Nostalgia – Page 70 – Now Read This!

February 16, 2014

Zero Hour and Other Stories

Illustrated by Jack Kamen, written by Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Ray Bradbury & Jack Oleck (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-704-8

From 1950-1954 EC was the most innovative and influential comicbook publisher in America, dominating the genres of crime, horror, adventure, war and science fiction. They even originated an entirely new beast – the satirical comicbook – with Mad.

After a shaky start and following the death of his father (who actually created comicbooks in 1933), new Editor/publisher William Gaines and his trusty master-of-all-comics trades Al Feldstein turned a slavishly derivative minor venture into a pioneering, groundbreaking enterprise which completely altered the perception of the industry and art form.

They began co-plotting the bulk of EC’s output together, intent on creating a â€œNew Trendâ€ of stories aimed at older, more discerning readers (rather than the mythical 8-year-olds comics ostensibly targeted) and shifted the emphasis of the ailing company towards dark, funny, socially aware broadly adult fare.

Their publishing strategy also included hiring some the most gifted writers and artists in the field. One of the earliest and certainly most undervalued at the time was Jack Kamenâ€¦

This lavish monochrome hardcover volume, another instant classic in Fantagraphics’ EC Library, gathers a scintillating selection of Kamen’s quirkily low-key science fiction tales which always favoured character over spectacle or gimmicks and human frailty and foibles: the kind of offbeat yarns which predominated in such cleverly thought out TV shows as Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, which followed in EC’s wakeâ€¦

This almanac of The Unknown is, as always, stuffed with supplementary features beginning with ‘Graceful, Glamorous, and Easy on the Eye’: an informative, picture-packed history and critical appreciation by lecturer Bill Mason, after which the succession of scary, funny Tomorrow Stories opens with ‘Only Human!’

Kamen actually began working for EC before their New Trend days, brought in by old friend Al Feldstein (who scripted most of the stories here after barnstorming plot-sessions with affirmed SF fan and closet scientist Gaines) and this yarn from Weird Science #11, January/February 1952, perfectly shows the artist’s facility for capturing feminine allure (which served him well in his earlier romance comics days).

The tale is smart too as a group of readers is hired to educate the first ever electronic brain, but are unable to keep their feelings from contaminating the projectâ€¦

‘Shrinking from Abuse!’ (Weird Fantasy #11, also January/February 1952) is more recognisably EC â€œjust dessertsâ€ fare, as an abusive chemist’s size-changing solution leads to his beleaguered wife getting the final word in, whilst ‘The Last Man!’ from W S #12 (March/April 1952) plays morality games after a male survivor of atomic Armageddon finally locates a new Eve and finds she is the only woman he can’t possibly repopulate the world withâ€¦

Weird Fantasy #12, (March/April 1) revealed ‘A Lesson in Anatomy’ as a little lad’s ghoulish curiosity inadvertently ended an alien infiltration attempt, after which ‘Saving for the Future’ (Weird Science #13, May/June) offered a stunning lesson in Compound Interest when a poor couple opened a bank account and went into induced hibernation for 500 years, whilst ‘The Trip!’ (W F#13, May/June) looked at a different aspect of the topic as a philandering scientist attempted to use quick freeze tech to run off with his pretty assistant, but forgot something really importantâ€¦

‘Close Call!’ (W F #14, July/August) took a rather cruel look at a female scientist who wished that her male colleagues would stop hitting on her and wasn’t too happy at the hand fate then dealt her, before Weird Science #15 (September/October 1952) took a knowing glimpse at everyman’s dream when a nerd accidentally acquired the time-lost means to make perfect, willing women – and still got everything wrong due to ‘Miscalculation!’â€¦

Feldstein worked on every genre in EC’s stable, but the short, ironic, iconic science thrillers he produced during that paranoid period of Commies and H-Bombs, Flying Saucer Scares and Red Menaces, irrevocably transformed the genre from cowboys in tinfoil suits and Ray-gun adventure into a medium where shock and doom lurked everywhere.

His cynically trenchant outlook and darkly comedic satirical stories made the cosmos a truly dangerous, unforgiving place and kept it such – until the Comics Code Authority and television pacified and diminished the Wild Black Yonder for all future generations. He did however maintain a strong working relationship with Space-babes and ethereally beautiful E.T.s – and nobody drew them better than Kamenâ€¦

Â ‘He Who Waits!’(Weird Fantasy #15, September/October 1952) revealed one of their best collaborations as an old botanist discovered a luscious, seductive maiden only eight inches tall, living in one of his plants. The bittersweet tale showed that love could overcome any obstacleâ€¦

Greed is another unfailing plot driver in EC stories and in ‘Given the Heir!’ (W S #16, November/December) a poor new husband recruits his own descendent in a crazy plan to change the past and inherit millions. Unfortunately he didn’t pay as much attention to family history as he should haveâ€¦

‘What He Saw!’ in W F #16, (November/December) is an unrelenting tale of induced madness inflicted upon a lost space explorer whilst 1953 began in fine style with another science lesson as ‘Off Day!’ (Weird Science #17, January/February) outrageously depicted the potential results of the law of averages taking a day off before ‘The Parallel!’ (W S #18, March/April 1953) explored the concept of alternate earths as a smart but poor genius attempted to improve his life by murdering his other selvesâ€¦

Weird Fantasy #18 (March/April) featured the eponymous ‘Zero Hour’ – adapted from a Ray Bradbury short story â€“ and dealt with the subtlest of Martian invasions as imaginary friends used human children to pave their way, after which the Gaines/Feldstein brain trust described the grim fate of a chancer who used intercepted future gadgetry to turn his automobile into a getaway vehicle nobody could catchâ€¦ or findâ€¦ in ‘Hot-Rod!’ (Weird Fantasy #19, May/June 1953).

Cold, emotionless invaders infiltrated human society only to be doomed by seductive feelings in ‘â€¦Conquers All!’ (W F #20, July/August) after which the Bradbury prose piece â€œChangelingâ€ became ‘Surprise Package’ in Weird Science #20 (also July/August 1953) detailing the complex web of savage emotions engendered when Love Mannequins become commonplaceâ€¦

Bradbury’s sequel ‘Punishment Without Crime’ (W S #21, September/October) took the theme further by considering if killing such automata might be murder, before ‘Planely Possible’ (W F #21, September/October) returns to the concept of parallel Earths for a car crash survivor who would do anything to be reunited with his dead wife – or nearest approximation – after which cruel and unscrupulous carnival owners learn what its like to be ‘The Freaks’ (Weird Fantasy #22, November/December 1953)â€¦

Cold war paranoia and repression inform the 1984-like world of ‘4^th Degree’ (Weird Science-Fantasy #27, January/February 1955) as a closet rebel attempts to unmake his totalitarian world through time travel, and this glossy, dark trip through vintage tomorrows ends with ‘Round Trip’ from Weird Science-Fantasy #27 (March/April 1955) with a touching and contemplative reverie of a life lived long if not wellâ€¦

Regarded as one of the company’s fastest artists (only the phenomenal Jack Davis turned in his pages at a greater rate) Kamen always produced illustrative narrative which jangled nerves and twanged heartstrings: his lush forms and lavish inks instantly engaging and always concealing brilliant touches of sly, knowing humour. He was often overshadowed by EC’s other stalwarts but he was every bit their equal.

The timeless comics tales are followed by more background revelations in S.C. Ringgenberg’s ‘Jack Kamen’ and a special essay on the artist’s later life in ‘From Science Fiction to Science Fortune’ drawing intriguing parallels between his EC cartoons and the design assistance he later contributed to his inventor son Dean’s landmark creations – the portable Drug Infusion pump, portable Kidney Dialysis machine and Segway PT (yeah, that Dean Kamen) – before ending on another comprehensively illuminating ‘Behind the Panels: Creator Biographies’ from Tom Spurgeon, Janice Lee and Arthur Lortie.

The short, sweet but severely limited output of EC has been reprinted ad infinitum in the decades since the company died. These astounding, ahead-of-their-time-comics tales did not just revolutionise our industry but also impacted the whole world through film and television and via the millions of dedicated devotees still addicted to New Trend tales.

Zero Hour is the 8^th Fantagraphics compendium highlighting the contributions of individual creators, adding a new dimension to aficionados’ enjoyment whilst providing a sound introduction for those lucky souls encountering the material for the very first time.

Whether an aged EC Fan-Addict or the merest neophyte convert, this is a book no comics lover or crime-caper victim should missâ€¦
Zero Hour and Other Stories Â© 2014 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All comics stories Â© 2014 William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., reprinted with permission. All other material Â© 2014 the respective creators and owners.

January 31, 2014January 30, 2014

Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives volume 1

By Gardner F. Fox, Hal Sherman, Stan Aschmeier & Jon Chester Kozlak (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1308-0

One of the most interesting aspects of DC’s golden Age superhero pantheon is just how much more they gripped the attention of writers and readers from succeeding generations, even if they didn’t set the world alight during their original â€œGlory Daysâ€.

Many relatively short-lived or genuinely second-string characters with a remarkably short shelf life through the formative years of the industry have, since the Silver Age which began in 1956, seldom been far from our attention and been constantly revived, rebooted and resurrected.

After The (Jay Garrick) Flash and The Spectre, probably the most revered, revisited and frequently revived is Doctor Fate, who first appeared in 1940, courtesy of writer Gardner F. Fox and the uniquely stylistic Howard Sherman.

Although starting strong, he was another incredibly powerful man of mystery who failed to capture the imaginations of enough readers to build on the chimeric tone of the times: undergoing a radical revision midway through his initial run and losing his strip even before WWII ended.

Since his Silver Age revival however Fate has become a popular cornerstone of more than one DC Universeâ€¦

Following the historically informative and laudatory Foreword by big-time devotee fan and Golden Age Keeper of the Flame Roy Thomas, this monumental 400 page full-colour deluxe hardback (representing the entirety of Doctor Fate‘s run from More Fun Comics #55-98 (May 1940-July/August 1944) introduces the potentate of peril in a 6-page parable wherein he combats ‘The Menace of Wotan’.

During those simpler times origins and motivations were far less important than plot and action, so this eerie yarn focuses on a blue-skinned Mephistopheles’ scheme to assassinate comely lady of leisure Inza and how her enigmatic, golden-helmed protector thwarted the plot. The hero dealt harshly with the nefarious azure mage, barely mentioning in passing that Fate possessed all the lost knowledge and lore of ancient civilisations.

That’s probably the biggest difference between the original and today’s Fate: back then he was no sorcerer but an adept of forgotten science (a distinction cribbed from many Lovecraftian horror tales of the previous two decades of pulp fiction): a hair-splitting difference all but lost on the readers.

In #56 – which sported the first of eleven cover spots for the Wielder of Old Wisdoms –‘The Search for Wotan’ saw Fate carry Inza up the Stairs of Judgement to Heaven where they learned their foe was not dead and was preparing to blow up the entire Earth.

Foiling the plan but unable to permanently despatch the big blue meanie, Fate was forced to bury his enemy alive at the centre of the worldâ€¦

In ‘The Fire Murders’ in #57, certified doom-magnet Inza was targeted by mystic arsonist Mango the Mighty before her guardian Fate quickly ended the campaign of terror, whilst in the next issue a modern mage recovered ‘The Book of Thoth’ from its watery tomb and unleashed a wave of appalling, uncanny phenomenaâ€¦ until the Blue-and-Gold Gladiator stepped in.

