begins shooting citizens who won’t stop eating the beans. Better a safe, clean police bullet than a nasty case of poison…

‘Sidney the Crooked Parrot’ (1953) was once Fosdick’s faithful pet, but living with the obsessive do-gooder turned the bird into a vengeance-crazed criminal genius. Cunningly causing Fearless to lose his job, the bird then organises a campaign of terror, but even humiliated, derelict and starving, the unswerving righteousness of the super-cop finds a way to triumph…

‘The Case of the Atom Bum’ (1951) finds the dapper detective helpless to halt depredations of a radioactive hobo who robs with impunity since the slightest wound might cause him to detonate like a thermonuclear bomb. Forced to ignore and even – shudder!! – abet the ne’er-do-well, Fosdick is going even more insane with frustrated justice – and then he snaps!

This manic monochrome monument to the Bad Old Days concludes with 1948’s utterly surreal ‘Case of the Chippendale Chair’, which begins only after certifiably cured and sane Lester Gooch is kidnapped by thugs working for the syndicate who torture him until he is crazy enough to produce Fearless Fosdick cartoons once more…

Once more demented, Gooch sets to delivering a startling saga of murder, theft and general scofflawing to sate the nation’s desire for graphic gang-busting with a new mastermind ravaging the palaces of the rich. Who can possibly be behind such brilliant crimes? (The clue is in the title…) and as Fosdick ineptly yet unerringly closes in on the culprit, collateral casualties mount. Still, isn’t justice worth a few sacrifices?

Madcap, cynical and hilariously ultra-violent, these eccentric yarns are credited with inspiring Harvey Kurtzman to create Mad comic books and the magazine it became. Capp’s creations clearly shaped decades of American comics comedy. Fosdick kept on turning up until 1972, leavening all the hillbilly high-jinks, satire and social commentary and defanging Capp’s increasingly reactionary stance and declining popularity with healthy, recreational slapstick slaughter, justifiable homicides and anticipatory cold-case clean-up. Moreover, if you’re British, you will see quite a few antecedents of our own utterly rational and reasonable supercop Judge Dredd…

If you have a taste for over-the-top hilarity and stunning draughtsmanship this is a book you must track down. Consider it a constabulary duty to be done…
Strip material © 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1990 Capp Enterprises, Inc. Introduction © 1990 Max Allan Collins. Entire Contents © 1990 Kitchen Sink Press, Inc.

Today in 1907, the first Mutt and Jeff strips by Bud Fisher were published. We already told you that in Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff (Classic Screwball Strips). In 1915 Green Lantern originator Martin Nodell was born, whilst comics presence, writer, editor and The Beat blogger Heidi MacDonald joined us in 1961, as did comics colour artist Lee Loughridge (Batman Adventures, Stumptown) in 1969.

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To Hell You Ride


By Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey, Tom Mandrake & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-2893 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-62115-870-7

This book contains Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect.

With all the chaos and kerfuffle besetting the world, it’s undoubtedly therapeutic to dip into fantasy and experience disaster that we can control to some extent. In that spirit, here’s a good old-fashioned horror yarn to curl your toes in these eco-geopolitical end times…

Originally released as a 5-part miniseries between December 2012 & July 2013, To Hell You Ride was a lifelong dream project for actor Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Millennium, Near Dark) and one inspired by a visit to the town of Telluride, Colorado way in the 1970s.

He saw his idea as a movie, but eventually, after working with screenwriter/documentarian Joseph Maddrey (Nightmares in Red, White and Blue), shifted his notions to sequential narrative, enlisting comic book horror veteran Tom Mandrake (Swamp Thing, Grimjack, Martian Manhunter, Batman) to render the project into stunning creepy visuals. Finishing the package were colourists Cris Peter & Mat Lopes and letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot®.

Told in parallel time periods and trenchant flashbacks, the drama begins in the snow-swamped Colorado Mountains of 1880 where a greedy trapper plunders Indian graves and finds gold. A year later, the sacred ground is utterly defiled, turned into a pit of depravity by dozens of prospectors ripping up the terrain in search of yellow metal.

The tribe’s only response is to begin a ritual of atonement. However, undertaken by their holiest warriors – “the Old Ones” – even this act of pious desperation is despoiled. Interrupted by miners, four celebrant warriors are killed, Thus, their derailed devotions slowly poison the environment, becoming a curse for future generations and another prime example of ‘White Man’s Guilt’. That is, of course, none at all…

Unfortunately, the ritual is not done, and continues unfolding at its own pace…

More than a century later, drunk, lost and perpetually angry Native American Seven George (his true name is Two Dogs…) continues being a pain in the ass to everybody. Yet again, sheriff Jim Shipps gives the kid a pass, but by the time the young man reaches his desolate, dilapidated shack, he’s become aware that something’s changed: an unnatural alteration that’s killing all the birds. Thankfully, he knows the history and takes steps to protect himself from an interrupted ritual that’s coming back and coming to a close…

The never-ending wounds to the region had affected both his grandfather Five George and dad Six George in their own times, bringing trouble and death to those who could least risk it, and now, as Two Dogs sits in a jail cell at Christmas waiting for his own fate to unfold, the unnatural takes over. Soon the mountain town is buried in a wall of white, courtesy of ‘The Alchemy of Snow’ but greedy town officials like Cubby Boyer only see another way to make money. Snow tourists flood in, but the joy and profits freeze once this year’s visitors start dying: victims of a bloody, explosive ‘Metamorphosis’…

