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Pulp Era Story Reviews

Friday's Favorite OTR

Suspense: “The Black Path of Fear” 8/31/44

Brian Donlevy plays a man who makes the classic mistake of running away with a gangster’s girlfriend. The couple ends up in Havana, but their honeymoon is interrupted when the gal takes a knife in her back. Donlevy ends up on the run from the cops when he’s framed for the crime.

It’s the sort of role that Donlevy was good at and he runs into a fun supporting character in the form of a fiery widow known as Midnight.

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The worst thing about time travel is the lack of deodorant.

Science fiction writer L. Sprague de Camp was a smart guy. It shows in his prose. He never came across as pretentious--in fact, his prose is witty and highly readable--but his wide vocabulary and knowledge on myriad subjects keeps his intelligence fully on display for his readers.

Heck, I consider myself a fairly well-read guy with a pretty decent vocabulary, but when I just re-read The Glory That Was (1952), I was using the auto-dictionary function on my Kindle an awful lot.

de Camp even describes an island has having "the shape of the Hebrew letter vav reversed" and apparently assumes that his readers will just nod wisely and think "Okay, I got that."

But, as I said, he never comes across as pretentious. The Glory That Was is an unusual and very entertaining science fiction yarn, full of gentle humor without ever turning into a parody or satire.

It's set in the 27th Century. There's an Emperor of the World, but he's more a figurehead than a political leader. Still, he has enough pull to arrange to have Greece surrounded by an impenetrable force field.

When people of Greek descent begin to vanish, two-fisted journalist Knut Bulnes decides to investigate. With him is portly classical scholar Wiyem Flin, whose wife is among the missing. The two figure out a way to bypass the force field in Bulnes' yacht, but the boat is then rammed and sunk by what appears to be an ancient Greek trireme.

Getting ashore, the two men find themselves in what is apparently Greece in the time of Perikles, just before the Peloponesian War breaks out. But have they gone back in time, or is it all an elaborate hoax?

Much of the story depends on Bulnes and Flin figuring out a way to answer this question. de Camp takes the bizarre premise and moves the story along logically within that framework, building up a nice level of suspense and inserting a couple of well-described action scenes.

But the best part of the novel is the fun de Camp has showing us how the two 27th Century guys deal with being in the pre-industrial past. Flin, for instance, is fascinated by the prospect of being in Periklean Athens, but he soon gets sick of having to walk everywhere--of the lousy food and bad wine--of the lack of being able to get a cup of tea--of the bed bugs and the absence of personal hygiene.

de Camp also has some fun presenting Sokrates and other philosophers as delightfully flawed human beings.

The humor is never mean-spirited--it simply plays off the foibles of human nature. That was one of de Camp's strong points and it's why his books and short stories are always so much fun to read.

History of the Marvel Universe: December 1969

FANTASTIC FOUR #93

This wonderful storyline wraps up with a great fight scene between Ben and Torgo—as well as the bonus of getting to see Crystal looking cute as a button in 1920s flapper garb.

Ben is fighting in the Arena against Torgo, but when he gets the upper hand, he refuses to kill his opponent.  When this allows Torgo to get the upper hand, the robot now can’t bring himself to deliver the coup de grace either.

Fortunately, the rest of the Fantastic Four has followed the Skrull slaver’s energy trail to this planet. Crystal generates a shock wave that destroys the Skrull’s planet-busting weapon (something, we learn, that is an irreplaceable one-of-a-kind device). Torgo, no longer fearing for the safety of his home planet and inspired by Ben’s courage, immediately launches a slave rebellion. The FF make a getaway in the confusion.

This short summery doesn’t do justice to the marvelous visuals, the exhilarating battle scenes and the spot-on character moments. I’ve always been a fan of this story arc, but it is only while re-reading it with the intention of reviewing it that I realize just how good it is. As I’ve mentioned in my remarks on previous issues, the combination of gangster imagery with science fiction gadgetry and a plethora of aliens fighting in the arena leaves this entire story arc dripping with a level of imagination so pure that--if you could harness imagination in a generator--you could power the entire Eastern Seaboard with it.

I do have to wonder why the FF didn’t stick around to help the rebelling slaves/gladiators. But Torgo seemed to have things well in hand, so I won’t complain.

By the way, I’ve wondered if this story arc was indeed directly inspired by the Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action.” I can’t help but also notice how closely the weapons Ben and Torgo use resemble those used by Kirk and Spock when they dueled in the episode “Amok Time.” 

SPIDER MAN #79

Confronted by the Prowler in the Daily Planet building, Peter pretends to stumble back in panic and fall out a window (later claiming that Spider Man saved him.) He and the Prowler fight, but through a fluke, the inexperienced bad guy gets away.

