What My Dog Sherlock Read

My dog Sherlock continues to claim that his "impeccable taste in books" needs to be shared with the world and will inevitably save civilization. He's very full of himself.

Time Traveling Tank

 

cover art by Russ Heath

The Russ Heath cover for G.I. Combat #121 (December 1966-January 1967) is magnificent and does depict a scene from the story accurately, but it does not hint at the main plot twist. That plot twist being the Haunted Tank travels backwards in time!

The story, written by Bob Kanigher and drawn by Russ Heath, begins in a standard enough manner--with the Germans trying to kill Jeb Stuart and his crew. After a close call battling a German fighter, things get mildly odd when a confused pigeon lands on the tank.

Slim, the driver, makes the unwise decision of allowing an animal that is famous for not being house-broken nest in his helmet. We never see the consequences of this, though, so I guess it worked out. 

Anyway, the ghost of General Stuart appears to say the pigeon is going to be responsible for them fighting in two wars. It's a different sort of warning than Jeb normally gets from his ghostly mentor. It's not a cryptic warning that will save their lives later on. Instead, its merely a prediction of what will happen. And it's not quite accurate--the pigeon doesn't seem to be responsible for their eventually side trip to World War I. It does lead the tank back to World War 2, so it does have a key role in the story.

That last paragraph seems nitpicky. This is a fun story highlighted by Heath's typically magnificent art.

Anyway, a little later, the Haunted Tank blasts a German tank off a cliff. To avoid the 60-ton monster from landing on them, the small tank drives into a cave. The German tank crashes down outside the entrance, trapping them in the cave.

It's a large cave, though, and there's a number of tunnels leading out of it. They try one at random and find themselves on a World War I battlefield!

I love how nonchalant Jeb is about this. He deduces that they apparently gone through a time warp in the cave and then just goes with it. We get no indication of what the rest of the crew thought. Maybe they were busy cleaning bird poop out of Slim's helmet.

The American troops are pinned down by early model German tanks. The leader of the Americans is a double for Sgt. Rock. Jeb deduces that this is Rock's dad.

The Haunted Tank takes out one of the German tanks and WWI-Rock leads his troops on a charge to destroy the other enemy tank. He uses a tactic his son will often employ, crawling onto the tank and spraying gunfire through view ports until ammunition is touched off. 

Having saved the WWI-era Americans, Jeb takes the tank back into the cave tunnels to hopefully find a way back to World War II. It's here the pigeon takes a role, leading them through the right tunnel and getting them home.

They almost get nailed by another Tiger tank, but WWI-era Rock and his troops show up to save them.

WW1-Rock heads back to his own time and has some interesting stories to eventually tell his son. Jeb and his crew return to their war--once again very blase about having just traveled through time. Of course, Jeb regularly talks to a ghost, so perhaps he's just gotten used to the unusual.

This really is a good story. Heath's art is especially noteworthy in the large panel depicted a First World War battle, but its... well... magnificent from start to finish. (It is very difficult to talk about Heath's work without regularly repeating the word "magnificent.") And the story itself takes a bizarre but fun concept and runs with it, without worrying about detailed explanations or rigid story logic. 

Next week, we'll stay in the DC Silver Age as we visit Hawkman. 

Cover Cavalcade

 APRIL IS KILLER ROBOT MONTH!

This 1969 cover is by George Wilson.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Escape: "A Sleeping Draught" 10/1/50

A ship is transporting a group of convicts from England to Australia. The convicts are somewhat... disrespectful of authority and a few knives smuggled aboard make them a real threat to the crew. The captain can only defuse the situation by trusting a murderer to help him.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Wild Mustang (1935)

 

Ajax Pictures was one of the Poverty Row studios able to churn out inexpensive B-movies to inhabit the bottom half of double features, In 1935, they produced Wild Mustang, starring Harry Carey as former sheriff Joe "Wild Mustang" Norton. 

As is the case with many of the B-movies, it's a fun little movie. The story certainly unfolds quickly. It pretty much has to--the movie has a mere 58-minute run time.

Veteran Western villain Bob Kortman is Utah Evans, an escaped convict that "Wild Mustang" Norton sent up the river years ago. He puts together a gang, robs a bank and commits a couple of murders. The murder victims include the current sheriff.

So Norton comes out of retirement and soon has his own son Reno going undercover, joining the gang as an outlaw. Reno's cover is quickly blown, but he's learned of the gang's plan to raid the town.

In the meantime, old "Wild Mustang" gets himself captured. With the help of his horse, he escapes, but then soon gets captured again. This leads to him being tied up and gagged in a cabin that his own son is about to blow up with dynamite. Harry Carey was a good actor with a real screen presence, but his character this time can be said to have an over-confidence problem. 