The self-appointed bulwark against wicked mysticism flew out of his comfort zone in More Fun #59 to repel an invasion by ‘The People from Outer Space’ but was firmly back in occult territory for #60 when he destroyed ‘The Little Men’ employed by a legendary triumvirate of colossal Norns to crush humanity.

Behind #61’s striking Sherman cover, ‘Attack of the Nebula’ pitted the Puissant Paladin against a cosmic cloud and wandering planetoid summoned by an Earthly madman to devastate the world, then saw him crush a deranged technologist’s robotic coup in #62’s ‘Menace of the Metal Men’ and save Inza from petrification by ‘The Sorcerer’ in More Fun #63.

Like many of Fox’s very best heroic series, Doctor Fate was actually a romantic partnership, with Inza (after a number of surnames she eventually settled on Cramer) acting as assistant, foil and so very often the target of many macabre menaces. In #64 she and Fate – who still had no civilian identity – shared a pleasure cruise to the Caribbean where a slumbering Mayan God of Evil wanted to utilise her unique psychic talents in ‘The Mystery of Mayoor’.

She got a brief rest in #65 as Fate soloed in a bombastic battle to repel an invasion of America by ‘The Fish-Men of Nyarl-Amen’ but played a starring role in the next episode when Fate exposed a sadistic crook trying to drive his wealthy cousin to suicide by convincing her that she was ‘The Leopard Girl’â€¦

A year after his debut, More Fun Comics #67 (May 1941) at last revealed ‘The Origin of Doctor Fate’ telling how the boy Kent Nelson had accompanied his father Sven on an archaeological dig to Ur in 1920.

Broaching a pre-Chaldean pyramid, the lad awakened a dormant half-million year old alien from the planet Cilia, accidentally triggered security systems which killed his own father. Out of gratitude and remorse the being known as Nabu the Wise trained Kent to harness the hidden forces of the universe – levitation, telekinesis and the secrets of the atom – and after two decades sent him out into the world to battle those who used magic and science with evil intent.

That epic sequence only took up three pages, however, and the remainder of the instalment found time and space for Fate and Inza to turn back a ghostly incursion and convince Lord of the Dead Black Negal to stay away from the lands of the livingâ€¦

Fate then graduated to 10-page tales and held the covers of More Fun #68-76, beginning a classic run of spectacular thrillers by firstly crushing a scientific slaughterer who had built an invisible killing field in ‘Murder in Baranga Marsh’, before gaining a deadly arch-enemy in #69 when deranged physicist Ian Karkull used a ray to turn his gang into ‘The Shadow Killers’â€¦

In #70 the shadow master united with Fate’s first foe as ‘Wotan and Karkull’ built an arsenal of doomsday weapons in the arctic, but were still too weak to beat the Master of Cosmic Forces, whereas rogue solar scientist Igorovich would have successfully blackmailed the entire planet with ‘The Great Drought’ had Inza not intervenedâ€¦

With involvement in WWII now clearly inevitable, the covers had increasingly become more martial and patriotic in nature, and with More Fun Comics #72 (October 1941) Fate underwent an unexpected and radical change in nature.

The full face helmet was replaced with a gleaming metallic half hood and his powers diminished. Moreover the hero was no longer a cold, emotionless force of nature, but a passionate, lusty, two-fisted swashbuckler throwing punches rather than pulses of eerie energy. His previous physical invulnerability was countered by revealing that his lungs were merely human and he could be drowned, poisoned or asphyxiatedâ€¦

The quality and character of his opposition changed too. ‘The Forger’ pitted him against a gang of con-men targeting Inza’s family and other farmers; altering intercepted bank documents to pull off a cruel swindle, whilst a far more rational and reasonable nemesis debuted in #73 as criminal mastermind ‘Mr. Who’ used his body-morphing, forced- evolution Solution Z to perpetrate a series of sensational robberies.

Despite a rather brutal trouncing – and apparent death – the brute returned in #74 as ‘Mr. Who Lives Again’ saw the sinister scientist use his abilities to replace the City Mayor, whilst in #75 ‘The Battle Against Time’ found Fate racing to find a killer who had framed Inza’s best friend for murderâ€¦

Underworld chess master Michael Krugor manipulated people like pawns but ‘The King of Crime’ found himself overmatched when he tried to use Inza against Fate, after which #77 saw a welcome – if brief – return to the good old days as ‘Art for Crime’s Sake’ found the Man of Mystery braving a magic world of monsters within an ancient Chinese painting to rescue young lovers eldritchly exiled by a greedy art dealer

Issue #78 featured clever bandits who disguised themselves as statues of ‘The Wax Museum Killers’ whilst #79’s ‘The Deadly Designs of Mr. Who’ revealed how the metamorphic maniac attempted to impersonate and replace one of the richest men on Earth, and in #80 innovative felon ‘The Octopus’ turned a circus into his playground for High Society plunder.

In More Fun #81 cunning crook The Clock used radio show ‘Hall of Lost Heirs’ to trawl for potential victims and easy pickings whilst in the next issue Fate exposed the schemes of stage magician/conman The Red Sage who was offering Luck For Sale!’ after which ‘The Two Fates!’ – fortune tellers who used extortion and murder to bolster their prognostications – were stopped by the real dealâ€¦

In #84 the energetic crimebuster braved ‘Crime’s Hobby House!’ to stop thieving special effects wizard Mordaunt Grimm using rich men’s own pastimes to rob them, before big changes for Kent Nelson occurred in #85.

Here the society idler quickly qualified as a surgeon and medical doctor, embarking on a new career of service to humanity. Additionally, his alter ego ditched the golden cape, becoming a more acrobatic and human – if still bulletproof – crimebuster, exposing a greedy plastic surgeon helping crooks escape justice as ‘The Man Who Changed Faces!’

The medical theme predominated in these later tales. ‘The Man Who Wanted No Medals’ was a brilliant surgeon who feared a crushing youthful indiscretion would be exposed after which #87’s ‘The Mystery of Room 406’ dealt with a hospital cubicle where even the healthiest patients always died whilst in ‘The Victim of Doctor Fate!’, Nelson suffered crippling self-doubt when he failed to save a patient.

Those only faded after the surgeon’s diligent enquiries revealed the murderous hands of Mad Dog McBain behind the untimely demiseâ€¦

Charlatan soothsaying scoundrel Krishna Das was exposed by Fate and Inza in #89’s ‘The Case of the Crystal Crimes’ after which ‘The Case of the Healthy Patient!’ pitted them against a fraudulent doctor and incurable hypochondriac before Mr. Who used his chemical conjurations to shrink our hero to doll size in #91’s ‘The Man Who Belittled Fate!’

The Thief of Time struck again – whilst still in jail – in More Fun #92 as ‘Fate Turns Back The Clock!’ and Hal Sherman ended his long association with the strip in ‘The Legend of Lucky Lane’ wherein an impossibly fortunate felon finally played the odds once too oftenâ€¦

As the page-count dropped back to six pages Stan Aschmeier illustrated the next two adventures, beginning with 94’s ‘The Destiny of Mr. Coffin!’ with Fate coming to the aid of a fatalistic old soul framed for being a fence whilst ‘Flame in the Night!’ saw a matchbox collector targeted by killers who thought he knew too muchâ€¦

With the end clearly in sight Jon Chester Kozlak took over the art beginning with More Fun Comics #96 and ‘Forgotten Magic!’ as Fate’s Chaldean sponsor was forced to remove the hero’s remaining superhuman abilities for a day – leaving Fate to save trapped miners and foil their swindling boss with nothing but wits and courage.

Then the restored champion exposed the spurious bad luck reputed to plague ‘Pharaoh’s Lamp!’ and ended/suspended his crime-crushing career with #98 by sorting out a case of mistaken identity when a young boy was confused with diminutive Stumpy Small AKA ‘The Bashful King of Crime!’â€¦

With the first age of superheroes coming to a close new tastes were developing in the readership. Fate’s costumed co-stars Green Arrow, Aquaman and Johnny Quick – along with debuting concept Superboy – moved over to Adventure Comics leaving More Fun as an anthology of cartoon comedy features.

Initially dark, broodingly exotic and often genuinely spooky, Doctor Fate smoothly switched to the bombastic, boisterous, flamboyant and vividly exuberant post war Fights ‘n’ Tights style but couldn’t escape the changing times. Now however, both halves of his early career can be seen as a lost treasure trove of tense suspense, eerie enigmas, spectacular action and fabulous fun: one no lover of Costumed Dramas or sheer comics wonderment can afford to miss.
Â© 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

January 26, 2014January 25, 2014

Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives volume 2

By Joe Samachson, Ed Dobrotka, Pierce Rice, Jon Small, Maurice Del Bourgo & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1308-4

After the actual invention of the comicbook superhero – for which read the Action Comics debut of Superman in 1938 – the most significant event in the industry’s history was the combination of individual sales-points into a group. Thus what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers couldn’t get enough of garishly-hued mystery men and a multitude of popular characters would inevitably increase readership.

Plus, of course, a mob of superheroes is just so much cooler than one (â€¦or one-and-a-half if there’s a sidekick involvedâ€¦).

It cannot be understated: the creation of the Justice Society of America in 1941 utterly changed the shape of the budding industry. Soon after the team debuted, even All American Comics’ publishing partner National wanted to get in on the act and created their own squad of solo stars, populated with a number of their proprietary characters who hadn’t made it onto the roster of the cooperative coalition of AA and DC stars.Â Â Â Oddly they never settled on a name and the team of non-powered mystery men who debuted in Leading Comics #1 in 1941 were retroactively and alternatively dubbed The Law’s Legionnaires and The Seven Soldiers of Victory.

They never even had their own title-logo but only appeared as solo stars grouped together on the 14 spectacular covers, the second quartet of which (by Mort Meskin, Jon Small, Maurice Del Bourgo and a sadly unidentified artist) preface each collaborative epic in this spectacular sequel of Golden Age delights.

The full contents of this bombastic deluxe hardback barrage of comicbook bravado were originally presented in the quarterly Leading Comics #5-8, spanning Winter 1942/1943 to Fall 1943 and, following an incisive discourse and background history lesson from comics historian Bill Schelly in his Foreword, that war-time wonderment resumes with the heroes’ fifth adventure.

The sagas all followed a basic but extremely effective formula (established by Mort Weisinger in their first case), and here the warped mastermind challenging the Legionnaires was The Skull, who devised ‘The Miracles That Money Couldn’t Buy!’ (illustrated over all seven chapters by Ed Dobrotka but again the work of a writer time has forgotten and sketchy records have not yet revealed – but most probably the amazing Joe Samachsonâ€¦).

The drama began when publisher Lee Travis tips off his pal Oliver Queen to an imminent prison break in his bailiwick.

Green Arrow and Speedy are too late to stop vicious Bill â€œPorkyâ€ Johnson‘s escape via skull-painted mystery-plane and that soon-to-be-executed convict’s feat is repeated four more times across the country, leaving a handful of Death Row inmates beholden to a strange old man dubbed who has found that, for all his wealth, there are still things money cannot buy.

However, for an unscrupulous businessman unwilling to get his own emaciated hands dirty but with the right criminal specialists, they can be stolenâ€¦

The Seven Soldiers meanwhile have briefly convened and now stand ready to face their specified nemeses as soon as they rear their scurrilous headsâ€¦

In ‘The Case of the Criminal Vigilante’ rustler and horse thief Bronco Slade steals Spinaway – the fastest racehorse on Earth – by impersonating the Vigilante, with the true Sagebrush Centurion helpless to stop him, and indeed even taken prisoner beside his hapless, interfering biggest-fan Mr. Meekâ€¦

‘The Diamond of Doom!’ finds jewel thief the Sparkler targeting the fabulous, reputedly cursed Koram Diamond. Even though Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy are unable to bring the bandit to justice, a spookily fatal fate befalls him.