All of the region’s wildlife is frightened and aware of a big change coming. With chaos growing and a news blackout exacerbating the crisis, Two Dogs and Shipps must work together, but certainly never with the same ends in mind…

As the death toll mounts government spooks move in, setting up a quarantine line to keep America safe from “plague carriers” and “contaminated snow”… And they’re not really genuine Feds either…

Although the land’s original occupiers feel their time is returning, they can’t quite hold a solid front, and are divided into factions based on ancient spirits. With the Spider and the Trickster apparently walking the land, somehow, only Two Dogs knows what’s really needed. He begins his personal ‘Ghost Dance’ to the ever-present Watchers from the Spirit World, seeking to save who he can of the terrified human beings but, ultimately all that’s left is to accept fate and ready himself for his ‘Death Song’…

Perhaps here is the solution he’s been searching for?

Deftly blending contemporary horror themes with judiciously cherrypicked – or just plain cod – First Nations mythology, To Hell You Ride is not as spiritually astute as it would like, but is far more fun than you can possibly imagine: a superbly chilling race against doom with epic undertones and potent symbology.

Adding to the experience is text feature ‘Origins’, detailing how the story evolved over decades, all stoutly supplemented with character studies, commentary, notes & developmental drawings of Two Dogs, The Watchers, Jim Shipps, Mary Ambrose, Cubby Boyer & the Town, The Spider, The Trickster, Smokin’ Bones, and recurring key image The Appeal to the Great Spirit (as derived from Cyrus E. Dallin’s sculpture of the same name).

Sheer, unalloyed spooky delight, this is a magical yarn that truly would make a magnificent moody movie. So why hasn’t anybody thought of it?

To Hell You Ride™ & © 2012, 2013 Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey & Tom Mandrake. All rights reserved.

Today in 1902 US cartoon stalwart Ed Dodd was born. You probably haven’t seen his Mark Trail comics, but you should if you can.

In 1963 Pilote debuted Greg’s Gallic action ace Achile Talon. As soon as anyone translates that stuff we’ll be right in there. Three years later Vince Locke (Deadworld, A History of Violence, Judge Dredd) was born. In 1991 Finnish cartoon eroticist Tom of Finland died. We haven’t done any of his books yet but keep your eyes peeled (ooh, kinky…)

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Chandler


By Steranko (Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc/Pyramid Books)
ISBN: 978-0-515-04241-2 (Pyramid Books)

This book contains Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

Jim Steranko was born today in 1938. Can you guess what time it is?

Steranko is an artist with many strings to his bow. Whether as publisher, typographer, graphic designer, artist, writer, storyteller, historian, or musical performer he has always excelled. As magician & escapologist he found celebrity, inspiring new friend Jack Kirby to create Super Escape Artist Mister Miracle, but it’s as a comics creator the man of many talents has most memorably succeeded.

At the peak of Marvel’s first creative flowering he revolutionised the telling of graphic stories with Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. His retro-revisionist take on Captain America is reverently remembered, as is his brief meddling with mutant outriders The X-Men.

Decades after his experimental forays in Marvel’s horror and romance titles, the results are remembered – and now finally in print – as high-points in style and cinematic design.

Steranko left Marvel to pursue other interests and began publication of pop culture mainstay Mediascene Prevue, only rarely returning to the comics medium. If you’ve never seen his strip work you’ll know him by his film production concept art for blockbusters like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In the mid-1970s he linked up with comics Svengali Byron Preiss to create this fabulous experimental precursor of the graphic novel: a dynamic and vivid tribute to the hard-boiled detective and film noir genres, and something which perhaps not altogether to the tastes of fans at the time is certainly now very much in the bailiwick of contemporary comics consumers.

Alternatively entitled FICTION ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 3 in its pocket digest sized paperback iteration (as well as proper full-sized graphic novel Chandler: Red Tide), it still packs a potent visual and narrative punch.

Chandler is a private eye, in the iconic myth-country of 1940’s New York City. One night a desperate man comes looking for someone to track down his inescapable killer. Bramson Todd witnessed a mob hit and has somehow been poisoned because of it. With 72 hours to live, the walking corpse wants proactive revenge, and as well as a vast amount of money, he offers Chandler the chance to save three other witnesses from the same fate or worse…

The familiar iconography of a seedy, noble gumshoe is augmented by two-fisted action, flying bullets, sundry thugs and scoundrels, memorable, glamorous women and a ticking clock, all working to make this loving and effective pastiche a minor masterpiece…

Back then, however, a major stumbling block for many readers was the unconventional format of the book. Each folio is divided into two columns – in the manner of classic pulp prose page layouts – with each column comprising an illustration above a block of accompanying text.

Despite Steranko’s superb draughtsmanship and design skill (some spreads form extended visual continuities with 4-single frames becoming one large illustration), there is an element of separation between prose & picture that can take a little adapting to. But you should try. It’s worth it.

This is still a powerful tale, well told and worth any extra effort necessary to enjoy it. Another contender for immediate reissue, I think…

© 1976 Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc. The character Chandler © 1976 James Steranko.

Today in 1977 René Goscinny died. You must by now know where to look for him. Two years later Li’l Abner’s Al Capp passed on too, in 2007 unsung star Paul Norris died. He’s most renowned for co-creating DC’s Sea King as most recently seen in Aquaman: 80 Years of the King of the Seven Seas – the Deluxe Edition.

