Category: Nostalgia

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The Leopard from Lime St. Book Two: the Beast of Selbridge Returns!


By Tom Tully, Mike Western, Eric Bradbury & various (Rebellion Studios)
ISBN: 9-781-78108-678-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

Other than lawyers, most people claim imitation as the sincerest form of flattery. You can make your own mind up on that score when seeking out these quirky and remarkable vintage treats offering a wonderfully downbeat, quintessentially British spin on a very familiar story…

British comics have always enjoyed a strange, extended love affair with what can only be described as “unconventional” (for which feel free to substitute “weird” or “creepy”) heroes. So many stars and putative role models of our serials and strips have been outrageous or just plain “off”: self-righteous voyeurs-vigilantes like Jason Hyde, sinister masterminds in the manner of The Dwarf, self-absorbed outsiders like Robot Archie, arrogant former criminals like The Spider or outright racist supermen such as Captain Hurricane…

Joking aside, British comics were unlike any other kind: having to be seen to be believed and enjoyed – especially if “homaging” such uniquely American fare as costumed crimefighters…

Until the 1980s, UK periodicals employed an anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character on a weekly – sometimes fortnightly – basis. Humorous comics like The Beano were leavened by action-heroes like The Q-Bikes or General Jumbo whilst adventure papers like Smash, Lion or Valiant always carried palate-cleansing gagsters like The Cloak, Grimly Feendish, Mowser and other laugh treats.

Buster offered the best of all worlds. Running 1902 issues from May 28th 1960 to 4th January 2000, it delicately balanced drama, mystery, action and comedy, with its earliest days – thanks to absorbing Radio Fun and Film Fun – heavily dosed with celebrity-licensed material starring media mavens like Charlie Drake, Bruce Forsyth and Benny Hill backing up the eponymous cover star billed as “the son of (newspaper strip star) Andy Capp”. The comic became the final resting place of many, many companion papers in its lifetime, including The Big One, Giggle, Jet, Cor!, Monster Fun, Jackpot, School Fun, Nipper, Oink! and Whizzer & Chips, so its cumulative strip content is wide, wild and usually pretty wacky…

At first glance, British comics prior to the advent of 2000AD – and Happy 45th Anniversary to you all, Mighty Tharg! – seem to fall into fairly ironclad categories. Back then, you had genial and/or fantastic preschool fantasy; a large selection of licensed entertainment properties; action; adventure; war; school dramas, sports and straight comedy strands. Closer looks would confirm that there was always a subversive merging, mixing undertone, especially in such antihero series as Dennis the Menace or our rather strained interpretation of superheroes. Just check out The Phantom Viking, Kelly’s Eye or early Steel Claw…

We had dabbled with the classic form in the early Marvel and Batman-influenced 1960s (and slightly before and beyond), but Tri-Man, The Black Sapper, Gadgetman & Gimmick Kid, Johnny Future, Red Star Robinson and Thunderbolt Jaxon remained off-kilter oddities. In the March 27th 1976 edition of Buster everything changed…

Now part of Rebellion Publishing’s line of British Comics Classics, The Leopard from Lime Street originally ran 470 episodes (comprising 50 adventures until May 18th 1985 – and even later as colorized reprints and a wealth of foreign-language and overseas editions). For most of that time it was a barely-legal knock-off of Marvel’s Spider-Man – with hints of DC Thomson’s Billy the Cat – as viewed through a superbly time-stamped English lens of life in a Northern Town. It was also, however, utterly unmissable reading…

This second collected volume – available as an oversized (213 x 276 mm) paperback and digital edition – was released in 2019, gathering Buster and Buster & Monster Fun strips spanning 18th June 1977 to 15th July1978.

What you need to know: in the middle (or maybe north-ish) of England lies Selbridge, where scrawny 13-year-old Billy Farmer was constantly bullied, by kids at school and especially his Uncle Charlie. Billy’s abiding interests were journalism and photography. He started a school newspaper (Farmer’s World) all by himself, probably to compensate for his home life. He lived with loving but frail Aunt Joan and her vicious, indolent, physically abusive partner Charlie Farmer who avoided honest work like the plague but was always ready to deliver a memorable life-lesson with fist, boot or belt…

Billy’s life forever changed when he visited the Jarman Zoological Institute and was accidentally scratched by Sheba, an escaped leopard being treated for an unspecified disease with radioactive chemicals.

In the days before Health and Safety regulations or a culture of litigation, Billy was given a rapid once-over by the boffins in charge and declared fine before being sent home. When Uncle Charlie tried to hit him. the brute was casually chucked into the dustbins and the lad realised he had developed  the strength, speed, stamina and agility of a jungle cat as well as enhanced senses, empathic feelings, a paralysing roar and a predator’s “danger-sense”…

Soon, clad in a modified pantomime costume, Billy prowled Selbridge’s dark streets and low rooftops, incurring the curiosity and animosity of Thaddeus Clegg: editor of local paper The Selbridge Sun whilst ever-more confidant Billy sold exclusive news photos of burglars, crooks and kidnappers the vigilante “leopard man” preyed upon at night. Somehow, the raw kid could also get candid shots of many secluded celebrities no adult journo could get near…

Moreover, the boy’s earnings – grudgingly paid by Clegg – started making life easier for Aunt Joan, whilst the Beast’s constant proximity to Lime Street ensured Charlie kept his outbursts verbal and his drunken fists unclenched…

School remained a nightmare of bullies and almost-exposure of Billy’s secret, but home life improved further once the police identified Billy as an official confidante of the vigilante. They even noted how Charlie was regularly brutalised by the feral fury in defence of his “friend”…

Over months the leopard man caught many criminals, was implicated – and cleared – of arson and theft, was abducted by a crooked circus owner, caught  child abductors, battled a fame-obsessed masked wrestler and thwarted a circus acrobat mimicking the cat’s abilities to frame the Leopard for crimes.

On a school trip to a Safari Park, Billy was reunited with his accidental creator Sheba and his powers seemed to exponentially increase beyond his ability to control them…

The costumed melodramas resume now as hero-struck kids start imitating “Leopardman”, and the Selbridge Sun puts a cash bounty on his head, precipitating a string of minor annoyances. The real crisis comes when Farmer gets home and learns Aunty Joan is seriously ill and needs cash urgently to help pay for an operation. The only solution is for Billy to surrender his alter ego to Clegg…

Uncle Charlie also wants the cash and starts tracking the sneaky kid, hoping Billy will lead him to the cat beast. As the town erupts with opportunistic hopefuls and the cops close in, Billy prepares to end his double life, before Charlie’s interference provides a last-minute chance of escape and a solution to Joan’s dilemma…

The debacle makes an accidental and unwilling media star of Charlie, but Billy finds a way to safely sabotage the abuser’s 15 minutes of fame, leading to being singled out by more shady fairground showmen who initially seek to co-opt the boy. When rebuffed, they attempt to foist an imitation catman on the gullible public…

After the charlatans schedule a battle between leopard man and actual leopards, Billy is forced to intervene, finding himself in action against a huge, deranged, fame-hungry maniac with steel claws. Suffering a rare defeat, he awakes a captive of vile showman Flanagan who now has the scary beast he’s always hungered to exploit in his underground cages…

A glimpse for freedom comes after the fairground staff move their prize, displaying him at the distant Alf Campbell’s Circus. A moment’s distraction leads to Billy’s escape, liberating all the other big cats and briefly turning the tables on the human beasts before leaving them in the hands of a baffled constabulary and turning tail back to Selbridge…

In school, scrawny Billy is still the butt of bigger kids “jokes”, but finds a new if unwelcome ally in classmate Debra Stevens who secretly looks out for him and discovers that he’s not at all who he pretends to be…

When the cat crusader foils a wages van raid, she confronts the masked mystery, prompting a sustained and spectacular campaign of disinformation as Billy seeks to change her mind and stifle her suspicions. The task is made more difficult when reclusive millionaire (remember them?) Henry Hammond also targets the boy. His motives are far less benevolent but after cornering his prey (and Debra) everything spirals out of control when a criminal gang tries to abduct everybody…

As Christmas rolls around and Joan’s operation fund grows, Selbridge is blanketed in snow (remember that?). As Billy romps alone in the winter wonderland he is joined by Sheba who has once again escaped from Windburn Safari Park, but his joy is tempered with terror as he meets her far less friendly fellow fugitive… angry, unreasonable male leopard Raja…

Barely escaping, the boy hero is appalled to find that in intervening hours hordes of gun-toting hunters have converged on the town, eager for a spot of hometown big game fun. Suiting up, Billy is desperate to stop them – especially gun-nut Buck Redford – killing either Raja or beloved pal Sheba…

Their battle of wits and skills takes hunters, hunted and human cat all over the rugged icy landscape with numerous tragic close calls. The increasingly incensed gunman slowly loses all sense and starts menacing people as well as apex predators until a frenzied assault on Windburn finally sees Billy end the bonkers bwana’s campaign of terror…

Despite being shot, Billy’s greatest casualty is his repurposed costume and the New Year sees him searching out a replacement – or at least spare parts for a patch job. Opportunity knocks in the form of a genuine leopard skin in a junk shop, but even after arduous toil to earn the revolting antique remnant his troubles magnify not diminish when Charlie tries to steal the hard-won prize.

Things get completely out of hand and young Farmer physically rebuffs his guardian before secretly donning the modified suit. Suddenly, somehow, his human personality is utterly overwhelmed by savage, primal killer-cat instincts…

On the prowl and seeking brutal release, Billy comes to his senses just as Charlie is mugged. The town is currently swamped with ruthless violent street thieves and the leopard man instantly, instinctively intervenes: almost losing all semblance of humanity before ultimately regaining control and suppressing his newly awakened wild side after giving the muggers – and Charlie – the fright of their lives…

Ever ready to exploit a situation for profit, the vindictive uncle calls the police, blaming the cat vigilante for the rash of thefts. His lies spark a popular explosion of fear as embattled residents of Selbridge organise a protest which quickly degenerates into a riot and rabid mob on a leopard hunt…

Chased across rooftops, masked Billy tracks down the real muggers and falls into a trap laid by criminal mastermind Nipper Nemo. The elderly bandit is not as smart as he thinks, though, and before long the boy has made him and mugger army his latest chew toys…

Trouble of a different nature materialises at school when well-intentioned teacher Mr. Gleeson encourages the budding journalist and makes Farmer the preferred target of psychotic bully Barry Towler. Fighting back, Billy momentarily loses control before calming down, but the real damage is to his printing gear. With his pride and joy seemingly finished, the desperate boy approaches his employer Clegg, who cruelly offers to print the magazine for him if Billy can get a photo of the legendary ghost haunting the derelict Regal Cinema.

The editor thinks it a tremendous joke, but he’s underestimated the mettle of his victim…

Diligently researching, Billy learns the spook is reputedly old projectionist Lurcher Creel, who perished on the night before the fleapit closed for good. Strange visions have been seen ever since, but oddly, new owner Mr. Miller is violently opposed to letting the kid take a peek inside, for reasons which become blindingly obvious and increasingly deadly when the enigmatic leopard man starts sniffing round…

Enthrallingly scripted by British comics superstar Tom Tully (Roy of the Rovers; Heros the Spartan; Janus Stark; Mytek the Mighty; Adam Eterno; Johnny Red; Harlem Heroes and many of the strips cited above) these tales are magnificently illustrated.

Working collaboratively British comics royalty Mike Western (Lucky Logan; No Hiding Place; The Avenger; Biggles; The Wild Wonders; Darkie’s Mob; The Sarge; HMS Nightshade; Jack O’Justice; Billy’s Boots; Roy of the Rovers) shared pencilling and inking with mood master Eric Bradbury (Mytek the Mighty; Maxwell Hawke; Cursitor Doom; Von Hoffman’s Invasion; House of Dolmann; Death Squad; Hook Jaw; Doomlord; Rogue Trooper; Invasion; Mean Arena; Tharg the Mighty and more) to craft a pre-modern masterwork affording a fascinating insight into the slant a different culture can bring to as genre.

The concept of a “real-life” superhero has never been more clearly and cleverly explored than in these low-key tales of the cat kid who survives not supervillains but a hard-knock life…
The Leopard from Lime Street ™ & © 1977, 1978, 2019, Rebellion Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Suicide Squad: The Silver Age


By Robert Kanigher, Howard Liss, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Gene Colan, Joe Kubert & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6343-0 (HB) 978-1 4012 7516 7 (TPB)

The War that Time Forgot was a strange series which saw paratroopers and tanks of the “Question Mark Patrol” dropped on Mystery Island from whence no American soldiers ever returned. Assorted crack GIs discovered why when the operation was suddenly overrun by pterosaurs, tyrannosaurs and worse…

However, the combat-&-carnosaur creation was actually a spin-off of an earlier concept which hadn’t quite caught on with the comics-buying public. That wasn’t a problem for Writer/Editor Kanigher: a man well-versed in judicious recycling and reinvention…

Back in 1955 he had devised and written anthology adventure comic The Brave and the Bold which featured short complete tales starring a variety of period heroes: a format mirroring that era’s filmic fascination with historical dramas.

