An Atom and A Famous Writer

 

cover art by Gil Kane

We are still going through the reprints published in 1974's Detective Comics #439. This week, we come to "The Gold Hunters of '49," written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane. It was originally published in Atom #12 (April/May 1964)

I love the time travel stories that Fox and Kane gifted us with during the 1960s. Ray Palmer a friend, Professor Hyatt, who has invented the "Time Pool," a small portal to the past through which Hyatt occasionally "fishes" for artifacts.

The Atom usually ends up going back in time as well whenever Hyatt uses the Time Pool. In this case, Hyatt is going to set his Time Pool for Baltimore in 1849. Ray wants to go back because he's reading a book published that year and wants to be find a missing page.  One of the things I enjoy about these stories is the casual motivations for time travelling they contain. Perhaps it can be argued, in a comic book universe, where there are any number of methods for time travelling, that this is understandable. "Heck, let Flash or Superman check out major historical events. I just want to catch up on my reading." It's the sort of Silver Age silliness that I can't help but love.

So Ray shrinks himself down and climbs through the portal, finding himself in a railroad depot, where a shipment of gold is being packed up for delivery to a bank. Since the bank is near a home where Atom knows his book is located, he hitches a ride.

But a mystery arises! The gold chest is empty, despite never being out of sight of Mr. Barr--the delivery guy. Barr finds himself suspected of the theft, so he asks his friend Edgar Allen Poe for help in solving the crime. Poe, though, has just gotten back in town and needs a nap while he investigates. Atom is interested in the crime as well, but this gives him time to find the book and read the missing page before Poe gets to work.

While reading, Atom has to stop a couple of thieves after some Shakespeare folios also located in the library. What follows is obviously filler--Fox's plot isn't quite enough to fill up all 12 pages. But it's fun filler. Any time Atom uses the "science" of miniaturization to beat up full-sized men, in a fight scene drawn by Gil Kane, it's worth seeing. 

When Poe does get to work, both he and Atom have pretty much already deduced what happened. The gold had been taken at the depot by the freight men, so Barr never had anything but an empty chest in his wagon. 

With some surreptitious help from Atom, Barr and Poe subdue the freight men. Atom returns to the present and Professor Hyatt bags a railroad time table from his fishing line. Everyone (well, everyone except the bad guys) is happy.

Kane's art, of course, looks great. Atom uses his powers in clever ways several times. And, as I mentioned, I love the idea of time travel being used for such relatively casual purposes. This is a fun story. 

Next week, we return to the lonely war of Willy Schultz. In two weeks, we'll look at a Golden Age Dr. Fate tale.

Cover Cavalcade

 

April is National PISTOLS VS PLANES MONTH!

A Irv Novick cover from 1953.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 The Lone Ranger: "Mixed Brands" 5/24/43

A sheepherder is trying to run his herd past some cattle ranches.At the same time, cattle rustlers are active in the area. The Lone Ranger comes up with a plan to solve both problems at the same time.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

We Were There, Part 2

 

We're continuing to look at the We Were There books regarding the Revolutionary War with We Were There When Washington Won at Yorktown, by Earl Schenck Miers. Bit of a spoiler title, isn't it?

Following the typical formula mentioned when we covered the Ethan Allen book, the story is told from the points-of-view of a young boy and young girl caught up in an important historical event. This time, we meet 15-year-old Jed Barnes and his younger sister Fran, who live with their parents on a farm near Williamsburg. The routine of their lives is disrupted when British troops under Cornwallis occupy the area.

It isn't long before Jed is caught up in the events. He meets some Pennsylvania militia serving under Mad Anthony Wayne and soon after meets General Lafayette. The young French general is impressed with Jed's intelligence and grasp of military tactics, so he employs Jed as a spy. Soon, Jed is offering to care for the horses of British officers in Williamsburg, listening to snatches of conversations and picking up bits of important information.

He experiences his first taste of battle alongside Mad Anthony's men, several of whom he's befriended. The book was written for kids, so the battle is not described in graphic terms in regards to blood and guts (though Jed does see a man beheaded by a cannon ball), but the author does an excellent job of describing the terror Jed feels as musket balls fly past him and Redcoats do their best to kill him. As is true with all the We Were There books, the author is not writing down to his audience. 

Jed is later tasked with taking a message to General Washington, whose with his troops in New Jersey. The journey involves dodging and hiding from the British, something accomplished in part because he's helped by a 15-year-old girl named Nell. Nell will end up being adopted by the Barnes family. Jed thinks of Nell as another sister without a hint that there might eventually be a romance. It's my guess that the series--aimed at boys who were often still of an age where you think girls are gross--deliberately avoided even a hint of romance. 

