Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Shoulder Surgery Pause

 


I'm having a minor surgery on my shoulder. It's nothing serious, but it will put my arm in a sling for at least a few days. That makes typing a really annoying task. No Wednesday or Thursday posts this week and perhaps not next week, depending on how well my physical therapy goes. Sorry. I know my posts are the only thing that keeps many of you going from day to day. I'll be back as soon as possible.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Cover Cavalcade

 MARCH IS BORIS, ROD AND RIPLEY MONTH!!




Another wonderful George Wilson cover, this one from 1968.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Mysterious Traveler: "I Died Last Night" 4/25/50




A man obsessed with studying life after death gets an unexpected opportunity to experience the matter personally.


Click HERE to listen or download. 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Sailing a Freighter in the South Seas.

 

cover art by Rudolph Belarski


Louis L'Amour is, of course, most famous for the many, many excellent Westerns he wrote. But he did write in other genres. For instance, early in his career, he wrote a series of stories set in the South Seas, with his own experiences as a merchant seaman giving those tales authenticity.


The protagonist in these stories is a "Ponga Jim" Mayo, who is the master of a tramp steamer and who has a penchant for finding trouble. One of Ponga Jim's adventures is recounted in the October 1940 issue of Thrilling Adventures




"On the Road to Amurang" has Ponga Jim taking his ship, the Semiramis, on a cargo run to several islands. But World War 2 is raging in Europe and one side effect of that is to make the British and Dutch-controlled islands in the Pacific a dangerous place to be.


Jim finds that out when his ship is hijacked by gunmen led by a big guy (and I mean a BIG guy) named Job Dussel. Jim knows that he, his ship and his crew are doomed unless he does something fast.


He sees a chance to make a break for it and then finds an unexpected place to hide while Dussell's men are looking for him. When he has a chance, Jim jumps a guard, gets a gun and frees a few of his crew.


From there, the action picks up to a lightning pace. Dussell and his surviving men are forced to steal a lifeboat and leave the ship, but a (persumably German) cruiser is nearby to pick them up. Jim has a gun mounted on the Semiramis, but can't outduel the bigger vessel. But Jim knows the waters here better than anyone and he might still have one last trick up his sleeve. 


Besides, he doesn't want to miss a chance to find out if he can take Dussell in a fist fight. 


"On the Road to Amurang" is a great example of how much fun the Ponga Jim stories are. It's short, but packed with captures, escapes, gun battles, ship-to-ship combat and a brutal fist fight at the climax. You can read it online HERE

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Only the Lonely

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

Our Army at War #214 (January 1970) is a story that is pretty predictable in every story beat it hits. But it's still enjoyable in that Bob Kanigher (who is probably the writer) organizes those beats skillfully and Russ Heath (the artist) provides his usual magnificent pencils.


Easy Company is searching through the rubble of a shelled-out town and taking some casualties doing so. Fortunately, they get a replacement. Unfortunately, that replacement is a bit of a jerk.



Hogan, we learn, grew up in the slums of New York and he's used to watching out for himself. In fact, he declines to tag along with one of the patrols checking out the town, deciding he's better going it alone.



 
It's a bit of a stretch that Rock wouldn't simply order Hogan to do as he's ordered, but the story flows along smoothly all the same. Hogan begins searching the town, only to stumble upon a unit of Germans who capture him, tying and gagging him before he can shout a warning.

Hogan had been a bit of a jerk, but he's got enough strength of character to realize he's screwed up. He also has enough strength of character to give up his life for Easy. As Rock and the others are about to walk into an ambush, Hogan charges out into the open. He's shot, but Easy has been warned.



There's a brief battle scene in which Easy Company charges into the Germans and mops them up. Hogan is wounded, but alive and starting to learn that he doesn't have to win the war on his own.


As I said, each beat of the story is predictable. We know that Hogan's loner tendency is going to get him and Easy into trouble. We know that Hogan will redeem himself in the end. I think the only part that isn't predictable is where Hogan is alive and learning his lesson, or if he's dead but redeemed by his courage. Either ending would have worked and--as I said--skillful storytelling and great art keeps us engrossed in the tale from start to finish.


Next week, we'll visit with Green Lantern.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Cover Cavalcade

 MARCH IS BORIS, ROD AND RIPLEY MONTH!!




This George Wilson cover is from 1970.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Whistler: "Shrunken Head" 6/13/42



A woman is haunted by a dream that a shrunken head is speaking to her during the night. Or... is it a dream?


Click HERE to listen or download. 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Danger in Deep Space

 


Read/Watch 'em In Order #167


The second Tom Corbett Space Cadet tie-in novel (written under the psuedonym Carey Rockwell by an unknown author) sends Tom and his fellow cadets out of the solar system for the first time.


Danger in Deep Space (1953) is another slam-bang Space Opera tale that drips with fun. Tom, Roger and Astro are assigned to fly the Polaris to the planet Tara, orbiting around Alpha Centauri. Once there, they are to test a new interstellar communication device. For this mission, the Polaris will be refitted with a hyperdrive and overall command will go to Major Connel, reputed to be the toughest officer in the service.