A similar outcome ends hijacker Bull Corbin after he outfoxes the Crimson Avenger and Wing whilst purloining a prototype spaceship. However rather than a clean getaway all that awaits the thief is a grim and final ‘Destiny among the Stars!’

‘A Knight without Armor’ reveals how the Shining Knight‘s magic mail-coat is too tough a target for shifty Matt Grieder, but the thug’s subsequent attempt to pass off fake metal-wear ends in near-death for Sir Justin and execution for the villain, after which the Emerald Archers finish their hunt for Porky Johnson when the fugitive’s successful attempt to obtain a rejuvenation ray for the Skull prematurely rings down the curtain for The Murderer Who Couldn’t be Hanged!’

The untitled ‘Conclusion’ then shows how getting everything you want might not make you happy – or keep you breathing – as the Vigilante busts free just as his Legionnaire allies storm the triumphant Skull’s fortressâ€¦

Leading Comics #6 was also probably scripted by Samachson, but this time the penciller is unrecorded. At least we know he or she was inked by Maurice Del Bourgoâ€¦

‘The Treasure That Time Forgot!’ is a grand hunt for the hidden gold of the Incas. Archaeologist Mr. Milton publicly calls upon the Seven Soldiers to follow his old map and find Pizarro‘s lost treasure hoard the plan is to bolster America’s war-chest by a billion dollarsâ€¦

Said map, sketched by an explorer named Burton, comes with cryptic verses and false trails, so the archaeologist’s assistant Scrivener suggests the heroes split up to save time. They could even make a competition of itâ€¦

‘Crimes by Proxy!’ finds Green Arrow and Speedy clashing with Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy deep in the Andes as a hidden hand attempts to murder both teams using the weaponry of the other; a tactic repeated when Shining Knight and Vigilante discover a lost city and are tricked into conducting ‘A Duel to the Death!’

Their cataclysmic clash ends as an enigmatic and heavily disguised manipulator surfaces, confident the heroes have cleared all obstacles and booby-traps, only to fall foul of avian horrors in ‘Winged Masters of the Mountains!’

‘The Gold that Failed to Glitter!’ finds the man-&-boy teams still mistakenly battling each other until the late-arriving knight and cowboy forcibly restrain them. Soon after, aged Mr. Milton mysteriously turns up to help, but only succeeds in spreading further suspicion when the combined party discovers the legendary treasure vaultâ€¦ emptied!

Meanwhile the Crimson Avenger and Wing have followed ‘The Third Treasure Trail!’ and met the last of the Incas – as well as their real enemy – and everybody collides in the explosive conclusion which solves all the mysteries at ‘Trail’s End!’

Issue #7 – pencilled by Pierce Rice – takes the heroes on a similar fund-raising quest as War Bond Drive performers, but the tour is a scam by a strange individual who is an emissary of ‘The Wizard of Wisstark!’

He implores the Legionnaires to travel to his fantastic kingdom and liberate the Antarctic hidden city from the threat of invasionâ€¦

The Wizard is actually an elderly American stage conjuror who fell into the position of chief but now his peaceful, super-scientific subjects are being threatened by real magicians from the rival polar city of Stanoviaâ€¦

The fight back begins when Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy travel to ‘The Land of Giants!’ hoping to enlist the colossi in the struggle. Sadly the brutal hulks are already engaged in a struggle with a tribe of equally savage dwarves, but the boy genius has an idea and takes a few movie pictures before leavingâ€¦

‘The Wizard Archers and the Wizards!’ sees Green Arrow and Speedy strike to the heart of the matter and boldly invade Stanovia, where they discover a few intriguing secrets about the triumvirate of â€œmagesâ€ who rule the cityâ€¦

Wing and the Crimson Avenger stayed with the Wizard in Wisstark, in case of fifth column attacks. They are unfortunately captured by ‘The Invisible Men!’ who have been despatched to sow disorder and terror. Whilst being taken to Stanovia, however, the mystery men discover a shocking secret about their foesâ€¦

Whilst that was happening the Vigilante made his own contribution to the cold war-effort, catching a Wizard doppelganger attempting to infiltrate the palace in ‘Double Trouble!’, before Shining Knight, patrolling the skies on his winged steed Victory, recruits timber-clad warriors to counterattack Stanovia in ‘The March of the Wooden-Armored Soldiers’â€¦

With their pre-battle preparations completed, the Seven Soldiers reunite for the final ‘Battle of the Wizards!’, much-heartened by the conclusion each has individually reached regarding the truth about the Stanovian sorcerersâ€¦

This second classic collection concludes with a stirring time-travel, super-villain mash-up as Leading #8 sees the heroes ambushed and reduced to ‘Exiles in Time!’ (illustrated by Jon Small & Del Bourgo) by old enemy The Dummy.

The diminutive demon of destruction subtly lures his foes into a cunning ambush which catapults the crusaders down the corridors of history, before turning his attention to plunder and mayhem, not realising that heroism is found in every era, such as 17^th century France where the Three Musketeers ally with Green Arrow and Speedy to solve the theft of ‘The Queen’s Necklace!’â€¦

Crimson Avenger and Wing re-materialised in China but were utterly unable to determine when. Deductive investigation finally paid off as Japanese invaders trying to stop the completion of the Great Wall pointed to 225BC, when and where the time-travellers were happy to train the peasantry in how to fight them by displaying ‘Courage in Canton!’â€¦

‘Voyage of the Vikings’ found Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy deposited on a lost and ice-gripped dragon-boat, struggling for survival with their newfound comrades as they desperately sought solid ground. How astonished they all were when bold Leif Ericsson dubbed his discovery Vineland and he patriotic mystery men realised they had been part of the first discovery of Americaâ€¦

‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen’ saw Vigilante land in Rome and recognise a brace of 20^th century mugs. Trailing the hoods to the house of super-rich Crassus, the Western Wildcat realised the criminals were using the Dummy’s device to plunder historical treasures but even after foiling their plans, he was still stuck in the pastâ€¦

‘The Legend of Leonardo’ revealed how the Shining Knight came to the aid of the legendary Da Vinci and was rewarded with a quick trip on the master’s own recently completed time machine. Back when he started from, the Arthurian paladin then began toppling some temporal dominoes in the ‘Conclusion’, allowing his time-tossed companions to return and deal with the diabolical doll-man in the appropriate manner…

These raw, wild and excessively engaging costumed romps are amongst some of the best but most neglected thrillers of the halcyon Golden Age. Happily, modern tastes too have moved on and these yarns are probably far more in tune with contemporary mores, making this a truly guilty pleasure for all fans of mystery, mayhem and stylish superteam tusslesâ€¦
Â© 1942, 1943, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

January 9, 2014January 8, 2014

Golden Age Starman Archives volume 2

By Gardner Fox, Alfred Bester, Joe Samachson, Jack & Ray Burnley, Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Emil Gershwin & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2283-3

After the staggering success of Superman and Batman, National Comics/DC rapidly launched many other mystery-men in their efforts to capitalise on the phenomenon of superheroes, and from our decades-distant perspective it’s only fair to say that by 1941 the editors had only the vaguest inkling of what they were doing.

Since newest creations Sandman, The Spectre and Hourman were each imbued with equal investments of innovation, creativity and exposure, the editorial powers-that-be were rather disappointed that their later additions never took off to the same explosive degree.

Publishing partner but separate editorial entity All American Comics had by then created many barnstorming successes such as The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Hop Harrigan and would soon actually produce the only true rival to Superman and Batman’s star status when Wonder Woman debuted late in the year.

Of course AA clearly filtered all ideas through the brilliantly â€œin-tuneâ€ creative and editorial prodigy Sheldon Mayerâ€¦

Thus when Starman launched in the April 1941 Adventure Comics (relegating former Sandman to a back-up role in the already venerable heroic anthology), National/DC trusted in craft and quality rather than some indefinable â€œpizzazzâ€.

Before too long, though, the editors were forced to concede that even the forcefully realistic, conventionally dramatic illustration of Hardin â€œJackâ€ Burnley would not propel their newest concept to the same giddy heights of popularity as the Action Ace or Gotham Guardian.

The strip, always magnificently drawn and indisputably one of the most beautifully realised of the period, was further blessed with mature and compelling scripts by Gardner Fox, Alfred Bester, Don Cameron and latterly Joe Samachson but just never really caught on.

However, by today’s standards these compelling, compulsive fun-filled and just plain brilliant tales are some one of the very best comics that era ever produced.

Happily these days, with an appreciably older and more discerning audience, Starman’s less-than-stellar War years career might be more fully appreciated for the superb example of Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction it truly was. This particular volume sees the subtle, moody, slower-paced intellectually edgy stories supplanted by shorter yarns brimming with sheer exuberance and kinetic energy as, with the Nazi menace beaten, home grown criminals began to congregate on comics pagesâ€¦

Golden Age guru Roy Thomas offers his own absorbing critical overview in the Foreword to this second stunning deluxe hardback collection – completing the Sidereal Sentinel’s tenure in Adventure Comics (issues #77-102, spanning August 1942 to February 1946). The volume even includes some of the most iconic covers of the Golden Age by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby – even though most of them only feature Starman in a little insert in one corner!

As was often the case, although Burnley came up with the concept and look for the Astral Avenger, a professional writer was assigned to flesh out and co-create the stories. At first multi-talented Gardner Fox handled the job, but eventually Alfred Bester began supplying scripts, whilst the illustrator also liberally called on the talents of his brother Dupree â€œRayâ€ Burnley as art assistant and inker with their sister Betty as letterer to finish the episodes in sublimely cinematic style.

In those simpler times origins were far less important than today, and the moonlit magic just happened: playboy astronomer and secret genius Ted Knight simply invented a â€œGravity Rodâ€ which stored and redirected the incredible power of the stars, and like any decent right-thinking individual created a â€œmystery manâ€ persona.

Offering Starman’ services to FBI chief Woodley Allen, the Man of Night started his crusade against evil and injusticeâ€¦

The period peril begins here with ‘Finders Keepers!’ by Fox & Burnley, wherein arch-nemesis The Mist combined his usual invisibility gimmicks with a subtle psychological scheme. When members of the public found valuable â€œlost propertyâ€ they had no idea each item carried a post-hypnotic command to surrender their own valuables to the criminal mastermindâ€¦

Bester then scripted a thriller dealing with another kind of invisibility for the next issue as Starman and street urchin Mike Muggins ended the impossible robbery-spree of ‘The Little Man Who Wasn’t There!’, whilst in #79 ‘The Tune of Terrific Toby’ (Bester & Burnley again) offered a lighter tone for the tale of a meek office worker who faked a bold rescue to enhance his status only to become embroiled in a concatenation of increasingly dangerous stunts. Happily Starman was able to turn the repentant fool into a real heroâ€¦

Burnley bowed out in style in Adventure #80 (November 1942) in Bester’s ‘The Time-Machine Crime!’ wherein thugs used said purloined device to kidnap William Shakespeare, in hopes his canny mind could plan the perfect crimeâ€¦

Gardner Fox returned for another stint in #81 as the explosively kinetic Mort Meskin & George Roussos briefly took on the art. In ‘Starman’s Lucky Star!’ a poor blind boy who wanted to be an astronomer was mistakenly kidnapped instead of his wealthy playmate. Thankfully the Star Sentinel was available to put everything right, after which ‘Hitch a Wagon to the Stars’ (#82, Fox, Meskin & Roussos) spotlighted a brilliant young inventor whose obsession with astrology blighted his life, and nearly made him a patsy for Nazi spiesâ€¦ at least until Ted Knight and his alter ego intervened.

