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. 

Introducing Cliff Marsland

cover art by George Rozen

The April 1932 issue of The Shadow Magazine featured the novel Mobsmen on the Spot.  Written by Walter Gibson (under the usual house name of Maxwell Grant), this story introduced us to Cliff Marsland,  is a man who did a term in Sing Sing after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He's out now and recruited by the Shadow to help break up a multi-layered protection racket that plagues New York City.

That racket is run by a crook named Killer Durgan, though there's a number of other lower-level crooks involved. The novel opens with the Shadow finishing off a scheme to extort protection money from the owners of warehouses. But Durgan is also getting protection money from garage owners, dock workers, and theater owners. Each of these rackets need to be stamped out to bring Durgan down.

With Cliff getting inside information, the Shadow takes down these rackets one by one. At one point, he has Cliff recruit a small gang of his own to work against Durgan's organization. This leads to a wonderful sequence in which Durgan attempts to plant bombs in garages that won't pay protection--only to have those bombs mysteriously transplanted to garages he owns. (They go off at night, so there's no innocent people are hurt.) 

There's a supporting character involved in all this I really enjoy--a crook named Nippy who teams up with Cliff. He thinks Cliff is working to take over the rackets himself and has no idea he's working on the side of the angels. But he's brave and very loyal and even saves Cliff's bacon on a couple of occasions. There's also Madge--Durgan's moll who develops a thing for Cliff, which puts her in great danger.  Her relationship with the very-possessive Durgan is downright toxic and we can't help but feel for her. The Shadow novels are usually very black-and-white in their portrayal of crooks. But in this case, we find outselves liking Nippy and sympathizing with Madge.

As is usual with Gibson's Shadow novels, there's some really fun action scenes. Most notable are a shootout in a night club when Nippy first teams up with Cliff. Later on, Cliff and his mini-gang become mixed up in a massive shoot-out between two gangs at the docks.

As usual, the Shadow keeps popping up at key moments to Cliff save and and/or thin out the ranks of the ungodly. And he's one step ahead of us readers as well--when it seems as if the leader of the racket is finally taken down, we find out this isn't quite true. There's a secret mastermind out there. We don't know this is, but... well, the Shadow knows. 

In the end, the Shadow takes out the main villain in a pretty cold-blooded manner, but the guy definitely had it coming. Besides, who are we to question the methods of the Master of Men?

Mayor Monk

 

cover art by Victor Pazmino

It was within pages of America's Funniest Comics that we encountered Tommy the Time Traveling Cat, whose adventures we looked at a couple of years ago HERE and HERE. The first issue (September 1944) also gave us the one and only appearance of Mayor Monk.

The writer is unknown and the lively, expressive art is by Sam Singer. Our protagonist is Merivale Monk, a former street cleaner who has moved to a new city and is now running for mayor.

His campaign advisor tells him he needs to do two things: run on his record and kiss all the babies in town. This plan falls apart when it's publically revealed that his "record" is confined to sweeping up trash...

...followed by several embarassing incidents while kissing babies:

Well, there's still a chance if Merivale's big speech over the radio goes well. But an agent working for the opposition party switches the speech and Merivale publically promises to steal the city treasury before he realizes what he's reading. 

One more chance--his campaign manager arranges to stage a bank robbery, so Merivale can become a hero by stopping the robbers. This doesn't go exactly as planned--Merivale encounters real robbers without realizing who they are:

But he's punched into the getaway car, hits the gas by accident and chases the robbers into the hands of the police. He's now a hero and now sure to be elected, though the knowledge he fought real robbers causes him to faint.

As I said, Singer's art is fun to look at and the gags are effective and well-timed. Sadly, this is the only story we have starring Mayor Monk. It would have been nifty to see a few stories about him battling the corruption caused by the opposition party (who, by golly,  OOZE dishonesty in the one panel in which we see them):

Oh, well. So many quirky characters have faded into Comic Book Limbo and there is little that can be done about it now. At least we can enjoy Mayor Monk's single apperance HERE.