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Osama Tezuka’s Astro Boy volume 10


By Osamu Tezuka, translated by Frederik L. Schodt (Dark Horse Manga)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-793-1 (tank?bon PB/Digital edition)

This book contains Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

From beginning his professional career in the late 1940s until his death in 1989, Osamu Tezuka generated an incomprehensible volume of quality work which transformed the world of manga and how it was perceived in his own country and, ultimately, across the globe. Devoted to Walt Disney’s creations, he also performed similar sterling service with Japan’s fledgling animation industry. Look what that led to…

The earliest stories were intended for children but right from the start Tezuka’s expansive fairy tale stylisations harboured more mature themes, holding hidden pleasures for older readers and the legion of fans growing up with the Mankaga’s manga masterworks…

The “God of Comics” was born in Osaka Prefecture on November 3rd 1928, and as a child suffered from severe illness. The doctor who cured him inspired the lad to study medicine, and although Osamu began drawing professionally whilst at university in 1946, he persevered with college and qualified as a medical practitioner too. Then, as he faced a career crossroads, his mother advised him to do the thing which made him happiest.

He never practiced as a healer but the world was gifted such masterpieces as Kimba the White Lion, Buddha, Black Jack and so many other graphic narratives. Working ceaselessly over decades, Tezuka and his creations inevitably matured, but he was always able to speak to the hearts and minds of young and old equally. His creations ranged from the childishly charming to the distinctly disturbing such as The Book of Human Insects or Tomorrow the Birds.

Tezuka died on February 9th 1989, having produced more than 150,000 pages of timeless comics; reinvented the Japanese anime industry and popularised a uniquely Japanese graphic narrative style which has become a fixture of global culture.

These monochrome digest volumes (173 x 113 mm in the physical world and any size you like if you read them digitally) present – in non-linear order – early exploits of his signature character, with the emphasis firmly on fantastic fun and family entertainment…

Tetsuwan Atomu (literally “Mighty Atom” but known universally as Astro Boy due to its dissemination around the world as an animated TV cartoon and one of post-war Japan’s better exports) is a spectacular, riotous, rollicking sci fi action-adventure starring a young boy who also happens to be one of the mightiest robots on Earth.

The series began in 1952 in Sh?nen Kobunsha and ran until March 12th 1968 – although Tezuka often added to the canon in later years, both in comics but in also in other media such as newspaper strips and in magazines. Throughout that period, the plucky robot lad spawned the aforementioned global TV cartoon boom, starred in comic book specials and featured in games, toys, collectibles, movies and the undying devotion of generations of ardent fans.

Tezuka frequently drew himself into his tales as a commentator, and in his later revisions and introductions often mentioned how he found the restrictions of Sh?nen comics stifling; specifically, having to periodically pause a plot to placate the demands of his audience by providing a blockbusting fight every episode. That’s his prerogative: most of us avid aficionados have no complaints and one upheld in abundance in the early tales included here…

Tezuka and his production team were never as wedded to close continuity as fans are. They constantly revised stories and artwork for later collections, so if you’re a purist you are just plain out of luck. Such tweaking and modifying is the reason these editions seemingly skip up and down publishing chronology. The intent is to entertain at all times so stories aren’t treated as gospel and order is not immutable or inviolate. It’s just comics, guys, and in case you came in late, here’s a little background to set you up.

In a forthcoming world where robots are ubiquitous and have won (limited) human rights, brilliant Dr. Tenma lost his son Tobio in a traffic accident. Grief-stricken, the tormented genius used his position as head of Japan’s Ministry of Science to have his team build a replacement. The android created was one of the most groundbreaking constructs in history, and for a while Tenma was content. However, as his mind re-stabilised, Tenma realised this unchanging humanoid was not Tobio and, with cruel clarity, no longer accepted a substitute. Ultimately, the savant removed the insult to his real boy by selling the robot to a shady dealer…

One day, independent researcher Professor Ochanomizu was in the audience at a robot circus and realised diminutive performer Astro was unlike the other acts – or indeed, any artificial being he’d ever encountered. Convincing the circus owners to part with the little robot, the boffin closely studied the unique creation and realised just what a miracle had come into his hands…

Part of Ochanomizu’s socialization process for Astro included placing him in a family environment and having him attend school just like a real boy. As well as providing friends and admirers the familiar environment turned up other foils and occasional assistants such as the bellicose Elementary School teacher Higeoyaji (AKA Mr. Mustachio) and a robot little sister dubbed Uran…

The wiry, widgety wonder’s astonishing exploits resume here after the now traditional ‘A Note to Readers’ – explaining why one thing that hasn’t been altered is the depictions of various racial types in the stories. Since the author was keen to combine all aspects of his creation into one overarching continuity, this volume (at last) incorporates classic 1950s material as well as the masterful Sixties sagas and following an intimate chat with the cartoonist opens with masterful monster mash -up ‘Astro vs Garon’ which was originally serialised in Sh?nen Magazine from October 1962 to February 1963. Here a sequence of wild weather events precedes the arrival of a bizarre object from space. As scientists gather, prod and poke about, they determine the package is some sort of cosmic flat-pack parcel. Sadly, once they put all the pieces together, what they have is a planet-restructuring autonomous entity…

Thanks to Ochanomizu and his little robot companion, a packing note is translated, revealing the power and purpose of the construct, and – crucially – that it has arrived on the WRONG PLANET!

