Friday's Favorite OTR

 Inner Sanctum: "Black Sea Gull" 3/7/43

A man's wife dies in a boating accident. He, though, is convinced she'll come back to him. Is he going insane or... is he right?

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Bretwalda, Part 9

 

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

Read/Watch 'em In Order #143

"The Long Journey" is Philip Ketchum's ninth tale about Bretwalda, the axe that is destined to save England. It was published in the September 23, 1939 issue of Argosy.

With this tale, we've arrived at the year 1349. Sir Hubert Wilton, the latest of the Wilton's to wield the axe, has been in France fighting in the Hundred Years War. He is delayed in getting back to England while recovering from wounds. 

In the meantime, the Black Plague has been ravaging Continental Europe. The story opens whith Hubert and a Franciscan monk known only as Friend sailing back to England, not knowing if the plague has struck there. Hubert is anxious to be reunited with his wife Marian and the three-year-old son he's never met, but has no idea if they are alive.

Ketchum effectively sets up the ominious (and sometimes downright creepy) atmosphere that permeates the story right away, when the ship meets what we are told is the third "ship of the dead" they see drifting aimlessly in the Channel. Everyone aboard had died from the plague.

When they dock in England, they do find towns depopulated from the plague, mass graves everywhere and a general breakdown of law and order. Hubert discovers brigands have taken over his castle. He also learns that Marian and their son were lured away from the castle months ago by a personal enemy of Hubert and their location is unknown.

So most of the story consists of Hubert, accompanied by Friend and a few elderly retainers, travelling across England while searching for his wife and son. Friend, by the way, is an interesting character. He accurately predicts that, after the plague, the social structure of feudal Europe will change, with the lower classes gaining more personal freedom. He also assists plague victims without concern for his own personal safety. Other even odder things about Friend make Hubert wonder who he is---to the point where Hubert actually looks for nail marks in Friend's palms. 

It's Friend who also eventually explains that there is more at stake than Hubert's personal goal of saving his family. The enemy who kidnapped them is also using the fear of the plague to buy up land and garner power. Whether he knows it or not, Hubert is on a quest to save England as well as rescue those he loves.

All this leads up to a bittersweet ending that brings the tale to an emotionally satisfying climax. As usual, Ketchum expertly blends sharp characterizations with a strong plot and great action scenes to give us another satisfying tale. 

You can read this story online HERE.

Travelin' Toughy--the Final Chapter

 

After two adventures in the desert, Ding Dong #5 (1947) finds Toughy flying his carpet over the Swiss Alps.

And, yes, he finds someone in trouble. This time, the cry for help comes from a pretty Swiss girl named Heidi. Toughy is able to find out that her boyfriend Leif is in immediate danger, so he doesn't stop to get the full story before bringing Heidi aboard his carpet and zipping to the rescue. They find Leif being worked over by some thugs. But never bring just your fists to a fight with a tough kid on a flying carpet. You won't stand a chance.

Leif's leg has been injured. And Toughy learns that, in an ill-adviced attempt to make Leif jealous, Heidi had agreed to marry whomever wins the upcoming ski jump. So Leif's rival Alf has sent the thugs to make rig the contest.

But it's really Leif that Heidi loves. So Toughy tries to sabotage Alf's jump, but this only launches Alf on an even longer jump than he would have otherwise made.

Toughy then tells Leif to go for altitude. Leif jumps into a low-lying cloud, where he's then able to hitch a ride on the flying carpet before coming back down. He wins Heidi's hand in marriage. Happily ever after.

Toughy flies off, planning on visiting France. I wonder how the heck that little kid navigates? 

As far as I know, there were no further issues of Ding Dong published and Travelin' Toughy disappears into Comic Book Limbo. Since his character development was complete--going from "I hate everyone" in the first issue to "I like helping people" by the end of the fourth issue--perhaps his saga was indeed complete. But, on the other hand, the stories are clever, full of good slapstick humor and enhanced by Ted Miller's wonderful artwork. Travelin' Toughy deserves to be remembered and it would have been nice if he'd stuck around longer.