Issue #1 led with Roman swords-&-sandals epic Golden Gladiator, medieval mystery-man The Silent Knight and Joe Kubert’ Viking Prince. Soon the Gladiator was side-lined by the company’s iteration of Robin Hood, but the high adventure theme carried the title until the end of the decade when the burgeoning superhero revival saw B&B transform into a try-out vehicle in the manner of the astounding successful Showcase. Used to launch enterprising concepts and characters such as Cave Carson, Strange Sports Stories, Hawkman and the epochal Justice League of America, the title began test runs s with #25 (August/September 1959) with the fate-tempting Suicide Squad – code-named Task Force X by the US government to investigate uncanny mysteries and tackle unnatural threats.

The scary tales were all illustrated by Kanigher’s go-to team for fantastic fantasy (Ross Andru & Mike Esposito) and they clearly revelled at the chance to cut loose and show what they could do outside the staid whimsy of Wonder Woman or gritty realism of the war titles they usually handled…

The Brave and the Bold #25 introduced a quartet of merely human specialists – air ace war hero Colonel Rick Flag, combat medic Karin Grace and big-brained boffins Hugh Evans and Jess Price – all officially convened into a unit whose purpose was to tackle threats beyond conventional comprehension such as the interstellar phenomenon dubbed ‘The Three Waves of Doom!’

The quartet were built on a very shaky premise. All three men loved Karin. She only loved Rick (who wouldn’t?), but agreed to conceal her inclinations and sublimate her passions so Hugh and Jess would stay on the team of scientific death-cheaters…

In their first published exploit, a cloud from outer space impacted Earth and created a super-heated tsunami which threated to broil America. With dashing derring-do, the troubleshooters quenched the ambulatory heat wave only to have it spawn a colossal alien dragon emanating super-cold rays that might trigger a new ice age…

The only solution was to banish the beast back into space on a handy rocket headed for the sun, but tragically, the ship had to be piloted…

Having heroically ended the invader, the team were back two months later as B&B #26 opened with an immediate continuation. ‘The Sun Curse’ saw our stranded astronauts struggling – in scenes eerily prescient and reminiscent of the Apollo 13 crisis a decade later – to return their ship to Earth. Uncannily, the trip bathes them in radiation which causes them to shrink to insect size…

Back on terra firma but now imperilled by everything around them, the team nonetheless manages to scuttle a proposed attack by a hostile totalitarian nation before regaining their regular stature…

A second, shorter tale finds the quartet enjoying some downtime in Paris before the Metro is wrecked by an awakened dinosaur. Of course, our tough tourists are ready and able to stop the ‘Serpent in the Subway!’

In an entertainment era dominated by monsters and aliens, with superheroes still only tentatively resurfacing, Task Force X were at the forefront of beastie-battles. Their third and final try-out issue found them facing evolutionary nightmare as a scientist vanished and the region around his lab was suddenly besieged by gigantic insects and a colossal reptilian humanoid the team dubbed ‘The Creature of Ghost Lake!’ (December 1959/January 1960). They readily destroyed the monster but never found the professor…

A rare failure for those excitingly experimental days, the Suicide Squad vanished after that triple try-out run, only to resurface months later for a second bite of the cherry. The Brave and the Bold #37 (August/September 1961) opened with Karin displaying heretofore unsuspected psychic gifts and predicting an alien ‘Raid of the Dinosaurs!’ which pitted the group against hyper-intelligent saurians whilst ‘Threat of the Giant Eye!’ focussed on the retrieval of a downed military plane and lost super-weapon. That mission brought the Squad to an island of mythological mien where a living monocular monolith hunted people…

In #38 (October/November 1961) the team tackled the ‘Master of the Dinosaurs’ – an alien using Pteranodons to hunt like an Earthling employs falcons – after which the fabulous four fell afoul of extra-dimensional would-be conquerors but still had enough presence of mind and determination to defeat the ‘Menace of the Mirage People!’

B&B #39 (December 1961/January 1962) called “time!” on Task Force X after ‘Prisoners of the Dinosaur Zoo!’ saw the team uncover an ancient extraterrestrial ark caching antediluvian flora and fauna, and a ‘Rain of Fire!’ found them crushing a macabre criminal entombing crime-busters in liquid metal. That was it for the Squad until 1986 when a new iteration of the concept was launched in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Or was it? Superhero fans are notoriously clannish and insular so they might not have noticed how one creative powerhouse refused to take “no thanks” for an answer…

Robert Kanigher (1915-2002) was one of the most distinctive authorial voices in American comics, blending rugged realism with fantastic fantasy in his signature war comics, westerns, horror stories, superhero titles such as Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Teen Titans, Hawkman, Metal Men, Batman and other genres too numerous to cover here. He also scripted ‘Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt’ – the very first story of the Silver Age. This introduced Barry Allen AKA the Flash to hero-hungry kids in 1956.

Kanigher sold his first stories and poetry in 1932 and wrote for the theatre, film and radio before joining the Fox Features shop where he created The Bouncer, Steel Sterling and The Web whilst also providing scripts for Blue Beetle and the original Captain Marvel.

In 1945, he settled at All-American Comics as both writer and editor, staying on when the company amalgamated with National Comics to become the forerunner of today’s DC. He wrote the original Flash and Hawkman, created Black Canary and Lady Cop, plus many memorable villainous femme fatales like Harlequin and Rose and Thorn. This last he reconstructed during the relevancy era of the early 1970s into a schizophrenic crime-busting female superhero.

When mystery-men faded out at the end of the 1940s, Kanigher easily switched to espionage, adventure, westerns and war stories, becoming in 1952 writer/editor of the company’s combat titles: All-American War Stories, Star Spangled War Stories and Our Amy at War.

He created Our Fighting Forces in 1954 and added G.I. Combat to his burgeoning portfolio when Quality Comics sold their line of titles to DC in 1956, all the while helming Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder, Rex the Wonder Dog, Silent Knight, Sea Devils, The Viking Prince and a host of others.

Among his numerous game-changing war series were Sgt. Rock, Enemy Ace, the Haunted Tank and The Losers as well as the visually addictive, irresistibly astonishing “Dogfaces and Dinosaurs” dramas sampled and filling out the back of this stunning collection…

Kanigher was a restlessly creative writer and even used the uncanny but formulaic adventure arena of The War that Time Forgot as a personal laboratory for his series concepts. The Flying Boots, G.I. Robot and many other teams and characters first appeared in the manic Pacific hellhole with wall-to-wall danger. Indisputably the big beasts were the stars, but occasionally (extra)ordinary G.I .Joes made enough of an impression to secure return engagements, too…

The War that Time Forgot debuted in Star Spangled War Stories #90 (April-May 1960), running until #137 (May 1968). It skipped only three issues: #91, 93 and #126 (the last of which starred the United States Marine Corps simian Sergeant Gorilla – look it up: I’m neither kidding nor being metaphorical…).

Simply too good a concept to ignore, this seamless, shameless blend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Caprona stories – known alternatively as the Caspak Trilogy or The Land That Time Forgot – provided everything baby-boomer boys could dream of: giant lizards, humongous insects, fantastic adventures and two-fisted heroes with lots of guns. The only thing mostly missing was cave-girls in fur bikinis…

In the summer of 1963, a fresh Suicide Squad debuted in Star Spangled War Stories #110 to investigate a ‘Tunnel of Terror’ into the lost land of giant monsters: this time though, a giant albino gorilla decided that us mammals should stick together…

The huge hairy beast was also the star of ‘Return of the Dinosaur Killer!’ in #111 as the unnamed Squad leader and a wily boffin (visually based on Kanigher’s office associate Julie Schwartz) struggled to survive on a reptile-ridden tropical atoll…

SSWS #116 (August/September 1964) depicted a duo of dedicated soldiers facing ice-bound beasts in ‘The Suicide Squad!’ – the big difference being that Morgan and Mace were more determined to kill each other than accomplish their mission…

‘Medal for a Dinosaur!’ in #117 bowed to the inevitable: introducing a (relatively) friendly and extremely cute baby pterodactyl to balance out Mace & Morgan’s barely suppressed animosity, after which ‘The Plane-Eater!’ in #118 saw the army odd couple adrift in the Pacific and in deep danger until the leather-winged little guy turned up once more…

The Suicide Squad were getting equal billing by the time of #119’s ‘Gun Duel on Dinosaur Hill!’ (February/March 1965), as yet another band of men-without-hope battled saurian horrors – and each other – to the death, after which seemingly unkillable Morgan & Mace returned with Dino, the flying ptero-tot, who found a new companion in handy hominid Caveboy before the whole unlikely ensemble struggled to survive against increasingly outlandish creatures in ‘The Tank Eater!’…

Issue #121 presented a diving drama when a UDT (Underwater Demolitions Team) frogman won his Suicide Squad rep as a formidable fighter and ‘The Killer of Dinosaur Alley!’ Increasingly now, G.I. hardware and ordnance trumped bulk, fang and claw…

Undisputed master of gritty fantasy art Joe Kubert added his pencil-and-brush magic to a tense, manic thriller featuring the return of the G.I. Robot in stunning battle bonanza ‘Titbit for a Tyrannosaurus!’ in #125 (February/March 1965), after which Andru & Esposito covered another Suicide Squad sea-saga in #127: ‘The Monster Who Sank a Navy!’

This eclectic collection tumultuously terminates in scripter Howard Liss and visual veteran Gene Colan’s masterfully crafted, moving human drama from #128 which was astoundingly improved by the inclusion of ravening reptiles in ‘The Million Dollar Medal!’

Throughout this calamitous compilation of dark dilemmas, light-hearted romps and battle blockbusters, the emphasis is always on foibles and fallibility; with human heroes unable to put aside grudges, swallow pride or forgive trespasses even amidst the strangest and most terrifying moments of their lives. This edgy humanity informs and elevates even the daftest of these wonderfully imaginative adventure yarns.

Classy, intense, insanely addictive and Just Plain Fun, the original Suicide Squad offers a kind of easy, no-commitment entertainment seldom seen these days and is a deliciously guilty pleasure for one and all. Surely, this is a movie we would all watch…
© 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Piracy: The Complete Series 1-7 (The EC Archives Library)


By Irv Werstein, Carl Wessler, Jack Oleck, Reed Crandall, Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, George Evans, Jack Davis, Bernie Krigstein, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-50670-700-6 (HB) eISBN 978-1-50670-967-3

Haa-Haaarr! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day and we backseat buccaneers be cunning coves ‘oo prefers to sneak up on a fellow when they most expects it, especially since precious pearls like these graphical beauties never go stale… 

Legendary imprint EC Comics began in 1944 when comic book pioneer Max Gaines sold the superhero properties of his All-American Comics company to half-sister National/DC. The Inventor of Comic Books only retained Picture Stories from the Bible. His plan was to produce Educational Comics, with schools and church groups being his major target market. He latterly augmented his core title with Picture Stories from American History, Picture Stories from Science and Picture Stories from World History. Sadly, the worthy venture was already struggling when Gaines died in a boating accident in 1947.

His son William was dragged out of college and hurled into the family business where – with much support and encouragement from unsung hero Sol Cohen (who held Dad’s company together until the initially unwilling Bill abandoned his dreams of a career in chemistry) he transformed the ailing enterprise into Entertaining Comics…

After some tentative false starts and abortive experiments, Gaines and his multi-talented associate Al Feldstein settled into a bold, impressive publishing strategy, utilising the most gifted illustrators in the field to tell a “New Trend” of stories for an older and more discerning readership.

Between 1950 and 1954, EC was the most innovative, influential comics publisher in America, dominating the newly reinvigorated genres of crime, horror, war and science fiction. Moreover, under the auspices of writer, artist and editor Harvey Kurtzman, the company introduced an entirely new beast: the satirical comic book…

Kurtzman was hired to supplement the workforce on EC’s horror titles but wasn’t a fan of that genre, suggesting instead a new action-adventure title. The result was Two-Fisted Tales which began with #18 as an anthology of rip-snorting, stand-alone he-man dramas. With America deep into a military “police action” in Korea, the title quickly became a dedicated war comic, rapidly augmented by a second, Frontline Combat.

Also written and edited by Kurtzman, who assiduously laid-out and meticulously designed every story, it made for great entertainment and a unifying authorial voice but was frequently a cause of friction with his many artists. In keeping with the spirit of Gaines’ “New Trend”, these war stories were never bombastic, jingoistic fantasies for glory-hungry little boys, but rather subtly subversive examinations of the cost of conflict which highlighted the madness, futility and senseless, pointless waste of it all…

When the McCarthy-era anti-comics witch hunt of the 1950s crushed the industry and gutted EC’s output by effectively outlawing horror, crime, gore, political commentary and social criticism, Gaines & Feldstein retrenched: releasing experimental titles under the umbrella of a “New Direction”.

Kurtzman’s Mad – which had defined a whole new genre, bequeathing unto Americans Popular Satire – was reconfigured into a monochrome magazine, safely distancing the outrageously brilliant comedic publication from the fall-out caused by the socio-political witch-hunt which eventually killed EC’s other titles…

Denied a soapbox to address social ills, Gaines’ new books concentrated on intrigue, adventure and drama, informed by fresh modern fascinations: either intellectual or mass entertainment fads. Despite still featuring stunningly beautiful artwork and thoughtful writing, New Direction titles couldn’t find an audience and died within a year.

Impact, Extra!, Aces High and Valor all reflected themes of contemporary film and TV, whilst Psychoanalysis and M.D. targeted mature audiences through the growing TV phenomenon of medical drama. Incredible Science Fiction bridged the transition from old vogue to new line-up whilst also tapping movie trends. Another fad paying off big on screen had already been seen in previous Kurtzman’s adventure titles… sea-going sagas from different points in history…

Piracy set sail in the Fall of 1954 (#1 was cover dated October/November) and ran for seven bi-monthly issues before being scuttled at the end of 1955. This volume of Dark Horse’s EC Archives gathers them all, re-presenting some of the most gorgeous art of the era – or ever – but with scripts apparently curtailed by the newly-instituted Comics Code Authority and Gaines’ own sense of financial survival.