Next week, we'll visit with yet another character (this time a human) who had but one appearance before joining Tommy the Time Travelling Cat and Mayor Monk in Comic Book Limbo.

Cover Cavalcade

 APRIL IS KILLER ROBOT MONTH!

A Dave Cockrum cover from 1979.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Our Miss Brooks: "Head of the English Department" 1/23/49

Miss Brooks hopes to be named head of the English Department. This means its time to attempt to butter up Principal Conklin.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Solace of the Sea

cover art by A.L. Ripley

 Read/Watch 'em In Order #180

Our next story in the January 10, 1926 issue of Adventure is "Solace of the Sea," by Bill Adams, a fairly steady contributer to the magazine. His work included poems and articles as well as prose fiction.

"Solace of the Sea" is set aboard a merchant sailing ship. A man identified in the story only as "the cripple" has stowed away. He's got a lot of upper body strength, but can't walk on his club feet.

He's treated kindly by most of the crew, but the second mate dislikes him. This is important--during a vividly described storm, the rest of the crew is swept overboard. Only the cripple and the second mate remain. 

As I said,  Adams also wrote poetry. Perhaps that's why the story ends with some ambiguity--Adams continues to paint a vivid word picture and, I think, implies an act of self-sacrifice, but I was a little aggrevated in this not being spelled out for me. Sometimes, ambiguity is appropriate to a story. Sometimes, it can be a little annoying.

Read it yourself HERE. 

From Big to Little to Big Again

 

cover art by Walt Kelly

Last week, I said we'd review an issue of Hawkman, but I abruptly changed my mind when struck with an overwhelming desire to bask in the pure wonderfull-ness of Fiary Tale Parade.

The first story in F.T. Parade #9 (March-August 1944) is drawn by Walt Kelly. The writer is unknown, though its not impossible that this was Kelly as well. In any  case, the tale is fun to look at (typical of any Kelly-drawn tale) and cleverly written.

There's a big tournament coming up in the Kingdom, so the king sends his son (Prince Robin) out into the forest to invite travellers to the event. Robin finds a pair of dwarfs. They're reluctant to attend the tournament, since people tend to laugh at them. Robin insists, though, and--at first--people who see the drawfs stifle their laughter because the little guys are guests of the prince. 

But when Robin's dad sees them, he can't contain himself. And the king laughing at the drawfs gives everyone else implicit permission to do the same. But everyone soon finds out that laughing at these particular drawfs is not a wise thing to do. 

Everyone in the castle, except Robin, is reduced to the size of a drawf. This stops their laughter, but it also makes a quest necessary. The only way to reverse the curse is to get a magic ring from Snogweir the giant.

Armed with a magic sword and accompanied by the drawfs, Robin rides to Snogweir's castle. Robin chases off some cowardly goblins who are standing guard. When Snogweir comes out to fight, Robin and drawfs discover he can be beaten by repeatedly whacking him on his sensitive nose.

The ring is recovered and the curse is lifted.

The story is indeed cleverly written and beautifully illustrated--a phrase, by the way, the describes just about any story in Fairy Tale Parade. I especially enjoy the idea of the giant's bulbous nose being his weakpoint. It's all quite silly, but it's supposed to be silly and is told with enough confidence and craft to be enjoyed as an adventure story as well as a children's tale. 

You can read it for yourself here. 

Next week, we'll visit with a monkey who's running for mayor.

Cover Cavalcade

 APRIL IS KILLER ROBOT MONTH!

This Sal Buscema cover is from 1969.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Dragnet: "The Big Dog" 11/16/54

My dog "Sherlock" when I discovered that 

Spongebob Squarepants is his natural prey

Sgt. Friday responds to a report of a man with a shotgun waiting to shoot someone. What follows is the stand-off with that man, mixed together with a study of why men and dogs love each other.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

What My Dog Sherlock Read

My dog Sherlock continues to claim that his "impeccable taste in books" needs to be shared with the world and will inevitably save civilization. He's very full of himself.