Click HERE to read this issue online.

Next week, I think we'll visit the Planet of the Apes.

Cover Cavalcade

 

July is Adventure Comics month. This Mike Kaluta cover is from 1972. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Our Miss Brooks: "Mrs. Davis' Cookies" 7/24/49

Miss Brooks plans to give Mr. Boynton some of her landlady's cookies. These are guarenteed to make anyone sick to their stomach, so Miss Brooks can then nurse Mr. Boynton back to health and thus inspire romantic feelings.

This plan backfires rather badly.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

The Origin of the Shadow--Well, Sort Of.

 

cover art by Paul Reinman

I'm doing this post on a Thursday rather than a Wednesday (when I normally do comic book reviews) because this actually isn't a review of a comic book story.

For years, comic books often included a short text story to take advantage of different postal rates. Two pages of text were required to qualify a comic as a magazine and thus get lower rates.

So today we are going to look at the Shadow text stories that appeared in the eight issues of Archie Comics Shadow comic book, published for eight issues in 1964 and 1965. The comic book stories themselves are considered an abomination by most Shadow fans. Despite a fairly accurate depiction of him on the cover of the 1st issue, the stories within were essentially about a completely different character. 

But the eight-part text story--one part per issue--that was published during the comics' run was actually pretty good. It's an Alternate Universe Shadow, taking elements from both the pulp and the radio version of the character, resulting in a unique but viable take on the character.

In this version, Lamont Cranston is filthy rich, but bored with his life running the Cranston Corporation. So he leaves that life behind and randomly chooses Cairo as a destination at which he'll try to find adventure.

Well, he finds it. First, he runs into a hypnotist that performs a street act. Then he out-hypnotises the hypnotist, discovering a natural ability that allows him to control the minds of others. 

He sails for Greece. Aboard ship, he sees a trio of thugs attempting to murder someone. On a whim, he cuts a poncho-like costume out of the canvas covering a lifeboat. Using this to blend in with the dark, he then uses boxing skills to surprise and take out the thugs. Of course, they weren't the most efficient thugs, what with their murder attempt (trying to shove their victim overboard) taking long enough for Cranston to make a costume.

In Greece, Cranston continues to run into trouble. One night, someone comes diving through the glass window of a bistro, pursued by three armed men. Here's where the story gets pretty cool. Using his hypnotic powers, he get the armed men to drop their guns by convincing them the weapons are red-hot. Then he tells them to fight each other. While they are busy pummelling each other, Cranston questions their intended victim. I love this image--Cranston and the guy he saved calmly talking to one another while three criminals beat the snot out of each other right next to them.

That guy turns out to be Weston, but in this universe he's the head of the American Secret Service, not the New York police commissioner (as he was in both the radio and pulp universes). He's currently working with an organization called C.H.I.E.F., an U.N.C.L.E.-like group that uses agents from various countries to take on extraordinary threats to the world. 

Because of the timing of these stories (coming out the same year as the TV series premiered), I think the simularity to U.N.C.L.E is just a coincidence, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, Cranston discovers the thugs have been programmed NOT to give away the name of their boss or what the upcoming plot against the world might be. He does manage to flatter them into giving away their boss's name anyways by convincing them he's the Devil and telling them what a great job they've done being evil.

The name of their boss? Shiwan Khan--the pulp Shadow's arch enemy!

All this takes up seven chapters over the first seven issues of the comic book. Sadly, the eighth chapter presents us with a cliffhanger that will be forever unresolved when Shiwan Khan captures Weston and Cranston. After issue #8, the comic book was cancelled. 

So if anyone ever invents interdimensional travel and visits this particular Shadow universe, please find out what happened to that particular Shadow. His story wasn't Walter Gibson-quality, but it was still fun and was the only good thing to come out of that particular comic book. It is sad we never got to finish his story. 

Running out of Gun Powder!