And yes, Watchmen fans, these are the stories Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons were referencing in that sub-strand of their dystopian masterpiece…

One last thing to remember: although it’s called Piracy, the series embraced all aspects of nautical fiction, from wars, whaling and the slave trade right up to contemporary commercial affairs: mixing flamboyant sea sagas with deeper, more complex and even socially crusading maritime topics intended to equate with literary highlights like CM Forester’s Hornblower yarns, Herman Melville’s classic text and even more modern fare by Jack London or Ernest Hemingway.

Before getting underway, the fraught history of the company is outlined in Grant Geissman’s informative Introduction, offering keen insights into those times and the gifted creators involved, after which Film Producer Greg Nicotero’s Foreword provides insight into Bill Gaines’ pioneering stand against censorship…

Sadly, despite diligent efforts by researchers and historians, many of these tales still have no writing credit, but that barely affects  their power to enthral as we open with a stunning Wally Wood cover. Piracy #1 opens with editorial welcome ‘Scuttlebutt’ before Reed Crandall and an author unknown detail the rise and fall of ‘The Privateer’ with patriotic Englishman Captain Ballard James gradually succumbing to temptation. Originally and exclusively targeting Spanish vessels, his battles eventually turn to personal profit not his country’s survival before he suffers a grisly, ironic comeuppance…

This collection also includes rousing house ads by EC’s finest and a particularly stirring one from Wood precedes his tale ‘The Mutineers’, with murderous marine martinet Cap’n Mathew Bollard finally driving his long-suffering crew into desperate retaliation and desertion during the last voyage of the clipper Lorna J in 1854…

Al Williamson & Angelo Torres formed a sublime artistic partnership at EC and their captivating versality is displayed in ‘Harpooned’. Also set in 1854 (for which thank the ever-beguiling concept of “only 100 years ago…”), it details how whaling bark Eben Dodge was lost due to the growing tensions between the envious first mate and a dedicated captain who assumed his only foe was the giant sea beasts they hunted together…

Prose parable ‘The Challenge’ (regarding a sea captain with an obsessive grudge against storms) and a Jack Davis-limned ad lead to the master cartoonist’s first full contribution, as ‘Shanghaied’ shares a long-anticipated reunion between a lifelong mariner and the criminal procurer who drugged and sold him into sea service a dozen years previously…

Cover-dated December 1954/January 1955, Piracy #2 opens with a Crandall cover and lead story ‘Sea Food’, wherein pirate Benjamin Medford’s ruthless predations are ended by cruel misfortune, British Naval firepower and brutal, bestial karma. Davis then returns to explore the eastern concept of ‘Kismet’ after a slave-ship’s first mate betrays his skipper and learns a lasting lesson about duty and honour…

‘Loblolly Boy’ is an historical text feature concerning tricks played on first-timers and junior seamen, after which Williamson & Torres render a modern tale of penny-pinching, deep sea treasure hunters in ‘The Shell Game’, backed up by prose piece ‘The Dive’ about a trainee’s last dry run…

The issue closes with Wood’s ‘A Fitting End’, scripted by Carl Wessler and detailing how Edmund Drummond, Master of His Majesty’s Ship Sea Gull, allows his own innate cruelty and sense of superiority to provoke shipboard unrest even as his subordinate Jack Roark discovers an unsuspected piratical family connection…

Crandall retains the cover and lead position for #3 with a compelling tale of the buccaneer who sought higher status and position than mighty ‘Blackbeard’, before ‘Scuttlebutt’ returns in the form of a letters page.

Wessler & Bernie Krigstein (one of comics’ most innovative illustrators and a commercial and gallery artist) then unite for a psychological war drama in the style of Frontline Combat as ‘U-Boat’ reveals the lethal outcome of a battle of wills between a German submarine commander and his fanatical Nazi political officer. Text tale ‘The Beast’ exposes romantic rivalry between tuna fishermen, preceding George Evans’ debut in ‘Mouse Trap’ as a 19th century sailor plucked from the seas expiates his guilt and shares his role in the ghastly fate of lost ship The Sea Spray…

Wessler & Graham Ingels then close the issue with the saga of an abolitionist white man shanghaied to serve aboard a ‘Slave Ship’ and the pact he made with its “human cargo”…

Behind Piracy #4’s Crandall cover and more ‘Scuttlebutt’ letters, that dean of realism rendered the brutal tale of Cap’n Satan – Terror of the Spanish Main. This savage, satirical yarn of the ‘Pirate Master’ details his humble origins, appalling deeds and ultimate downfall …matrimony!

‘The King’s Buccaneer’ recounts in prose the career of privateer Sir Henry Morgan, after which Wessler & Evans use the war of 1812 to frame the salutary saga of a stubborn young American midshipman who wants everything done ‘By the Book’, no matter how impractical… or suicidal…

A brace of house-ads for the entire New Direction Line segues into Ingels illustrated mystery ‘The Sheba’ with a young sea captain taking to the bitter end his vendetta against a sailing ship he believes wants to kill him. Krigstein then realises revolutionary France for us as aristocratic rival siblings in the King’s navy ruthlessly vie for prominence and position until the events of 1789 engulf them both with lethal results in ‘Inheritance’…

Krigstein’s cover for #5 (June/July 1955) precedes Crandall’s gorgeous re-examination of US patriotic icon ‘Jean Lafitte’, before another missives-packed ‘Scuttlebutt’ leads to Wessler & Ingels’ ‘Rag Doll’, wherein a sullen brute on an 1810 four-master repels a pirate raid almost singlehandedly, simply to reclaim the childhood totem hiding his darkest secret and greatest shame…

Jack Oleck scripts Krigstein on ‘Salvage’ as ruthless seaborne profiteers learn a nasty lesson about humanity, after which snippets of sea-based new stories are recycled in prose piece ‘Breakers on the Shore’, prior to Evans closing the issue with ‘The Keg’: a sinister yet uplifting saga of survival…

Krigstein’s stunning cover for penultimate issue #6 segues into Crandall’s chilling 17th century-set saga of plunder, murder and brain-shattering guilt as a drunken derelict details how he is cursed by treasures ‘Fit for a King’. Scuttlebutt letters lead to Wessler & Evans’ account of a junior officer deranged by denial of promotion and what he does to become ‘The Skipper’ before Ingels limns the story of a merciless seal trapper who destroys an arctic village’s food supply and is driven ‘Fur Crazy’…

Sir Francis Drake’s prose biography ‘Sailor for Queen Bess’ precedes Davis’ tale of South Pacific schooner master Jonathan Wade whose favourite disciplinary tactic is casting men adrift in an open boat. His inevitable breakdown leads to justice when he too is lost in ‘Solitary’…

Evans drafted the iconic last cover and Crandall told his final tale here as warring corsair captains Kemp and Valdez became ‘Partners’ in piracy just long enough to get really, truly rich… before inevitably betraying each other.

Text tale ‘Prologue’ follows a trainee submariner’s last test exercise before Wessler & Krigstein visit 1777’s New England, where a British fleet determined to take Saratoga is lured to destruction ‘Up the River’ by a terrain-savvy farmer.

Incessantly harassed by his literal fishwife spouse, a weary, poverty-stricken fishing boat skipper does a selfless good deed and is blessed with ‘John’s Reward’ in a wry, domestic drama drawn by Ingels, after which more postal praise in ‘Scuttlebutt’ leads to one final foray from Evans as ‘Temptation’ finds venerable Captain Dover and his young chief officer aboard a Charleston packet boat. Of course, a once-in-lifetime cargo of $2 million in gold and jewels would turn most heads and suspicion quickly leads to a bad life choice…

Every page here has been restored from the masterful colour guides of original colourist Marie Severin, resulting – with modern reproduction techniques – in a sequence of graphic poems of unsurpassed beauty, whilst original house ads and commercial pages from the period tantalise in a way no others could, completing a nostalgic experience unlike any other.

The New Direction was a last hurrah for the kind of literate, mature comics Gaines wanted to publish. When they failed, he concentrated on Mad magazine and satire’s gain was American comics’ loss. Now you can vicariously relive those times and trends, and I strongly suggest that whether you are an aged EC Fan-Addict or nervous newbie, this is a book no aficionado can afford to miss. Why not dig deep and secure these timeless treasures, Me Hearties?
THE EC ARCHIVES: PIRACY® & © 1954, 1955, 2019 William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction © 2019 Grant Geissman.

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Wonder Woman in the Fifties


By Robert Kanigher, John Broome, Harry G. Peter, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-779507-624-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the early years of this century, DC launched a series of graphic archives intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades: delivering magnificent past comic book magic from the Forties to the Seventies via a tantalisingly nostalgic taste of other – arguably better, but certainly different – times. The collections carried the cream of the creative crop, divided into subsections, partitioned by cover galleries, and supplemented by short commentaries; a thoroughly enjoyable introductory reading experience. I prayed for more but was frustrated… until now…

Part of a trade paperback trilogy – the others being Superman and Batman (thus far, but hopefully Aquaman, Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter are in contention too, as they have become such big shot screen stars these days) – the experiment was recently re-run, with even more inviting samples from the company’s vintage, family-friendly canon.

Gathered here is a menu of deliciously dated delights starring Earth’s most recognisable Female Heroic Ideal, heralded by a time-&-tone-setting Introduction from historian, author and columnist Andy Mangels augmenting each context-stuffed chapter text piece.

With Robert Kanigher as primary writer of record throughout the book, the contents here originated in Sensation Comics #97, 100; Wonder Woman #45, 50, 60, 66, 72, 76, 80, 90, 94-95, 98-105, 107, 108, 750; and All-Star Comics #56, 57 spanning the entire decade whilst attempting to reconcile an indomitable symbol of female emancipation and independence with a post-war world determined to turn them back into docile brood mares and passive uber-consumers…

Wonder Woman was created by polygraph pioneer William Moulton Marston – apparently at the behest of his remarkable wife Elizabeth and their life partner Olive Byrne. The vast majority of the outlandish early adventures were limned by illustrator Harry G. Peter.

The Astounding Amazon debuted in All Star Comics #8 (cover-dated December 1941, and top-selling home of the Justice Society of America) just before launching in her own solo series and cover-spot of new anthology Sensation Comics the following month. She was an instant hit, and gained her own eponymous title in late Spring of that year (Summer 1942).

Using the nom de plume Charles Moulton, Marston & Co scripted all her many and fabulous exploits until his death in 1947, whereupon Kanigher officially took over the writer and editor’s role. The venerable Peter continued until his own death in 1958. Wonder Woman #97 – in April of that year – was his last hurrah and the end of an era.

Supported by a factual briefing, the comics classics commence with The (Many) Origins of Wonder Woman, and the first adjustments to the classic origin tale…

For purposes of comparison, the 1940s saga stated that on a hidden island of immortal super-women, American aviator Steve Trevor of US Army Intelligence crashed to Earth. Near death, he was nursed back to health by young, impressionable Princess Diana.

Fearing her growing obsession with the creature from a long-forgotten, madly violent world, her mother Queen Hippolyte shared the hidden history of the Amazons: how they were seduced and betrayed by men, but rescued by goddess Aphrodite on condition they isolated themselves from the world, devoting their eternal lives to becoming ideal, perfect creatures.

However, when Athena and Aphrodite subsequently instructed Hippolyte to despatch an Amazon with the American to fight for global freedom and liberty and against oppression and barbarism, Diana overcame all other candidates in a brutal open competition to became their emissary – Wonder Woman.

On arriving in America, she purchased the identity and credentials of lovelorn Army nurse Diana Prince, elegantly allowing the Amazon to be close to Steve and the heartsick medic to wed her own fiancé in South America. Diana also joined Army Intelligence as secretary to General Darnell, ensuring she would always be able to watch over her beloved. She little suspected that, although painfully shallow Steve only had eyes for the dazzling Amazon superwoman, the General had fallen for mousy yet superbly competent Lieutenant Prince…

As the decade turned it was deemed time for a refurbished origin and – illustrated by Harry G. Peter – WW #45 (cover-dated January/February 1951) delivered ‘The Wonder Woman Story!’

