{"id":27158,"date":"2022-12-25T09:10:04","date_gmt":"2022-12-25T09:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=27158"},"modified":"2022-12-01T18:26:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T18:26:15","slug":"superadventure-annual-1960-1961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/12\/25\/superadventure-annual-1960-1961\/","title":{"rendered":"Superadventure Annual 1960-1961"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Jack Miller<\/strong>, Jack Schiff<\/strong>, Joe Millard<\/strong>, Otto Binder<\/strong>, Edmund Hamilton<\/strong>, Robert Bernstein<\/strong>, Gardner Fox<\/strong>, John Forte<\/strong>, Bob Brown<\/strong>, Ramona Fradon<\/strong>, Jim Mooney<\/strong>, Edwin J. Smalle Jr<\/strong>, Howard Sherman<\/strong>, Ruben Moreira<\/strong>, Henry Boltinoff<\/strong> & others (Atlas Publishing & distributing Co.\/K.G. Murray)
\nNo ISBN:<\/p>\n

Before 1959, when DC and other American publishers started exporting directly into the UK, our exposure to their unique brand of fantasy fun came mostly from licensed reprints. British publishers\/printers like Len Miller, Alan Class and bought material from the USA – and occasionally, Canada – to fill 68-page monochrome anthologies – many of which recycled the same stories for decades. In Britain we began seeing hardcover Superman Annuals<\/strong> in 1950, Superboy Annuals<\/strong> in 1953, Superadventure Annuals<\/strong> in 1959 and Batman <\/strong>books in 1960. Since then many publishers have carried on the tradition…<\/p>\n

Less common were the oddly coloured pamphlets produced by Australian outfit K.G. Murray and exported here in a somewhat sporadic manner. The company also produced sturdily 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, Al Plastino, Wayne Boring, Gil Kane or Murphy Anderson utterly uncluttered by flat, limited colour palettes).<\/p>\n

This particular tome comes from 1960 whilst a superhero craze was barely bubbling under, allowing us access a wide range of the transitional genre material that fell between the Golden and Silver Ages. Everything in comics was changing and this book offers a delightfully eclectic mix of material far more in keeping with the traditionally perceived interests of British boys than the caped-&-cowled masked madness soon to obsess us all…<\/p>\n

This collection is all monochrome, soundly stiff-backed, and sublimely suspense and joyous, and begins with Space Ranger<\/strong>: a relatively new property seen in Showcase<\/strong> #16.<\/p>\n

In America, Showcase<\/strong> was a try-out comic designed by DC to launch new series and concepts with minimal commitment of publishing resources. If a new character sold well initially, a regular series would follow. The process had been proved with Frogmen<\/strong>, The Flash<\/strong>, Challengers of the Unknown <\/strong>and Lois Lane<\/strong>, so Editorial Director Irwin Donenfeld urged his editors to create science fiction heroes to capitalise on the twin zeitgeists of the Space Race and the popular fascination with movie monsters and aliens.<\/p>\n

Jack Schiff came up with a \u201cmasked\u201d crimefighter of the future who premiered in issues #15 & 16 (1958). The hero was Rick Starr<\/em>: interplanetary businessman who – thanks to incredible gadgets and the assistance of shape-shifting alien pal Cryll<\/em> and capable Girl Friday Myra Mason<\/em> – spent his free time battling evil and injustice from his base in a hollow asteroid.<\/p>\n

A few months later, the State-side Space Ranger was transported to DC\u2019s science fiction anthology Tales of the Unexpected<\/strong>, beginning with issue #40 (August 1959): holding the lead and cover spot for a 6-year run and enduring frequent revivals and reboots ever since\u2026<\/p>\n

Canonically, we start with his third published exploit as \u2018The Secret of the Space Monster\u2019 <\/em>(plot by John Forte, scripted by pulp veteran Edmond Hamilton and illustrated by Bob Brown) sees Rick, Myra and Cryll investigating an impossible void creature and uncovering a band of alien revolutionaries testing novel super-weapons.<\/p>\n

Continuity was practically unheard in these DC overseas editions – and I\u2019m pretty sure the editorial staff never gave a monkey\u2019s about reading cohesion. UK spellings and currency were scrupulously re-lettered, but stories were arbitrarily trimmed to fit the page count and layout, making endings unclear or uncertain. However, we loved the sheer eclectic exoticism (we didn\u2019t call it that, though); we were just wide-eyed impressionable grateful kids, okay?<\/p>\n