 

cover artist unknown

In "Rage of the North Wind"  (Ben Bowie #13--Nov. 57-Jan. 58), Ben and his young apprentice Jim are out hunting when they spot a war band of Algonquins heading for the nearby fort. The two hurry back with a warning and, by the time they arrive, the wind is really starting to blow hard. A big storm is coming.

This is a problem, because the fort is low on powder and the storm will prevent any more from being delivered upriver from another fort. 

So the mountain man do what they can, waiting until the attacking Indians are close before opening fire. This is followed by some hand-to-hand combat when a few of the Algonquins make it to the top of the fort's wall, but the fort holds out.

But this leaves the mountain men enough powder for only one more volley. At this point, Ben realizes that the storm is a blessing as well as a curse. It might be preventing the delivery of gun powder, but it is now blowing hard enough to prevent the Indians from accurately firing their arrows. So maybe--just maybe--there's time for a small party to make it to the other fort and bring back more powder.

Naturally, Ben and his crew make the attempt. They sneak out of the fort, but Jim's hat blows away and is found by the Indians, who then realize what's up. Ben's crew dodges the Algonquins, while Nakah saves Jim from a tumble off a cliff. Finally, they make it to the other fort and load powder kegs onto a raft for the trip back to their besieged friends, sailing through rough waters.

They make it just as the storm finishes dying down and the Algonquins renew their attack. Four kegs of powder are taken into the fort. The fifth is used as an improvised bomb to effectively discourage future attacks.

The writer is unknown and the artist is Albert Micale. "Rage of the North Wind" is a very simple and straightforward tale, but it shows the strengths of the Ben Bowie series. The men deal with the dangers of the frontier in a steadfast manner, using their brains as well as their fighting skills to plan their way out of desperate situations. 

You can read this issue online HERE. "Rage of the North Wind" is the final story in the issue. 

Next week, we'll finish our look at the career of Travelin' Toughy. 

Cover Cavalcade

 

July is Adventure Comics month. This Curt Swan cover is from 1966.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Cloak and Dagger: "Operation Sellout" 9/22/50

Two agents are to enter occuppied France to locate Nazi submarine pens. At the last minute, they are assigned a third man to the team--a captured Nazi officer who has supposedly defected to the Allies. 

Click HERE to listen or download.

Rocket to the Morgue

 

Rocket to the Morgue (1942) was originally published in 1942 under the pseudonym H.H. Holmes. The author was actually mystery writer and critic Anthony Boucher.

Rocket to the Morgue is both an excellent locked room mystery with great protagonists (homicide detective Terry Marshall and smart-as-a-whip nun Sister Ursula), it also gives us insights into the world of science fiction as it existed in pre-war America, with a look both at the writers/editors and the enthusiastic fandom. 

[By the way, I didn't realizes until after I started reading this that there is a previous book featuring Marshall and Sister Ursula titled Nine Times Nine. Normally, I'm pretty obsessive about reading books in order. But both books are independent enough in terms of their plots so that it doesn't matter. I'll read Nine Times Nine soon and do appropriate penance to the International Society for Reading Books in Their Proper Order.]

Most of the characters involved in the murder investigations are based directly on the writers, editors and agents of the day.  Though their names and the titles of their works are different, suspects in the murder investigation include Robert Heinlein, Edmund Hamilton and an agent who might be either Julius Schwartz or Forry Ackerman. For those of us who are fans of pulp fiction and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, this book is dripping with pure fun. 

Boucher was a superb mystery writer and an important critic of the genre, but he was also familiar with science fiction and with the world of professional writers in general. I especially like Austin Carter--the Heinlein character--and if Boucher had used Heinlein himself instead of a stand-in, I would have believed it completely. He catches Heinlein's personality perfectly. 

[Book recommendation: To learn more about the history of SF, read Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, by Alec Nevela-Lee.]

Boucher also introduces several characters who give us insights into the enthusiastic fandom of SF.

So he was the perfect author for this book, giving the background of the plot both a realistic and fascinating ambiance. 

