Cover Cavalcade

This is a typically cool Gene Colon cover.

Friday's Favorite OTR

The Adventures of Superman: “Mystery of the Mechanical Monster” 12/10/47

The plot about a giant robot that rampages through the streets of Metropolis is fine and Jackson Beck does his usual superb job as narrator, but most of the fun in this episode is listening to Julian Noa as Perry White, perpetually aggravated with poor Clark Kent while he and the mild-mannered reporter try to track down the secret lair of the robot’s creator. Poor Perry sounds like he’s going to pop a blood vessel when he gets mad—and you really get the impression that Noa was having a ball doing the part.

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The Hand is now Fingerless

Read/Watch ‘em in order #10

Realm of Doom, from The Shadow Magazine—February 1, 1939.

There’s still one member of the Hand at large and this guy’s particular brand of villainy once again takes the Shadow out of New York City. This time, the crime-fighter travels to a desolate coal mining region in West Virginia.

The bad guy’s name is Thumb Gaudrey. And, by the way, on a scale of 1 to 10, exactly how embarrassed should I be that I didn’t notice that the various leaders of the Hand were named after specific fingers--Pinky, Ring, Long, Pointer and Thumb--until I got to the last entry in the series?

Don’t answer that. I don’t want to talk about it.

Thumb has set up a kidnapping ring. When the story opens, he’s already snatched a couple of people and collected ransoms, though he hasn’t yet released any of his victims.

He and his gang have pulled the kidnapping jobs in different areas of the country. Between this and a well-hidden underground lair, the police haven’t yet realized that there is a kidnapping ring.

But one of the victims—also one of the most fun one-off characters writer Walter Gibson ever came up with—is Professor Felix Dort. The good professor pretends to be ineffectually eccentric, but he’s actually come up with a very clever method of sneaking messages out of the underground lair.

This puts the Shadow on the trail. He saves a woman from kidnappers—not once, but twice—before discovering that the bad guys are planning on snatching a literal bus load of millionaires.

But even the Shadow can be overconfident—he expects to stop the kidnappers only to end up (in his usual Lamont Cranston disguise) to be among those kidnapped. But with a little help from Felix Dort, he might just turn the table on the scoundrels.

It’s yet another fun, fast-moving novel. Most of the Shadow’s adventures are urban, so those times he’s taken out into the country always make for a nice change-of-pace. Gibson handles the action set-pieces with his usual skill, especially the final combination hand-to-hand/gun battle between the Shadow and the three top bad guys.

The plot unfolds nicely, with the Shadow and his agent Harry Vincent both doing some sharp detective work to find the underground lair. And, as I mentioned before, Felix Dort is a great character—a guy who essentially pretends to be the stereotypical absent-minded professor while all the time running various cons on his captors.

So which of the five Hand novels was the best? All are well-plotted. The rapid plot twists that come so fast and furious at the end of Chicago Crime probably make for the most entertaining moments in the series. But I think I would go with Crime Rides the Sea as my overall favorite, with its truly exciting fight scenes and its great use of so many of the Shadow’s agents, such as Jericho Druke bowling over two thugs by throwing a STOVE at them. Realm of Doom, though, ranks a very close second, giving us the Shadow as (however briefly) a helpless captive and the not-quite-as-eccentric-as-he-seems Professor Dort helping to save the day.

That’s it for these particular Shadow novels. As I mentioned when we discussed the last Invisible Man film, I’m going to be covering Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar novels (which will also give us a look at Tarzan of the Apes in a cross-over novel). In addition to that, I think we’ll take a look at the original Flash Gordon serials with Buster Crabbe. So we’ll be traveling both to the Earth’s core and to the planet Mongo. Be sure to bring your cameras and check that your vaccinations are up-to-date.

So, for the time being, we leave the Shadow. But he’ll be back. Whenever villainy is afoot, the Shadow will always be there.

A Dark Knight and a Boy of Steel

 The Brave and the Bold #192 (November 1982): featuring Batman and Superboy.

Superboy? That's right. When evil scientist Ira Quimby (better known simply as I.Q.) tries to throw Superman back to prehistoric times and erect a "time shield" to keep him there, he misplaces a decimal point and tosses him back just 15 years. Because a person can't co-exist with himself in the same time, Superboy is thrown into present day.

So a veteran Batman and an inexperienced Superboy must team-up to figure out what is going on. The actual plot of this story is fine--written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Jim Aparo, it progresses and climaxes quite satisfactorily.

Some thugs are robbing a Superman charity fund, so Batman calls in the Man of Steel to help round them up. But the time switch is made. Since Batman is, well, Batman, he quickly figures out what’s going on and begins tracking down whoever is responsible. This is Quimby, who got Superman out of the way while he generates solar flares that will “make my solar-powered brain the most brilliant in all creation.”  Working together, the Dark Knight and the Boy of Steel manage to foil Quimby’s plans.  With the bad guy’s time shield down, Superboy and Superman are able to return to their proper eras.