Time Traveling Tank

 

cover art by Russ Heath

The Russ Heath cover for G.I. Combat #121 (December 1966-January 1967) is magnificent and does depict a scene from the story accurately, but it does not hint at the main plot twist. That plot twist being the Haunted Tank travels backwards in time!

The story, written by Bob Kanigher and drawn by Russ Heath, begins in a standard enough manner--with the Germans trying to kill Jeb Stuart and his crew. After a close call battling a German fighter, things get mildly odd when a confused pigeon lands on the tank.

Slim, the driver, makes the unwise decision of allowing an animal that is famous for not being house-broken nest in his helmet. We never see the consequences of this, though, so I guess it worked out. 

Anyway, the ghost of General Stuart appears to say the pigeon is going to be responsible for them fighting in two wars. It's a different sort of warning than Jeb normally gets from his ghostly mentor. It's not a cryptic warning that will save their lives later on. Instead, its merely a prediction of what will happen. And it's not quite accurate--the pigeon doesn't seem to be responsible for their eventually side trip to World War I. It does lead the tank back to World War 2, so it does have a key role in the story.

That last paragraph seems nitpicky. This is a fun story highlighted by Heath's typically magnificent art.

Anyway, a little later, the Haunted Tank blasts a German tank off a cliff. To avoid the 60-ton monster from landing on them, the small tank drives into a cave. The German tank crashes down outside the entrance, trapping them in the cave.

It's a large cave, though, and there's a number of tunnels leading out of it. They try one at random and find themselves on a World War I battlefield!

I love how nonchalant Jeb is about this. He deduces that they apparently gone through a time warp in the cave and then just goes with it. We get no indication of what the rest of the crew thought. Maybe they were busy cleaning bird poop out of Slim's helmet.

The American troops are pinned down by early model German tanks. The leader of the Americans is a double for Sgt. Rock. Jeb deduces that this is Rock's dad.

The Haunted Tank takes out one of the German tanks and WWI-Rock leads his troops on a charge to destroy the other enemy tank. He uses a tactic his son will often employ, crawling onto the tank and spraying gunfire through view ports until ammunition is touched off. 

Having saved the WWI-era Americans, Jeb takes the tank back into the cave tunnels to hopefully find a way back to World War II. It's here the pigeon takes a role, leading them through the right tunnel and getting them home.

They almost get nailed by another Tiger tank, but WWI-era Rock and his troops show up to save them.

WW1-Rock heads back to his own time and has some interesting stories to eventually tell his son. Jeb and his crew return to their war--once again very blase about having just traveled through time. Of course, Jeb regularly talks to a ghost, so perhaps he's just gotten used to the unusual.

This really is a good story. Heath's art is especially noteworthy in the large panel depicted a First World War battle, but its... well... magnificent from start to finish. (It is very difficult to talk about Heath's work without regularly repeating the word "magnificent.") And the story itself takes a bizarre but fun concept and runs with it, without worrying about detailed explanations or rigid story logic. 

Next week, we'll stay in the DC Silver Age as we visit Hawkman. 

Cover Cavalcade

 APRIL IS KILLER ROBOT MONTH!

This 1969 cover is by George Wilson.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Escape: "A Sleeping Draught" 10/1/50

A ship is transporting a group of convicts from England to Australia. The convicts are somewhat... disrespectful of authority and a few knives smuggled aboard make them a real threat to the crew. The captain can only defuse the situation by trusting a murderer to help him.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Wild Mustang (1935)

 

Ajax Pictures was one of the Poverty Row studios able to churn out inexpensive B-movies to inhabit the bottom half of double features, In 1935, they produced Wild Mustang, starring Harry Carey as former sheriff Joe "Wild Mustang" Norton. 