With Adventure Comics #83 Emil Gershwin became main illustrator for the series – a solid, polished artist much influenced by Mac Raboy – and ‘Wish Upon a Star!’ gave him the opportunity to shine in the moving, socially-charged tale of three prep school boys whose unselfish wishes came true thanks to Starmanâ€¦

At this time the Astral Avenger’s page counts began to decline as his popularity dwindled – from an average of 11 to 7 or 8 – and ‘The Doom From the Skies’ reflected a growing trend towards fast-paced action as a burglar stole the Gravity Rod, leaving our hero an amnesiac and his weapon a deadly death ray, whilst ‘The Constellations of Crime!’ in #85 introduced Astra the Astrologist who used predictions as the basis of extravagantly deadly crimesâ€¦

In the next issue a disgraced sportsman pretended to undertake a lunar trip whilst equipping his gang with clever gimmicks to rob and restore his fortune as ‘The Moonman’s Muggs!

An element of detection fiction was added in Adventure #87 when Starman exposed a gang selling the inexplicably popular paintings of the worst artist in America as ‘Crime Paints a Picture!’ before rejoining the war-effort in #88 as the Stellar Centurion solved ‘The Enigma of the Vanishing House!’ and smashed a Nazi spy-ring.

In #89 old enemies the Moroni Gang broke out of jail and restarted their criminal careers as Sun, Moon and Saturn. Regrettably ‘The Plundering Planets!’ quickly fell foul of Starman and a couple of really annoying prankster kidsâ€¦

Meskin & Roussos popped back in #90 to vividly envision the anonymous thriller ‘Land Beneath the Fog!’ wherein Starman saved a lady scientist accused of witchcraft in a lost medieval kingdom, whilst in the next issue Don Cameron, Meskin & Sam Citron jointly detailed ‘The Rising Star of Johnny Teach!’ as another young man emotionally crippled by a nonsensical faith in astrology found the courage to turn his life aroundâ€¦ after a little prompting from Starman.

With Adventure #92 Joe Samachson took over the scripting and Gershwin returned to illuminate the series until its premature conclusion.

The run began with ‘The Three Comets!’ – circus acrobats Starman was convinced doubled as flamboyant thieves. All he had to do was find out where they stashed the lootâ€¦

In #93’s ‘Gifts from the Stars!’ the hero almost died after getting in between a squabbling scientist and his financial backer whose protracted arguments allowed robbers to blindside them both, #94’s ‘Stars Fall on Allie Bammer!’ had gangster Blackie Kohl use a meteor shower to gain entrance to an impregnable estate, and ‘The Professor Plays Safe!’ in #95 found a muddle headed astronomer at the wrong conference only to end up locked in a safe – until Starman stepped inâ€¦

‘Prediction for Plunder!’ saw Ted Knight and a gang of superstitious crooks both ticked off at the unscrupulous editor of the Weekly Horoscope. The Socialite wanted no more scary predictions worrying his nervous friends, but the thugs were actually using those specious prognostications to plan their jobsâ€¦

Adventure #97 saw impoverished stargazer Jimmy Wells agree to let wealthy Wesley Vanderloot take all the credit for his discoveries in return for direly needed cash, but his ‘Stolen Glory!’ almost cost the scientist and Starman their lives when the millionaire faced humiliating exposure, after which #98 revealed a stellar conundrum which gave the hero belated insight into a bizarre crime-wave where one gang was framing another for their jewel heists in ‘Twin Stars of Crime!’

Fame was again the spur in ‘My Fortune for a Star!’ when a destitute astronomer discovered a new star and offered to sell the naming rights to the highest bidder. Naturally whenever cash is being thrown around thieves are never far awayâ€¦

By Adventure Comics #100 Starman had dropped to the back of the book and even the plots were beginning to feel a little formulaic. In ‘Life and Death of a Star!’ a friend of Ted’s thought he’d discovered a new star, but upon investigation Starman found the strange light was merely a clever signal to convicts planning a jailbreak, whilst in #101 ‘The Sun-Spot Scoundrel!’ featured a savant who posited that the mysterious solar blemishes caused increased criminal activity even as they neutralised the mighty Gravity Rodâ€¦

It was all over in #102, although the last tale was far from a damp squib. The Meteor Mob’ found savvy mobster Shiver using a cannon to create his own shooting stars – only these ones only ever fell on banks and jewellery storesâ€¦

Despite that unwarranted fizzling out, the Golden Age Starman is a strip that truly shines today. Enthralling, engaging and fantastically inviting, these simple straightforward adventures should be considered a high-point of the era – even if readers of the time didn’t realise it – and the stories still offer astonishing thrills, spills and chills for today’s sophisticated readership.

Starman’s exploits are some of the most neglected thrillers of those halcyon days, but modern tastes will find them far more in tune with contemporary mores, making this book an unmissable delight for fans of mad science, mystery, murder and crazy crime capersâ€¦
Â© 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

January 3, 2014January 2, 2014

Garth Ennis Presents Battle Classics

By John Wagner, Alan Hebden, David Hunt, Mike Western, John Cooper, Cam Kennedy & various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78116-741-0

In case you don’t know: apart from his other scripting wonders, Garth Ennis is the best writer of war comics in America today. In fact, if you disregard the marvellous Commando Picture Library series published by DC Thomson (which you shouldn’t – but no one admits to reading them in my circle), he may well be the only full-time comics professional regularly working in the genre in the entire English Language.

His credentials are well established now and, despite his self-deprecating tone in his Foreword, Ennis’s affinity for and love of combat tales makes him the go-to guy if you’re planning to re-publish classic war stories and even more so if they all come from his favourite boyhood readâ€¦

For most of the industry’s history, British comics have been renowned for the ability to tell a big story in satisfying little instalments and this, coupled with superior creators and the anthology nature of our publications, has ensured that hundreds of memorable characters and series have seared themselves into the little boy’s psyche inside most British adult males.

One of the last great weekly anthology comics was Battle, a strictly combat-themed anthology which began as Battle Picture Weekly (launched 8^th March 1975) which, through absorption, merger and re-branding (as Battle Picture Weekly & Valiant, Battle Action, Battle, Battle Action Force and Battle Storm Force) reigned supreme in Blighty before itself being combined with Eagle on January 23^rd 1988. Through 673 blood-soaked, testosterone-drenched issues, it fought its way into the bloodthirsty hearts of a generation, consequently producing some of the best and most influential war stories ever.

Happily some of the very best – notably Charley’s War, Darkie’s Mob and Johnny Red – have recently been preserved and revisited in sturdily resilient reprint collections, ably supplemented by a taster tome entitled The Best of Battle, but there’s still loads of superb stuff to be found â€¦

This particular compendium gathers in two of the very best in their entirety and provides a triple dose of short, sharp shockers illustrated by doyen of war artists Cam Kennedy.

In his introductory essay ‘And you expected to die hard: HMS Nightshade‘, Ennis fills in the background on the strip which disproved the publishing maxim that kids didn’t want to read â€œship storiesâ€: detailing how and when the feature began (like Charley’s War in Battle #200, dated January 6^th 1979 for 48 instalments) and just why it was so special…

The simple answer is sheer talent: scripter John Wagner (Bella at the Bar, One-Eyed Jack, Joe Two Beans, Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Fight for the Falklands, Button-Man, Batman, A History of Violence etc.) and illustrator Mike Western (The Leopard of Lime Street, Jack o’ Justice, The Wild Wonders, The Sarge and so many more) had worked together on other strips such as Partridge’s Patch and the aforementioned Darkie’s Mob, but here especially their talents synchronised and merged to form a minor classic of grit, determination and courage under fire and despite stupidity and cupidity.

Set in an almost forgotten maritime arena, HMS Nightshade shares the stories of Seaman George Dunn as told to his grandson: grim and glorious events of the Second World War as seen from the rolling decks of a British Flower-Class Corvette.

Escorting the merchant ships and tanker convoys that kept Britain on her feet during the Battle of the Atlantic or constantly re-supplying war materiel to Russia on the Murmansk Run proved to be days of back-breaking toil and unending tedium punctuated by moments of insane amusement or terror-filled tension and sudden death, but the old salt slowly and engagingly reveals how bonds forged between shipmates and the vessel which protected them remain strong – even though old George is the last survivor of those perilous daysâ€¦

With occasional art assistance from Ron Tiner, the saga begins with young George and his new shipmates Big Stan, Smiffy and Jock McCall joining the relatively tiny vessel in May 1940.

Forced to adapt quickly to life aboard ship, the quartet are just in time to become part of the vast flotilla rescuing British soldiers from Dunkirk, experiencing first-hand and up close all the horrors of war and shocks of personal loss.

Learning to despise the ever-present, merciless U-Boats and perpetual airborne attacks from Stukas and other predatory planes, the Nightshade’s crew soon become adept at spotting and shooting back, but escort duty still consists mostly of barely suppressed panic and the appalling anger and pain as one more tanker or cargo ship under their protection explodes and sinksâ€¦

Wagner’s stunning ability to delineate character through intense action and staccato humour carried the series from the North Atlantic, through an astounding sequence in Russia, to Africa: blending sea battles with evocative human adventures – such as an imbecilic merchant sea captain, Smiffy’s tragic marriage and brush with Black Marketeers or George’s vendetta with psychotic bullying shipmate Parsons. That villain’s ultimate fate was one of the most unforgettable scenes in British comics historyâ€¦

The saga abounds with sharply defined and uniquely memorable supporting stars such as Handsome John, tragic Dennis Flowers and despondent â€œNever-gonna-make-itâ€ Brown – who was so obsessed with his impending demise that every man aboard carried one of his goodbye letters to his mum. Even Dogfish: a half-drowned mongrel saved from drowning whose canine senses proved invaluable in early warning of German air raids became a beloved canine star – which meant nothing to a writer like Wagner who knows how to use sentiment to his advantageâ€¦

Constant attacks led to a high turnover and later replacements included Whitey Bascombe who barely survived an immersion in Arctic waters and never felt warm ever again, affable coward and inevitable absconder Tubby Grover and simpleminded body builder â€œMusclesâ€ Thomson – who took his repugnant role of â€œShip’s Crusherâ€ to his heartâ€¦

Packed with intense combat action, bleak introspection, oppressive tension and stunning moments of gallows hilarity, the life and inescapable death of HMS Nightshade is a masterpiece of maritime fiction and war comics, and alone would be worth the price of admission here.

Even so, there are a few more dark delights to tickle the military palate, and the next inclusion offers a view of the conflict through an enemy’s eyesâ€¦

As explained by Ennis in ‘Rest Easy, Herr Margen: The General Dies at Dawn‘ is a short yet provocative serial dealing with the concept of â€œthe Good Germanâ€, cleverly delivered here as a deathbed confession by a disgraced Wehrmacht officer awaiting execution at Nuremberg.

Scripted by Alan Hebden (Rat Pack, Fighting Mann, M.A.C.H. 1, Meltdown Man, Major Eazy etc) with art by John Cooper (Thunderbirds, Judge Dredd, Dredger, Armitage, One-Eyed Jack, Johnny Red, Dr. Who and so much more) this brief – 11 episodes from October 4^th to December 28^th 1978 – thriller traces the meteoric career of professional soldier Otto Von Margen.