But what makes this story really fun is the interplay between Batman and Superboy. On several occasions, the Dark Knight has to deliver a stern lecture to young Clark about using his powers more effectively. For instance, he has to explain that it was a mistake to use heat vision on a thug's gun, since that detonated the gunpowder and tossed shrapnel about that might have hurt an innocent bystander. Instead, he should have just melted the bullets in mid-air. A chagrined Superboy replies "O-okay." Batman also has to give young Clark a “Is this how your parents trained you?” lecture to keep the Boy of Steel on track after he stumbles across the fact that the Kents have died. 

These are all wonderful little moments, charming and completely believable.

We also get a brief glimpse of Superman back in his bedroom in Smallville, listening to Pa Kent call out that breakfast was ready. Unable to face seeing his parents while knowing they will soon die, he immediately flies away. It's a brief scene, but sincerely emotional.

There might be one plot hole. Batman casually tells Superboy he won’t remember any of this. But I don’t think it works that way. When Superboy travels to the far future to work with the Legion of Super Heroes, he depends on a deliberately planted post-hypnotic suggestion to forget anything he’s learned about his personal future. It doesn’t happen automatically. But I think we can forgive this.

Besides, it’s comic book science, where you have a lot of leeway to make stuff up as you go along. Maybe the forgetting is something that happens when you get switched with your own future self. Yeah, that’s it.

By the early 1980s, the mythology of the DC universe had become quite complex. Within a few years, the editors at DC would decide it was too complex and we would be given the first of many DC Universe reboots with the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series. Many comic fans still sincerely argue about whether this was a good or bad idea, but the complexity of the original continuity did have its advantages. In the case of this issue of "The Brave and the Bold," it allowed writer Mike W. Barr to take a law of DC Comics physics (you can't co-exist with yourself during time travel) and combine it with an established part of the Superman mythos (his career as Superboy) to create an entertaining and rewarding short story.

Cover Cavalcade

Friday's Favorite OTR

Casey, Crime Photographer: “The Piggy Bank Robbery” 1/29/48

A burglar enters an apartment at night, but ignores money and valuables to steal a child’s piggy bank.

Why? Well, the odd crime later becomes intertwines with the brutal murder of an ex-criminal.

The mystery really isn’t that hard to figure out, but it unfolds logical and leads up to an ending that Casey finds particularly satisfying.

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The Last Invisible Man

Read/Watch ‘em in Order: #9

The previous movie in this series—The Invisible Man’s Revenge—was too different from the other films to be considered a part of the same continuity, but that’s not the case with this film.

Despite a heavy dose of both verbal and slapstick humor, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) ties squarely in with the original film. Bud and Lou are newly licensed private eyes. When boxer Tommy Nelson is accused of murder, he hires the boys to help him catch the real killers.

But Tommy has another advantage. His girlfriend’s dad has inherited Jack Griffith’s original formula (heck, there’s a picture of Claude Rains hanging in his lab) and Tommy injects himself with it. But there’s still the danger of the formula driving Tommy insane and there’s no guarantee he can be cured even if he does clear his name.

Of course, that last bit does represent a continuity glitch---it had already been established in the second film that a complete blood transfusion would work as a cure. Also, Tommy is able to eat without the undigested food being visible inside him. But we can forgive this last one, since it helps set up a great visual gag later in the film when Lou and Tommy are sharing a plate of spaghetti.

The film was one of several that followed up on the commercial success of 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.  The boys had shown us that it was possible to incorporate great comedy with a serious and respectful treatment of Universal’s classic monsters, so that formula was repeated several times. In this case, the plot involved Tommy and the boys getting evidence against mobsters who framed the boxer and arranged for fights to be thrown. This part of the film is played relatively straight and progresses in a logical manner as they identify the chief mobster and set him up for a fall.

But the gags mixed in with this are hilarious without distracting from the “rational” part of the plot. The dialogue highlights Bud and Lou’s verbal wit, while several bits of physical comedy are amongst the best in any of their films. The funniest moment, I think, might possibly be the punch line (or rather the punch sight gag) involving Lou accidently putting a number of people to sleep via hypnotism.

And an extended sequence with Lou in a boxing ring, being secretly helped by Tommy during a fight, is truly classic. In fact, the entire film was consciously built around this routine.

Even the short throwaway gags (such as Lou trying to pick up a gun while wearing boxing gloves) are funny. The special effects are great and the supporting cast holds up their end of the film nicely. Sheldon Leonard plays the head mobster—a standard role for him but one he always did well both in serious films and in comedies. William Frawley gets several terrific scenes as the long-suffering police detective trying to catch Tommy.

It’s a worthwhile finale for a classic and enjoyable series of horror films.

And that does indeed bring us to the end of the Invisible Man films. We’ve still one more Shadow novel in “The Hand” series to cover, then we’ll be ready to move on to something else. Right now, I’m leaning towards examining Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellicidar novels—if only because I haven’t revisited them in awhile. But we’ll see. It’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to… um, I mean I’ll read what I want to. 

Actually, I’m open to suggestions. Any film or book series you all would like me to cover?