In the end, of course, the good guys win. Utah is caught by the hero (who does manage to escape again) and, though we don't see the rest of the gang caught, its implied that are. The story does indeed move quickly and I think it's worth an hour of your time if you are in the mood for an old-fashioned oater. 

War Between Worlds--the Finale

 

Cover art by Rich Buckler

(figures of Sue and Reed by John Romita)

The complex four-issue story arc involving war between parallel worlds, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Rich Buckler, comes to an end in Fantastic Four #163 (October 1975). 

There are two important battles on. In one, Ben Grimm has used interdimensional skates to travel into a small pocket of hyperspace. Located here is the Nexus that connects the three dimensions on the verge of war with one another to Arkon's home dimension. Check last week's review for an explanation of  Arkon's plan. For now, its important to remember that his nefarious plan can be foiled by destroying the Nexus.

Ben has a hockey-puck shaped devise he needs to throw into the Nexus to collapse it, but Arkon's minion--the hockey-themed being called Gaard--is one step ahead of him. Reed and Sue are watching the battle on an interdimensional monitor, but the hyperspace pocket is designed so that no more than two living beings can occupy it at the same time. So Ben can't expect any help.

 Meanwhile, Thing-Reed from the alternate Earth and Johnny are carrying the fight to Arkon's home world. It's a cool fight scene, well-choreographed and well-drawn. During the fight, Thing-Reed has some character development, realizing he can't spend his existence locked in a lab tinkering with robots, but needs to become an active participant in life again.

Though from different dimensions, Johnny and Thing-Reed work well together and eventually put Arkon down.

But that won't do any good if Ben can't close up the Nexus. But Gaard is good at... well, guarding stuff. Ben can't get by him.

Reed finally tumbles on an idea to help, transmitting a holographic illusion of another Thing into the hyperspace pocket, distracting Gaard and allowing Ben to toss the anti-Nexus hockey puck into the Nexus.

War is averted and everyone heads home to their proper dimensions. We do get one last look at Gaard. He takes his mask off and we discover he's the alternate Earth's Johnny Storm, who had supposedly been killed in Vietnam. 

Gaard then disappears from continuity for 20 years, not reappearing until well after Marvel Comics stopped being fun. So this can be effectively considered his only appearance worth mentioning.

This was a great story arc and the finale is largely satisfying. Buckler's art work is wonderful and the action scenes are more fun than a barrel of interdimensional skates. It's not without a few minor flaws: Sue doesn't really get to do anything significant during the story arc. And Gaard's hockey-themed character design is considered by many fans to be a little too silly to be effective. And, though the resolution of Thing-Reed's character arc was a legitimate part of the story, the fight against Arkon didn't make any difference to the main plot. Whether or not Arkon went down, it all depended on Ben closing the Nexus. 

But there's are indeed minor glitches. I admire the way Thomas took a complex story idea and laid out the plot in a way that we readers could follow along without confusion. And the action scenes are magnificent from start to finish. 

Next week, we'll visit with the Haunted Tank.

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. 

The Winged Rider

 

cover art by A.L. Ripley

Read/Watch 'em in Order #178

Our journey through the January 10, 1926 issue of Adventure brings us to a prime example of why this particular pulp was one of the best ever sources of great fiction in the history of the entire universe.

Harold Lamb was a regular contributer to Adventure. 19 of his short stories and novellas, published between 1917 and 1926 inclusive, featured Khlit the Cossack.

And, gee whiz, Khlit was awesome. When we meet him in the late 16th Century, he's already old, but he refuses to retire to a monestary and begins to wander the world, running into trouble AND finding friends in the Ukraine, Mongolia, China and Afghanistan.

Khlit is still good in a fight, but he's also learned to use his brains. In fact, he's more likely to simply outwit an enemy than beat him in a straight fight.

"The Winged Rider" is the next to last Khlit tale. At this time, he's traveling with his young nephew Kirdy and a big guy named Ayub. 

By this time, Khlit had stepped aside as the main protagonist in Lamb's Cossack tales while he mentors Kirdy into eventually being as awesome as Khlit himself.  As this particular tale opens, Khlit is happy with Kirdy's swordsmanship, courage and tactical leadership, but is worried that the younger man still hasn't learned how to deal with treachery.

Well, it's not surprising that the opportunity to spot treachery soon turns up. The three Cossacks encounter soldiers working for Erlik Khan, a man rumored to be a powerful wizard or demon who has a stronghold near the Don River.  Erlik is also married to a beautiful woman named Ivga.