One of the few superheroes to survive the collapse at the end of the Golden Age was a rather nondescript and generally bland looking chap who solved maritime crimes, rescuing fish and people from sub-sea disaster.<\/p>\n

Created by Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris in the wake of Timely Comics\u2019 Sub-Mariner, Aquaman<\/strong> first set sail in More Fun Comics<\/strong> #73 (November 1941). Strictly a second stringer for most of his career, the Sea King nevertheless continued on far beyond many stronger features. He was primarily illustrated by Norris, Louis Cazeneuve and Charles Paris, until young Ramona Fradon took over the art chores in 1954, by which time the Sea King had settled into a regular back-up slot in Adventure Comics<\/strong>. All of the salty sagas here are illustrated by her, and limned every single adventure until 1960: indelibly stamping the hero with her unique blend of charm and sleek competence.<\/p>\n

At the time this book was released, America\u2019s Aquaman<\/strong> had been refitted. Showcase<\/strong> #4 (1956) rekindled the public\u2019s taste for costumed crime-fighters. As well as re-imagining Golden Age stalwarts, DC updated its hoary survivors. The initial revamp \u2018How Aquaman Got His Powers!\u2019 <\/em>(Adventure<\/strong> #260, May 1959) was the work of Robert Bernstein. That tale set a new origin – offspring of a lighthouse keeper\/refugee from undersea Atlantis – and eventually all trappings of the modern superhero followed: themed hideout, sidekick, even super-villains! Moreover, continuity and the concept of a shared universe became paramount.<\/p>\n

In this seasonal collection however, he\u2019s still a charming, dedicated seagoing nomad with a tendency to find trouble as in \u2018The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C.\u2019 <\/em>(Adventure Comics<\/strong> #253, October 1958 by Bernstein & Fradon) where he swims through a time warp and helps a seashore-dwelling caveman against a marauding dragon.<\/p>\n

Cartoonist Henry Boltinoff was a prolific and nigh-permanent fixture of DC titles in this period, providing a variety of 2, 1, and 1\u00bd page gag strips to cleanse visual palates and satisfy byzantine US legal directives allowing publishers to sustain cheaper postal shipping rates. He\u2019s here in strength: his gentle humour jibing perfectly with contemporary British tastes, in the first vignette starring space boffin Professor Eureka<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Based on Alex Raymond\u2019s newspaper star Jungle Jim<\/strong>, the next feature was very much of its time. Congo Bill<\/strong> debuted in More Fun Comics<\/strong> #56 (June 1940) and adventured there for a year (#67, May 1941) before upgrading to flagship title Action Comics<\/strong> with #37 (June 1941). A solid and reliable B-feature, his global safaris were popular enough to make him a star of his own movie serial and win his own 7-issue series (running from August\/September 1954 to August\/September 1955). His exploits followed trend slavishly: he faced uprisings, criminals, contemptuous rich wastrels, wars, plagues, evil witch-doctors, mad scientists, monsters, aliens – and every permutation thereof – in his monthly vignettes; gained a sidekick in Action Comics<\/strong> #191 (April 1954) and even evolved into a sort of superhero in Action #224 (January 1957) when he gained the power to body swap with golden gorilla Congorilla<\/strong>. He\/they prowled in Action<\/strong> until #261 (February 1960), whereupon the feature moved into Adventure Comics, running from #270-283 (March 1960-April 1961). As comics folk are painfully, incurably nostalgic, the characters have been revived many times since\u2026<\/p>\n

Here Congo Bill – with Janu the Jungle Boy<\/strong> open their innings with \u2018The Mystery of the Jungle Monuments!\u2019<\/em> (Action Comics<\/strong> #206, July 1955) authorially uncredited but illustrated by Edwin J. Smalle, Jr., as they uncover a cunning smuggling plot before equally long-lived space patrolman\/interplanetary Coast Guard operative Tommy Tomorrow <\/strong>pops in from the future to solve \u2018The Puzzle of the Perilous Planetoid\u2019<\/em> – from Action Comics<\/strong> #206 July 1955 and crafted – as were most of his missions – by Otto Binder & Jim Mooney.<\/p>\n