History of the Marvel Universe: October 1968

FANTASTIC FOUR #79

Like FF #51, this is a classic issue that really tugs at the heartstrings. Ben is human again, intensely nervous as he leaves for a date with Alicia. In the meantime, Reed learns that the cosmic radiation infusing Sue might have an unknown effect on her pregnancy (foreshadowing the events of the upcoming Annual).

An android left over from the Mad Thinker’s last appearance is inadvertently activated by the cops who are putting it in storage. It goes on a pre-programmed mission that brings it into contact with Ben and Alicia. To save the girl he loves, Ben has to revert back into the Thing, even though Reed has warned him he would never be able to become human again.

Even though Ben’s plan for turning himself into the Thing again is a little bit contrived, the issue as a whole is a very strong one—reminding us that the whole “we’re a family” vibe inherent in the Fantastic Four is what makes it stand out from other team books. Stan and Jack continue to show that they perfectly understand the personalities of their characters and if your heart doesn’t go out to Ben in the last few panels… well, you’re just dead inside and probably beat up puppy dogs in your spare time.

SPIDER MAN #65

An unconscious Spider Man is taken in by the cops, but Captain Stacy is on hand to tell them not to unmask his until they can check with the city lawyers about the legality of that.

I doubt that makes real-life legal sense, since I’m pretty sure if the cops bust you they can take your mask off regardless of the circumstances. But in a universe in which superheroes are common and accepted, the laws might very well be a little different. In the DC Universe, for instance, there’s a law that allows superheroes to testify in court without unmasking or giving away their secret ID. Something similar is very likely to exist in the Marvel Universe.

Anyway, this sets up the story. Spidey is able to rest up in the prison infirmary, getting over the worst of his injuries quickly due to his powers. So when a bunch of prisoners stage a jail break with Captain Stacy as hostage, he’s ready to take a hand.

The action unfolds in an interesting and entertaining way. In a straight fight, Spidey could put down a half-dozen thugs in a few seconds. But here he’s worried about Stacy’s safety, so he instead pretends to join in the jail break. When he gets an opportunity to do so, he rips out a fuse box to put out the lights. Then he takes the thugs out in ones or twos before they realize what’s happening.

When it’s over, Stacy is able to vouch for Spider Man, but still wants him to stay and face any charges against him. But Peter doesn’t want to risk being unmasked, so he makes a break for it.

There’s also a scene in which Harry is looking for his now missing father and another with Aunt May being increasingly worried about Peter. Aunt May is a great character and I don’t object to her at all, but this is another instant of Stan overusing her tendency to literally worry herself sick over Peter.

THOR #157

More great action as the Mangog storyline comes to a close.

For the past three or four issues, poor Balder has been fighting the magically enslaved minions of Karnilla, sicced on him because he stubbornly refuses to fall in love with her. But his courage breaks the spell on the minions and they join Balder in returning to Asgard to defend it, leaving the Queen of the Norns heartbroken and alone. (It’s a big month for heartbroken and alone characters.)

Meanwhile, Mangog continues his unstoppable advance on Asgard, defeating Thor, the Warriors Three, Balder and his crew, the armies of Asgard and at least one all-powerful weapon. Loki panics and flees Asgard, though that won’t do him any good if the whole universe is destroyed.

But just as Mangog is about to draw the Odinsword, Thor tries one last ploy, calling up a storm designed to wake up his dad. This works. Odin casually zaps Mangog out of existence. The billion billion souls who made up his strength come into existence again on a distant planet, having completed their penance for having once been evil conquerors.

You’d think that an ending like this would seem anti-climatic. Mangog curb-stomps just about every Asgardian in existence, only to have Odin defeat him by pretty much just casually waving a hand in his direction.

But it works. If Odin had “just happened” to wake up at a key moment, it might have seemed contrived. But his awakening was Thor’s doing, which was in turn an extension of the Thunder God’s refusal to quite even defeat seemed inevitable.

What makes this story a classic is a combination of Thor’s determination along with something I’ve stressed in the last few issues: The decision to use a lot of full page, half-page and quarter page panels to highlight Jack’s art here was exactly the right thing to do. One of Kirby’s strength is his ability to endow his images with a palpable feeling of raw power. This story arc is a textbook example of just how good he was at that.

That’s it for October. Next week, we'll take a look at that time Batman teamed up with... Superboy?  Then, in November1968, the FF helps out an old friend; Spider Man takes on an old enemy; and Thor flashes back to his origin.

BOGIE AT WAR

I've just published another e-book. Bogie at War covers the seven films made just before or during World War II in which a character played by Bogart goes up against the Axis. I've written it mostly to celebrate the themes of self-sacrifice, service to others and confronting evil that run so strongly through most of these films.

It's exclusive for the Kindle or the (free) Kindle app--I did that so that it's also available to borrow for free if you're an Amazon Prime member. It's a mere .99 cents to purchase, though. A small price for a work by a true genius such as myself.

Cover Cavalcade

This is a great Joe Kubert cover, but it always makes me feel like I should be putting an emergency call into Social Services.