The three men end up as guests in Erlik's fortified outpost. They learn that a pirate named Skal is leading a force of pirates and outlaws against the outpost, pulling a couple of ship's cannon on sledges to bring down the walls. Ivga, who claims to be speaking for Erlik Khan, makes goo-goo eyes at Kirdy and asks him to lead Erlik's men. A couple of mercenaries from Europe don't care for this, but Kirdy does end up agreeing to take command.

But he also learns that not all is as it seems in Erlik's territory. Erlik might not be who Ivga says he is. In fact, Ivga might not be who Ivga claims to be.

Khlit gives no advice to his nephew, but keeps an eye on the younger man. Kirdy, though, does well. He does lead Erlik's force out of the outpost to fight Skal's men, using intelligent tactics to make up for the fact that he's outnumbered. And he learns not to blindly trust pretty girls. 

It's a great story, which is typical of any fiction written by Lamb. The enviroment and tense atmosphere are brought to vivid life. The characterizations are strong and the action is intense. The novella ends with the attack on Skal's forces, which includes a one-on-one fight between the large pirate and the large Cossack Ayub--followed by a wicked sword duel between Kirdy and another character. Lamb's Cossack stories are available in a four-volume set I have on my Kindle and re-reading "The Winged Rider" makes me want to revisit the entire Cossack saga.

Better Monsters, Weaker Ending

 

Last week, we looked at the 1963 fantasy film Captain Sindbad. This raises the question that all intelligent men and women must then ask: How did the Gold Key comic book adaptation differ from the movie?

The comic book, cover dated September 1963, was written by Eric Freiwald and Robert Schaefer, with magnificent art by Russ Manning.  It's a perfect example of how comics were once the best visual medium for both fantasy and science fiction films, before modern special effects opened up more possibilities for film.

The story is condenses somewhat--which is to be expected with the need to fit it into 32 pages. This is done intelligently and its still a good fairy tale-esque yarn. But its the visuals that really give the comic book a chance to shine. Whereas the movie--though entertaining--suffered somewhat in its special effects, the comic book had no budgetary or technical limitations. Russ Manning was allowed to make everything look awesome.

For instance, the scene in which the rocs bomb Sindbad's ship now looks great:

Later, Sindbad had to battle an invisible monster in a gladiatorial arena. In the movie, he escapes almost by happanstance when the monster rampages into the audience. In the comic, Sindbad is more proactive and pulls off an escape that would almost certainly been outside the scope of  the movie's budget:

There's a pitched battle added to the comic book--once again, something I would guess the movie could not afford to film:

Finally, there's an upgrade in the number and nature of the monsters guarding the tower in which the villain keeps his heart:

The one part of the comic book that is noticeably weaker than the movie is the climax. There's no unique monster for Sindbad to face when he gets to the top of the tower, nor does the villain put in a personal appearance and duel with Sindbad, Instead, Sindbad simply smashes the heart and the bad guy--still back in the city--falls dead.

Still, it's a great adaptation, taking advantage of the medium to upgrade the cool parts of the film. The more anti-climactic ending was probably due to the length of the comic book, forcing Manning and the writers to rush the ending. But  I wonder if Manning and the writers were given free reign in making the other changes. Or were the different monsters in the original script and cut out for budgetary reasons?

Well, in either case, Russ Manning definitely gives the story a visual upgrade. 

Next week, its back the FF as they continue to deal with interdimensional war.

Cover Cavalcade

 MARCH IS ANTHROPOMORPHIC BEARS MONTH!

This awesome cover from 1962 was painted by Morris Gollub.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 You Are There: "The Rise of Alexander the Great: Peace Offer" 3/6/49

Alexander the Great, at the start of his wars of conquest, receives a generous peace offer from Darius, the Emperor of Persia. Will Alexander accept, or will he continue on in his quest to rule the entire world?

Click HERE to listen or download. 

It's Sindbad, not Sinbad!

 

Actually, I'm not bothered by the Anglocized spelling of the Arab sailor's name, but it's nice to see a more faithful translation. (If I understand it correctly, Sindbad is a Romanization of the original Arabic, but closer to the original than Sinbad. If anyone reading this can correct me on this if I've got it wrong, please let me know.)

One of those times the name is spelled the Roman way is the 1963 movie Captain Sindbad. Guy Williams, in full swashbuckler mode, had finished swashbuckling about on the TV series Zorro and was a few years away from getting lost in space as Dr. John Robinson. So he had opportunity to star in this imaginative (if obviously inexpensive) independent film. It was directed by Byron Haskin, who is best remembered for directing War of the Worlds in 1952.

Sindbad, in this version, is the only hope to overthrow the evil El Kerim, despotic ruler of Baristan. El Kerim biggest advantage is a ring he wears that forces the magician Galgo to serve him. One of Galgo's accomplishments is removing El Kerim's heart and placing it in a remote tower. That way, El Kerim can't actually be killed--a trait that unexpectedly foils Sindbad's initial attempt to dispose of the guy.