In raving about the book's background, I'm short-changing the actually mystery. The son of a famous, now deceased SF author is making enemies in the publishing world, ticking off both writers and editors over his handling of his dad's estate and his tendency to take petty revenge on people. When someone tries to kill him, there is no shortage of suspects. Also, it is soon apparent that this attempted murder ties in with an earlier murder that happened in a seedy hotel. But what this connection is remains a mystery. A bigger mystery is how the attempted murder was carried out--the victim was in a room alone and a door locked from the inside seems to prove that no one else was in the room with him. He didn't see or hear his assailant--he just suddenly had a knife plunged into his back.

It's all great stuff, leading to a successful murder while an experimental rocket is being tested, which in turn leads to the mystery's elegant solution. 

Read Rocket to the Morgue. But, for heaven's sake, read Nine Times Nine first. Don't get on the bad side of the International Society for Reading Books in Their Proper Order. It's not a nice place to be. 

Travelin' Toughy, Part 4

 

Ding Dong #4 (1947) has Travelin' Toughy flying over Egypt. Not surprisingly, he spots trouble. In this case, trouble starts with a crying boy, whose dad has been falsely accused of stealing the queen's jewels. The real thief is a local political boss, who is using the kid's dad as a convenient fall guy.

Toughy and the kid (named Akin) tale the real bad guy to the Black Pharoah's tomb, where the villain has hidden the stolen jewels. 

The tomb is supposedly cursed, but its either go in or allow Akin's dad to be beheaded. They find the stolen jewels there and manage to grab them. 

What follows is a chase scene. Like the chase scene in the last issue, artist Ted Miller gives us an exciting and charming slapstick chase scene, which ends when the trick the bad guy into jumping off a pyramid.

Whether the bad guy survives the sudden drop is not discussed. But since the jewels are recovered and Akin's father is saved. Remember that back in Ding Dong #1, Toughy described himself as mean and tough and hating everyone. This story ends with hm saying that helping people just comes naturally. Toughy has finished his character growth in time for one last adventure.

Click HERE to read this story online.

Next week, we'll check in with Ben Bowie and His Mountain Men.

Cover Cavalcade

 

July is Adventure Comics month. Here's a Curt Swan cover from 1958,

Friday's Favorite OTR

 The Black Museum: "The Bath Tub" (1952)

A man marries frequently, then murders his wives for their money. But he might have used the "accidentally drowned in a bathtub" trick one time too many.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Vaudevillian Goes West, Part 1

 

cover art by Paul Stahr

Read/Watch 'em In Order #142

Each time I've written about one of Philip Ketchum's Bretwalda stories, I search to see if the issue of Argosy in which is was originally printed is available online, so I can link to it in the post. While doing so, I noticed one issue contained the first part of a serial about an aging former Vaudeville comedian who moves West and has a series of adventures there. That's something I just gotta read.

The character is named Henry Harrison Conroy and his adventures are chronicled by W.C. Tuttle, one of the most popular Western scribes of the pulp era. Henry appeared in nearly two dozen short stories, novellas and serials through the 1930s and 1940s. I'm supposed to know about the pulps, so I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't know about him. 

Anyway, I found the first story and like it so much that I'm going to cover them on the blog as well. I'll still finish up the last four Bretwalda stories as well as part of the In Order posts, but they will be interspersed with Henry's adventures.

"Henry Goes Arizona" (Argosy, February 23, 1935) is the premiere tale in the series. Henry is 55 years old and sports a huge, red nose. He's putting on weight, balding and coming to the end of his career as a vaudeville comedian. Things look bleak for him.

Until he gets a telegram informing him that he's inherited a cattle ranch in Arizona. Henry briefly assumes he's rich, but when arrives in Tonto City, he discovers the ranch is deeply in debt. He also learns his uncle (the ranch's previous owner) was murdered. And perhaps that's just as well, since Jim Conroy had been ruthlessly working to put the small ranchers in the area out of business.

