Cover Cavalcade

 

 

Artist George Rozen could make stamp collecting look ominous! This cover is from 1933.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Suspense: "Walls Came Tumbling Down" 6/29/44

Someone is willing to kill to obtain a specific copy of the Bible.

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Bretwalda, Part 2

 

Read/Watch 'em In Order #135

When we last encountered the axe Bretwalda (which means "Ruler of Briton"), it was used to save the life of King Alfred, who would one day win a great victory against the Vikings that were ravaging England.

Philip Ketchum's second Bretwalda story is "Vandal," published in the March 18, 1939 issue of Argosy. We've jumped ahead a generation, with Winton--the axe's owner--living in Norway and teaching his son Alfred to be also have the skills necessary to kick butt and take names.

It's a skill that soon comes in handy. Norway has been united under King Harold, who is a friend of England. But Harold's grip on the throne is tenuous, with many powerful jarls (who used to be the top dogs of their own territories) wanting to overthrow him.

In fact, it's not long before things get dangerous. Harold is kidnapped and Winton is back-stabbed. Alfred, who previously could barely lift Bretwalda, now finds it easy to wield. He, along with Harold's son and daughter and a few other allies, launch a rescue mission to save Harold.

But in order to do so, Alfred will have to make a decision very similar to that made by his father in "The Axe Bites Deep." He has to be willing to sacrifice himself to save Harold and, by extension, save England.

"Vandal" is an excellent story, with several great action scenes that also generates an extraordinary level of tension during the unusual boat trip that takes up much of the latter half of the story. Also, Alfred's relationship with Harold's daughter Sigrid grows quickly (necessary in a short story), but also seems natural and not at all contrived.

I'm being sparse in detail because I don't want to spoil the story for anyone. You can read it online HERE.

 

Helpless Target

 

cover art tentatively credited to Dick Giordano

Charlton Comics' Attack ran for seven issue in 1958 and 1959. These issues were numbered 54 through 60, so it probably picked up the numbering sequence of a cancelled title, though I don't know what that previous title was.

Attack specialized in short (usually 5-page) stories that told their tales quickly and economically. "Helpless Target!" for instance, was published in Attack #55 (December 1958). With a script tentatively credited to Joe Gill and art by Bill Molno, it's one of a half-dozen tales crammed into the 36-page book.

A large landing craft (L.S.T.--Landing Ship, Tank) has just dropped off troops on the Philippines during the 1944 invasion. But they are having engine trouble and drop behind their convoy.

This is bad, because there are Japanese ships in the area and an L.S.T. is very lightly armed with only a few anti-aircraft guns. They wouldn't stand a chance against a destroyer or a submarine.

The captain takes cover along shore a small island. While scouting ashore, they run into some army troops.

This is a weapons company, equipped with rocket launchers mounted on halftracks. They were landed here by accident and have been holding off nearby Japanese troops while hoping someone finds them.

The army guys and their rocket launchers are loaded aboard the L.S.T., which has managed some makeshift repairs. But soon after leaving the island, they run smack into a Japanese destroyer.

The short page count of the story has some disadvantages. For instance, we never get a panel giving us a proper shot of the half-tracks in all their rocket-launching glory. Instead, we just get a few sort-of close-ups of the vehicles or the launchers. But the above panel, showing us the L.S.T. from the point-of-view of the enemy ship, framed in that space between the lifeboat and the davit, is really nice.

The L.S.T. would be virtually helpless in normal circumstances. But this isn't a normal circumstance. Those army rocket launchers take their shot, score a hit and sink a ship.

Like most stories in Attack, "Helpless Target!" is a succinct, well-told yarn that jumps into the plot quickly and resolves it just as quickly. This is obviously a neccessity for a 5-page story, but it uses that restriction to good advantage.

You can read this issue online HERE.

Next week, we'll visit again with Turok, Son of Stone.

Cover Cavalcade

 

This 1962 edition of Christie's 1928 novel features a cover by Harry Bennett.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Escape: "The Island" 7/11/51

A Marine fighting on Okinawa believes he's found an escape from war and will be able to live on a nearby island paradise. He is destined to be disillusioned.

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A Washed-Up Boxer and an Orphan

 

I guess sometimes I'm an easy touch. The Mighty McGurk (1947) is corny, full of melodrama and as predictable as a Hallmark Christmas movie. You know what is going to happen long before it happens.

Wallace Beery plays a former heavyweight champion (named "Slag" McGurk) who now works as a bouncer for a saloon owner (Edward Arnold) in the Bowery at the turn-of-the-century. The saloon owner, named Mike, wants to expand his business, but he needs to clear the Salvation Army out of the building next to his saloon to do so. He wants Slag to start a riot to get the S.A. declared a public nuisance and evicted.

But Slag has other things on his mind. Through mischance and shenanigans, he's ended up caring for an English boy who has just arrived in the country. The boy (Dean Stockwell) is supposed to go to a rich uncle, but he's lost the name and address. Slag bestows the name Nippy on the boy, who enjoys life with his Uncle Slag because he doesn't have to wash or go to school and he gets to hang out in saloons. Nippy also gains a loyal pet when he hides a dog from the dogcatcher.

Slag's plan is to eventually find the uncle, collect a reward and buy into a partnership with Mike.