Found guilty of Cowardice, Disobedience, High Treason and Defeatism by his fellow generals, he sits in a cell at Stadiheim Military Prison near Nuremburg, on the 20^th of April 1945, counting down the 11 hours to his execution by telling his side of the story to his jailer.

Beyond the walls, the surging US army is drawing ever closerâ€¦

From early triumphs in Poland to the invasion of Norway, from Dunkirk to Yugoslavia, the Siege of Stalingrad and eventually Normandy – where his constant opposition to the monstrous acts of his own side finally became unpardonable – Von Margen and his devoted comrade Feldwebel Korder proved themselves brilliant, valiant and honourable soldiers.

However their incessant interference in Gestapo affairs and SS battlefield atrocities made them marked men, and finally the General went too farâ€¦

The tale of a patriotic soldier who served his country ruthlessly and proudly as a tank commander, whilst conducting a private war against barbaric Nazi sadists of the Gestapo and SS, is both gripping and genuinely moving, and the glittering, dwindling hope of the Americans arriving before his execution keeps the suspense at an intoxicating levelâ€¦

This epic oversized monochrome collection (256 pages and 312mm x 226mm) then concludes with three complete short stories all illustrated by the magnificent Cam Kennedy (Commando, Fighting Mann, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Batman, Star Wars, The Light and Darkness War, The Punisher, Zancudo).

Sadly, as explained by Ennis in his prelude ‘Get out, Leave me alone! This is my grave!: Private Loser and other stories’, only the last – and by far best – has a writer credit.

‘Clash by Night!’ is a classic â€œironyâ€ tale as a group of US Marines on Iwo Jima fall foul of the Japanese trick of imitating wounded American soldiers, whilst the equally anonymous ‘Hot Wheels’ wryly describes the do-or-die antics of flamboyant supply truckers Yancy and Mule as they break all the rules to get a shipment of food and ammo to hard-pressed American troops closing in on Berlin in 1945â€¦

There’s a subtle knack and true art to crafting perfect short stories, and Battle‘s veteran editor Dave Hunt shows how it should be done in the impressively gripping ‘Private Loser’ wherein a meek, hopeless failure left to die during a British retreat from Burma in 1942 finally finds a horrific, gore-soaked, existentialist moment where he mattersâ€¦

Ennis’ Afterword then wraps everything up with appropriate Thank-Yous and some very handy information on where to find even more masterful martial comics madness to enthral and delight anyone whose appetite for torment, tragedy, blood and wonder hasn’t been fully slaked yetâ€¦

These spectacular tales of action, tension and drama, with heaping helpings of sardonic grim wit from both sides of World War II and beyond, has only improved in the years since Battle folded, and these black and white gems are as affecting and engrossing now as they’ve ever been.

Fair warning though: this stuff is astoundingly addictive but with no sequel scheduled you might feel compelled to campaign for a second volumeâ€¦
Â© 2013 Egmont UK Ltd. All rights reserved.

Garth Ennis Presents Battle Classics is scheduled for release January 9^th 2014.

December 25, 2013December 24, 2013

The Beano Book 1974

By various (DC Thomson & Co., Ltd.)
Retroactively awarded ISBN: 978-0-85116-077-1

For many British readers – whether comics fans or not – fans, the Holiday Season can only mean The Beano Book, so I’ve once more highlighted another of the venerable, beloved tomes as particularly representative of the time of year.

Way back when, many annuals were produced in a wonderful â€œhalf-colourâ€ which British publishers used to keep costs down. This was done by printing sections or â€œSignaturesâ€ of the books with only two plates, such as Cyan (Blue) and Magenta (Red) or Yellow and Black.

The sheer versatility and colour range provided was simply astounding. Even now this technique inescapably screams â€œHoliday Extrasâ€ for me and my aging contemporaries and none more than in this spectacular example which would have hit shop shelves in September of 1963.

As is so often the case, my knowledge of the creators involved is appallingly sub-standard, but I’ll hazard my usual wild guesses in the hope that someone with more substantial information will correct me when I err â€¦

This anarchically rousing compilation kicks off with a double-page splash of ‘Peculiar Pets’ Picture Gallery’ (by Robert Nixon, I think) displaying a number of comics stars and their companion animals of choice, after which Minnie the Minx (Jim Petrie) and a few chums and latterly Biffo the Bear with human pal Buster (by David Sutherland) introduce this year’s annual before Ron Spencer’s Baby-Face Finlayson (â€œThe Cutest Bandit in the Westâ€) imagines life as a giant and not a pipsqueakâ€¦

â€œFastest Boy on Earthâ€ Billy Whizz (drawn superbly as ever by Malcolm Judge) then learns to respect the power of traffic signs – in his house – before the crafty campaigns of ‘The Nibblers’ (John Sherwood) wins them a grand Christmas nosh-up and sanctuary from the seasonal snows.

Back then The Beano still had the odd adventure strip and perhaps the greatest of these was boy superhero Billy the Cat. Sutherland next proves his astounding visual versatility in The Bash Street Kids where the pupils plump for pop and resist the calming charms of classical music – leading to a camera-shattering pinup of ugly mug Plug – before switching to action mode as the acrobatic champion – now teamed with his cousin as Billie the Cat and Katie – jointly recapture an escaped convict and preserve their secret identities from curious school chums in a splendid rollercoaster romp.

Petrie’s Minnie the Minx then painfully learns that she’s not cut out for pony riding, after which Nixon panoramically maps out ‘A Funny Look at â€œBeano-Townâ€‘ whilst Bob McGrath details the sub-zero antics of The Three Bears as they try to find fuel to heat their chilly cave.

Also ably illustrated by the tireless Sutherland, Biffo and Buster return as rivals clashing in a man-powered flight competition, after his Pin-up Pup! of Dennis the Menace’s perilous pooch Gnasher leads into a custard-coloured clash between his master and simpering swot Walter.

Spencer’s Little Plum experiences a mysterious clean-up whilst sleepwalking before Nixon’s Lord Snooty and his snowballing pals at Bunkerton Castle get some startling help from the estate’s star stag Angus even as elsewhere – and keeping up the Hibernian humour – Haggis hunters The McTickles (by Vic Neill?) fall foul of their canny shaggy preyâ€¦

Pup Parade starring the Bash Street Pups (Gordon Bell) finds the mini-mutts (eventually) enjoying an old dinosaur bone before a dedicated and extended niche chapter from Nixon. Here in an expansive section of his own, Roger the Dodger’s Special Mini-Book offers the rollicking tale of the ‘Disappearing Dodger’, a pin-up, his hilarious, historically inaccurate ‘Family Tree’, ‘A Dodger’s Outfit’, and an informative peek at ‘A Dodger’s Den’ before closing with the final pin-up ‘Dreaming of Dodges’â€¦

Biffo’s back – and points south – endure a battering due to the bear’s interest in buttercups (Sutherland) before Nixon reveals how the obstreperous Grandpa still catastrophically refuses to act his age and The Nibblers (Sherwood) again overcome malicious moggy Whiskers to fill their bellies with purloined goodies.

The riddle of Billy Whizz’ footwear replacement is solved in a quick-fire yarn by Judge before Bell’s Pup Parade starring the Bash Street Pups tale discloses the secret of their unlikely alliance with a very big catâ€¦

Heading out West, The Three Bears (McGrath) find – and lose – a mountain of gold, The McTickles lose a skirmish with the wily Stilt-legged McHaggises, and Baby-Face Finlayson rewrites a few favourite nursery rhymes before Teacher and even Head have another go at civilising the Bash Street Kids with music – appended with a stomach-churning pin-up of Cuthbert Cringeworthy in Teacher’s Pet’s Picture Galleryâ€¦

Ron Spencer stretches his artistic muscles providing ghastly genealogical ‘Fun with the Finlayson Family’ and illustrating how Little Plum gets into big trouble trying to recapture girlfriend Little Peach‘s pet parrot, before Billy the Cat and Katie swing back into action, turning on the town’s Christmas lights and tracking down a hold-up gang (Sutherland).

Another gloriously funny Lord Snooty strip from Robert Nixon segues into Minnie the Minx’s hilarious crush on an American boy-band – and older readers will cringe with mirth at Jim Petrie’s hilarious spoof of then-sensation Donny Osmond – before Nixon strikes back with a Grandpa yarn involving the old codger’s inability to stay cleanâ€¦

Beano star Dennis the Menace was only slightly involved in the Annuals of this period as he had his own Christmas Bumper book to run riot in, but he closes this tumultuous tome with an funny educational strip that’s a thinly disguised advert for his solo venture before the merriment closes here with another superb dose of Nixon’s ‘Peculiar Pets’ Picture Gallery’ â€¦

This is supremely entertaining book, and even without legendary contributors Dudley Watkins, Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid there’s still an abundance of satisfyingly madcap, infectious insanity. With so much merriment on offer I can’t believe this 40-year old book is still sprightlier and more entertaining than most of my surviving friends and relatives. If ever anything needed to be issued as commemorative collections it’s these fabulous DC Thomson annualsâ€¦

Divorcing the sheer quality of this brilliant book from nostalgia may be a healthy exercise – perhaps impossible, but I’m quite happy to luxuriously wallow in the potent emotions this annual still stirs. It’s a fabulous laugh-and-thrill-packed read from a magical time, and turning those stiffened two-colour pages is always an unmatchable Christmas experience, happily still relatively easy to find these days.
Â© 1973 DC Thomson & Co., Ltd.

December 25, 2013December 24, 2013

Pow! Annual 1970

By various (Odhams Books)
ASIN: B003VUO2SC

This splendidly intriguing item is one of my favourite childhood delights: addictively captivating at the time and these days a fascinating indicator of the perceived tastes of Britain’s kids. Most importantly it’s still a surprisingly qualitative read with its blend of American adventure strips playing well with a selection of steadfastly English and wickedly surreal comedy material.

With Scotland’s DC Thomson steadily overtaking their London-based competitors throughout the 1960s, the sheer variety of material the southerners unleashed to compete offered incredible vistas in adventure material and – thanks especially to the defection of Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid to monolithic comics publishing giant Amalgamated Press (created by Alfred Harmsworth at the beginning of the twentieth century) – had finally found a wealth of anarchic comedy material to challenge the likes of the Bash Street Kids, Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and their unruly ilk.

During that latter end of the period the Batman TV show sent the entire world superhero crazy and Amalgamated had almost finished absorbing all its rivals such as Eagle‘s Hulton Press to form Fleetway/Odhams/IPC.

Formerly the biggest player in children’s comics, Amalgamated had stayed at the forefront of sales by latching onto every fad: keeping their material contemporary, if not fresh. The all-consuming company had been reprinting the early successes of Marvel comics for a few years; feeding on the growing fashion for US style adventure which had largely supplanted the rather tired True Blue Brit style of Dan Dare or DC Thompson’s Wolf of Kabul.

â€œPower Comicsâ€ was a sub-brand used by Odhams to differentiate those periodicals which contained reprinted American superhero material from the company’s regular blend of sports, war, western adventure and gag comics – such as Buster, Lion or Tiger. During the Swinging Sixties these ubiquitous weeklies did much to popularise the budding Marvel characters and universe in this country, which was still poorly served by distribution of the actual American imports. Fantastic and its sister paper Terrific were notable for not reformatting or resizing the original artwork whilst in Wham!, Pow! or Smash!, an entire 24-page yarn could be resized and squeezed into 10 or 11 pages over two weeksâ€¦

Pow! launched with a cover date of January 31^st 1967, combining home-grown funnies such as Mike Higgs’ The Cloak, Baxendale’s The Dolls of St Dominic’s, Reid’s Dare-a-Day Davy, Wee Willie Haggis: The Spy from Skye and many others, British originated thrillers such as Jack Magic and The Python and resized US strips Spider-Man and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

After 53 weekly issues the title merged with Wham!, that combination running until #86 when it was absorbed into Smash! Nevertheless, the title generated a number of annuals, even though, by 1969 when this annual was released, the trend generated by TV Batmania was dying.