Sent to the Superintendent of Megalopa by the King of Planet Yura, the package has been despatched to “kill Plasta” and “modify” planets, so the sagacious observers are perfectly happy to leave it alone from now on if they can’t find a way to destroy it. Sadly, they aren’t quick enough and lightning awakens “the Garon”, which goes on a catastrophic rampage that all Earth’s military might and valiant Astro Boy can barely handle.

Thinking the crisis over, the handmade hero is called back into action when inert Garon is stolen by sleazy Professor Amagawa and a conglomerate of greedy capitalists and gangsters, Transported to the South Pacific the monster is then deliberately unleashed and all hell inevitably breaks loose. Able to convert the atmosphere and alter gravity, Garon goes wild and the astonishingly outpowered robot kid seems unable to pull off a second miracle.

Thankful for an old fable he once heard, Astro Boy devises a way to outsmart and banish the beast he cannot kill…

Japanese kids were editorially and parentally sheltered in different ways to us in the West, and second saga ‘Yellow Horse’ (Sh?nen, October 1955 – February 1956) might be a little shocking to some. It deals with diabolical drug dealers and sees Astro seconded by Police Inspector Nakamura to crack a ruthless smuggling gang with a hideout that is literally out of this world. To defeat them, the boy ‘bot goes undercover posing as a young user and eventually junkie/recruit, having to allow his hero Mr. Mustachio to be attacked and nearly killed and Professor Ochanomizu to be tortured and turned into an addict…

Eventually however, the plan gels and a calamitous battle reveals another shocking secret before the case can be closed…

Next, from Sh?nen magazine March to April 1967, ‘The 100 Million Year Old Crime’ sees a gang of French mutant juvenile delinquents run amok, endangering all of society with their unchecked mental powers. Called in to help, Professor O and Astro are crushed and defeated by the teens after they steal unstoppable robot superweapon Karabusu…

As the professor is cruelly enslaved by the mutant kids, the wrecked scraps of Astro are found by ancient aliens. These “water ghosts” have been on/in Earth for 100,000,000 years and the father one is mired in guilt for committing an utterly unpardonable act. His daughter Parma is, however, enchanted by the robot remains and rebuilds him, triggering a cycle of redemption. Repaired and curious, Astro learns that heinous antediluvian crime was meddling with earth creatures’ genetic and creating humanity. All their historical atrocities and planetary harms are the alien’s fault and now he will wipe out his mistake. Desperate, Astro debates with the despondent progenitor and a deadly deal is struck, one involving reforming those mutant kids who seem to be the very worst the species can offer…

Sadly, the morbid maker has no intention of honouring it and Astro has to resort to the kind of tactics he despises for the good of all…

This outing to the orient of cartoon yore ends with a cunning crime caper and contemporary spoof saga as ‘Astro’s Been Stolen!’ (June to September in Tetsuwan Atom Kurabu AKA Mighty Atom Club) sees the mecha mite and his loving (equally mechanical) family distraught following a message from Professor O. This explains that the boy, his sister and they all need to grow for their mental health. That means transferring their processors and personalities into new, appropriately aged bodies every ten years…

Tragically, Ochanomizu has been targeted by diabolical twinned Doctors Rukarike. He’s actually a singular supervillain called Gettrich who cons the well-meaning savant into switching Astro Boy’s electro-brain into an adult replacement frame just so he can steal the junior version and place a hench-minion’s mind in it. The purpose is to gain admittance to the top-secret base containing super artefact the Neo-pyramid, but the fiend has not reckoned with Astro’s resilience and determination, nor the timely interference of British agent James Itch Dnob…

Breathtaking pace, outrageous invention, slapstick comedy, heart-wrenching sentiment and frenetic action are hallmarks of these captivating comics constructions: all ideal examples of Tezuka’s uncanny storytelling gifts. These still deliver a potent punch and instil wide-eyed wonder on a variety of intellectual levels and our melange of mecha-marvels is further enhanced an older, more sophisticated tone via the material’s constant revision, confirming Astro Boy as a genuine delight for all ages.
Tetsuwan Atom by Osama Tezuka © 2002 by Tezuka Productions. All rights reserved. Astro Boy is a registered trademark of Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd., Tokyo Japan. Unedited translation © 2002 Frederik L. Schodt.

Today in 1998 Batman co-creator Bob Kane died. Coincidentally, way back in 1927 letterer Milt Snappin was born on this same date. Milt put the words in Batman & Robin’s bubbles – as well as Superman, Superboy and other DC World’s Finest stars throughout the post Golden and Silver Age period.

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The Creeper by Steve Ditko


By Ditko, Don Segall, Denny O’Neil, Michael Fleisher, Mike Peppe, Jack Sparling & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2592-6 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

It’s Steve Ditko’s 99th birthday today and I’m not letting the fact that he’s no longer with us stop us enjoying his wonders and celebrating his unique storytelling mastery…

Steve Ditko was one of our industry’s greatest and most influential talents and, during his lifetime, amongst America’s least lauded. Always reclusive and reticent by inclination, his fervent desire was always just to get on with his job, tell stories the best way he can and let his work speak for him.

