Sunday, July 8, 2012

June 1940: Nickel Comics #4

Cover by Jack Binder

'Bulletman' (by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle): Bulletman saves an innocent man from the electric chair, and exposes an impostor who has been posing as the mayor.  It's rudimentary.

'Red Gaucho' (by Harry Anderson): This is the first appearance of the Red Gaucho, a swashbuckling, whip-wielding South American hero.  In this story he stops a revolution led by bandits in Santa Palos.  He's a fun character, albeit something of a stereotype.  Even so, his constant laughter and charming wit are somewhat infectious.

'Jungle Twins' (by Bill Parker and Sven Elven): Bill finally tells his brother Steve about his heritage, and then it's off to New York, where we're treated to the usual shenanigans. Look out, Steve's gonna eat that steak with his bare hands!  Uh oh, don't smoke that cigar Steve!  Oh no, Steve doesn't wanna wear clothes!  You've seen it before, and done better.

'Capt. Venture and the Planet Princess' (by Rafaael Astarita): In the debut of this strip, Captain Venture rescues a princess named Tyra from some ugly aliens, and together they decide to go exploring in his rocket. Lots of running, fighting, captures and escapes, but it's not particularly dynamic or interesting.

'Warlock the Wizard' (by Creators Unknown): Warlock takes on a guy who is hypnotising millionaires and getting them to write him into their wills.  It's fairly dull, though Warlock does use his magic hand Abraxus to spank a guy this time.

2 comments:

  1. Huh. "Bulletman saves an innocent man from the electric chair, and exposes an impostor who has been posing as the mayor." So why does the cover art show him fighting a shark and a submarine?

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  2. That's how things work in the Golden Age: what's on the cover rarely matches what's in the stories. Much like the modern age, really.

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