Cover Cavalcade

 

The month of May is brought to you by the Letter G

A 1930 cover by R.C. Wardel.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Philo Vance: "The Meanest Man Murder Case" 5/10/49

When a man is murdered with poison, the nasty and mean-spirited attitude he had in life--displayed both towards family and business associates--leaves no shortage of suspects. 

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Teaming with the Enemy to Save a Child--Wash and Repeat.

 

SPOILER WARNING: There is absolutely no way to talk about these two parallel episodes of Combat! and The Rat Patrol without giving away the endings. If you haven't seen them, I recommend you watch them before you continue reading here. As of this writing, The Rat Patrol can be watched for free on Pluto TV. I'm afraid you might have to dig around to find the Combat! episode. 

Anyway, Combat's "A Cry in the Ruins" aired on March 23, 1965 and it is arguably the best episode in one of the best TV series ever aired. The story is by A. Martin Zweiback, who then co-wrote the teleplay with Edward J. Lasko. It is superbly directed by cast member Vic Morrow. Morrow played Sgt. Saunders, but doesn't appear in character in the episode.

Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) is leading a recon patrol through a French village that has been pretty thoroughly shelled. They meet a French woman who cries that her baby is trapped in a cellar. But before they can help her dig out the child, the shelling begins again. The Americans have to run for it and lose track of the woman.

When the shelling is over, they see that a German squad has arrived and is helping the woman dig out the cellar. Hanley wants to quietly withdraw and "leave the Germans to their good intentions." But one of the Germans spots them. The two squads start shooting out, but the shooting dies down when the woman begins to scream "For the love of God, help my baby!"

Now what? There's a war on. The Germans and the Americans are supposed to be killing each other. But can they simply ignore the pleas of the desperate mother?

After some negotiation, it's decided for the two sides to put up their weapons and dig for the child. This doesn't go smoothly. At one point, a fist fight breaks out and the soldiers nearly go for their guns before Hanley can calm them down. Then, when they find the cellar entrance, a badly wounded German captain shows up with a submachine gun, demanding the truce end and the currently unarmed Americans surrender.

In the end, mercy triumphs over war and the rescue effort continues. But when they get down into the cellar, then can't find a baby. In fact, they learn there never was a baby. The poor woman's baby had been killed several years ago and now, whenever there is shelling, she runs out into the ruins and to desperately try to save her long-dead child.

The two squads pick up their weapons without talking to each other and simpy walk off in different directions.

It's a wonderful ending to a perfectly told story. It's an exploration of basic humanity, with talented character actors showing just the right emotions both through their expressions and their dialogue to make the story work. A lot of little touches add to it. The German officer, played by William Smithers, gives a great performance. But the other German soldiers, even though each has no more than a line or two of German dialogue each, are effectively personalized themselves in subtle ways, such as idiosyncratic differences in their uniforms or the scar that one of them has running down his face. Everyone here is a human being--trained to kill their enemy but willing to put that aside to save an innocent life.

The ironic ending adds to the theme simply by avoiding a possibly corny happy ending and adding an appropriate dose of tragedy that humanizes everything even more.

Two years later, on September 7, 1967, The Rat Patrol aired the episode "The Truce at Aburah Raid." It's written by--yes--Edward J. Lasko, one of the writers involved in "A Cry in the Ruins." It seems that Lasko returned to the "enemies teaming up to save a child" idea one more time.

To be fair, though, Lasko does craft a relatively original story around the same idea. This time, there's no question that the child exists--we can see her lying on a ledge halfway down a well. She falls in when the Rat Patrol, with their arch-enemy Captain Dietrich hard on their heels, barrel into a small oasis. The girl tumbles into the well while trying to get out of their way.

Once again, in response to the cries of a mother, the Germans and the Americans have to figure out how to trust each other long enough to save a child.