Whilst the noblest of aspirations, that attitude was usually a minor consideration – and even an actual stumbling block – for the commercial interests which for so long controlled all comics production and still exert an overwhelming influence upon the mainstream bulk of the comic industry’s output. After Ditko’s legendary disagreements with Stan Lee led to his quitting Marvel – where his groundbreaking efforts made the reclusive genius (at least in comicbook terms) a household name – he found work at Warren Comics and resumed his long association with Charlton Comics.

That company’s laissez faire editorial attitudes had always offered him the most creative freedom, if not greatest financial reward, but in 1968 their wünderkind editor Dick Giordano was poached by the rapidly-slipping industry leader and he took some of his bullpen of key creators with him to DC Comics. Whilst Jim Aparo, Steve Skeates, Frank McLaughlin and Denny O’Neil found a new and regular home, Ditko began only a sporadic – if phenomenally productive – association with DC.

It was during this heady if unsettled period that the first strips derived from Ditko’s interpretation of the Objectivist philosophy of novelist Ayn Rand began appearing in fanzines and independent press publications like Witzend and The Collector, whilst for the “over-ground” publishing colossus he devised a brace of cult classics with The Hawk and the Dove and the superbly captivating concept re-presented here: Beware The Creeper. Later efforts would include Shade, the Changing Man, Stalker and The Odd Man, plus truly unique interpretations of Man-Bat, the Legion of Super-Heroes and many more… including a wealth of horror, mystery and sci fi shorts reminiscent of his Charlton glory days.

The auteur’s comings and goings also allowed him to revisit past triumphs and none more so than with The Creeper – who kept periodically popping up like a mad, bad penny. This superb hardcover compilation – still tragically and inexplicably languishing with other classics DC hasn’t got around to making available in digital formats – gathers every Ditko-drafted/delineated Creeper classic from a delirious decade for your delight, and the spooky superhero spectacle kicks off with an effusive Introduction from appreciative fan Steve (30 Days of Night) Niles.

This collation curates tales from Showcase #73; Beware the Creeper #1-6; 1st Issue Special #7; World’s Finest Comics #249-255 and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2/Showcase #106 (collectively spanning March/April 1968 to February/March 1979), so settle in for a long ride…

Like so many brilliant ideas before it, Ditko’s bizarre DC visions first exploded off the newsstands in try-out title Showcase. Issue #73 heralded ‘The Coming of the Creeper!!’ with veteran comics & TV scripter Don Segall putting the words to Ditko’s plot and illustrations. The moodily macabre tale introduces suicidally-outspoken TV host Jack Ryder, whose attitude to his show’s sponsors and cronies loses him his cushy job. His brazen attitude does, however, impress network security chief Bill Brane and the gruff oldster offers him a job as an investigator and occasional bodyguard.

Jack’s first case involves tracking down recent Soviet defector Professor Yatz who has gone missing. The CIA suspect has been abducted by gangster Angel Devilin and sold to Red agent Major Smej. Displaying a natural affinity for detective work, Ryder tracks a lead to Devilin’s grand house and interrupts a costume party designed as a cover to make the trade. Promptly kicked out by thugs, Ryder heads for a costume shop but can only find a box of garish odds and ends… and lots of makeup.

Kitted out in a strange melange of psychedelic attire and accoutrements, he breaks back in but is caught and stabbed before being thrown into a cell with the missing Yatz. The scientist – also grievously wounded – is determined to keep his inventions out of the hands of evil men. These creations comprise an instant-healing serum and a Molecular Transmuter, able to shunt whatever a person is wearing or carrying into and out of our universe. A fully equipped army could enter a country as harmless tourists and materialise a complete armoury before launching sneak attacks…

To preserve them, Yatz lodges the Transmuter inside Ryder’s knife wound before injecting him with the untested serum. The effect is instantaneous and doesn’t even leave a scar. The investigator is also suddenly faster, stronger and more agile…

When Jack presses a handheld activator, he is instantly naked, and experimentation shows that he can make his motley costume appear and disappear just by touching a button. Of course, now, whenever it is activated, neither makeup nor wig, bodystocking, boots or gloves will come off. It’s like the crazy outfit has become his second skin…

When the gangsters come for their captives, Yatz is burning his notes. In the fracas that follows he catches a fatal bullet and, furious, guilt-ridden and strangely euphoric, Ryder goes after the thugs and spies. By the time the cops arrive he finds himself (or at least his canary yellow alter ego) blamed by Devilin for the chaos and even a burglary. The mobster has even given him a name – The Creeper…

As soon as the furore dies down vengeful Ryder returns to exact justice for the professor and discovers his uncanny physical prowess and macabre, incessant unnerving laughter give him an unbeatable edge whilst winning him a supernatural reputation…

After that single yarn the haunting hero hurtled straight into his own bimonthly series. Beware the Creeper #1 debuted with a May/June cover-date. Behind one of the most evocative covers of the decade – or indeed, ever – ‘Where Lurks the Menace?’ (scripted by Denny O’Neil under his occasional pen-name Sergius O’Shaughnessy) finds Ryder and the Creeper hunting an acrobatic killer beating to death numerous shady types in a savage effort to take over the city’s gangs. Sadly, Jack’s relentless pursuit of “the Terror” and careful piecing together of many disparate clues to his identity is hindered by the introduction of publicity-hungry, obnoxious glamour-puss ‘Vera Sweet’. The TV weathergirl thinks she has the right to monopolise Ryder’s time and attention, even when he’s ducking fists and bullets…

The remainder of the far-too-brief run featured a classic duel of opposites as a chameleonic criminal mastermind insinuated himself into the lives of Jack and the Brane bunch. It all began with ‘The Many Faces of Proteus!’ in BtC #2 (by Ditko & O’Shaughnessy) wherein a pompous do-gooder’s TV campaign against The Creeper is abruptly curtailed after the Golden Grotesque shows up at the studio and throws bombs.