Jed meets Washington and Alexander Hamilton, with the book taking time to point out Washington's qualities as a leader and Hamilton's bravery under fire. Taken together with the scenes featuring Lafayette, the novel actually provides us with a sort of basic primer on being a good leader.

Jed eventually gets back to Virginia, where he helps dig trenches during the ensuing siege warfare and takes part in the capture of one of two key redoubts that need to be captured before Cornwallis is forced to surrender.

Mixed in with all this are scenes showing Jed's strong relationships with his parent and his sister, giving the characters depth and empathy. Jed's mom, in particular, is a great character. At one point, she tells off Cornwallis to his face. Several times during the book, she accurately predicts what one army or the other will do based on "common sense."

As with Ethan Allen, this book gives us a great adventure story and strong characterizations while still teaching us a little bit about history.

This finishes the two books that I acquired through interlibrary loan, forcing me to discuss them outside of their historical chronology. Next time, we'll jump back to just before the shooting started to visit the Boston Tea Party. We'll then finish with the book about Lexington and Concord, which would overlap with the Ethan Allen book. If my future biographers wonder when I didn't cover the books in historical chronological order--IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

Willy Schultz, Part 2

 

cover art by Rocke Mastroserio

The Lonely War of Willie Schultz comes back with a bang in Fightin' Army #77 (December 1967). We are dropped right into the middle of the action, with Willie (still in a German uniform) now the driver of a damaged German tank. He's being ordered by the tank commander to run over an American soldier. He'll be shot if he doesn't obey.

The series continues to be written by Will Franz and drawn by Sam Glanzman.

How did Willie get himself in this situation. A quick flashback reminds us of his unjust conviction for murder by the Americans and how he was forced to pose as a German soldier after escaping. In the first chapter, he took advantage of this by sabotaging a German fuel and ammo dump. But now he's in a dirty, no-win situation after being assigned to a tank crew. 

He took comfort in being just the driver. At least he doesn't have to kill American troops. But, after the Germans destroy several American Shermans, a bazooka team damages Willie's tank. The bow machine gun is damaged and the gunner killed. Either Willie runs down the bazooka man or everyone else in the tank dies. The tank commander figures Willie is freezing up from panic, not because of an unsolvable moral dilemma.

Willie gets an out when a German infantryman kills the bazooka guy. Back at their base, the tank commander (Lt. Ohlsen) tells Willie to shape up. And, yes, he WOULD have shot Willie if he'd had to.

To make matters even more uncomfortable, Willie soon finds himself in a fist fight with a soldier who openly accuses him of cowardice. Naturally, these two are in the same tank crew--commanded by Ohlsen--when they ride out into battle the next day.

They find American tanks, which retreat at the sight of them. Willie realizes the Germans are being led into an artillery trap. When his tank is damaged and burning, he stays aboard to warn the other tanks about the trap. He's made friends with one of the Germans and, at this point, he's just trying to keep anyone from getting killed. 

He's considered a hero for staying in the tank. Even the guy he fought with likes him now. And everyone likes him even more when they all learn that the German tanks that escaped the trap reformed and attacked the American artillery position. Willie is horrified to learn that he is responsible for Americans being killed or captured. Knowing now that there's no way he can stay neutral, he ends the chapter with a vow to get back to American lines.

This is an expertly told story. First, Glanzman's art is typically brilliant. Second, starting the story with Willie thrust into a moral dilemma is a wonderful bit of storytelling, immediately creating tension. The tale then flows smoothly into the flashback to fill in the gaps for us. The ending has a lot of impact, with Willie learning a very hard lesson about his inability to keep everyone safe. 

This is the only other issue of the story arc that is in the public domain, so you can read it HERE.

Next week, we'll visit the Atom as he goes on one of his time travelling ventures. We'll return to Willie Schultz in two week.

Cover Cavalcade

 

April is National PISTOLS VS PLANES MONTH!

A Joe Kubert cover from 1964.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Bold Venture: "The Ghost Ship" 8/20/51

Slate and Sailor are fishing aboard the Bold Venture when they spot a another ship. They go aboard and discover the ship is deserted. When they investigate further, they stumble across a murder.

Click HERE to listen or download. 

Border Cafe (1937)

 

Last week, we looked at the short story "In the Mexican Quarter," by Tom Gill. Today, we'll look at the movie based on that story, 1937's Border Cafe.

The original story is indeed short and fairly straightforward. Billy Whitney is driven to drink and runs away to Texas because he feels he can't live up to his family's expectations. He redeems himself at the end by single-handedly pursuing rustlers.

Well, the movie is only 67 minutes long, but still needed to expand upon the original story. Billy's name is changed to Keith--I have no idea why--and we get a few scenes back East to see how badly he's messing up his life. When he gets to Texas, he takes up residence just across the border in a cafe, playing piano in exchange for a room and drinking money.