Other characters include Mike's daughter, who is in love with a guy named Johnny. Johnny had also been a boxer--and a protege of Slag--until he injured a man in the ring and joined the Salvation Army. Mike disapproves of his daugther's choice of boyfriends.

As I said, it's all predictable. You know--without any doubt--Nippy will initially be devestated when he finds out Slag took him in for a reward. You know that Slag is going to do the right thing in the end, stop the planned riot and adopt Nippy. You know that everyone who is in love will end up together.

But I enjoyed the film regardless. Berry brings a gruff likeability to Slag, Edward Arnold is always good and Stockwell was a fine kid actor. (Heck, you can assume he'll grow up to be Al in Quantum Leap and perhaps he learned to smoke cigars from McGurk.) The black-and-white photography is excellent and the setting (both time and place) is inherently fun. 

Perhaps its a case where the predictibility of the plot is a comfort rather than a problem. There are times when a movie or TV show gives you the feeling that you are hanging out with old friends. The Mighty McGurk gives you that feeling. 

Looking for a Lost Child

If you are a member of Prince Valiant's family, then you are going to be frequently placed in danger. In fact, in the case of Valiant's third son (and fifth kid overall), that danger will begin pretty much the instance you are born. 

This is part of a Prince Valiant story arc that ran through late 1983 and early 1984. John Cullen Murphy was the artist by this point, with scripts being provided by his son Cullen Murphy. Hal Foster created the strip in 1937 and, after handing the strip to Murphy in 1971, still continued to provide pencil sketches and scripts throughout the 1970s. Foster is justifiably considered a master (arguably THE MASTER) of the art form, but I'll be darned if I can find a drop in quality in the strip during the Murphy years.

Anyway, it was in 1983 that Val's wife Aleta gives birth to another son, who is promptly stolen in a plot instigated by the Byzantium emperor Justinian, who had become the Valiant family's enemy.

Val's oldest son Arn--by now a young adult--ends up trying to track down the boy. This takes him to what is now Turkey, where he learns that the boy had been given to a family living along the frontier of the Byzantium Empire. Arn soon ends up traveling with a Rabbi named Ezekiel. Because of persecution, there aren't currently many active Rabbis in the Jewish community. So Ezekiel travels from village to village, visiting each one along his route perhaps once a year. He's able to help Arn ask about the missing child in each village they visit.

But things get dangerous--and tragic. Justinian knows Arn is searching for the boy, but his minions don't know exactly where the child ended up either. Troops search for Arn, but he keeps dodging them. So a back-up plan is put into effect. All the young children in the area are to be slaughtered.

The above panel is one of the most heartbreaking ever to appear in a Sunday Comics page. The children in a village that Arn had just left are killed. Thanatops (Justinian's thug-in-chief) pauses here, letting rumor and fear do the job of flushing out the baby they are actually looking for.

Arn soon finds his young brother, who is being raised by a Jewish couple named Matthias and Judith. They've named him Nathan and love him as their own.

Frightened villagers have tracked down the boy as well and Thanatops is close behind them. The troops attack, ruthlessly cutting down any Jews they encounter. Ezekiel is mortally wounded. Arn and his baby brother seemed doomed.

In this brief summary, I'm not really doing justice to how awesome a character is Ezekiel. Learned, wise, compassionate and faithful to God, the story arc brings him quickly to life, makes us like him and leaves us devastated when he's killed. I hadn't read this particular story arc prior to it's recent reprinting, but he instantly became one of my favorite fictional characters ever. 

If I have one criticism here, it's that Arn and Nathan's rescue is something of a deus ex machina. Persian invaders show up (without any foreshadowing) to kill Thanatops and scatter his troops. 

After that, though, the story gets back on track. It's mentioned that the Jewish community in the area is better treated by their new rulers and Arn is able to deliver Ezekiel's Talmud to Babylon. It turns out that the rabbi is one of the chief scholars behind compiling the Babylonian Talmud, which would a key component in Jewish religious thought for centuries to come. 

Arn then takes Nathan back to his parents in Camelot. But what about Matthias and Judith? They've raised Nathan and consider him their son. 

What follows is another favorite fictional moments. The Jewish couple accompanies Arn and Nathan to Camelot. Judith and Aleta stare daggers at each other at first and Aleta insists on calling the baby Egil--his original intended name. But "Egil" is just a meaningless sound to the child and he cries whenever Aleta holds him. It's not until she starts calling him Nathan that he begins to bond with her.

The sequence literally drips with a sense of real humanity and emotion. Aleta and Judith bond as well, with the Jewish couple becoming a part of the Valiant household. Aleta has her son back and the heartbreak of Judith is lessoned when she can still be a part of Nathan's life. This part of the story unfolds naturally and seems real, without a hint of deus ex machina. It's really a wonderful bit of storytelling. It's a great example of how good Prince Valiant remained even after it's creator retired. 

Next week, we'll board an LST off the coast of the Philippians in 1944. 

Cover Cavalcade

 

Great use of perspective in this cover from 1975. The artist is Luis Dominguez.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 The Adventures of the Saint: "Monkey" 12/10/51

Simon ends up in possession of a small monkey that belonged to a murdered man. For reasons unknown, people are willing to kill to take that monkey away from him.

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