Interest in superheroes and fantasy in general were on the wane and British weeklies were diversifying. Some switched back to war, sports and adventure stories whilst with comedy strips on the rise again, others became largely humour outlets.

This was one of the last Odhams Christmas compendia to feature imported Marvel material: from then on the Americans would handle their own Seasonal books rather than franchise out their classics to mingle with the Empire’s motley, anarchic rabble.

The content is eclectic and amazingly broad, beginning with a complete but compacted retelling of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #5 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby from January 1964.

The full-colour WWII tale found the doughty warrior ‘At the Mercy of Baron Strucker’; beaten and humiliated in a duel with an Aryan nobleman. Soon filmed footage was used as a Nazi propaganda tool and Fury hero was a broken man – until one of his men realised the nonplussed noncom had fallen for the oldest trick in Hollywood’s playbook. The riotous rematch went rather betterâ€¦

This was followed by a welter of gag strips beginning with an outing for Graham Allen’s The Nervs (revolting creatures that lived inside and piloted unlovely schoolboy Fatty) after which The Swots and the Blots (probably drawn by Mike Lacey) ushered in the economical 2-colour section with another Darwinian example of schoolboy Good vs. Evil and an unnamed substitute for Mike Higgs rendered the comedy caper The Cloak vs. Cloakwomanâ€¦

Next up is a short Marvel sci fi thriller as ‘Escape into Space!’ (from Tales of Suspense #42 June 1963 by Lee, Larry Lieber & Matt Fox) sees a convict escape to freedom into the void – or does heâ€¦? – before Wee Willie Haggis – the Spy from Skye scotches a plot to nobble Scotland’s prime (in)edible export and Percy’s Pets finds the obsessed animal enthusiast in deep water after getting hold of a hyena and crocodileâ€¦

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #5 provides a factual page devoted to ‘Weapons of War: Light Machine Guns of World War II’ to restart the full colour fun, which continues with another Swots and the Blots romp ‘n’ riot after which idiot espionage continues with The Cloak vs. Blubbermanâ€¦

Back then to red-&-black for the not-resized Amazing Spider-Man #36 (May 1966, by Lee and Steve Ditko) as the Wallcrawler faces deranged super strong thief the Looter in ‘When Falls the Meteor!’

The magnificently strange comic villain Grimly Feendish then fails in another bid to get rich nefariously before tiny terror Sammy Shrink restarts a final segment of full-colour wonders with more boyish pranks, after which the reformatted ‘Death of a Hero’ (Fantastic Four #32, November 1964, by Lee, Kirby & Chic Stone) uncovers the secret of Sue and Johnny Storm‘s father: a convict who gains incredible power as the rampaging Invincible Manâ€¦

This is a strange and beloved book for me and these are all great little adventures, even though I suspect it’s more nostalgia for a brilliant childhood rather than any intrinsic merit. Feel perfectly free to track this down and contradict me if you like thoughâ€¦
Â© 1969 The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited.

December 25, 2013December 24, 2013

Superboy Annual 1964-1965

By various (Atlas Publishing/K.G. Murray)
No ISBN:

Before DC Comics and other American publishers began exporting directly into the UK in 1959 our exposure to their unique brand of fantasy fun came from licensed reprints. British publishers/printers like Len Miller, Alan Class and bought materialÂ from the USA – and occasionally, Canada – to fill 68-page monochrome anthologies – many of which recycled the same stories for decades.

Less common were (strangely) coloured pamphlets produced by Australian outfit K.G. Murray and exported here in a rather sporadic manner. The company also produced sturdy and substantial Christmas Annuals which had a huge impact on my earliest years (I strongly suspect my adoration of black-&-white artwork stems from seeing supreme stylists like Curt Swan, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson uncluttered by flat colour).

This particular tome of was of the last licensed UK DC comics compilations before the Batman TV show turned the entire planet Camp-Crazed and Bat-Manic, and therefore offers a delightfully eclectic mix of material far more in keeping with the traditionally perceived interests of British boys than the suited-&-booted masked madness that was soon to follow in the Caped Crusader’s scalloped wake.

Of course this collection was still produced in the cheap and quirky mix of monochrome, dual-hued and weirdly full-coloured pages which made the Christmas books such a bizarrely beloved treat.

The sublime suspense and joyous adventuring begins with a rare treat as ‘The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team!’ (by Jerry Coleman & George Papp from Adventure Comics #275, August 1960) offers an alternate view of the Dark Knight.

Teenaged Bruce Wayne was sneaking out on his still-living parents to fight crime as the Flying Fox and the Boy of Steel undertook to give some pre-heroic training after seeing their future partnership in a time scanner.

The task was made simple after the Waynes moved to Smallville but soon an odd rivalry developedâ€¦

British books always preferred to alternate action with short gag strips and the Murray publications depended heavily on the amazing DC output of cartoonist Henry Boltinoff. Here a jungle jape starring explorer ‘Shorty’ and a court appearance for ‘Casey the Cop’ herald the start of the duo-colour section (blue and red) before ‘Superboy’s First Day at School’ (Otto Binder & Papp from Superboy #75, September 1959) reveals how another attempt by Lana Lang to prove Clark Kent was the Boy of Steel prompts the lads Super-Recall and reveals how, on their first day in primary school, he inadvertently displayed his powers to her several timesâ€¦

A big hit during the 1950s, Rex the Wonder Dog featured a supremely capable German Shepherd – and his owners – experience a wide variety of incredible escapades. Here ‘The Valley of the Thunder King!’ by John Broome, Gil Kane & Bernard Sachs from The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #14 March-April 1954, finds the dog and soldier Major Danny Dennis discover a lost tribe of Aztecs in Mexico just as a volcano eruptsâ€¦

‘How Luthor Met Superboy!’ (by Jerry Siegel & Al Plastino from Adventure Comics #271, April 1960) revealed how young scientist Lex and Superboy became friends, and how the genius became deranged after a laboratory fire extinguished by the Teen Titan caused him to lose his hair. Enraged beyond limit, the boy inventor turned his talents to crimeâ€¦

Boltinoff’s ET gag strip ‘On the Planet Og’ temporarily terminates the two-tone tales and leads into a black-&-white section wherein Rex’s support feature Detective Chimp takes over.

Bobo was the pet, partner and deputy of Sheriff Chase of Oscaloosa County, Florida: a chimpanzee who foiled crimes and here experienced ‘Death Walks the High Wire!’ (Broome, Irwin Hasen & Joe Giella from The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #8 March-April 1953), solving the murder of a circus trapeze artist.

The amazing hound then became ‘Rex, Dinosaur Destroyer!’ (Robert Kanigher, Kane & Sy Barry, from The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #11-September-October 1953) after an atomic test blast opened a subterranean rift packed with survivors from another ageâ€¦

‘Little Pete’ and another ‘Casey the Cop’ by Boltinoff augur a return to red and blue tones and an epic 2-part Superboy tale as ‘The Mystery of Mighty Boy! and ‘Superboy’s Lost Friend!’ (Binder & Papp; Superboy #85, December 1960) see the Boy of Steel travel to distant planet Zumoor and a teen hero whose life closely mirrors his own. They quickly become firm friends, but Superboy soon finds good reason to abandon Mighty Boy foreverâ€¦

Comedy courtesy of Boltinoff’s ‘Professor Eureka’ leads into ‘Superboy’s Nightmare Dream House’ (Superboy #70, January 1959 by Alvin Schwartz & John Sikela) which finds the Teen of Tomorrow teaching a swindler a life-changing lesson before ‘Peter Puptent’ and ‘Casey the Cop’, after which Detective Chimp uncovers ‘Monkey Business on the Briny Deep!’ (Broome, Hasen & Giella, The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #10 July-August 1953) whilst Rex and Danny Dennis Jr. head out west to climb a mountain for charity and brave the perils of ‘The Eagle Hunter!’ (Kanigher, Kane & Barry from The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #14 March-April 1954).

This thrilling collection returns to full-colour for one last Boltinoff ‘Doctor Rocket’ funny before ‘The Super Star of Hollywood’ (Siegel & Papp Adventure Comics #272, May 1960) reveals how super-dog Krypto becomes spoiled and big-headed after starring in a Hollywood movie – until Superboy applies a little clandestine reality checkâ€¦
Â© National Periodical Publications, Inc. Published by arrangement with the K.G. Murray Publishing Company, Pty. Ltd., Sydney.

These Christmas Chronicles are lavish and laudatory celebrations of good times and great storytelling but at least they’re not lost or forgotten, and should you care to try them out the internet and a credit card are all you’ll need.

Merry Christmas, a fruitful New Year and Happy Reading from Everybody at Now Read This!

December 20, 2013December 19, 2013

Roy Crane’s Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips volume 4 1941-1942

By Roy Crane with Leslie Turner (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-677-5

Last Minute Christmas Treat: For anyone who loves the magic of comicsâ€¦10/10

Just in time to be this year’s ultimate Christmas extravaganza, the fourth and final collection of Roy Crane’s groundbreaking, trailblazing Sunday strip completes a quartet of comics compilations no lover of high adventure, action comedy and visual narrative excellence should be without.

Our industry evolved from the monolithic popular newspaper strips of the first four decades of the 20^th century: incredibly powerful circulation-boosting features which could, until relatively recently, dictate success or failure in America’s cutthroat newspaper business.

The daily cartoon stories were immensely addictive for readers and thus regarded as invaluable by publishers who used them as a powerful sales weapon to ensure consumer loyalty, increase sales andÂ maximise profits. Many a pen-pushing scribbler became a millionaire thanks to their ability to draw pictures and spin a yarnâ€¦

With hundreds of 24 hour channels of TV, games, apps and streamed entertainment available now, it’s impossible for us to grasp the overwhelming allure of the comic strip in America and the wider world.

From the Great Depression to the end of World War II, with no domestic television, radio coverage far from comprehensive and movie-shows a weekly treat at best for most people, domestic entertainment was generally garnered from the ubiquitous comic sections of newspapers whose Funny Pages became a universally shared, communal recreation for millions of people. Entire families were well-served by an astounding variety of features of spectacular graphic and narrative quality.

From the outset humour was paramount – that’s why they’re called â€œComicsâ€ – but eventually the anarchic baggy-pants clowning, cruelly raucous, racially stereotyped accent humour and gag-&-stunt cartoons palled, evolving into a thoroughly unique entertainment hybrid that was all about the dynamics of panels and pages.

At the forefront of the transformation was Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs which utilised a blend of silent movie slapstick, outrageous movie serial antics, fabulous fantasy and old fashioned vaudeville shtick, but also added compellingly witty and authentically true dialogue and a breathtaking sense of day-to-day progression – in short, serial continuity.

What separated him from his contemporaries and competitors – who were making similar advancements in the new art form – was that Crane was blending the fun with stirring, contemporary rollercoaster, implausible heroic action â€¦

Washington Tubbs II began as a typical gag-a-day strip on April 21^st 1924, bearing marked similarities to confirmed family favourite Harold Teen (by Crane’s friend and contemporary Carl Ed). Young Wash was a short, feisty and ambitious shop clerk permanently on the lookout for fortune and fame, but cursed with an eye to the ladies.