And once again, the arrival of Germans not in on the original truce threatens to upset that truce. The Rat Patrol, though, was a show that depended more on action and less on character and thematic depth than did Combat! I don't mean to knock the show by pointing that out. The Rat Patrol is what it is--an action show that had to tell a story in a half-hour and include a lot of gunfire and explosions in that story. It was very good at that.

So, in this case, even though the child is saved, the truce breaks down. The Rat Patrol, though apparently helpless, manage to get the drop on the Germans. The only survivor on the German side is Captain Dietrich, who never loses his job no matter how many times the Allied commando team wipes out his command and accomplishes his mission.

So there you have it. Two different World War 2-themed episodes, both written (or co-written) by the same guy--that use the same basic plot. And I'm not being critical of Lasko. As I said, he gives both episodes their own unique twist. And the two shows are so different that it's not really fair to compare them.

But, by golly, I'm going to compare them anyways. Though The Rat Patrol was an entertaining show in its own right, "The Truce at Aburah Raid" doesn't hold a candle to "A Cry in the Ruins." 

Whose Side are the Elephants On?

 

cover art by Al Bryant

Blackhawk #9 (Winter 1944) has the Blackhawk operating in Burma, strafing Japanese soldiers who are trying to build a road through the jungle. The script is uncredited, with art tentatively credited to Max Elkan.

But war is dangerous work, even for the best Allied pilots in the business. Blackhawk's plane is hit by anti-aircraft fire and he's forced to bail out. Soon, he's captured by the Japanese.

He's not a prisoner long, though. An elephant charges out of the jungle, scares off the Japanese, then grabs Blackhawk in his trunk and makes a run for it.

So Blackhawk is rescued. Wait-a-minute. No, he's NOT rescued! The elephant is one of many trained and operated by a guy named Burma Jack, who explains to Blackhawk that the pilot is still a prisoner. Burma Jack rents his elephants out to the Japanese and he figures he can get at least ten grand from them for Blackhawk.

Two of the other Blackhawks, Andre and Olaf, have landed in a nearby clearing in hopes of finding their boss. But they are captured as well. Burma Jack--traitor and war profiteer--now has three prisoners he can sell to the enemy.

Except that's not the case. Burma Jack agrees to use his elephants to move some Japanese artillery, but once he's on site, he cuts the Blackhawks loose, gives them Tommy guns and starts using his elephants and a few grenades to wreck havoc on the enemy.

Burma Jack was a good guy all along, playing the role of war profiteer to put himself in a position to do a lot of damage to the enemy. He goes from being despicable to being pretty cool in the space of just a few panels. That's quite an accomplishment.

The story is a good one, with strong art, good pacing and a surprise plot twist that really is a nice surprise. It is a product of its times in how Asians are drawn and in the racist insults casually used by the good guys. As I've written before about stuff like that--if it bothers you enough to spoil your enjoyment of the story, then that's a perfectly legitimate reaction. If you can recognize it as wrong but still enjoy the story, then that's okay as well.

You can read the story online HERE. 

Next week, we'll visit with "Travelin' Toughy," who is tasked with doing at least one good deed a day.

Cover Cavalcade

 

The month of May is brought to you by the Letter G

A 1976 cover by Ed Hannigan

Sixgun Justice: SIX-GUN JUSTICE PODCAST EPISODE #197—WESTERN EPISO...

I had another opportunity to co-host the excellent Six-Gun Justice Podcast.

Sixgun Justice: SIX-GUN JUSTICE PODCAST EPISODE #197—WESTERN EPISO...: SIX-GUN JUSTICE PODCAST EPISODE #197 WESTERN EPISODES OF NON-WESTERN TV SHOWS Pull back on those reins, buckaroos, and slow down long enou...

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Dimension X: "Courtesy" 7/26/51

The crew of a rocket ship exploring an alien planet is struck with a plague. But it soon turns out that the attitude of cultural superiority they exhibit towards the native aboriginies might be putting them in even greater danger.

Click HERE to listen or download.

The Cover Demanded I Read It!