As is the case with many of the B-movies, it's a fun little movie. The story certainly unfolds quickly. It pretty much has to--the movie has a mere 58-minute run time.

Veteran Western villain Bob Kortman is Utah Evans, an escaped convict that "Wild Mustang" Norton sent up the river years ago. He puts together a gang, robs a bank and commits a couple of murders. The murder victims include the current sheriff.

So Norton comes out of retirement and soon has his own son Reno going undercover, joining the gang as an outlaw. Reno's cover is quickly blown, but he's learned of the gang's plan to raid the town.

In the meantime, old "Wild Mustang" gets himself captured. With the help of his horse, he escapes, but then soon gets captured again. This leads to him being tied up and gagged in a cabin that his own son is about to blow up with dynamite. Harry Carey was a good actor with a real screen presence, but his character this time can be said to have an over-confidence problem. 

In the end, of course, the good guys win. Utah is caught by the hero (who does manage to escape again) and, though we don't see the rest of the gang caught, its implied that are. The story does indeed move quickly and I think it's worth an hour of your time if you are in the mood for an old-fashioned oater. 

War Between Worlds--the Finale

 

Cover art by Rich Buckler

(figures of Sue and Reed by John Romita)

The complex four-issue story arc involving war between parallel worlds, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Rich Buckler, comes to an end in Fantastic Four #163 (October 1975). 

There are two important battles on. In one, Ben Grimm has used interdimensional skates to travel into a small pocket of hyperspace. Located here is the Nexus that connects the three dimensions on the verge of war with one another to Arkon's home dimension. Check last week's review for an explanation of  Arkon's plan. For now, its important to remember that his nefarious plan can be foiled by destroying the Nexus.

Ben has a hockey-puck shaped devise he needs to throw into the Nexus to collapse it, but Arkon's minion--the hockey-themed being called Gaard--is one step ahead of him. Reed and Sue are watching the battle on an interdimensional monitor, but the hyperspace pocket is designed so that no more than two living beings can occupy it at the same time. So Ben can't expect any help.

 Meanwhile, Thing-Reed from the alternate Earth and Johnny are carrying the fight to Arkon's home world. It's a cool fight scene, well-choreographed and well-drawn. During the fight, Thing-Reed has some character development, realizing he can't spend his existence locked in a lab tinkering with robots, but needs to become an active participant in life again.

Though from different dimensions, Johnny and Thing-Reed work well together and eventually put Arkon down.

But that won't do any good if Ben can't close up the Nexus. But Gaard is good at... well, guarding stuff. Ben can't get by him.

Reed finally tumbles on an idea to help, transmitting a holographic illusion of another Thing into the hyperspace pocket, distracting Gaard and allowing Ben to toss the anti-Nexus hockey puck into the Nexus.

War is averted and everyone heads home to their proper dimensions. We do get one last look at Gaard. He takes his mask off and we discover he's the alternate Earth's Johnny Storm, who had supposedly been killed in Vietnam. 

Gaard then disappears from continuity for 20 years, not reappearing until well after Marvel Comics stopped being fun. So this can be effectively considered his only appearance worth mentioning.

This was a great story arc and the finale is largely satisfying. Buckler's art work is wonderful and the action scenes are more fun than a barrel of interdimensional skates. It's not without a few minor flaws: Sue doesn't really get to do anything significant during the story arc. And Gaard's hockey-themed character design is considered by many fans to be a little too silly to be effective. And, though the resolution of Thing-Reed's character arc was a legitimate part of the story, the fight against Arkon didn't make any difference to the main plot. Whether or not Arkon went down, it all depended on Ben closing the Nexus. 

But there's are indeed minor glitches. I admire the way Thomas took a complex story idea and laid out the plot in a way that we readers could follow along without confusion. And the action scenes are magnificent from start to finish. 

Next week, we'll visit with the Haunted Tank.