Gradually his peripatetic wanderings moved from embarrassing gaffes towards mock-heroics, into full-blown – but light-hearted – action and even rip-roaring, decidedly dangerous hazardous trials, ordeals and exploits.

This graphic evolution eventually demanded the introduction of a he-man sidekick to handle the fights the kid was getting into but seldom won. Thus enter moody, swashbuckling heroic prototype Captain Easy in the landmark episode for May 6^th 1929â€¦

Slap-bang in the middle of a European war, fast-talking, garrulous Tubbs saved a taciturn, down-on-his-luck, enigmatic fellow American from a cell and a perfect partnership was formed. They became inseparable: comrades-in-arms, roving the globe in search of treasure, fighting thugs and rescuing a stunning procession of lovely ladies in assorted modes of distressâ€¦

The edgily capable, utterly dependable â€œSouthern Gen’lemanâ€ was something previously unseen in the Funnies: a raw, square-jawed hunk played dead straight rather than as the mock-heroic buffoon and music hall foil who cluttered strips like Hairsbreadth Harry or Desperate Desmond.

Moreover Crane’s seductively simple blend of cartoon exuberance combining faux-straight illustration with â€œbigfootâ€ cartooning (here carefully mimicked and even surpassed by his assistant and creative successor Leslie Turner) was a far more accessible and powerful medium for fast-paced adventure story-telling than the beautiful but stagy style favoured by artists like Hal Foster on Tarzan or Prince Valiant and Alex Raymond with Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim.

Tubbs & Easy were much closer to the surreal, absurdly action-packed Popeye or V. T. Hamlin’s comedy Caveman Alley Oop: full of vim, vigour and vinegar and never sombre or serious for longâ€¦

The overall effect was electrifying – and a host of young cartoonists used the strip as their bellwether: Floyd Gottfredson, Milton Caniff, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and especially an impressionably admiring Joe Shusterâ€¦

After several abortive attempts at a Sunday feature starring his little warrior, Crane eventually settled on the burly sidekick as the potential star and Captain Easy launched on July 30^th 1933. The content was unflinching exotic action: blistering two-fisted yarns set before the two buddies’ first meeting.

This fourth and final fabulous volume covers December 22^nd 1940 to July 11^th 1943, bringing to a close Crane’s association with the strip.

He had abandoned the feature to NEA, joining William Randolph Hearst’s King Features to produce Buz Sawyer – a strip he would own and have creative control over. Turner would now continue both the daily Wash Tubbs and Sunday Captain Easy (with his own assistants) until his retirement in 1969.

This blockbuster collection opens with an Introduction from Michael H. Price tracing potential candidates for the surly Southerner in ‘Roy Crane and the Man Who was Easy’ before the increasingly eccentric and comedic final pages, a goodly proportion of which were produced during the critical period just before America finally entered WWII.

The material is significant for one salient point – Tubbs and especially Easy are scarcely seen after hostilities commenced. The reason was obvious: all true patriots wanted to defend their country and the heroes enlistedâ€¦

The hilarious action begins with the reintroduction of comedy foil Lulu Belle: a homely, cigar-chomping hillbilly lady who had been a circus strongwoman and undisputed Female boxing champion for fifteen years.

She had married serial bigamist and all-round bounder C. Hollis Wallis before going home heartbroken to her family, but as they just saw her as meal ticket too she was overjoyed when Tubbs and Easy wandered by the old homestead.

Soon she was accompanying them to Guatemala following an out-of-date advert for workers at a wildcat oil field. Arriving eight years too late the trio are tricked into joining a bandit gang run by the savage and sultry Teresa Grande; a Latin spitfire who’s the most dangerous killer in the country.

She, however, is smitten with Easy’s manly charms, and redeems herself at terrible cost when her gang try to steal sacred relics from a remote village and its ancient temple. Homeless and broke as usual, the plucky Americans then walk to the coast and find passage on a ship run an eccentric who keeps pet tigers. The voyage goes as you’d expect and the trio end up shipwrecked somewhere off Cuba only to be stalked by a wild Wolf Girl: a lost child marooned and grown wild as she matured in the jungleâ€¦

After numerous close shaves and hilarious escapades, Easy captures and partially tames the bestial lass, entrusting her to the care of a vacationing American psychologist, whilst Lulu Belle secures a job as cook in a dingy waterfront dive. It’s there that she meets and is romanced by Easy’s brutal arch-enemy Bull Dawson, and inadvertently lures Wash and the Captain aboard the rogue’s ship.

Brokering a tenuous peace, she convinces her friend to work on the â€œreformedâ€ Dawson’s new job: a jungle reclamation project near the Panama Canal. It’s all a big con, though. The traitorous pirate is actually building a secret landing-field for agents of a certain foreign power and when Wash and Easy uncover the truth the fists and fireworks flyâ€¦

Returned to the USA, the heartbroken and lovelorn Lulu is taken in by the ambitious schemes of a millionaire who somehow finds the unprepossessing lady irresistible. Of course Akron O. Spratly also has plans to extract much-needed rubber for the war-effort from frogsâ€¦

After much outrageous flummery and hilarious misadventure Lulu is left even sadder, if no wiser, just as the now partially civilised Wolf Girl returns. She has escaped her collegiate captors and is running wild in the big city: her immense physical strength and speed causing much unladylike chaos in Gentlemen’s clubs, the circus, sports fields and the Zoo. She also displays an amazing talent for acquiring pretty sparkly items like watches and jewelleryâ€¦

A very different type of girl appears next as obnoxious ten-time married billionaire Horatio Boardman swears off women again and hires Easy to make sure the pledge sticks. Unfortunately, local mobsters are determined to introduce the World’s Eighth Richest Man to Baby Doll, a sexily appealing ingÃ©nue with the rapacious heart of a viperâ€¦

That screwball set-up was good for three months worth of laughs before Lulu again takes centre stage as a boastful beautician is suckered into a bet that he can make any woman so lovely that she will be photographed in the newspapersâ€¦

Reduced to simple straight man by Lulu, Easy soon took third place as the boxing lady accidentally acquired a manic and capacious ostrich named Lucille. The big bird’s astounding appetite led to Lulu becoming the indentured slave of a shady farmer who first had her work off the giant’s gannet’s destructive binges and then sold his guilt-wracked toiler on to other men in need of fields ploughed, clothes washed and chores doneâ€¦ until the outraged Easy came backâ€¦

Stony broke but free again, Lulu then roped Easy in to a culinary affair as she opened a diner in the worst place possible, just as her ne’er-do-well family palmed off a young cousin onto her. Augustus Mervin Gasby was a locust in human form, and his astonishing appetite seemed fit to bust the desperate pair until the former-soldier-of-fortune found something that the shambling oaf could do really wellâ€¦

A panoply of ludicrous sporting endeavours eventually lead Gus into the Navy whilst on the Home Front Easy and Lulu went fishing and subsequently exposed a huge dope-smuggling ring in one of the last rousing adventure episodes, after which the tone switched back to screwball comedy with the re-emergence of C. Hollis Wallis who weaselled into town in search of another woman to marry and fleece.

He wasn’t particularly picky and despite Lulu keeping a weather eye – and occasionally a couple of clenched fists – on him he breezed through a few options before settling upon one eminent prospect who lived in a mansion with many oil-wells attachedâ€¦

He had no idea she was only the cookâ€¦

A secondary lot began mid-stream as a Zoot-suit gangster William â€œTrigger Boyâ€ Scramooch got out of the State Pen and moved into Lulu’s boarding house. Ever prey to poor judgement she took a shine to him whereas for Easy it was disgust at first sightâ€¦

Horning in on Wallis’ potential windfall, Trigger Boy planned a kidnap and tricked Lulu into doing his dirty work. Big mistakeâ€¦

More single page gags followed including a clever patriotic sequence where Lulu buys a big gas-guzzling automobile and leads the nation by her sacrificial example after which Easy makes his last appearance (28^th February 1943) serving to reintroduce another old pal.

Magician, ventriloquist and escapologist Lonny â€œthe Greatâ€ Plunkett pops up again, pranking the cops and again becoming the target of some crooks in dire need of illicit safecracking expertise. Lulu is a natural partner for the sharp guy and together they scotch the hoods’ plan, after which romance blooms again when 600-pound gorilla Roy Boy decides only she can be his ideal mate. When he’s frustrated in his amorous endeavours he smashes out of his cage and rampages like a hairy tornado through townâ€¦

The comic capers conclude on a high humour note with a return to C. Hollis Wallis’ ongoing marital scam, which escalates into brilliant farce before the loathsome little Lothario gets what’s coming to himâ€¦

Ending this final titanic (with pages 380mm highÂ x 270mm wide) luxury hardback tome is a full-colour correction from volume 3, another hand-painted colour-guide strip by Crane and ‘Transition’ by Rick Norwood: an illustrated article explaining just where Tubbs and Easy went when the faded from the pages of Turner’s Sunday pagesâ€¦

Roy Crane’s Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips is a magnificent undertaking: collecting in a wonderfully accessible form one of the most impressive, funny, exciting and influential comic strips of all time in books that cannot help but inspire awe and affection.

Captain Easy is perhaps the most unsung of all great pulp heroes and his spectacular, rip-snorting, pulse-pounding, exotically racy adventures should be just as familiar to lovers of classic adventure as Tintin, Doc Savage, H. Rider Haggard’s Allan Quatermain, Carl Bark’s Scrooge McDuck (Tales) or (yes kids) even Indiana Jones.

These astounding masterpieces are quite unforgettable: fanciful, entertaining and utterly irresistible. How can you possibly resist a chance to experience the stories that inspired the giants of action adventure?
Captain Easy strips Â© 2013 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. This edition Â© 2013 Fantagraphics Books, all other material Â© the respective copyright holders. All rights reserved.

December 19, 2013December 18, 2013

Roy Crane’s Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips volume 3 1938-1940

By Roy Crane with Leslie Turner (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-529-7

The comics industry evolved from newspaper strips and those impossibly successful, circulation-boosting pictorial features were, until relatively recently, utterly ubiquitous, hugely popular with the readers and thus regarded as invaluable by publishers who used them as a powerful sales weapon to guarantee consumer loyalty, increase sales andÂ ensure profits. Many a pen-pushing scribbler became a millionaire thanks to their ability to draw pictures and spin a yarnâ€¦

It’s virtually inconceivable for us today to grasp the overwhelming power of the comic strip in America (and the wider world) from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. Before domestic television, with broadcast radio far from universal and movie-shows at best a weekly treat for most folks, entertainment was mostly derived from comic sections of daily and especially Sunday Newspapers. The Funny Pages were a universally shared recreation for millions; who were well-served by an astounding variety of features of spectacular graphic and narrative quality.

From the outset humour was paramount – that’s why they’re called â€œFunniesâ€ and â€œComicsâ€. Soon the gag-&-stunt beginnings – a blend of silent movie slapstick, outrageous movie serial antics, fabulous fantasy and old fashioned vaudeville shtick – evolved into a thoroughly unique entertainment hybrid.

Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs combined all of the above with sharp witty dialogue and a breathtaking sense of day-to-day progression, in short serial continuity. What lifted him above all his contemporaries – who were making similar advancements in the new art form – was that Crane was blending the comedy with rousing, rollercoaster action and riotous adventureâ€¦

Debuting on April 21st 1924, Washington Tubbs II began as a typical gag-a-day strip not entirely dissimilar from confirmed family favourite Harold Teen (produced by Crane’s friend and contemporary Carl Ed). Wash was a diminutive but eagerly ambitious young shop clerk, in search of a fortune and with an eye to the ladies.