 

Jack Higgins (real name Harry Patterson), the author of seemingly countless (and usually excellent) adventure novels, died recently. His 1975 WWII thriller The Eagle has Landed is one of my favorite novels ever and I plan to re-read it within the next few weeks. 

But I had found the above novel in a used book store a few weeks ago and bought it mostly because that cover is simply awesome. Seriously, how can any sane man look at THAT cover and not want to read the book?

 I didn't know it was a Higgins book. Prior to hitting it big with Eagle, he used a number of psuedonyms and I simply didn't know that James Graham was one of them.

That is is a Higgins book was pointed out to me by several members of the wonderful Men's Adventure Paperbacks of the 20th Century Facebook group (the best group ever). So when Higgins' death was announced soon after that, I decided to read The Wrath of God (1971) right away.

And, gee whiz, it is good. Three men with violent backgrounds are in Mexico in 1922 and are forced to team-up--given the job of finding and killing a bandit leader.

What makes this novel extraordinary isn't just the strong, action-packed plot, but also the unusual characters. The first-person narrator is Emmett Keogh, a former terrorist (or freedom-fighter, depending on your point-of-view) whose background included a stint at medical school before being drawn into the Irish War of Independence and the ensuing Irish Civil War. One of his partners in the "kill the bandit" mission is Oliver Van Horne, a would-be priest turned bank robber. Van Horne carries a Tommy gun around in a Gladstone bag and he knows how to use it effectively.

Both are bitter and cynical, but Higgins manages to give them unique and three-dimensional personalities that allow for gradual, believable character growth. Higgins works events into the story that SHOULD be contrived and corny, but instead are a natural part of the story's flow and the various character arcs. For instance, Keogh--the former medical student--must at one point deliver a baby and deal with a breach birth. Van Horne, whose role in the mission includes pretending to be the new priest sent to a poor village, finds himself drawn into that role in reality. In both these cases, the potentially contrived plot twists seem right and natural. Though the novel does still reflect a cynicism about some aspects of human nature, it is overall a redemption story done right, with characters and emotions we think of as real.  And it does this without losing track of how messy real life it--there is also no guarantee of a happy ending for anyone.

As far as plot and action is concerned, the story steadily builds tension, punctuated by truly exciting action set pieces. The end scene, in which Keogh and the bandit leader stalk each other through an abandoned village, is superb. When the violence erupts in The Wrath of God, you know it's going to be good. 

Zane Grey's Hideout

 

cover artist unknown

Dell's Four Color #346 (August-October 1951) is an adaptation of the Zane Grey novel Wanderer of the Wasteland (1923). The comic book renames the story "Hide-Out." The original title is better and a more accurate indication of what the novel is about, but I suppose "Hide-Out was easier to fit on the cover.

Still, that's a minor criticism of what is a mostly good adaptation of a good novel. The script is by Gaylord Du Bois, whose skill as a comic book writer--in terms of story construction and pacing--impresses me every time I read something by him. The art is by Ray Thayer.

Adam Larey doesn't get along with his gambler brother Guerd, who isn't very good at gambling and always hitting up Adam for more money. This leads to a violent confrontation in which Guerd pulls a pistol on his brother. In the ensuing struggle, the guns goes off and Guerd is apparently killed. Adam flees into the desert. 

He nearly dies of thirst before he's found by a kindly prospector. Adam, thinking himself as a murderer, takes the name Wansfell and decides to live as a wanderer in the desert.

He has some trouble at first, losing his supplies and being forced to hunt for food with a sling-shot. He nearly dies from a rattlesnake bite, but is nursed back to health by some friendly Indians. An Indian girl falls for him and he has the option of staying with the tribe. But he's a wanted man and doesn't feel he has the right to make permanent connections.

Wansfell spends a decade in the desert, becoming something of a legend as he helps people in need. Eventually, he rescues a young lady named Genie from thugs and finds himself tasked with taking care of her after her mother dies.