The strip was a hugely long-running back-up strip which began in Real Fact Comics<\/strong> #6 (January 1947). Devised by Jack Schiff, George Kashdan, Bernie Breslauer, Virgil Finlay and Howard Sherman, it was a speculative science feature that returned in #8, 13 & 16 before shifting to Action Comics<\/strong> (#127-251, December 1948 to April 1959). Along the way Tommy became a Colonel in the peacekeeping Planeteers organisation\u2026<\/p>\n

With superheroes ascending again, he then moved into World\u2019s Finest Comics <\/strong>(#102- 124, June 1959 to March 1962) and endured one final reboot in Showcase<\/strong> #41-42, 44 & 46-47 (1962-1963) before fading from sight and memory until rediscovered and reimagined by later generations\u2026<\/p>\n

Here the interstellar star of 2058 (so not long now) and his patrol partner Captain Brent Wood<\/em> solve a titanic taxonomical conundrum before we switch from fantasy to contemporary showbiz\u2026<\/p>\n

When superheroes declined in the early 1950s, Detective Comics<\/strong> shed its costumed cohort for more rationalistic reasoners and grounded champions. One of the most offbeat was Roy Raymond<\/em>, a TV personality who hosted hit series \u201cImpossible\u2026 But True\u201d<\/em>. Illustrated by Ruben Moreira, it launched in #153 (November 1949): its formulaic yet versatile pattern being that his researchers or members of the public would present weird or \u201csupernatural\u201d items or mysteries for the arch-debunker to inevitably expose as misunderstanding, mistake or, as in this case, criminal fraud\u2026<\/p>\n

Produced throughout this book by Jack Miller & Moreira, Roy Raymond, TV Detective<\/strong> introduces \u2018The Man with the Magic Camera\u2019<\/em> (Detective Comics<\/strong> #246 August 1957) as a tinkerer with an X-ray camera is exposed as a cunning crook after which another Boltinoff Professor Eureka treat segues into Aquaman thriller, \u2018The Guinea Pig of the Sea\u2019<\/em> (by Joe Millard & Fradon from Adventure Comics<\/strong> #250, July 1958) with the Sea King abducted by a well-intentioned but obsessive researcher fed up with waiting for a moment in the hero\u2019s hectic schedule to open up\u2026<\/p>\n

My earlier carping about continuity is confirmed here as Congo Bill and Janu face \u2018The Five from the Future\u2019<\/em>. Crafted by Miller & Sherman, it comes from Action Comics<\/strong> #243 (August 1958) and sees the heroes facing an alien invasion of beasts. It reads well enough as is, but is actually the second part of a continued tale, with the first chapter appearing towards the end of this tome. I pity the little kid trying to make sense of that. Actually, no I don\u2019t: we didn\u2019t care that much – it\u2019s just adults that worry about that instead of great art and fantastic thrills\u2026<\/p>\n

If you can find this book, just read part 1 at the back then flip back here, ok?<\/p>\n

Tommy Tomorrow then makes a rare mistake by accidentally destroying \u2018The Interplanetary Scarecrow\u2019 (<\/em>Action Comics<\/strong> #245, October 1958) before ending the seasonal menace it was intended to frighten off and – following another Professor Eureka moment – Roy Raymond heads to Africa and encounters \u2018The Man who Charmed Wild Beasts\u2019<\/em> (Detective Comics<\/strong> #256 June 1958).<\/p>\n

Space Ranger is next in his very first tale (from Showcase<\/strong> #15 and seen in the US with a September\/October 1958 cover-date). It commenced – without fanfare or origin – the ongoing adventures of the futuristic mystery man – beginning in \u2018The Great Plutonium Plot\u2019<\/em>. Plotted by Gardner Fox, scripted by Hamilton and illustrated by Brown, it begins when Jarko<\/em> the Jovian space pirate targets ships carrying a trans-uranic element. Rick Starr suspects hidden motives and, as Space Ranger, lays a cunning trap, exposing a hidden mastermind and a lethal ancient device endangering the entire solar system\u2026<\/p>\n

