Cover Cavalcade

 MAY IS ADORABLE HARVEY COMICS COVERS MONTH!

From 1964, with the artist uncredited.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Jeff Regan, Investigator: "Too Many Mrs. Rogers" 10/9/48

Regan is hired to guard a corpse and the valuable ring the dead guy is wearing. It turns out the guy had a few too many wives--one of whom might be willing to kill to get the ring. 

Click HERE to listen or download. 

The Game

 

cover art by A.L. Ripley

Read/Watch 'em In Order #180

Tom Gill was a forester and aviator, which sounds pretty cool. Though it's not, of course, as cool as writing for the pulps. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction for the pulps and the slicks from the 1920s until the 1940s.

"The Game," published in the January 10, 1926 of Adventure, is a fun tale. It involves an American army captain stationed in California. He's held in disdain by the rich Mexican ranchers who live in the area. This becomes a problem when he falls in love with the daughter of one of those ranchers.

The story is narrated by the captain's loyal servant, who tells the tale in an entertaining conversational style. It's a fun structure--one of those stories that sounds like it needs to be read aloud to be properly appreciated.

There's another Mexican rich guy who has been promised the daughter's hand. The captain refuses to accept this, leading to a duel, a rescue from a convent and an act of honor & courage from an unexpected source.

You can read it yourself HERE.

One more story to go to finish up this issue of Adventure.

Dakota Kid #1

 

cover art by Joe Maneely

Last week, I said I would cover the only issue of Marvel's Western Team-Up, from 1973. But that book features the only appearance of The Dakota Kid. But he isn't the first Dakota Kid. Another gunfighter with that name appeared in Quick-Trigger Western #15 (December 1956), in a story written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Maneely.

I wonder if Larry Lieber, who would write and draw the second version of Dakota Kid, knew the name had been used before. Or was it just a coincidence? My guess is that it is indeed a coincidence, but who knows?

(If anyone does know, please comment and educate me.)

Anyway, Dakota Kid #1 was the nickname of Frank Yarrow, who is kind of a jerk. He's not an outlaw and doesn't kill or hurt anyone, but he does tend to tear up the town quite a bit whenever he does come to town.

This time, though, he only gets a little property damage in before the sheriff gets the drop on him. The Kid goes to trial, where he's sentenced to five years. The judge tells him, though, that he might get an early parole if he can straighten himself out.

He takes this to heart and becomes a model prisoner. When he's released on probation after just three years, he agrees not to carry a gun during his two years of probation.

He keeps this promise. Returning to his home town, he refuses an offer to join a gang. That gang, though, commits does some robbin' and rustlin' anyways, leaving the Kid as a suspect.  When the sheriff offers him a deputy's badge and a chance to clear himself, the Kid reluctantly declines because if he were a deputy, he'd have to carry a gun. Why he didn't explain this to the sheriff is a plot hole--he hadn't been sworn to secrecy. But there you have it.

When the gang hears that the Kid turned down a badge, they assume he's ready to turn outlaw. They try to recruit him to murder the sheriff. This leaves the Dakota Kid with no choice--he's got to use a gun to stop a murder.

He rounds up the outlaws, then finally explains his legal restrictions to the sheriff. The sheriff, in turn, gives the Kid (who has now dropped that name and goes simply by Frank Yarrow) a deputy's badge, giving him retroactive permission to carry a gun. Yarrow agrees to stay on as deputy.

The story does have that plot hole in it in that Yarrow was keeping the "no gun" restriction a secret for no good reason. But otherwise, its a good (if predictable) story with solid art work. 

Next week, we'll take a look at the second Dakota Kid.

Cover Cavalcade

 MAY IS ADORABLE HARVEY COMICS COVERS MONTH!

The artist who did this 1968 cover is uncredited.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Gunsmoke: "Born to Hang" 4/23/55

A lynching leads to a vow to exact vengeance, which in turn leads to Dillon having a really busy day.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

If You're a Bad Guy, DO NOT Play Poker in the Marvel Universe

I can't help it. I notice some obscure bit of pop culture trivia and I just gotta share it. I literally can't help myself.

In the 1979 prose novel Holocaust for Hire, by Joseph Silva (aka: Ron Goulart), Captain America attacks some mobsters, interrupting a poker game with one of the thugs complaining that he had a straight flush.

cover art by Dave Cockrum

That same year, in the prose novel And Call My Killer... Modok!, by William Rotsler (reviewed HERE), Happy Hogan is escaping from an AIM base and gets the drop on some AIM guards playing poker. One of them complains that he had the only royal flush he'd ever drawn.

cover artist by Bob Larkin

The lesson: If you are a low-level crook in the Marvel Universe and get a straight flush or royal flush during a poker game--you are NOT lucky. You are cursed. Drop, roll and draw your weapon because the game is about to be violently interrupted by a superhero or sidekick. 

You can, by the way, get electronic versions of the Marvel Novel Series from the 1970s HERE.

Yet Another One and Done Character

 

cover art by Pierce Rice

All-New Short Story Comics, published by Harvey Comics, ran for three issues in 1943. It then shortened its title to All-New Comics and ran for another sporatic 11 issues, finishing up for good in 1947.

The first issue (January 1943) includes the only story featuring newspaper reporter Steve Case. The writer is unknown. The artist is Harry Sahle (who often signed his work with just his last name). Sahle had a respectable career as a comic book artist in the 1940s, working for Harvey, Timely and Archie. His work is fun to look at, bristling with kinetic energy and featuring eye-catching character designs.

"Poison Pen Murder" begins with Steve and his editor meeting with two ex-cons. One of the ex-cons has written a story about his time in prison. He's delivering the manuscript. Also, he and his companion, Big Mike Scorey, have to sign a release.

But the author dies suddenly just when he's about to sign.

Steve suspects murder and scraps some dried ink from the dead guy's fingers. But outside the office, he's jumped by a big guy. (One can argue there's not much of a mystery here. The big guy is masked, but he's the exact same build as Big Mike.) Steve drives off his attacker and sees that the guy has dropped a pen. He brings this to the police lab as well.

Sure enough, the ink in the pen is loaded with poison that can be absorped through skin pores. Steve realizes the killer wants to stop the manuscript from being published. Rushing to his editor's home, he stops the killer from obtaining the manuscript. The killer, though, escapes. Steve is really good at punching people, but he's apparently weak on following up on his punches.

It doesn't matter, though. Steve has also noticed the killer is the same build as Big Mike, so he uses the poison pen to scare a confession from him. The manuscript contained information that would have sent Big Mike back to jail.

Which makes you wonder why the manuscript's author brought Big Mike with him to the newspaper as if the two were best buddies. 

The mystery is a very simple one, but that's to be expected in a six page tale. It's Sahle's kinetic art that makes it work. And, though we never get to see Steve Case work another case, "Poison Pen Murder" was reprinted in Super-Dooper Comics in 1947 and in Golden Age Greats Spotlight iin 2018. So Steve has managed to poke his head out of Comic Book Limbo a couple of times.

You can read the story online HERE. 

Next week, we'll look at the one and only issue of Marvel's Western Team-Up.

Cover Cavalcade

 APRIL IS KILLER ROBOT MONTH!

A 1931 cover by H.W. Wesso. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Suspense: "Bank Holiday" 7/19/45

Bonita Granville plays a bank teller who is kidnapped by two crooks during a robbery. It's a scary situation--until she decides that one of the crooks is more attractive than the man to whom she's engaged.

Click HERE to listen or download.