Movie Keith is initially a bit more of a rotter than story Billy. Both versions of the character wrote home to falsely claim becoming partners in a ranch, but Keith actually asks for money from his Dad to finance this. He then blows the money on drinks and gambling.

The two biggest changes are:

1. Introducing a love interest for Keith, the fiery tempered Domingo. She's played with charm by Armida. She's at first revolted by Keith, but then gradually warms to him after both go to work at the ranch. She's a great character. I'll admit I fast-forwarded through her brief musical numbers--but that's more a matter of personal taste rather than a commentary on her talents as a singer. Otherwise, Armida gives her character a strong personality and brings a lot of humor into her role.

2. In the story, the rustlers just show up at the end with no foreshadowing. The movie introduces them pretty much right away--converting them into Chicago gangsters who are organizing a combination rustling/protection racket. The big boss is played by the great character actor J. Carrol Naish, whose performance overcomes his cliche-storm dialogue to bring a real sense of menace to the role.

Keith, by the way, is played by John Beal. The rancher he eventually teams up with is named Tex Stevens and played by Harry Carey, who is in full surrogate-dad role. This is the sort of role Carey could pull off, making his efforts to encourage Keith to man up believable if still predictable.

When Keith's parents and his old girlfriend come to visit, the various plot elements come together. Keith's dad disapproves of Domingo, but Keith impresses us when he doesn't even briefly consider buckling under. This foreshadows that the time he's spent working on the ranch really has manned hin up.

And that's a good thing. When the gangsters, whose racket has been busted, kidnap Keith's dad and Domingo while they try to flee the state, Tex and Keith are going to have to work together to save them.

The movie also benefits from its humor. Keith and Domingo play nicely off each other to get some laughs. Keith's attempts to catch and saddle a horse on his first day at the ranch are hilarious, as is a later scene when Tex and Keith's dad (both a bit drunk) trade increasingly unlikely tales about how awesome their respective ancestors were.

One criticism I have of the movie is that the final shootout, though mostly fun, suffers from severe Red Shirt Syndrome. Several ranch hands are killed along with the gangsters, but their deaths are immediately forgotten, allowing for the heroes to immediately joke with each other after the shooting is over.  Oh, well. 

The extent to which Border Cafe expands on the original story makes each its own thing and it's not really fair to say one is better than the other. Both serve their own purposes and do so quite well. 

A Ghost and a Clown

 

cover art by Carmine Infantino

Two weeks ago, we looked at the excellent original Batman story published in Detective Comics #439, which was a 100-pager that included a number of reprints. Today, we'll begin our every-two-weeks look at the reprints from that issue. (There was also an original Manhunter story, but that was part of a multi-issue story arc and we'll look at that seperately if I can dig up the other applicable issues).

We start with "The Riddle of the Clown," written by Bob Kanigher and drawn by Joe Kubert. It was originally published in Flash Comics #92 (Feb. 1948). It's a Hawkman/Hawkgirl tale and gives us the third appearance of the villainous Gentleman Ghost.

Eventually (I think in his next appearance after this one), the Golden Age Gentleman Ghost turned out to be a very-much alive thief and con man who used gadgets and trickery to make it look like he was a real ghost.

But in this story, the good guys are still uncertain about this. And the Ghost certainly seems to be able to pull off some daring crimes. At this point, he's in Paris, foiling pursuit by the local cops and openly planning to rob the Louvre.

The Hawks hear about this and fly to Paris. But they don't do much good. Using smoke bombs and other tactics designed to confuse everyone, the Ghost dodges both cops and superheroes. He also captures Hawkgirl. (It's a flaw in this short but entertaining story that Hawkgirl is largely useless throughout.)

The Ghost leaves a riddle behind hinting at his next crime, which includes a reference to a laughing clown. Hawkman deduces that this refers to a showing of the opera Pagliacci. So he's there in time to save Hawkgirl and stop the ghost from dropping a chandelier on the audience. Hawkman manages to chased down THREE Gentleman Ghosts, using his "Hawkoscope" to detect which costume has an actual person in it. This turns out to be one of the Ghost's thugs, though. All three costumes were decoys.

The real Ghost is spotted, but apparently blows himself up in an attempt to take Hawkman with him. Is he really dead though? Or was he actually alive in the first place?

It's a fun story, galloping along quickly enough through its eight pages to cover over a few plot holes. I always liked the Genttleman Ghost as a villain, especially when moved over to Batman's Rogue's Gallery during the Bronze Age. 

We'll accompany the Atom on one of his time-travelling jaunts in two weeks. Next week, though, we'll return to the Lonely War of Willie Schultz.

Cover Cavalcade

 

April is National PISTOLS VS PLANES MONTH!

A Joe Kubert cover from 1968.