Cover Cavalcade

  OCTOBER IS HAWKEYE & GREEN ARROW MONTH!!!

A 1961 cover by Murphy Anderson.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Screen Directors Playhouse: "Prince of Foxes" 1/4/51

An agent of Casare Borgia is sent to help bring an independent city-state under Borgia's control, but suffers a crisis of conscience. Douglas Fairbanks takes the Tyrone Power part from the movie, while William Conrad does a superb job taking over from Orson Welles playing Borgia.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Sabotage in Space

 

Read/Watch 'em In Order #172

The penultimate entry in the Tom Corbett book series is 1955's Sabotage in Space, which begins with Tom, Roger and Astro coming close to sabotaging their own careers.

Frankly, they screw up. They get into a fight with another crew of cadets, which lands them in hot water. Their punishment is to spend time each day pulling guard duty, which in turn leaves them less time to study for upcoming exams. This, in turn, leaves them with little time to sleep in order to make up the study time.

I actually like the way this one begins--showing that our young and hyper-competent heroes can still have human moments and make poor decisions. As far as the plot is concerned, this also leaves them in a position to get thrown into the middle of the action.

A new spaceship is being tested. The ship is designed to carry smaller remote control rockets, designed to take supplies directly to small outposts on other planets. This will save on the time and expense of transporting supplies to those outposts from the nearest rocket base. 

Someone is trying to sabotage this new ship before its test flight. At one point, it looks as if the cadets have caught the criminal, but it turns out they've captured the chief assistant to the ship's designer.

So they've messed up again. Or have they? When that chief assistant proceeds to frame Roger and Astro for stealing a rocket (by giving them fake orders to take the rocket into space), we begin to suspect he might be the saboteur. Actually, the guy is a bit of a jerk, so we kind of suspected it already.

In the meantime, Tom is on a side mission to Mars when he's kidnapped and framed for desertion. He escapes his captors, but now finds himself obligated to somehow return to Earth without being arrested, spring Roger and Astro from the hoosegow and pull off a plan to catch not just the guy who framed them, but the mastermind behind the sabotage as well.

Tom also needs the help of Captain Strong, his commanding officer. But Strong's duty would require him to arrest Tom if the two meet up. How much is Strong willing to trust his prize cadet?

The story is paced a little bit slower than the earlier novels in the series and it's flawed in two ways. First, the identity of the mastermind is kept as a surprise to be revealed in the last chapter--but there's really no doubt who it is. There is literally only one character introduced to us who could be the chief villain.

Second, the attempts to frame the cadets are a bit heavy-handed and I think it unlikely that so many of the officers at the Space Academy don't suspect the frame-ups. Especially since the cadets have spent six previous book heroically saving lives and catching crooks.

On the other hand, this set-up leads to a legitimately touching scene in which Captain Strong muses whether his ultimate duty isn't to friendship rather than strictly following orders. 

And the climax is quite good, with the cadets and several other characters aboard the new spaceship, improvising a way to fight back with their unarmed vessel as another ship fires space torpedoes at them. Tom, Astro and Roger have a chance not only to prove their innocence, but also to demonstrate quick thinking and innovative tactics. It's pretty cool stuff and, despite its flaws, the book is yet another enjoyable one in the series.

That leaves us with one Tom Corbett book to go. I had trouble locating this one--the first seven are all in the public domain and it was easy to find and download electronic versions for them. But the eighth was nowhere to be found and it looked as if I would have to skip this one in my reviews.

But I knew that this would disappoint millions and possibly cause civilization to crumble, so I kept looking. Eventually, I found an ebook version being sold on Lulu. So we will soon be returning to Tom Corbett's universe one more time. 

Avengers Annual #1 (Part 1)

 

cover art by John Buscema

(with alterations by John Romita)

The first Avengers Annual is cover dated September 1967 and its a doozy, with an imaginative script by Roy Thomas and outstanding art by Don Heck. And I'm not normally a huge Don Heck fan. But this particular issue looks great.

It's divided into 5 chapters, running from 8 to 11 pages each. So I'm going to make this a five-part review, so that we can look in detail at each of those chapters and how they move the overall story along.

The story begins in prison, where Tony Stark is demonstrating  new anti-riot weapons. But in a nearby cell, Arthur Parks (aka the Living Laser) is plotting his escape and has gathered the components he needs to built a wrist laser. 

Naturally, a fight between L.L. and Iron Man ensues. It's a short fight, but its well-choreographed and it serves its purpose in establishing the Living Laser as a legitimate threat when he comes very close to taking out one of the most powerful Avengers.

The villain then mysteriously disappears--apparently teleported away via a method that seems to indicate the master villain Mandarin is responsible. The Mandarin is supposed to be dead, but this a Comic Book Universe. That the Mandarin may have escaped the nuclear blast that was supposed to have killed him is a plausible theory.

Concerned, Iron Man calls the Avengers for an emergency meeting. 

In the meantime, the scene shifts to the Mandarin's secret headquarters. He's gathered together the Living Laser, Power Man, Swordsman, the Enchantress and the Executioner to carry out his as-yet unexplained plan.  Mandarin convinces the others of his power by pretending to summon up the Submariner (actually just an image of Namor) and easily "destroying" the Atlantian powerhouse. 

He then reveals to them a giant synthetic diamond, which is somehow central to his plan.

It's another effective scene, showing us one aspect of Mandarin's plan but leaving us largely in the dark. This was a good decision. It would have been totally in character for the Mandarin to egotistically explain his entire plans to his minions, but we simply find out that he DOES have a plan. We don't know what that plan it. It adds considerably to the overall tension of the story.