Caught in the blast is baffled and battered Jack Ryder, and he’s even more bewildered when Brane informs him that a tip has come in confirming the Creeper is working for gambler gangboss Legs Larsen…

Dodging Vera, whose latest scheme involves a fake engagement, the real Creeper reaches Larsen’s gaming house in time to see a faceless man put a bullet into the prime suspect. In the ensuing panic the Laughing Terror transforms back into Ryder and strolls out with Larsen’s files, unaware that the faceless man is watching him leave and putting a few clues together himself…

The documents reveal a lone player slowly consolidating a grip on the city’s underworld but discloses no concrete information, so the Creeper goes on a very public rampage against all criminals in hopes of drawing Proteus out. The gambit works perfectly as a number of close friends try to kill Ryder, but only after frantically fending off flamethrower-wielding Vera in his own apartment does the Creeper realise that Proteus is far more than a madman with a makeup kit. A spectacular rooftop duel ends in a collapsed building and apparent end of the protean plunderer… but there’s no body to be found in the rubble…

Beware the Creeper #3 has our outré hero tearing the city’s thugs apart looking for Proteus, but his one-man spook-show is curtailed when Brane sends Ryder to find Vera. Little Miss Wonderful is determined to be the first to interview an island society cut off from the world for over a century, but all contact has been lost since she arrived. Tracking her to ‘The Isle of Fear’ Jack finds her in the hands of a death cult. More important to Ryder, however, is the fact that the Supreme One leading the maniacs is actually a top criminal offering sanctuary to Proteus flunkies he’s been scouring the city for…

Back in civilisation again, ‘Which Face Hides My Enemy?’ sees Ryder expose High Society guru and criminal mesmerist Yogi Birzerk’s unsuspected connection to Proteus. The cops drive The Creeper away before he can get anything from the charlatan, and when he dejectedly returns home Jack walks into an explosive booby trap in his new apartment. The “warning” from Proteus heralds the arrival of Asian troubleshooters Bulldog Bird and Sumo who claim to be also pursuing the faceless villain. They reveal he was a high-ranking member of the government of Offalia who stole a chemical which alters the molecular composition of flesh, before suggesting they all team up. Heading back to Bizerk’s place, it soon becomes clear that they are actually working for Proteus and that the faceless fiend knows Ryder’s other identity…

With #5, inker Mike Peppe joined Ditko & O’Neil as the epic swung into high gear with ‘The Color of Rain is Death!’ Proteus makes his closing moves, attacking Jack’s associates and framing him again whilst preparing for a criminal masterstroke which will win him much of the city’s wealth. Luring the Creeper into the sewers as a major storm threatens to deluge the city, the face-shifter reveals a scheme to blow up the drainage system and cause catastrophic flooding. After a brutal battle, he also leaves The Creeper tied to a grating to drown…

The stunning saga closed with final issue Beware the Creeper #6 (March/April 1969), by which time Ditko had all but abandoned his creation. ‘A Time to Die’ saw tireless, reliable everyman artist Jack Sparling pencil most of the story as the Howling Hero escapes his death-trap, deciphers the wily villain’s true gameplan and delivers a crushing final defeat. It was fun and thrilling and – unlike many series which folded at that troubled time – even provided an actual conclusion, but it somehow it wasn’t satisfactory and it wasn’t what we wanted.

This was a time when superheroes went into another steep decline with supernatural and genre material rapidly gaining prominence throughout the industry. With Fights ‘n’ Tights comics folding all over, Ditko concentrated again on Charlton’s mystery line, an occasional horror piece for Warren and his own projects…

In the years his own title was dormant, the Creeper enjoyed many guest shots in other comics and it was established that the city he prowled was in fact Gotham. When Ditko returned to DC in the mid-1970s, try-out series 1st Issue Special was alternating new concepts with revivals of old characters. Issue #7 (October 1975) gave the quirky crusader another shot at stardom in ‘Menace of the Human Firefly’ – written by Michael Fleisher & inked by Mike Royer. Here restored TV journalist Jack Ryder is inspecting the fantastic felons in Gotham Penitentiary just as manic lifer Garfield Lynns breaks jail to resume his interrupted costumed career as the master of lighting effects. By the time the rogue’s brief but brilliant rampage is over, the Creeper has discovered something extremely disturbing about his own ever-evolving abilities…

The story wasn’t enough to restart the rollercoaster, but some years later DC instituted a policy of giant-sized anthologies, and the extra page counts allowed a number of lesser lights to secure back-up slots and shine again. For World’s Finest Comics #249-255 (cover-dated February/March 1978 to February/March 1979) Ditko was invited to produce a series of 8-page vignettes starring his most iconic DC creation. This time he wrote as well as illustrated and the results are pure eccentric excellence. The sequence begins with ‘Moon Lady and the Monster’ as Ryder – once again a security operative for Cosmic Broadcasting Network – must ferret out a grotesque brute stalking a late-night horror-movie hostess, after which #250’s ‘Return of the Past’ reprises the origin as Angel Devilin gets out of jail and goes looking for revenge…