Gradually, however, he moved into mock-heroics, then through harm-free action into full-blown – but still light-hearted – rip-roaring and decidedly dangerous hazardous trials, ordeals and exploits. This evolution culminated in the savvy introduction of pioneering he-man, moody swashbuckling prototype Captain Easy in the landmark episode for May 6^th 1929.

With his daily continuities increasingly more exotic and thrill-drenched every week, the globe-trotting tiny titan clearly needed a companion who could believably handle the rough stuff, and thus in the middle of a ferocious and crazy European war Tubbs liberated a taciturn and enigmatic fellow American from a jail cell and history was made. Before long the odd couple were inseparable comrades travelling the world: hunting treasure, fighting thugs and rescuing a procession of startlingly attractive damsels in distressâ€¦

The bluff, two-fisted, edgily capable and utterly dependable down-on-his-luck â€œSouthern Gen’lemanâ€ was something previously unseen in the Funnies: a raw, square-jawed hunk played dead straight rather than the mere buffoon or music hall foil of such classic comics as Hairsbreadth Harry or Desperate Desmond.

Moreover Crane’s seductively simple blend of comic exuberance and compelling semi-serious â€œbigfootâ€ cartooning was a far more accessible and powerful medium for action story-telling than the gorgeous yet static illustrative tableaux style favoured by artists like Hal Foster (who was just starting to draw attention on the new Tarzan Sunday page).

Tubbs & Easy were every bit as exotic and thrilling as the Ape Man but calamitously rattled along like the tumultuous, tempestuous fantastical Popeye: full of vim, vigour and vinegar.

The overall effect was electrifying – as attested to by a close look at the early works of the young cartoonists who followed the strip with avid intensity: Floyd Gottfredson, Milton Caniff, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and especially an impressionably admiring Joe Shusterâ€¦

After a couple of abortive attempts starring his little hero, Crane eventually bowed to the inevitable and created a long-awaited full colour Sunday page dedicated to his increasingly popular vagabond paladin. Captain Easy debuted on July 30^th 1933, in madcap, two-fisted exploits (originally) set prior to his fateful meeting with Tubbs but eventually coalescing with the Monday to Saturday feature.

The third terrific tome in this stupendous 4-volume set covers May 22^nd 1938 to December 15^th 1940 and opens with a Foreword by Rick Norwood which contrasts the storylines in Daily and Sunday iterations whilst re-presenting a number of artist Crane’s illustrated articles on life in Mexico, after which R.C. Harvey’s Introduction provides some historical context and speculates on a potential real-life inspiration for the enigmatic Captain.

There’s also a long-overdue appreciation of the artist’s friend, silent partner and eventual successor in ‘Easy Does itâ€¦And So does Leslie Turner’. Turner, at first hired to provide Crane some time and breathing room from the punishing seven day a week deadlines, increasingly took responsibility for the Sunday strip from 1937 when the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate ordered Crane to drop his beloved experimental full-page designs.

When he first began the Sunday page in 1933 Crane’s creativity went into overdrive: an entire page and sharp vibrant colours to play with had clearly stirred his imagination. The results were wild visual concoctions which achieved a timeless immediacy and made each instalment a unified piece of sequential art. The effect of the pages can be seen in so many comic and strips since – even in the works of such near-contemporaries as HergÃ© and giants-in-waiting like Charles Schulz.

The pages were a clearly as much of joy to create as to read but the commercial argument ran that the company couldn’t sell a feature which client periodicals were unable to cut-up and reformat to suit their own needsâ€¦

In 1943 the former assistant subsequently inherited the black-&-white Dailies after Crane quit NEA to produce his creator-owned Buz Sawyer strip for William Randolph Hearst’s King Features syndicate.

Once Crane was gone, Turner took Wash and Easy into ever more comedic regions, crafting the strip until his retirement in 1969 after which other writers and artists carried the Captain until the feature was ended in 1988.

But that’s largely immaterial as here the superb high-adventuring is seen in its absolute primeâ€¦

As seen in Roy Crane’s Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips volume 2, after a spectacular string of solo adventures the solitary soldier of fortune at last met Tubbs whilst stuck in a jail cell in a Ruritanian European kingdom. He had been framed in an espionage plotâ€¦

Risking life and diminutive limb to save his pal, Wash also rescued sultry spitfire Ruby Dallas who promptly entangled them in her own unfortunate tale of woe. Witness to a murder in America, she had been on the run ever since because the killer was a prominent millionaire with too much to loseâ€¦

Once the trio had escaped murderous cutthroats, slavers and assassins they soon settled his hash and the story picks up here with the boys again looking for a job and passage home. Opportunity knocks in the form of an animal collector in need of a crew, but when his tiger gets loose on the boat everybody jumps overboard.

The lads wash up on the isolated island of Koolyhow where an American entomologist and his female assistant are hunting the legendary doodle-bug. Signing on as helpers they become embroiled in the burgeoning madness gripping local governor Sergeant Major Gaspe Shalayli, and further complicating matters is a lost temple full of ancient treasures and a cute furry creature called a Swink.

The gluttonous little ant-eater has taken a shine to Wash and has a capacity for finding trouble or creating chaos exponentially greater than his new owner’sâ€¦

With bugs and Swink – christened â€œBennieâ€ – the triumphant Americans reach Singapore only to be targeted by grifters Sadie and Dipper who believe their latest marks have kept the temple jewels (actually confiscated by the local government). Tricking their way onto the flying boat carrying Wash and Easy home, they cause a crash which leaves Sadie and our heroes stranded on a desolate island inhabited by the extremely civilised descendents of piratical bandits.

The place is a utopian paradise with only one rule: nobody ever leavesâ€¦

Of course Easy, Wash and Bennie do: in a stolen sail boat which promptly starts sinking, leaving the voyagers in dire straits. They’re almost saved by a passing vessel but the pirates aboard the Typhoon gleefully ignore their plight and sail on…

Frantically bailing, they reach land just as Cap’n Robbins sinks and plunders a trading ship. Again in hot water, Wash and Easy rescue Mona Milson – stranded survivor of a previous shipwrecking – and return her to her grateful father on yet another Pacific paradise, only to find the furious Robbins waiting for them.

He’s just agreed to transport the old gent, his family and, most importantly, his life savings to Honoluluâ€¦

Unable to dissuade old man Milson, the boys book passage with him and Mona and, after days of outrageous hijinks as the voracious and disaster-prone Bennie makes life hell for the pirates, expose and capture the villains.

With reward money in their pockets Wash and Easy (and the Swink) finally get back to America and begin a search for gainful employment which highlights a return to gag-filled short stories.

The ever-hungry Swink is a popular sensation, prompting his owners to buy a travelling medicine show truck, and whilst touring the country they discover that the elixir they’re peddling has genuine restorative powers as they encounter a succession of conmen, women, thieves, scheming women, bandits and determinedly marriage-minded women – some of whom even steal the fabulous, potentially valuable Bennie. A Martyr to crazy, hungry critters Wash improbably inherits a hippo named Kittie.

It’s just one disaster after anotherâ€¦

Feeling they’ve outlived their welcome Wash and Easy decide to go adventuring again, accidentally ending up in Peru, where dauntless Mary Lancaster is searching for her lost father. She enlists their help to enter the forbidden Lost Canyon region where they discover not only the missing archaeologist but a lost race of Indians who still practise human sacrificeâ€¦

The humans only escape by trading their lives for Bennie, but as they make their forlorn way back to civilisation the indomitable Swink catches up to them, having proved too smart for the Andean nativesâ€¦

Packing the Lancasters off home, but too short of funds to accompany them, our heroes are soon clapped in jail for vagrancy where they meet magician, ventriloquist and escapologist â€œthe Great Plunkettâ€: an inveterate prankster who joins them as stowaways on a steamer back to the USA.

Once there, Plunkett’s gift for opening safes makes him a target for opportunistic mobsters – until his new friends step inâ€¦

Big changes were underway at this time and Turner was increasingly yielding the focus on his titular stars to explore an array of new and returning supporting characters – presumably to allow Crane more leeway, if not exclusivity – on Tubbs and Easy. However with the instalment for 21^st January 1940, the boys were back, as Easy became a freelance spy-hunter and crimebuster in a nation progressively, inevitably marching towards war. The tone was still light and humorous, but the writing was on the wallâ€¦

After stopping spies he tracked down escaped convict Killer Beck, exposed the murder of a Chinese servant and captured America’s Most Wanted female-impersonating conman.

That led to his being hired to safeguard a new aviation weapon from a veritable army of foreign agents and the diabolical Mata Hari Z-1.

Defeating her led to Easy and Wash being marooned in a vast jungle of cactus in the Western American desert where they stumbled onto a gang of ruthless counterfeiters before tackling train-stealing gunrunners in Mexico.

More short yarns bracket a concerted re-lightening of mood as the lads are hired by arrogant, flighty heiress Honey Darling – who wants to be a movie star – and uses them to stage dangerous, headline-grabbing stunts, before the boys are hired to recover a yacht and rescue the passengers after he Captain loses control of it in a rigged card gameâ€¦

The mission goes slightly awry and leaves the boys, heiress Ginger Nelson, her chaperone aunt and some of the more nefarious crew members shipwrecked. Amongst the saved luggage is the 12^th biggest diamond in the world.

â€¦And then the murders start happeningâ€¦

Nevertheless Easy and Tubbs save the day again, but when they return stateside the surly Soldier of Fortune is made the basis of a bet between two wealthy men. One is wagering that any man can be made afraid and the other believes Easy disproves the notion.

Of course neither has asked him to participate, and after the hero is tricked into a haunted house the trouble really begins as the mountaintop dwelling is invaded by bandits wanting their perfect hideout backâ€¦

After discovering the only thing that frightens Easy, this compelling cartoon carnival ends with the heartwarming tale of newsboy Buddie Burns who turns his passion for detecting into a successful anti-crime campaignâ€¦ with a little help from a certain Southern Gen’lemanâ€¦

Also included are many examples of original artwork and this colossal luxury hardback compilation (pages 380 x 270mm) even includes an extra colour tear-sheet plus a full hand-coloured page by Crane, used as a guide by the print processors to produce the final flat-hued instalments

This volume heralds the irrepressible humour which Turner would increasing bring into the feature and the stories – although still action adventures – abound with breezy, light-hearted banter, outrageous situations, hilarious slapstick and outright farce – a sure-fire formula modern cinema directors still plunder to this day.

Captain Easy was the grandfather of Indiana Jones, Flynn (the Librarian) Carsen and Jack (Romancing the Stone) Cotton and clearly set the benchmark for all of them. Happily Crane’s rip-snorting, pulse-pounding, exotically racy adventure trailblazer fell into hands every bit as talented and the huge pages in this stupendous chronicle, crackling with fun and excitement, provide the perfect stage from which to absorb and enjoy the classic tale-telling of another sublime master raconteur.

This is storytelling of impeccable quality: unforgettable, spectacular and utterly irresistible. These tales rank alongside the best of HergÃ©, Tezuka, Toth and Kirby and unarguably fed the imaginations of them all as they still should for today’s comics creators. Now that you have the chance to experience the strips that inspired the giants of our art form, how can you possibly resist?
Captain Easy strips Â© 2012 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. This edition Â© 2012 Fantagraphics Books, all other material Â© the respective copyright holders. All rights reserved.

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