This found childhood rivals vying for the journalistic kudos of publishing the Amazon’s backstory. However, after a hard-won trip to Paradise Island led to Mary Ellen learning the details of it all – Hercules’s ancient ‘Act of Treachery!’ and how the Princess defied authority for love – all manner of trouble emerged…

Cunning competitor John Lane had bugged Mary’s jewellery and craftily followed her to the Amazon homeland, causing a major upset…

Back then Wonder Woman’s artists were astonishingly faithful and true, staying with her for pretty long hauls. Peter and his uncredited team of female assistants served nearly 20 years before he was let go mere weeks before dying. His replacements Ross Andru & Mike Esposito drew her adventures from 1958 to the middle of 1967 (#98 – 171), and limned this breakthrough tale from WW #105 (April 1959)

The issue debuted Wonder Girl in the ‘‘The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman’, revealing how centuries ago Olympian divinities bestowed unique powers on the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and how – as a mere teenager – the indomitable Diana brought the Amazons to Paradise Island. Continuity – let alone consistency or rationality – were never as important to Kanigher as strong story or breathtaking visuals, and this eclectic odyssey is a great yarn that simply annoyed the heck out of a lot of fans – but not as much as the junior Amazon would in years to come after these teen tales spawned an actual junior Amazon as sidekick to Diana…

That ball started rolling in #107 (July 1959) and proved that the high fantasy exploits of the minor had clearly caught somebody’s editorial fancy. Follow-ups came thick and fast after ‘Wonder Woman Amazon Teen-Ager!’ saw the youngster ensnare an unwanted romantic interest in merboy Ronno, whilst dutifully undergoing a quest to win herself a superhero costume…

Fronted by an article on her legendary kit and illustrated throughout by H.G. Peter, Fashion as Armor: The Equipment List shares some of Kanigher’s frequent and often contradictory exposés on the source and powers of Wonder Woman’s combat gear. It begins with ‘The Secret Story of Wonder Woman’s Lasso!’ (WW #50, November/December 1951), depicting how the princess undertakes three divine tasks to ensure the rope gains magical traits of unbreakability, infinite elasticity and truthful compulsion. Along the way she uses it against crooks, spies, other Amazons, submarines, dinosaurs and a Roc…

That mythological bird, another dinosaur and aliens play a major role in ‘The Talking Tiara!’ (#66, May 1954) as Steve learns how Diana belatedly won possession of her headpiece, a “Linguagraph Tiara” capable of translating any language past present or future, whilst ‘The Secret of Wonder Woman’s Sandals’ (#72, February 1955) reveals some odd characteristics of the footwear as she performs incredible feats (sorry!) to confirm her worthiness…

Cover-dated February 1956 ‘The Origin of the Amazon Plane!’ featured in Wonder Woman #80, recalling a trio of tasks undertaken to collect separated sections of her faithful, invisible robot conveyance before #95 (January 1958) offered ‘The Secret of Wonder Woman’s Tiara!’: this time in the form of a tale told to toddlers, revealing how the hat was a gift from aliens given in thanks for saving them from marauding Phenegs…

Moving on to highlight the Amazon’s noteworthy collaborations, One of the Team offers a trio of tales. The section is a somewhat “Marmite” moment that fans will either love or hate…

The majority of the chapter is devoted to a brace of tales starring the Justice Society of America and, whilst I’m never going to complain about seeing such classics where new readers can discover them, it’s a lot of pages to hand over to a group who had Wonder Woman serving coffee and taking notes as “Club Secretary” for years. At least here, in the last of the original run, she’s graduated to being an leading participant in their adventures…

After the actual invention of the superhero via the 1938 Action Comics debut of Superman, the most significant event in our industry’s history was the combination of individual stars into a like-minded group. Thus, what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers can’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 utterly changed the shape of the budding industry. Following the runaway success of Superman and Batman, both National Comics and its separate-but-equal publishing partner All-American Comics went looking for the next big thing whilst frantically concentrating on getting anthology packages into the hands of a hungry readership. Thus All Star Comics: conceived as a joint venture affording characters already in their respective stables an extra push towards winning elusive but lucrative solo titles.

Technically, All Star Comics #3 (cover-dated Winter 1940-1941 and released in December 1940) was the kick-off, but the mystery men merely had dinner and recounted recent cases and didn’t actually go on a mission together until #4, which had an April 1941 cover-date.

The merits of the marketing project would never be proved: rather than a runaway favourite graduating to their own starring vehicle as a result of the poll, something radically different evolved. For the third issue, prolific scribe Gardner Fox apparently had the bright idea of linking all the solo stories through a framing sequence with the heroes gathering to chat about their latest exploits. With that simple notion that mighty mystery men hung out together, history was made and it wasn’t long before they started working together…

However, after WWII ended, superheroes gradually declined, and most companies had shelved them by 1950. Their plummet in popularity led to a revival in genre-themed titles and characters, and it was a stripped-down team (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman) in contemporarily tailored crime and science fiction sagas before the title abruptly changed into All Star Western with #58.

Both JSA stories were written by John Broome and illustrated via alternating chapters by Frank Giacoia and Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs. Leading off is All-Star Comics #56 (December 1950/January 1951) and ‘The Day the World Ended!’ wherein a future scientist goes to extraordinary lengths to recruit the 20th century stalwarts to save Tomorrow’s World from shapeshifting invaders. Issue #57 was the JSA’s last hurrah with ‘The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives!’ pitting them against criminal mastermind The Key after he abducts Earth’s greatest criminologists in advance of a spectacular robbery spree. Both are great yarns that deserve their own archival volume, but the Amazon’s contributions are barely visible in both…

Of more interest is the Kanigher & Peter tale from Wonder Woman #72 (November 1957). ‘The Channel of Time’ begins as an unashamed plug for The Adventures of Superman TV show, with the Amazon eagerly enjoying the latest episode when interference turns the screen into an SOS through time, displaying old ally Robin Hood in existential peril…

An initial iteration of the legendary archer had debuted in New Adventure Comics #23 (January 1938), and National/DC also acquired Quality Comics’ Robin Hood Tales title. That version had begun in February 1956, with DC continuing the run from #7 (cover-dated February 1957) as well as featuring the hero in Kanigher’s The Brave and the Bold from #5 (May 1956). That was (coincidentally?) the same month The Amazing Amazon first met the Sentinel of Sherwood Forest, who here requires assistance against a dragon, wicked foemen and a shark-infested moat safeguarding evil Prince John…

Seeing Double then highlights the hero’s tendency to encounter copies of herself – everything from evil doppelgangers from parallel universes to weirdly exact robot facsimiles…

When Showcase #4 rekindled the readership’s imagination and zest for masked mystery-men with a second, brand-new iteration of The Flash in 1956, the fanciful floodgates opened wide once more. As well as re-inventing Golden Age stars like Green Lantern and Hawkman, the company consequently updated many hoary survivors like Green Arrow and Aquaman. Also included in the revitalising agenda were the High Trinity: Man of Steel, Caped Crusader and the ever-resilient Princess of Power…

Andru & Esposito had debuted as cover artists 3 issues earlier, but with Wonder Woman #98 they took over the entire comic book as Kanigher reinvented much of the old mythology and tinkered with her origins in ‘The Million Dollar Penny!’ After Athena visits an island of super-scientific immortal women, informing Queen Hippolyta that she must send an emissary and champion of justice to crime-ridden “Man’s World”, the sovereign declares an open competition for the job.

She isn’t surprised when her daughter wins and is given the task of turning a penny into a million dollars in one day – all profits going to children’s charities, of course…

Just as the new Wonder Woman begins her coin chore, American airman Steve Trevor bails out of his malfunctioning jet high above the magically hidden isle, unaware that should any male set foot on Amazon soil the immortals would lose all their powers. Promptly thwarting impending disaster, Diana and Steve then team up to accomplish her task, encountering along the way ‘The Undersea Menace’ before building ‘The Impossible Bridge!’

Following that epic comes the lead from landmark issue #100 (August 1958): a spectacular battle saga commencing with ‘The Challenge of Dimension X!’ as an alternate Earth Wonder Woman competes with the Amazing Amazon for sole rights to the title: all culminating with a deciding bout in ‘The Forest of Giants!’…

No celebration of the fifties could be complete without an exploration of the outdated concept of gainful female employment. With art by Peter, Working 9 to 5: The Careers of Wonder Woman offers a quick peek of typical opportunities beginning with Sensation Comics #97 (May 1950). ‘Wonder Woman, Romance Editor’ sees the Amazon agree to a task no male journalist can handle, solving the woes of lovelorn women seeking husbands, whilst her own duties prevent her giving in to Steve’s increasingly urgent demands to settle down… Cover-dated November 1950, Sensation Comics #100 showcases ‘Wonder Woman, Hollywood Star!’ as the Amazon and Steve endure peerless perils making a movie one crazed glamour queen is determined only she should star in, after which two millionaires make a bet that propels the Amazon into a string of crazy roles culminating in her shepherding an infant T-Rex as ‘Wonder Woman, Amazon Baby Sitter!’ (WW #90, May 1957)…

As you’ve probably ascertained, much of Kanigher’s oeuvre depended on the Princess of Paradise undergoing tasks and tests for a variety of reasons and this voyage of rediscovery concludes with some of the most noteworthy, gathered as The Trials of Wonder Woman…

Leading off is Peter-rendered classic ‘The Secret Olympics!’ (WW #60, July 1953) as Diana justifies her legendary brief as “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury (sic) and stronger than Hercules”…

 Issue #76 (August 1955) introduces ‘The Bird Who Revealed Wonder Woman’s Identity!’ before Diana devises a way to undermine a gabby Mynah’s proclamations before Andru & Esposito assume the art duties for the remainder of the book, beginning with ‘Top Secret!’ from Wonder Woman #99 (July 1958).

Introducing the Hellenic Hero’s new covert identity as Air Force Intelligence officer Lt. Diana Prince the tale opens a decade of tales with Steve perpetually attempting to uncover her identity and make the most powerful woman on Earth his blushing bride, whilst his bespectacled, glorified secretary stands unnoticed, exasperated and ignored right beside – or slightly behind – him…

Here that means attempting to trick her into marriage with a rigged bet – a tactic the creep tried a lot back then – after which ‘Wonder Woman’s 100th Anniversary!’ (WW #100 again) deals with the impossibility of capturing the far-too-fast and furious Amazon’s exploits on film for Paradise Island’s archives…

In #101 (October 1958), ‘Undersea Trap!’ sees Steve tricking his “Angel” into agreeing to marry him if she has to rescue him three times in 24 hours (just chalk it up to simpler times, or you’ll pop a blood vessel, OK?) after which January 1959 and WW #103 spotlight ‘The Wonder Woman Album!’ returning to the previously explored “impossible-to-photograph” theme, before we close on ‘Wanted… Wonder Woman’ (#108, August 1959), as Flying Saucer aliens frame her for heinous crimes as a precursor to a planetary invasion but are not smart enough to realise when they are being played…

Also including a selection of breathtaking covers by Irwin Hasen & Sachs, Irv Novick, Peddy and Andru & Esposito plus a Bonus Cover Gallery by the latter pair, this is a fascinating but potentially charged tome. By modern standards these exuberant, effulgent fantasies are all-out crazy, but as examples of the days when less attention was paid to continuity and concepts of shared universes and adventure in the moment were paramount, these outrageous romps simply sparkle with fun, thrills and sheer spectacle -a s long as you keep in mind the outrageous undercurrent of blatant sexism underpinning it all. This was a period when – officially – only men could tell the tales of the Amazing Amazon…

Wonder Woman is rightly revered as a focal point of female strength, independence and empowerment, but the welcoming nostalgia and easy familiarity of these costumed fairy tales remain a delight for all open-minded readers with the true value of these exploits being the incredible quality of entertainment they provide.
© 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 2020, DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Mighty Samson Archives volume one


By Otto Binder & Frank Thorne & various (Dark Horse Comics) 
ISBN: 978-1-59582-579-7 (HB) 

These days all the attention in comics circles goes to big-hitters and headline-grabbing ground-breakers, but once upon a time, when funnybooks were cheap as well as plentiful, a kid (whatever their age) could afford to follow the pack and still find time and room to enjoy quirky outliers: B through Z listers, oddly off-kilter concepts and champions far falling outside the accepted parameters of standard super-types… 

A classic example of that exuberant freedom of expression was the relatively angst-free dystopian tomorrow of Mighty Samson, who had a sporadic yet extended comics career of 32 issues spanning 1964 to 1982. 

Although set in the aftermath of an atomic Armageddon, the story of the survivors was a blend of updated myth, pioneer adventure and superhero shtick, liberally leavened with variations of the incredible creatures and sci fi monsters the industry thrived on back then. 

Comics colossus Dell/Gold Key/Whitman had one of the most complicated publishing set-ups in history, but that didn’t matter one iota to kids of all ages who consumed their vastly varied product. Based in Racine, Wisconsin, Whitman had been a crucial component of monolithic Western Publishing and Lithography Company since 1915: drawing upon huge commercial resources and industry connections that came with editorial offices on both coasts. They even boasted a subsidiary printing plant in Poughkeepsie, New York. 

Another connection was with fellow Western subsidiary K.K. Publications (named for licensing legend Kay Kamen who facilitated extremely lucrative “license to print money” merchandising deals for Walt Disney Studios between 1933 and 1949). From 1938, the affiliated companies’ comic book output was released under a partnership deal with a “pulps” periodical publisher under the umbrella imprint Dell Comics – and again those creative staff and commercial contacts fed into the line-up of the Big Little, Little Golden and Golden Press books for younger children. This partnership ended in 1962 and Western had to swiftly reinvent its comics division as Gold Key. 

Western Publishing had been a major player since comics’ earliest days, blending a huge tranche of licensed titles including newspaper strips, TV tie-in and Disney titles (like Nancy and Sluggo, Tarzan and The Lone Ranger) with in-house originations such as Turok, Son of Stone, Brain Boy and Kona: Monarch of Monster Isle. 

Dell and Western split just as a comic book resurgence triggered a host of new titles and companies, and a superhero boom. Independent of Dell, new outfit Gold Key launched original adventure titles including Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom; Magnus – Robot Fighter; M.A.R.S. Patrol – Total War; Space Family Robinson and many more. 