This is apparently true, as Connel's first encounter with the three cadets involves him chewing them out and all three soon have a bucketful of demerits charged to them for a variety of minor infractions.


But Connel isn't just a martinet. Yes, his command technique for cadets is at first to go into total Drill Sergeant Mode. But we soon find out he's really good at his job--that he cares about both the service and those under his command--and that, if you've earned a "well done," you'll get it. Connel's character template isn't original, but it's presented here with sincerity and a genuine respect for men who do jobs requiring discipline, intelligence and courage.



And discipline, intelligence and courage will be needed. The Polaris heads first to a large spaceport in orbit around Venus. It's from here they will refuel and then launch for Alpha Centuri. (By the way, there is a few paragraphs of technobabble to explain how a hyperdrive works, but then any real-life problems with relativity and Einsteinian physics are blissfully ignored. The book jumps with both feet into Space Opera territory and only occasionally about realistic science. This is how it should be in the Tom Corbett universe.)


While there, a ship crashes into the space station and the two crewmen aboard are killed. Roger Manning, who had been on duty in what was essentially the space station's air traffic control, is framed for being responsible. He goes on the run, while a replacement is brought aboard the Polaris.



While the good guys fly to the planet Tara on their mission, the guys who framed Roger actually recruit the fugitive aboard their ship. They are also flying for Alpha Centauri, intending to mine a small planetoid that is rich in copper. Copper is now very valuable--its esssential for making modern electronics, but most copper sources on Earth have been mined out.


This leads to an entertaining storyline in which the overall situation keeps changing in fun ways. The bad guys try to blow up the good guys. Roger helps foil this plan and then helps capture the bad guys, rejoining the crew of the Polaris



The crew of the Polaris decides to blast the copper-planet out of orbit and send it towards Earth. Apparently, it will reach the Earth in a reasonable period of time despite a distance of four light-years. It's similar to how the Millenium Falcon can reach Bespin despite its hyperdrive being knocked out. Or how the Mandalorian could get himself and Baby Yoda from one star sytem to another with no hyperdrive. Like Star Wars, the Tom Corbett Universe works according to Space Opera Physics. As it should. I DON'T WAN TO HEAR A WORD OF COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS! UNDERSTAND?


To carry out this plan, the cadets have to spend several near-sleepless days working out complicated math while building reaction bombs and timing devices. The bombs have to go off at the exact correct second to send the planet off on the correct trajectory.


I really enjoy this part of the book. As in Stand By For Mars, the book here stresses not just physical courage, but education and intelligence. We are reminded that the cadets are all very, very smart. In our universe, they'd each have at least one doctorate in the fields of math, physics or astronomy. When Major Connel obligates them to do Nobel Prize winning tasks on the fly, they step forward to do them. 



But sometimes the need for physical courage arises as well. The captured bad guys stage a break-out at the worst possible moment, putting the mission and the men of the Polaris in a situation that seems pretty much hopeless.

 

Danger in Deep Space brings the Tom Corbett series so far to 2 wins and no losses. We'll return soon to see if the winning streak continues with On the Trail of the Space Pirates. But it has space pirates in it. It can't help but be good.




Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Stealing Oil

cover artist unknown

 

Before he made it big with his Mike Hammer novels, Mickey Spillane's career as a writer included a stint with Marvel Comics. (Then called Timely Comics.) In All-Winners Comics #3 (Winter 1941-42), Spillane penned a nifty Human Torch story, with the art tentatively credited to Torch's creator Carl Burgos.



The story begins when the Torch and Toro hear a shot and then see the gunman running from a nearby building. They stop the guy, who commits suicide to avoid capture. He turns out to be part of a pro-Japanese society called the Black Dragons.


Inside the building is the body of an oil tycoon, who had recently sold a Texas oil well to someone else. The Torch's investigation of this convinces him to take a look at the oil well. Confirmation that he is on to something comes when, during the trip to Texas via train, a Black Dragon assassin tries to kill him.



The assassin is wearing an asbestos suit, so is able to escape. Upon arriving in Texas, the Torch takes a job at the oil well. He and Toro soon find out that the oil is being pumped from the well to the coast rather than to a legitimate location.


The two heroes are nearly blown to bits by land mines, but soon have the local Black Dragon goons on the run. They capture all but the leader, who escapes through the pipeline and boards a Japanese submarine that has been collecting the oil. 


The Torches catch the sub and burn a hole in its side, forcing it to surrender to a nearby American destroyer. So a plan by the Japanese government to steal oil is foiled.


It's a simple, fun story. Though the artist is uncredited, it looks like Burgos' style and has the same liveliness typical of his work. Spillane shows that, even early in his career, he knew how to move a story along at a brisk pace. Also, its always worthwhile to note that Marvel Comics was slamming the Axis forces before the U.S. officially entered the war. That always makes these early anti-fascist stories more fun to read.


Next week, we'll stay in the 1940s and visit Sgt. Rock.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Cover Cavalcade

 MARCH IS BORIS, ROD AND RIPLEY MONTH!!



This 1967 cover is by George Wilson.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...