He eventually finds another family to take in Genie. By this time, she's in love with Wansfell and the family offers him a home as well. But, well, he's still got that "I killed my brother" thing hanging over his head. He finally decides to return to the town where that happened and turn himself in.

Up to now, the story has been a good one. I've skipped over some of Wansfell's adventures in the desert before meeting Genie, but these are important parts of the story that keep the plot moving swiftly and believably building up Wansfell's legendary status. The ending, though, is an anti-climax. Though, to be fair, the novel suffers from the same problem.

Wansfell arrives in town and asks to see his brother's grave, admitting to his crime. But in the last panel, he's told that his brother had only been wounded and was still alive. The story abruptly ends here. We aren't told what happens next. Does Adam remain a wanderer suffering from Chronic Hero Syndrome? Does he return to that family and marry Genie? Does he feel like an idiot for not checking on his brother's fate 14 years earlier? We'll never know.

Still, it is overall a good story and well worth reading. You can read it online HERE. 

Next week, we'll take flight with the Blackhawks.

Cover Cavalcade

 

The month of May is brought to you by the Letter G

A 1977 cover by Herbe Trimpe. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Duffy's Tavern: "Duffy's Old Teacher Visits" 12/14/51

Duffy's grade school teacher visits. To impress her, he organizes a political round table discussion among the tavern's regular customers. This does not go well.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Bretwalda, Part 6

 

cover art by Emmett Watson

Read/Watch 'em In Order #139

"Scourge of the Severn" (Argosy, July 8, 1939) is the sixth of Philip Ketchum's tales about Bretwalda--the axe that will save England. And it's yet another winner. In fact, I think the quality of the stories, which was high from the get-go, might actually be inching up with each successive issue. 

We jump ahead a little over a half century from the previous century. The axe is still in possession of the Wilton family and is back in England. 

But the situation in the homeland is grave. The year is 1153 and England has been mis-ruled by King Stephen for the last few decades. People are starving and outlawry is rampant.

Soon, the man who will become Henry II will land in England to claim his right as heir to the throne after the aging Stephen dies. But another man--a man who will no doubt be a pure tyrant--plans to grab the throne first.

This is Sir Belan of Severn, who has been using his authority as a judge to seize land, enrich himself and gain control of more men-at-arms. One of the estates he seized belonged to the Wilton family. Sir Richard Wilton escaped Belan's murderous raid with Bretwalda and a few loyal men, but his father and sister were both killed.

The story has a little bit of a "Robin Hood" vibe to it as Richard gathers together a band of outlaws and other dispossessed men. This, I think, is deliberate. The story begins at Huntingdon Abbey--a name reminiscent of the Earl of Huntington, Robin's real identity in many later versions of the story. Of course, by the time this story was published, 19th Century sources such as Ivanhoe had moved Robin's story to the time of Richard III, which is a generation after this story is set. But that was a fairly recent change to the original legend and I think Ketchum wanted the Robin vibe to be general rather than specific.

Anyway, on with the story. Sir Belan has captured the young lord of Worcester (Oliver Lacey) and wants to force that lord's sister (Margaret) to marry him. Then Oliver can be killed and Belan will control Worcester's additional 5000 men. That gives him more than enough to make short work of would-be King Henry.

So Richard Wilton has to rescue Lady Margaret, then rescue her brother. The first part goes well. The second part involves sneaking into a castle via a secret tunnel. That castle falls, but Oliver isn't there. In fact, he and Sir Belan (and Sir Belan's chief torturer) are already on the way to Worcester. Belan has lost his chance to marry Margaret, so now he's going with the more basic "threat of torture" route to gain Oliver's cooperation.

Sir Richard knows he must move quickly to stop Belan. But the only plan he can come up with doesn't necessarily leave him the option of surviving afterwards. Still, there's no choice. He's willing to trade his life to stop Belan from gaining England's throne. 

This story has a lot going for it. The fight scenes are great. Ketchum does a better job of effectively describing the complex political situation than I did in my summary. All the characters in the story, both major and minor, are given definable and realistic personalities. And several epic plot twists at the end bring the story to a more than satisfying conclusion. 