In WFC #251, ‘The Disruptor’ proves to be a blackmailer attempting to extort CBN by sabotaging programmes whilst ‘The Keeper of Secrets is Death!’ in #252 follows the tragic murder of Dr. Joanne Russell who was accused on a sensationalistic TV show of knowing the Creeper’s secret identity. Next issue ‘The Wrecker’ offers an actual grudge-bearing mad scientist who has built a most unconventional robot, whilst ‘Beware Mr. Wrinkles!’ in #254 debuts a villain with the power to age his victims. Neither, however, are a match for the tireless, spring-heeled Technicolor Tornado, whose too-short return culminates in a lethal duel with a knife-throwing jewel thief in #255’s ‘Furious Fran and the Dagger Lady’…

Until this volume, that was it for Ditko devotees and Creeper collectors, but as the final delight in this splendid compendium reveals, there was more. An ill-considered expansion was followed by 1978’s infamous “DC Implosion”, when a number of titles were shut down or cancelled before release. One of those was Showcase #106 which would have featured a new all-Ditko Creeper tale.

It was collected – with sundry other lost treasures – in a copyright-securing, monochrome, minimum print-run internal publication entitled Cancelled Comics Cavalcade. Here, from CCC #2 (1978) and presented in stark black & white, fans can see the Garish Gallant’s last Ditko-devised hurrah as ‘Enter Dr. Storme’ pits the Creeper (and cameo crimebuster The Odd Man) against a deranged weatherman turned climatic conqueror able to manipulate the elements.

Fast, fight-filled, furiously fun and devastatingly dynamic, Beware the Creeper was a high-point in skewed superhero sagas and this is a compendium no lovers of the genre can do without.
© 1968, 1969, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1926 Harvey Comics star and Anthro originator Howie Post was born, followed a year later by the mighty Steve Ditko. Just scroll back up or look anywhere on this blog, dude!

Sadly, it’s also the anniversary of Wally Wood’s death in 1981. We last looked closely at Ditko’s frequent collaborator in Cannon.

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The Golden Age Spectre Archives


By Jerry Siegel & Bernard Baily with Gardner F. Fox & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-5638-9955-3 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Masterpieces for all Comics Addicts… 9/10

Ola! Happy Día de (los) Muertos!

There were and still are a lot of comics anniversaries this year: many rightly celebrated, but a lot were unjustly ignored. As a feverish fanboy wedged firmly in the past, I’m abusing my privileges here to kvetch again about another brilliant vintage book, criminally out of print and not slated for revival either physically or in digital formats. That means occasionally recommending items that might be a bit hard to find. At least you might be buying from those poor beleaguered comics shops and specialists desperately in need of your support now, rather than some faceless corporate internet emporium..,

In fact, considering the state of the market, how come DC doesn’t just convert its entire old Archive line into eBooks and win back a few veteran fans? Don’t ask me, I only imitate working here…

Created by Jerry Siegel & Bernard Baily in 1939, The Spectre is one of the oldest characters in DC’s vast character stable. He debuted with a 2-part origin epic in More Fun Comics #52 and 53 (cover-dated February & March 1940 and on sale from December 28th 1939 and February 2nd 1940 respectively). He was the first superhero to star in that previously all-genres anthology, and reigned supreme in the title with flamboyant, eerily eccentric supernatural thrillers. He gradually slipped from popularity as firstly Dr. Fate and then Johnny Quick, Aquaman, Green Arrow and finally Superboy showed up to steal the limelight.

By the time of his last appearance in More Fun #101 February 1945, the Ghostly Guardian had been reduced to a foil for his own comedic sidekick Percival Popp, the Super-Cop…

Just like Siegel’s other iconic creation, the Dark Man suffered from a basic design flaw: he was just too darn powerful. Unlike that vigorously vital and earthy early Superman, however, the ethereal champion of justice was already dead, so he couldn’t be logically or dramatically imperilled. Of course, in those far-off early days that wasn’t nearly as important as sheer spectacle: grabbing the reader’s utter attention and keeping it stoked to a fantastic fever pitch. This the Grim Ghost could do with ease and ever-increasing intensity.

Re-presenting the first 19 eerie episodes and following a fulsome Foreword detailing the state of play within the budding marketplace during those last months of the 1930s – courtesy of preeminent Comics historian Dr. Jerry Bails – the arcane action in this astoundingly enticing collection commences with ‘The Spectre: Introduction’ as first espied in More Fun Comics #52. This wasn’t the actual title: like so many strips of those early days, most stories didn’t have individual descriptors and have been retroactively entitled for compilations such as this.

The Astral Avenger was only barely glimpsed in this initial instalment. Instead, focus rests on hard-bitten police detective Jim Corrigan, who is about to wed rich heiress Clarice Winston when they are abducted by mobster Gat Benson. Stuffed into a barrel of cement and pitched off a pier, Corrigan dies and goes to his eternal reward.

