Cover Cavalcade

  MARCH IS ANTHROPOMORPHIC BEARS MONTH!

 From 1959: I could not close out Anthropomorphic Bears Month without highlighting another superb Morris Gollub cover. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Mysterious Traveler: "Locomotive Ghost" 7/6/47

Do trains have a life of their own? If so, do they continue to travel the rails after death? Two men, both murderers, will soon find out. 

Click HERE to listen or download. 

TIME-OUT

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

I got asked with two days notice to preach the Wednesday night sermon at my church. That left me with the necessity of cramming to write the sermon. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to forgo Wednesday and Thursday posts this week to give myself more time. 

Two days notice. Gee whiz.

Cover Cavalcade

  MARCH IS ANTHROPOMORPHIC BEARS MONTH!

A 1978 cover by John Carey

Friday's Favorite OTR

 You Are There: "The Rise of Alexander the Great: The Great Mutiny in India" 3/20/49

Alexander the Great has reached India and wants to continue on to conquer more lands. But after nine years of warfare, his army just wants to go home.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

A Nasty Officer and a Nasty Revenge

cover art by A.L. Ripley

Read/Watch 'em In Order #179

It's the most annoying thing in the world. I'm married to a wonderful, nigh-perfect wife--I have a job I enjoy and attend a church I love. But all the same, my life is empty and miserable because I can't find a list of stories by J.D. Newsom that feature Foreign Legionnaires Withers and Curialo. I reviewed one of them a little while back and enjoyed them as protagonists. My understanding is that Newsom used them again in several more stories and I would like to read them all. But I can't find a list of these specific stories ANYWHERE. My life is indeed empty and meaningless.

 The next story in the January 10, 1926 issue of Adventure gives me some small comfort in that it is a Withers and Curialo tale. 

Newsom's uniformly excellent Foreign Legion yarns can sometimes be intense, sometimes tragic and sometimes humorous, with a mixture of brutality and nobility combined with an often cynical commentary on politics and human nature.

"Mumps," is set in Morocco and leans heavily on humor. Withers is serving at the aide/valet to an officer named Trudaine. It's not a fun job, because Trudaine is an abusive and mean-spirited man. When he catches Withers writing some unkind things to him in a letter to a girl, Withers knows he's destined to be sent to a punishment regiment. Things are always tough in the Legion, but the punishment unit is particularly brutal. 

Trudaine comes down with the mumps, giving Withers a temporary reprieve. It's Withers' friend Curialo who comes up with a solution--a nasty prank to play on a nasty man. A fellow soldier named Krause bears a superficial resemblance to Trudaine AND he also has reason to dislike the officer. So what if Krause went into town while impersonating Trudaine and act in a way that would bring disgrace to Trudaine. Trudaine would then be relieved of command before he could reassign Withers. 

It's a great plan. Or it would be a great plan if Krause doesn't get too carried away with his role.

"Mumps" is a quick and funny tale. It's interesting to compare it to "Mud," the World War 1-era story I reviewed last October, in which there was still funny banter between the two protagonists, but the action was edge-of-your-seat stuff. Withers and Curialo are great characters in part because they fit nicely into Legion stories whether the emphasis is humor or action. 

I just wish I could find a complete list of their stories. It's hardly a state secret. It's gotta be somewhere.

War Between Worlds, Part 3

 

cover art by Rich Buckler

Roy Thomas (writer) and Rich Buckler (artist) have weaved a complicated story together over the last couple of issues. So, in Fantastic Four #162 (September 1975), they provide a handy flow chart, showing us why each of three different dimensions is convinced one of the other dimensions is attacking them.

This is understandable. Most readers of superhero comic books (and readers of SF in general) are 

The issue opens with Thing-Reed being held prisoner by Akron

Thing-Reed, along with us readers, assume that he's being held on Arkon's world, but he's actually in a secret base located in Thing-Reed's home world. Anyway, Arkon leaves Reed in adamantium chains--presumably helpless.

But a Reed Richards from any dimension is rarely helpless. He manages to make telepathic contact with our Reed, explaining Arkon's plan. This involved a representative of Arkon, posing as a businessman on each of the worlds, simply buying the technology that would be used to attack other worlds. The two Reed share mental energy, allowing Thing-Reed to break out of his prison. Then our Reed goes off to have some... stern words with Arkon's agent.

Thing-Reed rescues our Ben from prison, but are soon confronted with military troops led by that dimensions version of Thunderbolt Ross. Adding to the confusion, Johnny (that's our Johnny--the alternate Johnny was reported killed in Vietnam) comes through a dimensional portal leading an army from the 5th Dimension.

Johnny thinks both Things are fake, but the situation is explained to him. He sends the 5th Dimension troops home and puts up a firewall to keep out the military. Then our Reed sends an interdimensional message and drops some more plot exposition. There is a nexus located between the three dimensions, through which Arkon will collect the energy released when the worlds destroy one another. Reed (our Reed, that is) sends a pair of interdimensional skates through a portal. Our Thing will use this to skate through interdimensional space and destroy the Nexus. In the meantime, our Johnny and Thing-Reed head off to Arkon's world to attack the villain directly.

Our Ben, though, is given no easy task. The Nexus is guarded by an... interdimensional hockey player?  It's a villain design that has generated eyerolls and criticisms from fans. But... well, if one guy can fly through space on a surfboard, there's no reason another guy can't take on a hockey theme for his space shenanigans, is there? Perhaps Gaard is a silly villain, but I'm enjoying the overall story too much to be critical. 

This story is more fun than a barrel full of alternate dimensions. Yes, the plot is complicated and this leads to a few instances in this issue that are perhaps crammed too thick with dialogue. But the plot is explained clearly (much more clearly, I think, than I managed in my summary), there's some great action scenes and Rich Buckler's art sometimes pops off the page. This penultimate issue of the story arc does a great job of leading us into what will be a wonderful climax. We'll look at that climax next week. 

Cover Cavalcade

  MARCH IS ANTHROPOMORPHIC BEARS MONTH!

A Delightful 1961 cover by Harvey Eisenberg.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Podcast: Episode #41: Tarzan the Terrible, Part 2

Edgar Rice Burroughs Podcast: Episode #41: Tarzan the Terrible, Part 2:   Tim, Jess and Scott finish their discussion of the 1921 novel. Click HERE for the audio version. email us (and send the answer to the tri...

Friday's Favorite OTR

 You Are There: "The Rise of Alexander the Great: The Battle for Asia" 3/13/49

Alexander the Great is about to battle the Persians. He's outnumbered 20 to 1, but doesn't really consider that a problem.

Click HERE to listen or download.