Peter has time to tell Gwen off for supposedly seeing Flash Thompson on the side, then goes out after the Prowler again. By now, poor Hobie Brown is racked with guilt because he believes he’s responsible for someone’s death and realizing he’s outclassed by Spider Man.

Sure enough, he’s soon captured. But when Spidey unmasks him, he also listens to Hobie’s story and—convinced Hobie realizes he’s been acting like an idiot—lets him walk with a clean slate. (He presumably also tells him “You didn’t kill Peter Parker,” but I get the feeling Stan Lee lost track of that plot thread.)

It’s a nice story, giving us another minor but fun part-time superhero who will pop up again from time to time throughout the years.

THOR #171

We are, sadly, nearing the end of Jack Kirby’s run on Thor. This issue is the first of four successive single-issue stories. Then we’ll get a three-issue “Fall of Asgard” story arc. Then Sal Buscema fills in for one issue, followed by Jack doing the first part of a story involving Loki switching bodies with Thor. After that, Jack is gone—soon to be creating New Gods and post-apocalyptic worlds for DC comics.

But he’ll be going out with a bang. This issue has Donald Blake performing a tricky operation that only he has the skill to do. But he’s interrupted when the Wrecker escapes from custody and goes on a rampage. Blake has to take a chance on leaving his patient for awhile while dealing with the Asgardian-powered thug.

It’s not an important issue in terms of character development or plot—but it’s a typically awesome example of how good Kirby was at choreographing fight scenes. Thor and the Wrecker fight on the rooftops, in the streets and finally in the subways, where the Thunder God tosses the villain onto the third rail, then adds the power of his hammer to the electric shock to drain away the Wrecker’s power. And it all looks breathtaking. Jack may have been unhappy with the way Marvel was treating him by this point, but he was a real pro who never let this effect the quality of his work.

That won’t last, of course. A bad guy with a cosmically powered crowbar is simply too cool an idea to let lie. Eventually (I think in an issue of the Defenders) he’ll escape from prison and recover his crowbar, which will not only re-power him, but give three other escapees similar powers. Thus we’ll have the Wrecking Crew.

But for now, the fight is over. Thor reverts to being Dr. Blake and returns to the operating room, saving his patient.

Which brings us to the end of 1969. When Baby New Year brings the year 1970 to us, the Fantastic Four will be fighting some old enemies; Spider Man will be fighting an old enemy; and Thor will be running into an old girlfriend.

Cover Cavalcade

This fun and very dynamic cover is by Norman Saunders, whose career in the pulps and in comics was long and honorable. In 1962, he was also responsible for the famous Mars Attacks trading cards.

My latest ebook

My latest ebook is titled The Character of God and the Route to Salvation. It's subject matter is different than what I usually write about on this blog and in my other books. But, when it comes right down to it, eternal salvation probably is a tad more important than B-movies and comic books. Though it is, admittedly, a pretty close call.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Dragnet: “Sixteen Jewel Thieves” 8/18/49

This is a typically solid police procedural. The most fun thing about it is Harry Morgan (who would one day play Jack Webb’s partner on the TV version of Dragnet) guest-stars as a suspected jewel thief with a snotty attitude.

Sharp-eared OTR fans will also recognize Raymond Burr as the chief of detectives.

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The Creation of Life 101

In Mary Shelley's original novel, the description of how Frankenstein created his monster was very vague.

Which is just as well. It left filmmakers the freedom to pretty much do whatever they wanted in showing how Victor (or Henry--as he was called in the 1931 film version) made himself a monster.

Not, of course, that most film versions follow the original novel that closely anyways.

Here's the creation scenes from the 1910 silent movie and the classic 1931 Universal film. They are completely different from each other, but each is cool in its own way.

If I remember correctly, the Edison film burned a model of a human figure, then played the film backwards. (If this is incorrect, please feel free to post a comment and correct me.) The smoke pouring back into the big pot actually adds to the creepiness of the whole process.

But it was director James Whale in the 1931 film that really managed to create the iconic creation scene. Even taken out of context with the rest of the film, it's still a riveting sequence.

My Ebooks on the Nook

I've been self-publishing ebooks for the Kindle for some time now. I've finally gotten around to making several of them available for the Nook.

99 Films and Cartoons Your Children MUST See Before Growing Up: OR THEY'LL TURN OUT TO BE AXE MURDERERS!

Fort Laramie: A Review and Episode Guide for the Old Time Radio Show

Poor Forgotten Ona

A   year or so ago, I wrote about a particularly strong story arc from Our Army at War, featuring Sgt. Rock.

The DC war-themed books of the time didn’t usually do extended story lines or multi-part stories. But when Archie Goodwin became editor in the early 1970s, Sgt. Rock, the Haunted Tank and the Losers all suddenly became involved in long, multi-issue adventures. I assume this was Goodwin’s decision as editor.