Keeping up a theme of times and space \u2018At Sea in the Stone Age\u2019<\/em> is an anonymously scripted Aquaman yarn limned by Fradon (Adventure Comics<\/strong> #184, January 1953) which sees another watery warp propel the Sea King into the distant past. Once again primordial men need help against ravening sea monsters and the hero is happy to oblige\u2026<\/p>\n

Bill and Janu then confront \u2018The Riddle of the Roc!\u2019<\/em> (illustrated by Sherman from Action Comics<\/strong> #244 September 1958) as crooked diamond prospector Ed Vance<\/em> finds a giant egg and trains the hatchling into the perfect plundering weapon \u2026until our great white hunter employs his trapping skills\u2026<\/p>\n

With his job and reputation on the line, Tommy Tomorrow solves \u2018The Mystery of the Three Space Rookies\u2019<\/em> (Action<\/strong> #244, September 1958) who are just too good to be true, before tantalising ads and public service announcement \u2018The Atom – the Servant of Man\u2019<\/em> – by Schiff, Morris Waldinger & Tony Nicolosi? – precede Miller & Fradon\u2019s salty tale of Aquaman\u2019s plight as \u2018The Robinson Crusoe of the Sea\u2019<\/em> (Adventure Comics<\/strong> #252, September 1958). It begins when a chemical spill makes the Sea King allergic to seawater and offers a charming sequence of clever crisis management by our hero\u2019s octopus pal Topo<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Miller & Smalle, Jr. pit Bill and Jungle Boy against \u2018The Amazing Army of Apes!\u2019<\/em> (Action <\/strong>#219, August 1956) as a soldier seemingly deranged by jungle fever goes on a rampage, after which Colonel Tommy Tomorrow is pressganged into a space tyrant\u2019s retinue to stalk freedom fighters as one of \u2018The Hunters of the Future!\u2019<\/em> (Binder & Mooney from Action Comics<\/strong> #190 March 1954) and Boltinoff\u2019s Moolah the Mystic<\/em> has a close encounter on his flying carpet\u2026<\/p>\n

Roy Raymond exposes fraud and attempted murder in the case of accident-prone \u2018Mr. Disaster\u2019<\/em> (Detective <\/strong>#258, August 1958) before one final Space Ranger romp solves \u2018The<\/em> Riddle of the Lost Race\u2019 <\/em>(Fox, Hamilton & Brown from Showcase<\/strong> #16). The case takes Rick\u2019s team on a whistle-stop tour of the Solar system in pursuit of a vicious criminal and hidden treasures of a long-vanished civilisation\u2026<\/p>\n

Aquaman scuppers \u2018The Outlaw Navy\u2019<\/em> of a modern pirate in a rip-raring romp by Millard & Fradon (Adventure Comics<\/strong> #194, November 1953) and the first part of Congo Bill\u2019s alien adventure finds him and Janu the Jungle Boy facing Venusian marauder Xov<\/em> on a \u2018Safari from Space!\u2019<\/em> (Miller & Sherman, Action Comics<\/strong> #242, July 1958). To confirm an old prospector\u2019s bonanza claim Tommy Tomorrow assembles \u2018The Strangest Crew in the Universe\u2019<\/em> (Action Comics<\/strong> #241 June 1958) before the Superadventuring wraps up with Roy Raymond investigating apparently accursed timber from \u2018The Fantastic Forest\u2019<\/em> as seen in Detective Comics<\/strong> #260 October 1958). The festivities finish with a quick cartoon lesson in science feature Solar System Sizes!<\/em>, revealing the wonders of comets and meteors.<\/p>\n

Quirky and fun, this is a true delight for oldsters and casual consumers of comics and offers true fans their only real opportunity to see material DC doesn\u2019t seem to care about any more\u2026
\n\u00a9 National Periodical Publications, Inc. Published by arrangement with the K.G. Murray Publishing Company, Pty. Ltd., Sydney.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jack Miller, Jack Schiff, Joe Millard, Otto Binder, Edmund Hamilton, Robert Bernstein, Gardner Fox, John Forte, Bob Brown, Ramona Fradon, Jim Mooney, Edwin J. Smalle Jr, Howard Sherman, Ruben Moreira, Henry Boltinoff & others (Atlas Publishing & distributing Co.\/K.G. Murray) No ISBN: Before 1959, when DC and other American publishers started exporting directly into … <\/p>\n

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