There's also a beautiful princess, of course--Princess Jana (Heidi Bruhl--whose performance endows the princess with a quiet courage). Jana is the daughter of the rightful king, so El Kerim wants to cement his position as leader by marrying her. She's in love with Sindbad, though, so is a very reluctant bride.

The movie, as I've said, is very imaginative. Sindbad's ship is sunk by men transformed into rocs who bomb the ship by dropping rocks on it. Later, Sindbad is a prisoner in an arena, forced to battle an invisible monster. Eventually, he and his surviving crew must brave a swamp full of various monsters (including a hydra-type creature--pictured below) and other dangers to get to the tower where El Kerim's heart is hidden. Then Sindbad must fight an unusual monster followed by fighting El Kerim himself to win the day. And save the princess as well. While all this is going on, Jana is being led to the execution block to be killed by getting stomped on by an elephant. Yuck.

The special effects obviously suffer from a lack of budget and technology, but you can always see what the filmmakers were going for. The story is fun and the cast gives it their all. I wish this had been a Ray Harryhausen film--that would have made it awesome. But it's still worth watching.

By the way, Gold Key put out a comic book adaptation with Russ Manning art. We'll take a look at it next week.

War Between Worlds, Part 2

 

cover art by Rich Buckler, with alterations by John Romita

Fantastic Four #161 (August 1975) is written by Roy Thomas, with art by Rich Buckler (layouts & breakdowns) and Joe Sinnott (finished art & inks). It's a difficult issue to summarize, because a lot of plot elements are introduced very quickly.

What impresses me is how effectively this is done. Roy's script tosses one thing after another at us every few pages as it continues to build its complex story about interdimensional war. But the tale is still told clearly--we have no trouble keeping track of everything that happens.

As I said, its summarizing the darn thing that's hard. So, as the action is set in three different dimensions, I'm just going to quickly and seperately describe what happens in each dimension. 

On our Earth, Reed is putting himself through some Danger Room-style tests, confirming that he is starting to lose his stretching ability. He's reluctant to tell Sue and the other FF members, though he realizes he must before long. But at the moment, he can't find either Ben or Johnny.

He then discovers that glaciers are rapidly moving down from the arctic, threatening civilization with a new Ice Age. This is apparently being caused by the residents of the Fifth Dimension.

No, not these guys: 

THIS Fifth Dimension is a world that Johnny had visited some years ago and helped out. But when Reed tunes in a viewer to see what's happening in that dimension, he sees Johnny at the head of an army, apparently getting ready to attack Earth.

How did Johnny end up in that situation? Well, after storming (or rather--flying) out of the Baxter Building in the last issue, he is still simmering from anger over Reed's decision to sell Fantastic Four, Inc. to a conglomerate. He also admits to himself that he's still hurting from his former girlfriend Crystal's recent marriage to Quicksilver.

So he finds an old portal to the 5th Dimension, remembering a girl--Valeria--showed an interest in him when he was last there. But the 5th Dimension is having troubles of their own. Androids built by Reed Richards--that's alternate Reed Richards from the alternate Earth where he became the Thing--are attacking the 5D. After Johnny tussles with one of them, he agrees to help the 5Ders strike back.

Meanwhile, on the alternate Earth, the two Ben Grimms (one is ours, the other is human and married to Sue) still need to find that world's Reed Richards. Leaving Lockjaw to munch on the robots our Ben destroyed in the last issue, Ben, Ben and Sue fly to New York City, where they discover time-displaced dinosaurs and Vikings rampaging about. Ben has an epic fight with a T-Rex. 

We soon learn that these time displacements have happened elsewhere. Their source? Well, apparently its being caused by someone on Marvel Earth. Alt. Ben then gasses our Ben unconscious because otherwise approaching army troops would have fired on him.

So Alternate Earth thinks Marvel Earth is attacking them. Marvel Earth thinks the Fifth Dimension is attacking them. The Fifth Dimension thinks Alternate Earth is attacking them. Johnny is with the Fifth Dimension army and our Ben is currently a prisoner on Alternate Earth. And Alternate Reed Richards is still missing after being captured by Akron last issue. (And remember that Akron comes from yet another dimension.)

Got all that? As I said, I'm really impressed with the way this information is fed too us over the course of the issue, allowing us to assimilate it and grasp the big picture, even if we don't yet know who is manipulating events or what their motivation is. The Buckler/Sinnott art is wonderful to look at, especially Ben's fight with the T-Rex.

This puts us halfway through the story arc. Next week, we'll pause from this to look at a Gold Key comic, but we'll get back to the FF two weeks from now.