Henry, though, is a different sort of Conroy. He wonders about the lack of financial records and where cash from recent cattle sales have gone. He hires the man who was initially suspected of killing his uncle because he's a good judge of character. He knows young Danny Regan is innocent and he doesn't trust the current ranch's foreman. 

He also befriends an elderly lawyer named "Judge" Cornelius Van Treece. The Judge drinks too much, but he's a sharp attorney and soon proves to be a solid ally of Henry's.

And Henry will need allies. There's an attempt on his life. Danny is framed for yet another murder. Inexplicably, the body of the murdered man is stolen. Other odd things happen in and around Tonto City.

The plot is a solid, well-contructed Western/Mystery hybrid. Henry is a witty and clever protagonist. Tuttle seeds the story with many truly funny moments and several great supporting characters. His prose is simply fun to read.

An example:

"Frijole Bill" Cullison had been the cook and housekeeper for the J Bar C many years. Frijole was sixty years of age and admitted forty. He was five feet three inches tall, would not weigh over a hundred pounds, made his own whiskey from prunes, and would fight a wild cat. He wore a pair of huge mustaches, which gave him the appearance, as Slim Pickins said, of a walrus disappointed in love.

In the end, Henry demonstates Sherlockian skills as he puts together the available clues, recovers stolen money, and proves who murdered whom. He's an unusual and appealing hero and--since his adventures are reprinted in afforable ebooks by Altus Press--I'll be able to enjoy them all.

You can read this story online HERE

Miniature Knights Riding Bats!

 

Atom #22 (December 1965-January 1966) is wonderful. Writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane have used Comic Book Logic to give us a story of miniature knights riding on bats. The world would be a poorer place without such stories.

The story begins with those knights (armed with electrified lances) breaking through a train window and zapping a courier carrying a fortune in jewels. And Gil Kane gives us a really effective panel showing the poor guy getting zapped. Ouch. You can feel his pain.

When he wakes up, the jewels he was carrying are gone and the window smashed by the knights is no longer broken. The poor guy can't get anyone to believe his story and he's arrested for stealing the jewels himself. 

Ray Palmer's girlfriend Jean Loring is assigned as the courier's lawyer and, through her, Ray learns of it. Figuring no one would make up such a story, he decides to investigate. As a resident of a Comic Book Universe where stuff like this happens all the time, this is quite reasonable.

Ray builds a device that tracks the sound of bat sonar and, as the Atom, manages to catch the knights in the act of robbing a bank. But he's outnumbered and, in the ensuing fight, knocked out. The knights get away with the money. The holes they made in the bank and the save have been repaired by the time Atom wakes up. 

Atom trys again, this time using a device that confusing bat sonar, leading them to a bell tower. He's rigged up a magnet to trap the knights through their metal armor, but they smash the magnet's power source. Another hand-to-hand fight ensues, but Atom fares much better this time. He hijacks a bat to even up the odds and ends up with a prisoner. 

In the meantime, we learn about the knights' backstory. There's lot of fun details to the story, but essentially there is a civilization of little people living in a cavern. A thug named Eddie Gordon stumbled across them and discovered that the echoing sound of a gunshot mesmerized them. By occasionally firing off shots to keep them under his sway, he's been able to launch a weird crime wave.

Atom learns about this from the captured knight, who has shaken off the mesmerism. The knight leads Atom into the cavern. Atom disarms Eddie, then helps him escape the now thoroughly ticked off little people.

It's a fun story from start to finish. Gil Kane's art especially shines during the bizarre Atom vs. bat-riding knights fight scenes, but the whole story is full of great imagery. 

Next week, we return again to the adventures of Travelin' Toughy.

Cover Cavalcade

 

July is Adventure Comics month. This J.R. Flanagan cover is from 1939. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Suspense: "Cat and Mouse" 3/30/44

Sunny Tufts stars as an engineer who hears his partner murdered when the two are speaking over a ham radio. With only a single audio clue to go on, he must track down the killer.

Click HERE to listen or download.