Click HERE to read this story online. 

Laff-a-Lympics

 

cover art by Mark Evanier (layout); ? (from Hanna-Barbera model sheets)

[cover credit copied directly from the Grand Comics Database]

Before I stumbled onto a copy of Marvel's Laff-A-Lympics #1 (March 1978), I didn't know that Marvel briefly published comics based on Hanna-Barbera characters. I don't know why I didn't know this. Normally, I know everything. (For instance, someone currently reading this post has a piece of spinach stuck in his or her teeth. I won't say who so I don't embarass anyone.) But I didn't know about the Marvel/HB thing.

This is after HB comics had been published by Charlton and Gold Key, but before HB and DC Comics ended up under the same corporate umbrella. 

Anyway, Laff-A-Lympics #1 (as well as the rest of the 13-issue run) was written by Mark Evanier. This was the best choice of writers--as Evanier is an experienced writer who has worked both in animation and comics. He knows the characters intimately and he knows how to plot out and structure a comic book story.

The art for this issue is by Jack Manning.

As was the cartoon on which it was based, the comic has three teams (two made up of heroes and one made up of villains) competing in a series of olympic events, with the villains constantly trying to cheat their way to victory without ever succeeding.

By the way, the villains are led by the Dread Baron and his dog Mumbly. If the Baron, pictured in the second panel above, looks like fellow Dick Dastardly--well, there's a reason for this. As I understand the tale of woe, the writers of the Laff-A-Lympics cartoon were not sure if they were allowed to re-use Dastardly and his dog Muttley for their new cartoon. So they created two nearly-identical stand-ins. It was only later on that the writers learned that they could have used Dastardly and Muttley.

I believe the comic book eventually identified Dread and Dick as brothers. Certainly, they both shared the same nefarious personality. 

Anyway, the comic book story "The Meet on Mount Ono" involves winter sports. There are a series of gags involving the Really Rottens cheating and still losing. The gags are funny and Evanier's script clearly shows that he understands the quirks and personalities of the various characters.

I think one legitimate complaint that can be made about the original cartoon is that it crammed in so many characters that none of them really get to shine. But Evanier weaves a plot thread throughout this story that works really well. It involves Daddy Doggie and his son Augie Doggy, who is perpetually convinced that his dad is a coward.

There's a couple of panels accompanying each event in which Augie is wondering why his dad isn't participating in that particular sport, then dismissing Daddy's explanation with cries of shame over Daddy's presumed cowardice.

So when Daddy takes it upon himself to climb to the summit of a mountain to win the last event, it's a sweet and even touching moment, with Daddy determined to get to the top on his own even after the Really Rottens give several really rotten tries to stop him.

I need to check out other issues of Laff-A-Lympics when I can find them to see if this pattern is continued, with a specific character given a arc that runs throughout the story. It's an effective way of giving some additional life to the concept.

Next week, we return to the Wild West to look at a comic based on a Zane Grey novel. 

Cover Cavalcade

 

The month of May is brought to you by the Letter G.

A 1938 cover by an unidentified artist.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 This is Your FBI: "Homicide Hideout" 5/24/46

A woman and her daughter run a pay-as-you-go hideout for fugitives. They run it in a less-than-honorable manner.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Sneaking a Camera into the Death House

 

If you start watching 1933's Picture Snatcher with no knowledge of what it's about, you'd be forgiven for thinking its a gangster movie as you watch the opening scene. It is, after all, a Warner Brothers movie. And it starts with James Cagney (playing a guy named Danny Kean) getting released from prison and quickly reuniting with his old gang.

But, though the movie does have gangster elements to it, it goes in its own direction. Danny breaks off with the gang, determined to go straight and chasing his dream of becoming a newspaper reporter.