As a publisher, Gold Key never really “got” the melodramatic, frequently mock-heroic Sturm und Drang of the 1960s superhero boom – although for many of us, the understated functionality of classics like Magnus and Doctor Solar or the crime-fighting iterations of classic movie monsters Dracula, Frankenstein and Werewolf were utterly irresistible. The sheer off-the-wall lunacy of features like Neutro or Dr. Spektor I will reserve for a future occasion… 

This superb first full-colour hardback compilation – printed on a reassuringly sturdy and comforting grainy old-school pulp stock rather than glossy paper – gathers the first half dozen issues of Mighty Samson, as anonymously created by industry giants Otto Binder & Frank Thorne. It even includes some monochrome single-page fact-features and the mesmerising painted covers by unsung master illustrators Morris Gollub and George Wilson. 

These covers were reproduced text-free on the back of each issue and probably graced many a kid’s bedroom wall way back when. You get those too, but I’d suggest scanners rather than scissors this time around… 

Otto Binder was a quintessential jobbing writer. He and his brother Earl were early fans of science fiction, making their first professional sale to Amazing Stories in 1930. As “Eando Binder” their pulp-fiction and novels output continued well into the 1970s, with Otto rightly famed for his creation of primal robotic hero Adam Link. 

From 1939 onwards, Otto was also a prolific comic book scripter, most beloved and revered for the invention and perfection of a humorous blend of spectacular action, self-deprecating humour and gentle whimsy as characterised by the Fawcett Captain Marvel line of titles (and later in DC’s Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen). Binder was also constantly employed by many other publishers and amongst his most memorable inventions and innovations are Timely’s Young Allies, Mr. Mind, Brainiac, Krypto the Super Dog and the Legion of Super-Heroes.  

In his later life, he moved into editing, producing factual science books and writing for NASA. 

Frank Thorne was one of the most individualistic talents in American comics. Born in 1930, he began his comics career drawing romance stories for Standard Comics beside the legendary Alex Toth before graduating to better-paid newspaper strips, such as Perry Mason for King Features Syndicate. For Dell/Gold Key he drew comic book classics Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim and The Green Hornet, as well as the first few years of this seminal sci-fi classic. 

For DC he did compelling work on Tomahawk and Son of Tomahawk before being hired by Roy Thomas at Marvel to illustrate his belated breakthrough strip Red Sonja. Forever-after connected with feisty, earthy, highly sexualised women, in 1978 Thorne created outrageously bawdy (some say vulgar) swordswoman Ghita of Alizarr for Warren’s adult science fantasy anthology 1984/1994 as well as such adult satirical strips as Moonshine McJugs for Playboy and Danger Rangerette for National Lampoon.  

Thorne eventually won the National Cartoonists Award for comic books, an Inkpot Award and a Playboy Editorial Award, but was still a fairly by-the-book illustrator at the time of this collection’s content. In fact, it was on Mighty Samson that he opened up and found his own unique artistic vision: one which would carry him to the forefront of stylists with the satirical and erotic works of his later years. 

That’s meat for other reviews, but here the creators combine to craft a beguiling otherworld of action, adventure and drama suitable for most kids of all ages and a milieu which would be perfectly at home today on any Kids channel… 

The strip, its merits and the incredible careers of its originators are fully and lovingly discussed by Dylan Williams in his Foreword ‘The Mighty Samson Comics of Frank Thorne and Otto Binder’, and there are full ‘Creator Biographies’ at the end of the book, but what really matters is the sublime yarns reprinted between those points: no-nonsense, high-fantasy yarns at once self-contained, episodic, exciting, enticing and deceptively witty. 

Following the first magnetic painted cover from Gollub, the eponymous ‘Mighty Samson’ (#1, July 1964) introduces the bombed out former metropolis of N’Yark: a dismal dangerous region where human primitives cling to the ruins, striving daily against mutated plants and monsters and less easily identified blends somewhere in between… 

A remarkable occurrence begins one day when a toddler is grabbed by a predatory plant and casually tears the terror apart with his podgy little hands. Years pass and the child grows tall and clean-limbed, and it’s clear that he too is a mutant: immensely strong, fast and durable… 

Impassioned by his mother’s dying words – “protect the weak from the powerful, the good from the evil” – Samson becomes the champion of his people, battling the beasts and monsters imperilling the city. Sadly, these struggles are not without cost, such as when he kills the immense Liobear, but loses his right eye in the struggle… 

The clash proves a turning point in his life as his terrible wounds are dressed by a stranger named Sharmaine. She and her father Mindor are voluntary outcasts in the city: shunning contact with superstitious tribes whilst gathering lost secrets of science.  

They are striving to bring humanity out of its second stone age and, fired with inspiration, Samson agrees to join in their self-appointed mission: defending them from all threats as they carry out their work. 

There were generally two complete adventures per issue, and the quest continues in ‘Ancient Weapon’ as the trio’s scavenging leads them through a gauntlet of horrendous mutant monsters to an ancient armoury where sagacious Mindor deciphers the secrets of sticks which kill from a distance. Unfortunately, the discovery is observed by brutal warlord Kull the Killer who takes Sharmaine hostage to seize control of the rediscovered death-technology. Thankfully, the tyrant and his warriors never suspect Samson is as clever as he is strong… 

It was nearly a year until a second issue was released (#2, June 1965), but when it finally arrived it was at full throttle. ‘The Riddle of the Raids’ sees the wandering science nomads buzzed by a flying saucer which proves to be the vehicle of choice of a new arch foe. Terra is an exotic mystery woman possessing many lost technological secrets who has emerged after years underground in a bunker from the old world. Her store of atomic batteries finally exhausted, she begins raiding across the toxic, monster-infested Huzon River from the wastelands of Jerz, and quickly recruits Kull to her cause. However, even working in unison they are no match for Mighty Samson and once he drives them off, aged Mindor is able to add greatly to mankind’s store of recovered knowledge… 

Intent on uncovering the truth about ‘The Maid of Mystery’, Samson makes the perilous excursion across the devastated George Washington Bridge to invade Terra’s subterranean fortress in Jerz. Although faced with Kull’s monstrous minions and captured, the one-eyed hero soon escapes, but not before making a lasting impression on the evil empress of forgotten lore… 

More lost secrets emerge in #3 (September 1965) after the atomic archaeologists unearth ‘Peril from the Past’. Dr. John Pitt was working in an atomic bunker when the civilisation ended, somehow falling into suspended animation before being revived by jubilant Mindor. 

Determined to glean everything possible from the shaken survivor, his hopes are continually dashed as a geological accident in an old chemical factory threatens N’Yark with toxic clouds of radioactive poison. However, as the reawakened chemist works with his rescuers to end the threat, Sharmaine suspects the old-worlder is hiding something… 

The tragic truth about Pitt comes out as he and Samson begin ‘The Desperate Mission’ to snuff out the source of the death cloud, but it is only a prelude to a greater, final loss… 

With Mighty Samson #4 (December 1965), the turbulent world of tomorrow expanded exponentially as N’Yark endured raids by post-apocalyptic Vikings from pastoral paradise Greelynd. Barbaric despot Thorr leads ‘The Metal Stealers’ in stripping the ruins of all its scrap alloys; sailing them to a distant Nordic castle where he has rediscovered the processes of smelting and forging. 

Samson doggedly tracks him across unknown oceans, not just because he has stolen the city’s heritage and vital resources, but also because the reaver kidnapped Sharmaine and seemingly turned Mindor’s head with promises of technological resources and total freedom to experiment… 

Of course, all is not as it seems and when Samson invades Thorr’s ‘Sinister Stronghold’ to battle the tyrant’s legion of monsters, idealistic Mindor’s seeming compliance is revealed as a clever scheme to defeat the resource raider… 

Returned to their shattered home, the allies are helpless against the mounting radioactive peril of ‘The Death Geysers’ (#5, March 1966) erupting from beneath the city. With large portions of N’Yark now no-go areas, hope apparently materialises in the form of Vaxar: a newcomer versed in science, whom Samson rescues from a voracious “Gulping Blob”. The stranger eagerly joins their efforts to neutralise the geyser menace, but the researcher’s every invention is countered by monstrous, bestial mutant Oggar who is every inch Samson’s physical equal… 

Once again, clear-headed Sharmaine is the one who deduces the truth about ‘The Double Enemy’ in their midst and, as Vaxar’s terrible secret is exposed, awesome natural forces combine with a most terrifying artefact of recovered weaponry to end the threat of both Oggar and the geysers… 

These utterly accessible, exultant and exuberant romps conclude in this volume with a sop to the then-escalating “space race” between Russia and the USA. Issue #6 (June 1966) opens with N’Yark bombarded by ‘The Sinister Satellites’ of a forgotten era, haphazardly crashing to earth around the city. Consulting his preciously-hoarded records, Mindor ascertains they are lost technology he simply must possess, but finds himself in deadly contention with Terra of Jerz for the fallen stars. 

None too soon, suspicious Samson and Sharmaine discover the evil queen of science is actually pulling the satellites out of the skies with a magnetic cannon, but as they move to stop her, an unintended consequence of her meddling unleashes ‘The Monster from Space’ growing uncontrollably and soon set to devour the entire continent should Mighty Samson not find some way to kill it… 

This excellent tome has one last treat in store, as a brace of monochrome pictorial fact features – also illustrated by Thorne – reveal a few salient facts about the iconic Empire State Building in ‘The Mighty Tower’ and ‘The World’s Tallest’, both originally produced as frontispieces for the advert-free original comic books. 

Bizarre, action-packed and fabulously bombastic, Binder’s modern myth of a rationalist Hercules battling atom-spawned Titans and devils is a stunning spectacle of thrill-a-minute wonderment from start to finish, with artist Thorne visibly shaking off his artistic chains on every succeeding page. These tales are lost gems from an era when fun was paramount and entertainment a mandatory requirement. This is comics the way they were and really should be again… 
Mighty Samson ® Volume One ™ & © 2010 Random House, Inc. Under license to Classic Media LCC. All rights reserved. All other material, unless otherwise specified, © 2010 Dark Horse Comics, Inc. All rights reserved

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Adam Eterno – A Hero for All Time


By Tom Tully, Tom Kerr, Colin Page, Francisco Solano López, Eric Bradbury Ted Kearon, Rex Archer & various (Rebellion)
ISBN: 978-1-78108-869-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

British comics had a strange and extended love affair with what can only be described as “unconventional” (for which feel free to substitute “creepy”) heroes. So many of the stars and potential role models of our serials and strips were just plain “off”: self-righteous, moody voyeurs-turned vigilantes like Jason Hyde, sinister masterminds like The Dwarf, deranged geniuses like Eric Dolmann, so many reformed criminals like The Spider or just outright racist supermen like Captain Hurricane…

…And don’t get me started on our legion of lethally anarchic comedy icons or that our most successful symbol of justice is the Eagle-bedecked jack-booted poster boy for a fascist state. Perhaps that explains why these days we can’t even imagine or envision what a proper leader looks like and keep on electing clowns, crooks and oblivious privileged simpletons…

All joking aside, British comics are unlike any other kind and simply have to be seen to be believed and enjoyed. One of the most revered stars of the medium has finally begun to be collected in archival editions, and perfectly encapsulates our odd relationship with heroism,  villainy and particularly the murky grey area bridging them…

Until the 1980s, comics in the UK were based on an anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character on a weekly – or sometimes fortnightly – basis. Humorous periodicals like The Beano were leavened by thrillers like Billy the Cat or General Jumbo and adventure papers like Lion or Valiant always included gag strips such as The Nutts, Grimly Feendish, Mowser and a wealth of similar quick laugh treats.

Thunder and Jet were amongst the last of this fading model. Fleetway particularly was shifting to themed anthologies like Shoot, Action and Battle, whilst venerable veterans like Lion, Valiant and Buster hung on and stayed fresh by absorbing failing titles. Thunder ran for 22 weeks before merging into Lion & Thunder, bringing with it Black Max, The Steel Commando, The Spooks of Saint Luke’s and Adam Eterno. With Steel Commando, Adam would survive and thrive, as the comic later merged into Valiant & Lion (June 1974) until 1976. He also appeared in numerous Annuals and Specials thereafter.

Eterno was initially devised by Thunder assistant editor Chris Lowder and editor Jack Legrand, with top flight artist Tom Kerr (Monty Carstairs, Rip Kerrigan, Kelly’s Eye, Charlie Peace, Captain Hurricane, Steel Claw, Kraken, Mary-Jo, Tara King/The Avengers, Billy’s Boots) initially designing and visualising the frankly spooky antihero and drawing the first episode.

The feature was scripted by equally adept and astoundingly prolific old hand Tom Tully (Roy of the Rovers, Heros the Spartan, Janus Stark, Dan Dare, The Wild Wonders, Johnny Red, The Leopard from Lime Street) but after he left in 1976 Kerr, Donne Avenell, Scott Goddall and Ted Cowan would write Adam’s later adventures for star turns like Joe Colquhoun, John Catchpole, Eric Bradbury, Page, Carlos Cruz and others to illustrate.

Gathering the debut and all episodes from Thunder (October 17th 1970 – 13th March 1971 plus material from Thunder Annual 1972, 1973 & 1974, the chronal calamities and dark doings are preceded by ‘A Hero in Time’: an editorial reminiscence by artist Colin Page.