We then move to Avengers Mansion. Iron Man, not currently a member, gets into a brief tussle with new member Hercules, but Thor shows up to tell them to play nice. Thor also reveals that the Executioner and Enchantress have left Asgard. Captain America rounds this off by saying he's lost track of Power Man and the Swordsman since they last fought. Though the Avengers don't know for sure, they decide to work on the assumption that their enemies are teaming up to seek revenge against the Avengers.

Also present, by the way, are Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver. It's a fun line-up with a nice variety of powers and personalities.

Before they can finalize plans, they get a call from Nick Fury, who tells them the villains are launching simultaneous attacks against targets in Africa, South America and Asia. Captain America assigns a team to each area, while he and Quicksilver remain behind as a reserve and to investigate the involvement of the Mandarin.

It's another great scene, with the Avengers exchanging information and making plans with dialogue that sounds natural, but still updates us with all the information we need to follow the story. This chapter runs 11 pages and contains a lot of exposition, but there enough action and cool visuals to keep the pacing fast. It's a great example of how to write a superhero comic book.

Next week, we'll visit South America with Iron Man and two other Avengers as we take a look at chapter 2.

Cover Cavalcade

  OCTOBER IS HAWKEYE & GREEN ARROW MONTH!!!

This 1973 cover is by John Buscema.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Quiet Please: "Not Responsible After 30 Years" 6/14/48

In England, the skeleton of a 5th Century Roman soldier is dug up--wearing a 20th Century wristwatch! One man--recently released from prison--can explain this.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Anniversary/Wife's Birthday Break

 

cover art by Bill Draut (from 1970)

 

No Wednesday or Thursday post this week, as I take a break for the one-two punch of my wedding anniversary followed by my wife's birthday.

Cover Cavalcade

 OCTOBER IS HAWKEYE & GREEN ARROW MONTH!!!

An awesome Jim Aparo cover from 1980.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Gunsmoke: "The Old Lady" 1/24/53

An old woman's existance on a remote ranch has left her bereft of emotion. Her son is a wayward lout who drinks too much. This will not end well.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Mud, Cold and Terror

 

cover by H. C. Murphy

I've now written often enough about J.D. Newsom's Foriegn Legion stories, I wish I'd given these posts a clever series name. 

A few months ago, I declared Newsom's 1935 tale "Grenades for the Colonel" my favorite. But now I may change my mind. "Mud," published in the December 30, 1925 issue of Adventure, is fantastic.

Most of Newsom's Legion stories are set in North Africa, though at least one  ("Soldiers of Misfortune") shifted its setting to Southeast Asia for the second half of that story. "Mud," though, is set in the trenches during the Great War.

Two privates, Withers (British) and Curialo (American) are serving in the trenches, a cold, rat-infested environment in which you are ALWAYS knee deep in mud. Their sergeant--a martinet named Verbuken--orders them to move out into No Man's Land during the night and repair some gaps in the barbed wire. While at this job, they spot a German crawling towards them. They jump the guy, knock him out and bring him back. Unfortunately for the two privates, the "German" they captured turns out to be Sgt. Verbukon.

This opening sequence sets up the tone of the story. There is humor here--the fight with Verbokun includes some near-slapstick elements in which Withers getting his ear snagged on barbed wire and then accidentally slams Curialo several times with a mallet while trying to knock out the "German." 

But there is still the sense of danger--the terror inherent in being out in the pitch-black night and not knowing from when and where the enemy might come--and the constant cold, sticky, thick presence of mud everywhere.

The next morning, the two privates are sent back under guard for court martial. Along the way, a sudden artillery barrage kills their escort and the two are suddenly facing a German breakthrough. From here, the humor drops off (though never completely disappears) as Withers and Curialo find themselves in a bombed-out village, using a machine gun and hand grenades to hold off the Germans. When night falls, after a French counter attack fails, they decide to sneak back to their lines. Along the way, they meet (of course) Sgt. Verbokun. The three have to ditch their clothes to swim a canal. This leaves them near-helpless from freezing while there are still Germans they have to bypass to get to safety.

Newsom's vivid prose puts us right at the side of the Legionaries. Here are some prime examples of that prose:

It was unreal and fantom-like, a ghostly imitation of maneuvers carried out a hundred times on the burning sands of the Sidi Bel Abbes parade ground. It had gone on since the beginning of time and would go on forever — the noise and the rush of the bullets and the staggering impact of shells, and the race across upheaved ground where dead men lay with their heads thrown back in muddy pools, or curled up as if they slept and were cold, or flung out spread-eagled and gutted, grinning at the sky where the black shrapnel burst.

and

From their point of vantage Curialo and Withers saw a fresh counter attack start from the wood on the hill crest and reach the calvary, where it withered and was blown away by machine gun fire. Another fine followed on the heels of the first, and a third came close behind. At one point they reached the houses, broke through, swarmed down the street. For a minute they were everywhere, running swiftly and throwing bombs with the splendid poise of Greek gods, and dying in ungainly, squirming lumps on manure heaps in stinking yards.

and

Bayonet in hand Curialo staggered along the road neither knowing nor caring whether he went up it or down it so long as he got somewhere, either among Germans who would be good enough to kill him, or among his own people who would put him to bed. In either case he would get a long rest. The others followed close at his heels. Whenever they heard the warning scream of a shell they broke into a shambling run.

"Mud"  is an intense, vivid war story--one of the best I've ever read. Withers and Curialo are wonderful protagonists--in fact, Newsome used them in several stories, both before and after "Mud.". You can read "Mud" for yourself HERE.