If so, then it was an excellent decision. I’ve talked in that previous post about how good the Sgt. Rock story was. Goodwin himself wrote the concurrent Haunted Tank story arc—something I’ll get around to discussing eventually.

Bob Kanigher, who was writing Sgt. Rock, was also writing Our Fighting Forces—featuring the ad hoc commando group known at the Losers.

The Losers had an odd origin. Each of its members—PT boat skipper Captain Storm; fighter pilot Johnnie Cloud; Marine grunts Gunner and Sarge—had each had their own solo series during the 1960s. When those various series came to an end, Kanigher used an issue of G.I. Combat and a team-up with the Haunted Tank to bring them together as a unit.

The theme behind the Losers was that they were assigned the most difficult and dangerous missions—and that they never completely come out on top. Often, those who are helping them get killed or the mission turns out to be unnecessary. Sometimes, this would come across as a little contrived. But the stronger stories often carried a sharp emotional impact.

In Our Fighting Forces #132, John Severin became the regular artist on the series and stuck around for 19 issues--a run that represents the best of the series. It was during this time that Goodwin became editor and long story arcs became the norm.

For the Losers, this meant that Captain Storm was presumed killed during a mission in Norway, though it later turned out he had amnesia and had become a pirate. (It’s not as silly as it sounds when you read the actual story.)  During this time, a young woman from the Norwegian underground joined up with the Losers.

This was Ona, a very pretty and brave young lady had the willingness and determination to stick a dagger into an SS officer should the situation call for it. It’s no wonder that Gunner soon falls in love with her. 

After Storm regained his memory and rejoined the group, the Losers are sent to Africa to recover a cache of industrial diamonds before the Germans get to them. Things go somewhat awry—as they always did for the Losers—and they end up wandering through the Sahara, getting involved in a series of mini-adventures. They ally themselves with a French Legionnaire, a not-quite-sane British officer and some vengeful Bedouins.

During this time, Gunner’s feelings for Ona trump his experience as a soldier and he nearly gets everyone killed by trying to protect her. Feeling this makes her a burden to the group, Ona strikes out on her own during a sandstorm.

The next time the Losers see her, she’s making nice with a German officer. Has she turned traitor?

No, she hasn’t. In a situation that is probably a little over-the-top in terms of melodrama, Ona has met a German officer she dated before the war. She’s making nice to him because a prisoner in the camp he commands is a Norwegian that Ona has once been engaged to. The Norwegian is wounded and blind, but Ona won’t abandon him.

Of course, the Losers know nothing of this and can’t help but suspect Ona has turned traitor. But when Gunner confronts her during a raid on the German camp, he can’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

Despite the melodrama, the story works. Severin’s excellent art linked with Kanigher’s storytelling skills (which always improved when he had an exceptional artist to work with) ties this all together and gives both the individual mini-adventures and the overall story arc both excitement and emotional impact.

But by then, Archie Goodwin had moved on. Starting in issue #151, Jack Kirby took over as writer and artist for the Losers. If I remember correctly, he was assigned the book by DC and was reluctant to write for someone else’s characters. In fact, he wasn’t familiar with the characters at all. Someone (I can’t remember who—perhaps Mark Evanier) has pointed out that there’s nothing in Kirby’s run that indicates he knew Captain Storm had a wooden leg. And, if he was going to have to work with these characters, he’d do it his way.

Kirby tossed aside the current continuity and took the book in his own Ona-less direction. Suddenly, the Losers were out of the desert, carrying out missions in Europe and the Pacific. It was as if Ona never existed.

Kirby’s run on the Losers is a strong one—Jack Kirby was probably incapable of doing anything other than quality work. (Our Fighting Forces #152 is a particularly engrossing story.) But, though Kirby had long since earned the right to have complete creative control over anything he did—I have to say I think he was mistaken to so abruptly cut off an ongoing story. The regular readers of the Losers were unhappy and they had a point. They wanted to see the story they had been reading come to a proper end.

Well, Ona wasn’t completely forgotten. Kirby eventually returned to Marvel for a time and Kanigher once again became the writer. In Our Fighting Forces #168, the Losers are on a mission in Norway and they meet Ona once again. All the characters seem to have forgotten the details of their previous adventures—the Losers simply say she was presumed dead, while she explains she was ordered back to Norway to rejoin the Underground. There’s no mention of her blind boyfriend or the suspicion that she had turned traitor.

Probably, Kanigher didn’t have time to go into detail and simply did the best he could in bringing some degree of closure for Ona.

According to the DC Wiki, she also appears in Our Fighting Forces #173 (an issue I haven't read), but then seems to have disappeared. The poor girl has been forgotten. And that’s too bad. Women both that pretty and with the grit to eviscerate SS officers are all too rare in the world.