Delivered in stark, moody monochome, and further illustrated by Page, Francisco Solano López (and his family studio), Bradbury, Ted Kearon and Rex Archer, these tales are the earliest exploits of the tragic immortal chronal-castaway Adam Eterno who began life as a 16th century apprentice to alchemist Erasmus Hemlock…

When his master perfects an immortality serum, headstrong impatient Adam samples the potion against the sage’s command, precipitating the ancient’s death and a fiery conflagration that destroys the house. The alchemist last act is to curse his disobedient student to live forever and “wander the world through the labyrinths of time”. His only surcease would come from a mortal blow struck by a weapon of solid gold…

The curse is truly effective and as centuries pass, Adam becomes a recluse: his unchanging nature driving him away from superstitious mortals and denying him over and over again simple contact with humanity. He fought in all of Britain’s wars, but combat comradeship always ended when a seemingly fatal blow of wound left him unharmed…

Everything changed and the second part of the alchemist’s curse came true in 1970 when the traumatised, barely sane 421-year-old tramp staggered into a bullion robbery and was shot by the thieves. Realising their victim is invulnerable, the bandits attempt to use him in a raid on the Bank of England, but when that fails, Adam slowly starts to regain his wits – just in time to be struck by the fully-gold-plated limousine of a speeding millionaire…

The impact would be fatal for any other being, but for Adam Eterno it is the beginning of redemption as the shock hurls him into the time stream to land over and again in different eras…

With Page (D-Day Dawson, Paddy Payne) at the helm, his first jaunt lands Adam on a sailing ship in 1770, inadvertently saving seagoers from murderous pirate Barnaby Shark, before joining the buccaneer to steal his solid gold dagger to end his twice-lived life…

When that ploy fails, Adam is whisked away to rematerialize in Texas. The year is 1872 and the gold rush has ended a decade since, but evil still abounds as local cattle baron Bret Logan seeks to drive settlers away. When Adam sides with them, the rancher hires deadly gunslinger The Yellowstone Kid, a killer with guns of gold. It seems like Adam would finally get his wish, but sadly the bullets are simply lead.

And so it goes: Adam comes tantalisingly close on every arrival, seemingly drawn to terror and injustice with each event linked to some sort of potential auric armageddon. In Victorian London he battles masked madman the Flying Footpad as the villains seeks to steal a golden turban; foils contemporary South American dictator and war criminal General Carlos Cabeza despite the threat of another golden dagger and returns to World War I’s Western Front and confronts seemingly indestructible German General Von Gruber and his golden sabre in extended multi-chapter exploits.

Returning to modern days, Eterno joins treasure-hunting divers facing an apparent ghost guarding a sunken galleon: battling brutal thug dubbed Hammerhand (because of his gold prosthesis). Courtesy of the magnificent Solano López (Kelly’s Eye, Janus Stark, Master of the Marsh, Raven on the Wing), a voyage to Dark Ages England to stave off a Viking invasion, segues into Saxon times (by Colin Page) in the wake of the Norman conquest and a small war against wicked golden knight Baron de Gride before a turning point and further facts on the enigmatic wanderer arrives when he land in a 20th century reconstruction of the house where he served and was cursed by Erasmus Hemlock…

Limned by Solano-López, the tale discloses how modern crooks seek to use the house to swindle a rich American until “dissuaded” by the original occupant, who then fetches up in Africa during the Boer War, with Page detailing how he saves English troops from brutal Afrikaans tactical mastermind The Butcher. This time, the weapon to watch is a gold-tipped bullwhip…

Solano López returns for a Roman holiday as Adam saves a gladiator from assassination and becomes embroiled in a plot by wicked Odius Limpus to make himself even more wealthy. Such a shame it’s happening in Pompeii’s arena in August, 79 AD…

This spectacular yarn closed Adam Eterno’s run and indeed the comic Thunder, but this collection holds more gleaming extras in the form of a quintet of tales from Thunder Annuals. The first is from the 1972 edition, rendered by British national treasure Eric Bradbury who depicts a snowy drama in a German town circa 1598, where “the Old Man of Vartzberg” is again terrorising the populace with his sudden manifestations. In situ – prior to becoming lost in time – is English Witchfinder Adam Eterno, on a personal crusade to wipe out alchemists and other mystic dabblers. When he roots out the wizard he is damned by a prophecy to beware a golden sword… but the crisis point only happens in 1943 when British commando Eterno leads a team against Nazi-held Vartzberg…

Next comes a brace of tales from 1973, beginning with an adventure illustrated by Rex Archer. Here, after Merlin seals the Goblin Crown of the Dark Gods in his Golden Tower, Adam is plucked from Limbo to battle a dragon and duped by vile Sir Mordrac into fetching the artefact out again. Thankfully, King Arthur’s mage had made contingency plans…

In accompaniment is a prose tale with spot illustrations from Ted Kearon, wherein Adam saves enslaved Saxons from Vikings and is forced to prove his unkillable nature over and over again.

The following year Solano-López opened proceedings as the Man Who Could Not Die arrived in the Americas just in time to aid privateer captain Francis Drake in his legendary raid on Panama, but only after Adam clears out a host of giant mutated monsters created by a crazed Spanish Don-turned-alchemist.

Bradbury then added two-toned images (red & black) to another prose saga as Adam arrived in London fog in 1896: avoiding the police whilst tracking a murderous “Leaping Terror” with a strong resemblance to a giant bat…

Closing with biographies on the many creatures featured herein and dotted with covers and teaser visuals, Adam Eterno – A Hero Out of Time is potently thrilling and rewarding romp to delight readers who like their protagonists dark and conflicted and their history in bite-sized bursts.
© 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, & 2021 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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The Time Tunnel: The Complete Series


By Paul S. Newman & Tom Gill & various (Hermes Press)
ISBN: 978-1-932563-33-4 (TPB/Digital edition)

The Time Tunnel debuted in America for the Fall season of 1966: the third family sci fi thriller in producer Irwin Allen’s incredibly successful string of TV fantasy series which also included Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants.

The show generated 30 episodes between September 9th 1966 and April 7th 1967 and became a cult classic via syndication re-runs for decades after. The show spawned a Viewmaster 3D reel, book, numerous games, colouring books and toys, Pinball games, plus a brace of excellent novels by pulp Sci Fi legend Murray Leinster and the comic book series that drew us here today…

The series’ premise is relatively straightforward and set two years in the future: the US government had spent a decade exploring the mechanics of time travel in top secret Project Tic-Toc and now have a prototype device in a vast underground military complex in Arizona. Directors Dr. Douglas Phillips, Dr. Anthony Newman and Lt. General Heywood Kirk, with a number of specialists, are making crucial advances to the operation when US Senator Leroy Clark visits, intent on ending the vast spending he can see no point to.

When he demands an immediate successful time journey and return or complete closure, Newman impetuously projects himself through the infinite tunnel and is lost. Without hesitation, Phillips goes after him, but once they make contact they are constantly and randomly hurled to different points in history and even into the future.

Tic-Toc is quickly repurposed to retrieve them, but other than occasional instants where the technicians can move them up or down the time stream, the project is reduced to helpless observation as Tony and Doug bounce from one momentous moment to another, meeting the likes of Custer, Marie Antoinette, Ulysses, Billy the Kid, Robin Hood and Rudyard Kipling and surviving catastrophes such as the Titanic sinking, the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, the eruption of Krakatoa and even alien attacks and invasions…

Gold Key licensed the property for a short-lived but entertaining run spanning cover-dates February and July 1967, with eye-catching painted covers by George Wilson and interiors attributed to the company’s adaptation warhorses – prolific scripter Paul S. Newman (Turok, Son of Stone, Lone Ranger, 77 Sunset Strip, Buck Rogers) and meticulous illustrator Tom Gill (Flower Potts, Lone Ranger, Land of the Giants).

Collected in this archival edition, the accidental chrononauts’ odyssey is preceded by an effusive photo-and ephemera-filled Introduction: ‘Time Travel in the 1960s’ by Alan J Porter in which he rapidly revisits roughly contemporary shows such as Star Trek, Doctor Who and Time Slip (plus later shows like Sapphire and Steel, Quantum Leap and others) all dabbling in temporal hijinks, and also explores the unlikely sub-genre’s literary antecedents.

Porter goes on to plug the many modern ways to vie the source material and revisit the untapped potential of the series’ perennial attempts at a reboot…

The comics cases open with The Time Tunnel #1 and ‘The Assassins’ as the patriotic lost boys arrive in advance of the murder of President Abraham Lincoln. Those of us now well versed in decades of entertainment dogma regarding time travel know better than to meddle, but in the show and here, attempts to change history were almost mandatory, but at the Ford Theatre on April 14th 1865 our heroes again fail to thwart a national tragedy and barely escape with their own lives as the Tic-Toc techs “switch them out” of that time period…

They materialise in a gladiatorial arena ready to face ‘The Lion or the Volcano’. The date is August 24th in AD 79 and the location is Pompeii…

Although the safeguarding observers again manage to time transfer the embattled duo – but only after a terrific struggle against beasts, panicked Romans, fireballs and poison gases – there is an unconventionally high body count here. That’s because by never signing up to the draconian and bowdlerizing Comics Code Authority, Dell/Gold Key became the company for life and death thrills, especially in traditional adventure stories.

If you were a kid in search of a proper thrilling gore instead of flimsy flesh wounds you went for Tarzan, Zorro, M.A.R.S. Patrol, Tom Corbett and their ilk. That’s not to claim that the West Coast outfit were gory, exploitative sensationalists – far from it – but simply that their writers and editors knew that fiction – especially kids’ fiction – needs a frisson of danger and honest high stakes drama to make it work.

The initial outing concludes with a swift jaunt to the future as ‘Mars Count-down’ sees Tony and Doug alight aboard a 1980 one way test flight to the Red Planet, and forced to jury rig a return trip to earth before Tic-Toc can lock on and dump them back into the roiling time stream…

The premier issue’s back cover was a photo still of the Time Tunnel from the show and segues neatly into another Wilson masterpiece on #2, with ‘The Conquerors’ finding Tony and Doug in a Nazi base in 2068 where an Aryan elite are perfecting their own time machine to change the outcome of the 1944 D-Day landing. Using the new device to follow the time saboteurs, the Americans spoil the scheme and destroy the insane Fuhrer II, only to become chronal castaways again, fetching up in 1876 and – as ‘The Captives’ – failing again to stop arrogant tyrant George Armstrong Custer from being wiped out at the Little Big Horn…

Issue #2’s photo portrait cover leads to more stills and an essay on ‘The Artists of Time Tunnel’ with Daniel Herman outlining the careers of Wilson and Gill before a captivating selection of ‘Artwork, concepts, Photos, and Collectibles’ offers context and behind the scenes snippets taken from a 1967 TV Guide; 20th Century Fox production art; even more stills; episode storyboards and tantalizing glimpses of the aforementioned merchandise – games, bumper stickers, buttons, the Viewmaster kit.

TV themed compendia of screen-to-page magic were an intrinsic part of growing up for generations and still occur every year with only the stars/celebrity/shows changing, not the package. The show itself has joined the vast hinterland of fantasy fan-favourites. immortalised in DVD and streamed all over the world but if you want to see more, this sparkling tome is a treat you won’t want to overlook.
The Time Tunnel® is © 1966, 1967 and 2009 Irwin Allen Properties, LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Time Tunnel® and its indicia, characters and designs are trademarks of Irwin Allen Properties, LLC; licensed by Synthesis Entertainment.

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Frank Robbins’ Johnny Hazard: Volume One – the Newspaper Dailies 1944-1946



By Frank Robbins with an introduction by Daniel Herman (Hermes Press)
ISBN: 978-1-61345-004-8 (HB/Digital edition)

Johnny Hazard was a newspaper strip created in the style and manner of Terry and the Pirates, but in many ways this steely-eyed hero most resembles – and indeed predates – Milton Caniff’s second masterwork Steve Canyon. Unbelievably, until 2011 this stunningly impressive, enthralling adventure strip had never been comprehensively collected in archival volumes – at least not in English – although selected highlights had appeared in magazines like Pioneer Comics, Dragon Lady Press Presents and the Pacific Comic Club.

Boston born, Franklin Robbins (9th September 1917 – 28th November 1994) was an artistic prodigy who shone from early on. At age nine he was awarded a scholarship to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at 15, moved to New York City to attend the National Academy of Design on a Rockefeller grant. Skilled, inventive and prolific as both painter and graphic artist, he freelanced continually, even working with Edward Trumbull on the legendary murals for the NBC building and Radio City Music Hall.

Robbins created graphics for RKO Pictures, worked in advertising and magazine illustrations but never stopped painting, with work shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art and Walker Art Gallery, although he found his perfect medium of expression when invited to take over a top comic strip…

Even whilst relentlessly creating a full seven days of newspaper strips, he exhibited work at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Annual show and – after ending his comics career – retired to Mexico to end his days with a brush in his hand.

The truth is that comics changed Robbins’ life. He was a brilliant natural cartoonist whose unique artistic and lettering styles lent themselves equally to adventure, comedy and super-heroic tales, whilst his expansive raconteur’s gifts made him one of the best writers over three generations.

He first found popular fame in 1939 by taking over aviation strip Scorchy Smith from Bert (The Sandman) Christman, who had left America to fight with the Flying Tigers in China. Robbins thrived in the role and created a Sunday page for the feature in 1940.

The groundbreaking feature had been originated by John Terry before the astounding Noel Sickles replaced him: revolutionising it and – with Milton Caniff – inventing a new impressionistic style of narrative art to reshape the way comics were drawn and perceived .

Robbins remained until 1944 and was then offered high-profile Secret Agent X-9. Instead, he devised his own lantern-jawed, steely-eyed man of action.