Almost…

Rather than finding Paradise and peace, Corrigan’s spirit is accosted by a glowing light and disembodied voice which, over his strident protests, orders him return to Earth to fight crime and evil until all vestiges of them are gone. Standing on the seabed and looking at his own corpse, Corrigan began his mission by going after his own killers…

MFC #53 details how ‘The Spectre Strikes’ as the outraged revenant swiftly, mercilessly and horrifically ends his murderers before saving Clarice. Naturally “Corrigan” calls off the engagement and moves out of the digs he shares with fellow cop and best friend Wayne Grant. A cold, dead man has no need for the living. The origin ends with Corrigan implausibly sewing himself a green & white costume and swearing to eradicate all crime…

Splendidly daft and intensely enthralling, this 2-part yarn comprises one of the darkest and most memorable origins in comic book annals and the feature only got better with each issue as the bitter, increasingly isolated lawman swiftly grows into the most overwhelmingly powerful hero of the Golden Age.

In MFC #54 the Supernatural Sentinel tackles ‘The Spiritualist’, a murderous medium and unscrupulous charlatan who almost kills Clarice and forever ends the Spectre’s hopes for eternal rest, after which #55 introduces worthy opposition in ‘Zor’: a ghost of far greater vintage and power, dedicated to promulgating evil on Earth. He too menaces Clarice and only the intervention of the Heavenly Voice and a quick upgrade in phantasmal power enables Spectre to overcome this malign menace.

More Fun Comics #56 was the first to feature Howard Sherman’s Dr. Fate on the cover, but the Spectre was still the big attraction, even if merely mundane bandits and blackmailers instigating ‘Terror at Lytell’s’ were no match for the ever-inventive wrathful wraith. Far more serious was ‘The Return of Zor’ in #57, as the horrific haunt escapes from beyond to frame Corrigan for murder and again endanger the girl Jim dare not love…

An embezzler turns to murder as ‘The Arsonist’ in #58, but is no match for the cop – let alone his eldritch alter ego – whilst ‘The Fur Hi-Jackers’ actually succeed in “killing” the cop, yet still suffer the Spectre’s unique brand of justice. In #60, ‘The Menace of Xnon’ sees a super-scientist utilising incredible inventions to frame the ghost and even menace his ethereal existence – prompting The Voice to again increase its servant’s power. This means giving The Spectre the all-powerful Ring of Life – but not before the Ghostly Guardian has been branded Public Enemy No. 1.

With Corrigan now ordered to arrest his spectral other self on sight, #61 (another Dr. Fate cover) features ‘The Golden Curse Deaths’ wherein prominent citizens perish from a tech terror with a deadly Midas Touch, prior to ‘The Mad Creation of Professor Fenton’ pitting the Phantom Protector against a roving, ravaging, disembodied mutant super-brain. In #63, a kill-crazy racketeer gets his just deserts in the electric chair only to return and personally inflict ‘Trigger Daniels’ Death Curse’ upon all who opposed him in life. Happily, The Spectre is more than his match whereas ‘The Ghost of Elmer Watson’ is a far harder foe to face. Murdered by mobsters who also nearly kill Wayne Grant, the remnant of the vengeful dead man refuses to listen to The Spectre’s brand of reason. Thus, its dreadful depredations must be dealt with in fearsome fashion…

‘Dr. Mephisto’ was a real-deal spiritualist who used an uncanny blue flame for crime in MFC #65, after which the Ghostly Guardian battles horrendous monsters called forth from ‘The World Within the Paintings’ (probably written by the series’ first guest writer Gardner Fox), whilst Siegel scribes ‘The Incredible Robberies’, putting the phantom policeman into fearful combat to the death and beyond with diabolical mystic Deeja Kathoon. From #68 on The Spectre finally acknowledged someone’s superiority after losing his protracted cover battle to Dr. Fate even though, inside, the ‘Menace of the Dark Planet’ features a fabulously telling tale of Earthbound Spirit against alien invasion by life-leeching Little Green Men. In his next exploit ‘The Strangler’ murders lead Corrigan into an improbable case with an impossible killer…

This terrifying titanic but far-too-short tome terminates on issue #70 and ‘The Crimson Circle Mystery Society’ in which a sinister cult employs merciless phantasmal psychic agent Bandar to carry out its deadly schemes and desires…

Although still a mighty force of fun and fearful entertainment, The Spectre’s Glory Days and Nights were waning, with more credible champions coming to the fore. He would be one of the first casualties of the post-War decline in mystery men and not be seen again until the Silver Age of 1960’s. His path to his own title was tough then too and also led to an early retirement…

Moreover, when he did finally return to comics full-time, the previously omnipotent phantasm was curtailed by strict limits and as he continued to evolve through various returns, refits and reboots The Spectre was finally transmogrified: being bound to a tormented mortal soul inescapably attached to the actual embodiment of the biblical Wrath of God. Revamped and revived in perpetuity, revealed as the Spirit of Vengeance wedded to a human conscience, Jim Corrigan was finally laid to rest in the 1990s and Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan replaced him. Returning to basics in more recent years, the next host was murdered Gotham City cop Crispus Allen.

They’re all worth tracking down and exhuming: spooky comic champions who have never failed to deliver an enthralling, haunted hero rollercoaster – or is that Ghost Train? – of thrills and chills.
© 1940, 1941, 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1942 writer Michael Fleischer was born. We’ve covered far too many of his books like Jonah Hex and the Spectre to list here so just use the search box, OK? One year later Roy Cranes’ Buz Sawyer began. Do yourself a huge favour by diving into Buz Sawyer: The War in the Pacific.