He ends up with a job at a sleazy tabloid called the Graphic News. working as a picture snatcher. In other words, he gets pictures of people who don't want their picture taken. His boss Al, played by Ralph Bellamy, is the city editor--who used to work for more legit newspapers before he started drinking.

Danny also gets a girlfriend--which causes problems of its own when her dad turns out to be the cop who sent Danny to prison.

Danny is the sort of wise-cracking, fast-talking character that Cagney excelled at playing and we enjoy hanging out with him even as we realize that what he does for a living can be a little bit sleazy. And we have to admire his moxie.

A key event in the movie is when he sneaks a camera into the first execution of a woman by electric chair. Danny sneaks in a camera strapped to his leg to get a picture of it (a scene based on the real life Ruth Snyder case). 

This certainly demonstrates his moxie, but it also gets him into trouble. The cops are looking for him and he gets into trouble with his girlfriend's dad (who gets demoted as part of the fallout). 

But then he learns that the man who took over his old gang has killed a couple of police officers. He and Al realize that if Danny can use his old connections to find the killer and get some pictures, this might be their ticket to jobs on a legitimate paper. 

Picture Snatcher doesn't quite reach the level of True Classic that so many of the Warner Brothers gangster movies achieved, but it's still gives us an incredibly entertaining 90 minutes. The comedy and the drama are mixed together expertly and leavened with snappy dialogue. And, of course, Cagney is always top notch.

Superman Turns Villain!

 

cover art by Neal Adams

World's Finest #180 (November 1968) starts where #178 had left off (#179 was a reprint issue). Superman has lost his powers; adopted a non-powered hero identity using the name Nova and a different costume; made a mess of things; and got captured by a master criminal named Mr. Socrates.

By the way, Cary Bates continues to write the script, but Ross Andru takes over on the pencils. Perhaps this somehow explains the abrupt color change (blue to red) in Nova's costume. On the other hand, I'm reading digital reprints and perhaps the error came about when the issues were digitally re-colored? 

Anyway, Mr. Socrates plants a mind-control chip into Superman's neck. Despite a brief instance in which Superman breaks free from control, Mr. Socrates is convinced this brief failure can be accounted for and corrected.

Superman has been ordered to kill Batman, but he's still not up to speed in fighting without superpowers. Batman knocks him out and brings him to the Bat Cave.

But this is all a part of Mr. Socrates' plan. Superman escapes and, while Batman and Robin are pursuing him, the villain has used the chip to identify the Bat Cave's location. 

He and his henchmen rig the elevator that comes down from Wayne Manor to explode. That will do away with Batman and Robin next time they use it and leave Mr. Socrates access to all the cool Bat Equipment.

The story  continues to be a strong one and Andru's portayal of the Bat Cave is pretty darn cool. Mr. Socrates plan, examined via the logic of a Comic book Universe, is a good one. Most astute readers, though, will have picked up on his overconfidence in his mind-control chip after it briefly fails. This indeed will be his downfall. 

I like what follows because it shows both Superman and Batman (both without actual powers) using their brains to come out on top. Batman allowed Superman to escape. Superman quickly found Jimmy Olsen and used Jimmy's signal watch to jam the mind-control signals. Batman equipped Superman with a lead collar to permanently jam the signal. The good guys return to the Bat Cave and start going to town on the henchmen. Mr. Socrates panics and tries to escape via the booby-trapped elevator.

Batman tells the henchmen that he will ask Green Lantern to wipe the memory of the Bat Cave's location from their minds and everything is back to normal. Well, almost. Superman still has no powers, but the Caped Crusader will help train him into a proper crimefighter.

As I mentioned last week, making this an "imaginary" story was the perfect decision. This meant that we were not automatically expecting Superman to regain his powers. It left the ending uncertain and even opened the possibility of a tragic ending. This led to a strong, entertaining story that earned its more upbeat conclusion. 

Next week, it's time for the Laff-a-Lympics.

Cover Cavalcade

 

The month of May is brought to you by the Letter G.

A 1937 cover by Frederick Blakeslee.