A tireless and prolific worker, even whilst producing the daily and Sunday Hazard (with a separate storyline for each), Robbins continued freelancing as an illustrator for The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Life and a host of other mainstream magazines. He also tried comic books for the first time when Johnny Hazard won his own title in 1948-1949, just as superheroes began being supplanted by he-men, gangsters and monsters…

Robbins tried again in 1968: quickly becoming a key contributor as both artist and writer on Superboy, The Flash and The Atom, as well as a regular contributor to humour mag Plop! and DC’s mystery and war anthologies. He particularly excelled on Batman, Batgirl and Detective Comics where, with Neal Adams, he created Man-Bat, before following Michael Kaluta as artist on The Shadow.

Moving to Marvel in the 1970s, Robbins concentrated on drawing a variety of titles including Captain America, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Morbius, The Man from Atlantis, Human Fly, Power Man and The Invaders – which he co-created with Roy Thomas.

When Johnny Hazard launched on Monday June 5th 1944, he was an aviator in the US Army Air Corps. When hostilities ceased, he briefly became a freelance charter pilot and spy before settling into the of a globe-girdling, troubleshooting mystery-solver: a modern day Knight Errant. The strip ended in 1977: one more victim of diminishing panel-sizes and the move towards simplified, thrill-free, family-friendly gag-a-day graphic fodder to frame small-ads. In its time it was syndicated in nine different languages in thousands of newspapers across the world, and even scored a residency in 1950s British weekly Rocket.

This fabulous hardcover/digital series – reproduced from original King Features proofs – at long last re-presents the definitive magnum opus in fitting form: a monochrome, landscape format archival collection of the first 2 years (covering June 5th 1944 to November 11th 1945), resurrecting the Amazing Aviator in followers’ hearts and hopefully finding new fans.

The action begins with a selection of those 1948 comic book covers and an informative ‘Introduction: Frank Robbins and Johnny Hazard’ by Daniel Herman before we meet the man himself in ‘The Escape’.

Here, the reader meets coolly capable flyer Lt. Johnny Hazard and his pals Loopy and Scotty as – having escaped from a German POW camp – they break into a Nazi air field to steal a bomber and fly home. Fast-paced, sharp-tongued and utterly gung-ho, the yarn introduces a cunning, charming, happy-go-lucky lout, insouciantly ruthless and prepared at every stage to risk his own freedom and life if it means killing a few more of the enemy and sabotaging the German war effort.

His saga truly begins with the 5th July episode as the liberated and again ready-for-duty airman touches base with friendly civilians only to meet feisty, headstrong and dedicated war photographer ‘Brandy’ during an air raid. All sorts of sparks fly as a series of spectacular events continually push them together and ultimately passionate fury and disgust on both sides turns to something else amidst all the deadly missions and flaming firepower.

The romantic turning point comes when Brandy impetuously parachutes into occupied territory to get a perfect shot and Hazard – hating himself every moment – goes after her…

The strip could not keep up with the fast-moving events after D-Day (the real world Allies invaded “Fortress Europa” the day after Johnny Hazard debuted) and third story arc ‘Sun Tan and General Mariwana’ – opening on September 11th 1944 – saw the hero’s squadron transferred to the Pacific Theatre of Operations to reinforce the battle against Japan. Through ingenious means Brandy inveigles herself into the picture as recently promoted Captain Hazard and his crew undertake a top-secret mission couriering a Chinese resistance leader back to her people.

Enigmatic Sun Tan is both staggeringly beautiful and lethally dangerous… and the Japanese Secret Service’s top target. Her leaked intentions spark a byzantine assassination plot wherein an experimental tracking device is hidden in Brandy’s camera gear during a refuelling stopover in Iran…

The architect of the plot is Colonel Mariwana: a pilot disfigured in a previous clash with the freedom fighter. His maniacally relentless pursuit costs him his command but does succeed in bringing down Hazard’s plane in the Himalayas. Ultimately, the grim episode of revenge leads to mass-murder and desecration of temples before honour is avenged. The mission is completed, but at a punishing cost…

A new year reinforced the darker tone as January 31st 1945 opened the saga of ‘Colonel Kiri’, as Hazard sets up shop on an embattled army air base under constant assault by Japanese forces on the front line of occupied China. It also introduces ace wingman Captain “The Admiral” Slocum: last in an unbroken line of valiant patriotic mariners, but reduced to defending his country in the skies since his debilitating sea sickness prevents him from serving afloat like a true warrior…

The Americans are hard-pressed, targeted by a secret Japanese installation decimating the region. When Brandy is shot down while helping to evacuate Chinese refugees, she is sheltered by farmers who disguise her as one of them. She meets malign war criminal Kiri when he claims her as a “comfort woman” and triggers his fate by freeing recently captured Hazard and Slocum, who spectacularly sabotage the ghost base. In the chaos, carnage and confusion, the Americans steal a Japanese tank and head for their own lines…

The closing chapter here is a deft and delicious tribute to the characters of Damon Runyon, embodied in displaced, pool-addicted, New York gunsel ‘Side-Pocket Sam’ (August 13th to November 11th 1945).

As our heroes enjoy the destructive capabilities of their new ride they almost accidentally capture a major prize. High command officer General Ishigaki and his glamorous French “assistant” Mademoiselle Touché aren’t quick or smart enough to escape the fleeing Yanks, and none of them are able to avoid the army of Chinese bandits who scoop them up and deliver them to their slick Yankee boss.

Side-Pocket Sam is debonair, charming but utterly amoral. He knows one of his “guests” carries Japan’s failsafe game plan for World War III and – once it’s his – plans to make the deal of his life…

Tragically, he’s underestimated his enemies and his friends, enabling Johnny, Brandy and the Admiral to save the day and head for safety…

Sharp, snappy and devilishly funny repartee in the style of movies like Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday and Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night is a hallmark of these rapid fire yarns, some of the greatest comic strips in history, and that in itself can present a few problems for modern readers.

Contemporary attitudes to sexuality, gender and particularly race are far from what we find acceptable – or should even tolerate – today. That situation is further compounded by an understandably fervent patriotic tone: equal parts pure jingoism and government-sponsored morale boosting.

Every contemporary-based feature of the era participated in the war effort by shaping its content accordingly, and terms like “Jap”, “Nip”, “Kraut” and many different forms of “othering” were common parlance in both movies and comics – the two main forms of popular entertainment. These slurs became a character-defining shorthand, used without consideration and thus an indelible facet of national speech and behaviour for decades to follow.

We know better now – at least most of us do – but must accept and understand that hurtful and unjust as such terms are, they did exist and we’re doing history and our society a huge and dangerous disservice by ignoring, downplaying or worst of all self-censoring those terms and the attitudes that fed them.

In truth, Johnny Hazard was far less egregious than most: Robbins may have made Kiri and Mariwana contemptible villains, but the Japanese army (who had committed many verified real world atrocities) were given fair play and did not unnecessarily suffer from the worst propagandist nonsense used by the Allies to bolster a united war spirit.

Other ethnicities – like Chinese, Iranian, Tibetans and Italians – are treated with the full dignity of different but equal cultures and depicted as competent comrades in arms, not ignorant primitives in need of a white man’s saving graces. However, arch comedian Robbins clearly couldn’t resist playing mischievous games with accents, names and speech patterns that would do Benny Hill, Hogan’s Heroes or Charlie Chan (the opposite of) proud, so if you don’t think you’re capable of remaining historically detached, best to forgo those delights that have transcended time…

To be continued…

These exotic action-romances perfectly capture the mood and magic of a distant but incredibly familiar time; with cool heroes, hot dames and exceedingly intemperate bad-guys encountering exotic locales and stunning scenarios, all peppered with blistering tension, slyly mature humour and vivid, visceral excitement.

Johnny Hazard is a brilliant two-fisted thriller-strip too long forgotten, and this is your chance to remedy that.
© 2011 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ® Hearst Holdings Inc. All rights reserved.

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Batman in the Fifties


By Bill Finger, Don Cameron, Edmond Hamilton, France Herron, David Vern Reed, Dave Wood, Joe Samachson, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Bob Kane, Win Mortimer, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye, George Roussos, Ray Burnley & various (DDC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0950-5 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the early years of this century, DC launched a series of graphic archives intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades: delivering magnificent past comic book magic from the Forties to the Seventies via a tantalisingly nostalgic taste of other – arguably better, but certainly different – times. The collections carried the cream of the creative crop, divided into subsections, partitioned by cover galleries, and supplemented by short commentaries; a thoroughly enjoyable introductory reading experience. I prayed for more but was frustrated… until now…

Part of a trade paperback trilogy – the others being Superman and Wonder Woman (thus far, but hopefully Aquaman, Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter are in contention too, as they have become such big shot screen stars these days) – the experiment is being re-run, with even more inviting wonders from the company’s amazing family-friendly canon.

Gathered here is an expanded menu of delights adding to that of the 2002 edition, rerunning Michael Uslan’s original context-stuffed Introduction and chapter text pieces. The stories originated in Detective Comics #156, 165, 168, 180, 185, 187, 215, 216, 233, 235, 236, 241, 244, 252, 267; 269, 1000; Batman #59, 62, 63, 81,92,105, 113, 114, 121, 122, 128; and World’s Finest Comics #68, 81, 89 which span the entire decade while laying the rather bonkers groundwork for the landmark television series of the next decade.

Supported by the first of a series of factual briefings, the comics open with Classic Tales, and ‘The Batmobile of 1950!’ Written by Joe Samachson and illustrated by visionary artist Dick Sprang and ideal inker Stan Kaye, the clever saga of reinvention originated in Detective Comics #156 (cover-dated February 1950 and on sale from December 19th 1949):  heralding new vistas as their reliable conveyance is destroyed by cunning crooks.

Badly injured, Batman uses the opportunity to rebuild his ride as moving fortress and crime lab and scores his first techno advance. There would soon be many more: a Batplane II, new boats and subs and even a flying Batcave…

David Vern Reed, Sprang & Charles Paris then set the Crime Crushers to recovering a vital lost tool assemblage before some villain could decipher ‘The Secret of Batman’s Utility Belt!’ (Detective #185 July 1952) and end their careers, after which ‘The True History of Superman and Batman’ (World’s Finest Comics #81, March/April 1956 by Edmond Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye) finds a future historian blackmailing the heroes into restaging their greatest exploits so that his erroneous treatise on them will be accurate…

Foreshadowing modern tastes and tropes, an unknown author & Sheldon Moldoff reveal ‘The New-Model Batman’ in Detective #236 (October 1956) as recently-released criminal genius Wallace Waley deploys counters to all the heroes’ techniques and tech, necessitating a change of M.O and new toys… like a Bat-tank…

In a classic case of misdirection, the Dark Knight briefly becomes ‘The Rainbow Batman!’ in Detective #241 (March 1957). As delivered by Hamilton, Moldoff & Kaye, a series of outlandish costumes keep the public – and reporters’ – gaze on the mighty masked peacock and well away from the biggest story of the decade…

Bill Finger, Moldoff & Paris detail a review of the hero’s most versatile weapon in ‘The 100 Batarangs of Batman!’ (Detective #244 June 1957) as criminals begin using old variants of the throwing tool against him and the Gotham gangbuster has to unleash an almost dangerous and untested prototype to defeat them…

In a most frustrating piece of poor editing, next up is the seminal sequel story to a most important and repercussion-packed yarn. Crafted by Hamilton, Sprang & Kaye, ‘The Club of Heroes’ first appeared in World’s Finest Comics #89 (July/August 1957) reprising an earlier meeting of Batmen from many nations. It became a key plank of Grant Morrison’s latterday epic Batman: the Black Glove as those valiant foreign copycats reconvened to add the Man of Steel to their roster only to find him suffering recurring amnesia and outshone by brand-new costumed champion Lightning Man…

‘The Thousand Deaths of Batman!’ (Detective #269 July 1959) comes from another uncredited scripter, with Moldoff & Paris limning a bizarre tale of a criminal entertainment network offering staged deaths of their greatest enemies until the Caped Crusaders infiltrate and exterminate…

Just as the adventures always got bigger and bolder, so too did the character roster and internal history. The Bat-Family section homes in on the heroes’ constantly expanding supporting cast, and leads with something I just finished whining about.

Detective Comics #215 (January 1955) featured ‘The Batmen of All Nations!’ by Edmond Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris) and saw the World’s Greatest Crimefighters acknowledged as such by well-meaning champions from Italy, England, France, South America and Australia, who took the sincerest form of flattery a step too far by becoming nationally-themed imitations. That was fine until they all attend a convention in Gotham City doomed to disaster after a villain replaces one of them…

Why on Earth did this tale have to follow its own sequel?

Anyway, back to our usual nonsense and a question: Do you believe in coincidence? Superman was incredibly popular throughout the 1950s and many things that happened to him were tried in Batman stories. For a while the caped crusader even had a girl reporter – Vicki Vale – trying to ferret out hi secret identity. So when Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955) introduced a dog from Krypton, how surprising was it that Batman would soon join that rather exclusive kennel club?

For no reason I could possibly speculate upon, ‘Ace the Bat-Hound!’ debuted in Batman #92 (June 1955), created by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris. Ace was a distinctive German shepherd temporally adopted by Bruce Wayne when his actual owner John Wilker is abducted by crooks. A skilled tracker with distinctive facial markings, the pooch inserts himself into the case repeatedly, forcing the Dynamic Duo to mask him up as they hunt his master and foil a criminal plot. Like Krypto, Ace reappeared intermittently until Wayne stopped borrowing him and just adopted the amazing mutt.

Almost as necessary a Fifties adjunct, ‘The Batwoman!’ debuted in Detective #233 (July 1956) as Hamilton, Moldoff & Kaye added a female copy to the cannon…

Today fans are pretty used to a vast battalion of bat-themed champions haunting Gotham City and its troubled environs, but for the longest time it was just Bruce, Dick Grayson and an occasionally borrowed dog keeping crime on the run. However, three months before the debut of the Flash officially ushered in the Silver Age, editorial powers-that-be introduced valiant heiress Kathy Kane, who incessantly suited-up in chiropteran red and yellow over the next eight years. She was a former circus acrobat who burst into Batman’s life, challenging him to discover her secret identity at the risk of exposing his own…

Far more critical to the growing legend was Finger, Moldoff & Kaye’s ‘The First Batman!’

as originally seen in Detective Comics #235 (September 1956): a key story of this period which introduced a strong psychological component to Batman’s origins, disclosing how when Bruce was still a toddler, his father had clashed with gangsters whilst clad in a fancy dress bat costume…

In Batman #105, (February 1957) France Herron, Moldoff & Paris introduced ‘The Second Boy Wonder!’ as a stranger apparently infiltrates the Batcave by impersonating the kid crimebuster, but there’s more going on than would first appear, unlike Batman #114 (March 1958) wherein unknown writer, Moldoff & Paris reveal how circus gorilla Mogo joins the team to clear his framed keeper’s name in ‘The Bat-Ape!’…

The grim gritty tone of the Dark Knight remains utterly absent in ‘The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman!’ (Batman #122, March 1959) as Finger, Moldoff & Ray Burnley manifest Robin’s bleakest nightmares should such a nuptial event ever occur, before Detective #267 (May 1959) details how ‘Batman Meets Bat-Mite!’ and Finger, Moldoff & Paris launch the Gotham Guardian’s most controversial “partner” – a pestiferous, extra-dimensional prank-playing elf who “helps” his hero by aiding his enemies to extend the duration of the fun… (World’s Finest Comics #68, January/February 1954).

In the 1950s costumed villains faded from view and preference for almost a decade – until the Batman TV show made them stars in their own right. Thus there’s not as big a pool to draw on here as you might expect, and what there is mostly the old favourites..

The Villains highlights our hero’s greatest recurring enemies, leading with The Secret Life of the Catwoman!’ from Batman #62 (December 1950/January 1951) by Finger, with Lew Sayre Schwartz ghosting for Bob Kane – who only pencilled a few faces and figures. It’s all inked by Paris.

Here the Felonious Feline reforms and retires after a head trauma cures all her larcenous tendencies… until Batman begs law-abiding Selina Kyle to suit up once more and go undercover to catch crime boss Mister X.

Kane had all but left his role to others by this time and his contributions remained minor in The Origin of Killer Moth!’ (Batman #62, February/March 1951) as Finger, Sayre Schwartz & Paris record how a recently-released convict steals Batman’s ideas and sets up as a paid costumed crusader for crooks…

Around that time Detective #168 (February 1951) began the long road to an origin for the Joker as Finger, Sayre Schwartz, Kane George Roussos and Win Mortimer exposed ‘The Man Behind the Red Hood!’ This reveals a partial origin as part of a brilliantly engrossing mystery which begins when the Caped Crusader regales eager college criminology students with the story of “the one who got away” – just before the fiend suddenly comes back…

Batman’s most tragic Golden Age foe resurfaced cured and fully functional in Detective #187 (September 1952), but Harvey Dent was soon on a spree committing ‘The Double Crimes of Two-Face!’ (by Don Cameron, Sprang & Paris). Although the Dynamic Duo knew from the start their foe was a fake, the situation was far different two years later when Reed, Sprang & Paris detailed how ‘Two-Face Strikes Again!’ in Batman #81 (February 1954). This time a freak accident restored Dent’s scarred bipolar state and the heroes were outmatched all the way to the stunning turnabout conclusion…

The bit about bad guys bows out with ‘The Ice Crimes of Mr. Zero’ (Batman #121, February 1959) as Dave Wood, Moldoff & Paris depict a scientist’s turn to crime after an experiment afflicts him with a condition that will kill him if his temperature rises above freezing point. Although cured in this yarn, that villain would return, taking the name Mr. Freeze …

Final comics section Tales from Beyond highlights the increasingly strange adventures of the Dynamic Duo which – due to Comics Code embargoes on horror and the supernatural – meant a wealth of weird alien and startling science fiction themes. The wonders beginswith a rarely reprinted yarn from Finger, Sayre Schwartz, Kane & Paris originally seen in Batman #59 (June/July 1950). It begins as the heroes seek to use time travel to cure The Joker, before a mistake by chronal scientist Professor Carter Nichols dumps them in 2050 AD. ‘Batman in the Future!’ finds them aiding the Harlequin of Hate’s crimefighting descendant against space pirates before returning to their own era…

A solid gold classic follows as ‘The Batman of Tomorrow!’ (Detective #216, February 1955) visits the 20th century – from his home in 3054 – to save an injured Bruce Wayne from Vicki Vale’s latest exposé and catch a cunning crook in a fast paced and fantastical romp by Hamilton, Sprang & Paris.

Many of these bright-&-breezy high fantasy tales deeply affected modern writers and the overarching continuity, perhaps none more so than Herron, Sprang & Paris’ ‘Batman – The Superman of Planet X!’ from Batman #113 (February 1958): which formed a key thematic plank of Grant Morrison’s epic 2008 storyline Batman R.I.P. The story details how the Gotham Guardian is shanghaied to distant world Zur-En-Arrh by its version of Batman to fight an alien invasion: a task rendered relatively simple since the planet’s atmosphere and gravity gives Earthmen incredible superpowers…

In Detective #252 (February 1958) Wood, Moldoff & Paris channelled contemporary film fashion as a monster makes trouble on a movie location shoot, compelling the costumed champions to tackle ‘The Creature from the Green Lagoon!’ before the last tale in this section – and volume – reveals how our heroes mistakenly aid an alien pirate and are arrested and imprisoned offworld by interstellar lawmen. ‘The Interplanetary Batman!’ (Batman #128. December 1959) is a riotous rollercoaster rocket ride by Finger & Moldoff with Batman and Robin overcoming all odds to clear their names and get home and is a perfect place to pause this circus of ancient delights.

Also including a selection of breathtaking covers and a ‘Bonus Cover Gallery’ by Sprang, Mortimer, Moldoff, Curt Swan, Sayre Schwartz, Kaye & Paris, this is a splendidly refreshing, comfortingly compelling and utterly charming slice of comics history that any aged fan or newcomer will delight in: a primer into the ultimate icon of Justice and fair play.
© 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 2002, 2019, 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Glorious Summers volume 1: Southbound! (1973)


By Zidrou & Jordi Lafebre, with additional colour by Mado Peña translated by Lara Vergnaud (Europe Comics)
No ISBN: Digital edition only

Until comparatively recently, comics in the English-speaking world mostly comprised comedic or various adventure sub-genres (crime, superhero, horror, sci fi), with only a small but vital niche of “mundane world” ventures, usually depicted via graphic biographies and autobiographies such as They Called Us Enemy, Coma, Death Threat, Love on the Isle of Dogs, Wage Slaves or Sour Pickles offering a different feel and flavour. Even historical sagas were treated as extraordinary moments with larger-than-life characters whenever possible.

What we have never had – and still largely don’t enjoy – is a comics equivalent to general fiction, drama and melodrama. That’s not so in Japan and Europe, where a literal “anything goes” attitude has always accommodated human-scaled, slice of life stories depicting ordinary people in quiet as well as extraordinary moments.

Surely it can’t be that hard to tell engaging stories in pedestrian, recognisably ordinary settings? Medical traumas, love stories, school tales and family tragedies about common folk seem to play well on various-sized screens around the world, so why not in English-“speaking” comics? The closest we seem to get are comedy series like John Allison’s brilliantly superb Giant Days (which I really must review soon)…

People being people is more than enough for our European neighbours. They apparently have an insatiable appetite for everyday events aimed at properly “mature readers”, all joyfully sans vampires, aliens or men in tights. These even have sub-genres of their own. For example, there’s a wealth of superb material just about going on holiday…

So, since our own Government-in-Absentia have ensured that it’s now all-but-impossible for any UK-based citizens to pop across and have une petite vacances in Europe, let’s at least stare covetously at them having a good time. After all, over there holidays are an inalienable right, and they have some simply fabulous tales about a simple break. This is probably the best you’ll ever read…

One of the absolute best examples of fantasy vacations made real, Glorious Summers: Southbound! (1973) is a nostalgia-drenched confection by Zidrou and frequent collaborator Jordi Lafebre: a sublime example of idyllic group memory transformed into graphic sorcery and an everyday account utterly unafraid to temper humorous sweetness and light with some real-world tragedy and suspense…

Perhaps a little context is in order. Summer holidays – “Midi” – are a big deal in France and Belgium. The French even divide into two tribes over the annual rest period, which generally lasts an entire month.

Juilletistes only vacation in July and wield dogma and facts like rapiers to prove why it’s the only way to take a break. They are eternally opposed, heart, soul, and suntan lotion, by majority faction the Aoûtiens, who recharge their batteries in August whilst fully reciprocating the suspicion, disdain and baffled scorn of the early-leavers.

Many European sociologists claim the greatest social division today is not race, religion, gender, political affiliation or whether to open boiled eggs from the top or the bottom, but when summer holidays begin and end…

Les Beaux Étés 1: Cap au Sud! is the first of a string of family visits that began in 2015 courtesy of scripter Zidrou (Benoît Drousie) and illustrator Jordi Lafebre. Drousie is Belgian, born in Brussels in 1962 and a school teacher prior to quitting marking books in 1990 to begin making them. His main successes are school dunce series L’Elève Ducobu, Petit Dagobert, Scott Zombi, La Ribambelle, Le Montreur d’histoires, African Trilogy, Léonardo, the revival of Ric Hochet, Shi and many more. His most celebrated and beloved stories are this sequence and 2010’s Lydie, both illustrated by Spanish artist Jordi Lafebre.

The sublimely gifted, empathically sensitive illustrator and art teacher was born in Barcelona in 1979 and has created comics professionally since 2001, first for magazines like Mister K, where he limned Toni Font’s El Mundo de Judy. He soon found regular work at Le Journal de Spirou, creating the romance Always Never and collaborating with Zidrou on La vieille dame qui n’avait jamais joué au tennis et autres nouvelles qui font du bien, Lydie, and La Mondaine.

A combination of feel-good fable and powerful comedy drama, Southbound! begins “now”, as an aging couple sit on deftly-assembled camping seats in their beloved regular holiday spot. Gazing outwards and back, they remember how all their shared yesterdays almost died unborn during that difficult time in 1973…

It’s August then and Maddie Faldérault tries to amuse her four impatiently waiting kids as their father Pierre frantically puts the finishing touches to his latest comic strip. He has to: the publisher has stationed a gofer at his side to deliver the pages directly to the printer the moment the drawing stops.

The pages were due last Wednesday – as was the start of the annual Faldérault escape from gloomy Brussels for a month in sun-drenched France. That sun has long set, but such is the life of a minor star of the Belgian comics industry. Once the job is despatched, dad and long-suffering Maddie bundle the fractious kids into the car that’s been packed for days, heading for the border and some long anticipated R & R.

The kids are immune to bedtimes and wrapped up in time-honoured holiday rituals like shouting, fighting and singing odd songs. Shy lad Louis reads Lucky Luke to his invisible friend “Beekoo”, self-conscious oldest girl Jolly-Julie spars constantly with Nicole – cruelly picking on her weight – and hyperactive toddler Paulette (Peaches to you and her) bounces everywhere seeking attention and “fench fries an’ maynaze”…

They have no idea that it will be the last family holiday. The parents are planning to separate after the break and  have fooled themselves into thinking the odd atmosphere and strained behaviour will be put down to Aunt Liliane being sick with the cancer…

However, as they make their way south, clocking up priceless, inconsequential memories and acting like fools and bandits in overnight camps and rest stops, the strain starts to hit the beleaguered family in ways none will forget…

This tale is a beautifully rendered and realised series of memories stitched seamlessly together. It’s funny and charming and delivers painful blows you never see coming. There aren’t any spectacular events and shocking crises and that’s the point: awful events can happen to any of us… sudden death, job insecurity, funerals, demands for divorce, an abrupt change of mind…

If you’re British – and old enough – this series (six translated albums thus far, plus a French omnibus edition) will stir deep-seated memories of family sitcoms like Bless This House or Butterflies and generational ads starring the “Oxo Family”. If that description doesn’t fit you, I pity your browsing history if you look up any of that…

The rest of you in need of an opening (but unfair comparator) could break out the Calvin and Hobbes collections and re-examine the bits with his embattled parents when the kid’s out of the picture…

Lyrical, laconic, engagingly demure, and debilitatingly nostalgic, this holiday romance is sheer visual perfection wrapped in sharp dialogue and a superbly anarchic sense of mischief.

Vacations are built of moments and might-have-beens, channelled here in compelling clips that make the mundane. This is an irresistible tale of woe, wonder and second starts; all the more perfect because of it.
© 2018 -DARGAUD BENELUX (Dargaud-Lombard s.a.) – ZIDROU & LEFEBRE, LLC.