September-October 1938: New Adventure Comics #31; Action Comics #6; Adventure Comics #32

Cover by Creig Flessel

'Barry O'Neill' (by Leo O'Mealia): This strip last appeared in More Fun Comics #29, some seven months ago.  Barry is still trying to rescue Dr. Bonfils from Fang Gow, while the paralysed Fang Gow wants Bonfils to remove a bullet from his spine.  Fang Gow proves his villainy by torturing the good doctor, while Barry blacks up to pass as an Arab so he can infiltrate Fang Gow's lair.  It's a very solid adventure, and it's a testament to it that after all these months (or weeks, in my case) I could still remember what had happened.

'Tom Brent' (by Jim Chambers): Tom is delivering ammunition in Singapore when he gets captured by river pirates.  One is an old enemy of his, Barrows, and the others are primitive native tribesmen. Brent and his pals escape, as is expected, and this strip looks to be heading down the usual boring path. Then the natives go berserk, kill Barrows, and start waving his severed head about on a stick. To be continued! Okay Chambers, you've got my attention.

'Federal Men' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): Steve Carson deals with the kidnapping of a wealthy manufacturer's son.  It's as vanilla as this strip can get.

'Dale Daring' (by Will Ely): Dale and her companions make their escape from the bandit hideout, gunning down their pursuers all the while. And remember how last time they had cut the bridge, ending with the cliffhanger of a whole bunch of bandits falling into the ravine?  Luckily for them they fell in the water!  It's the first instance of a hero reassuring the audience that nobody was hurt.

'Cal 'n' Alec' (by Stockton): Cal and Alec are following their treasure map. They find the location and start digging, only to be fired on by a mysterious figure.  This strip isn't even trying to be funny any more, and if it wasn't for the cartoony art style I wouldn't expect it to be.

'Captain Desmo' (by Ed Winiarski): Desmo is still making his escape from Ben el Hassar and his men, but luckily there's an army of British soldiers around to help out. Desmo doesn't mess about when it comes to killing Hassar, either; he just hops into his plane and guns him down.  But even with that action-packed conclusion, this story is no great shakes.

'Ocean Flight by Mistake' (by Jack Anthony): This is a prose story about a pilot flying to California who accidentally ends up in Ireland. The punch-line is reached half-way through, but the damn thing just keeps going and going well after it should be finished.

'Don Coyote' (by Stockton): Don finds himself washed up on the shore of a desert island where he meets a vicious criminal intent on duelling with him.  Like Cal 'n' Alec, it's just not funny at all anymore, and it's certainly not dramatic.

'Tod Hunter, Jungle Master' (by Jim Chambers): Tod and his posse are leaving the temple with the rubies they stole. But Paul and Hawkins disappear with the rubies, and send their Arab cronies to capture everyone else. At least that's what I think happened, I found this one a little hard to follow.  And not terribly interesting.

'The Golden Dragon' (by Tom Hickey): This strip follows two stories in this issue.  The first belongs to Cockerill, who we last left being attacked by a giant snake.  It turns out he was hallucinating, possibly under the effect of hypnosis, and that he's been captured by the villainous mongol Torgadoff. Torgadoff's evil plan is to make him write a letter, but we don't see what's in it so I'll give his evil mastermind plan the benefit of the doubt for now.  In the other story, Ian and his band had just been attacked by skeletons and nearly wiped out.  In this issue they make their way to a mysterious temple and are about to meet the Abbot. This is the very definition of a filler strip.

'Rusty and His Pals' (by Bob Kane): Rusty and his friends had just last issue met a big dude with a sword on a tropical island. In this story the big dude leads them into a trap, and the revelation at the end is that there's a white man in charge of the natives.  Isn't there always?

'Anchors Aweigh' (by Fred Guardineer): Red is captured by El Diablo and tricked into leaving a message for Don that will lure him into a trap.  Honestly, I just want to find out the identity of El Diablo and get this over and done with.

Cover by Leo O'Mealia

'Superman' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): This has a story with a surprising amount of prescience. A man arrives at the Daily Star claiming to be Superman's manager, and he has licensed all sorts of Superman merchandise. Of course Clark Kent knows he's a phony, and proceeds to expose him and the actor he has hired to play Superman. Lois gets involved, and once again she is a complete bitch; her method of stealing Clark's story this month is to drug him.  I honestly can't see how Superman can possibly fall in love with her, because she's just intolerable

The Superman merchandise is everywhere in this story, and it's weird to think that this story most probably existed in a world before all of this stuff was a reality. A radio show and a movie are mentioned, as is the Superman Streamline Special, America's Favorite Automobile (I don't think this one was ever made, but it wouldn't surprise me).

Oh, and a young kid wearing a bow tie appears in the Daily Star.  He's not named, but he has Jimmy Olsen written all over him.

 Chuck escapes from the bad guys, only to be captured by some other guys.  Seriously, people getting captured is the only plot twist Homer Fleming knows.

'Pep Morgan' (by Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer): Pep goes hunting for bears and ends up rescuing a kidnapped boy from a hardened criminal. Then, just to prove what a swell guy he is, he uses the reward money to buy bats and balls for orphans.  It's probably wrong for me to hate such a good guy, but I hate him a lot.

'Pilferin' Pete' (by Russell Cole): This is yet another story where a cop chases a purse snatcher. Cole is just turning in the same story over and over again at this point.

'The Adventures of Marco Polo' (by Sven Elven): Marco Polo is still in the town of Kerman, where he witnesses a battle between two groups of bandits, and later saves a woman from being raped. There's a relatively graphic shot of the rapist's corpse with Marco's sword in it, gushing blood like a fountain. There's nothing like a good bit of unexpected gore to liven a story up.

'Tex Thomson' (by Bernard Baily): Tex is flying over Europe when he is forced down by a mysterious plane and captured by the evil Captain Diablo, who is running his own private army. In an effective plot twist, Diablo and Thomson just happen to look identical, and the usual shenanigans ensue; Thomson escapes by impersonating Diablo, but is then arrested by authorities who think he is their enemy.  This one is to be continued, and has some decent potential.

'Scoop Scanlon' (by Will Ely): Scoop takes on a gang of murderers with the help of some hillbillies. It's a fairly average story, but the addition of hillbillies is always welcome.

'Zatara' (by Fred Guardineer): Zatara is awesome. In this story the Tigress is at it again, trying to steal the emerald of Egyptian pharaoh Cheops. At first things are going like the average Zatara story, but then the Tigress gets captured by an evil sheik, Zatara meets the mummy of Cheops, and then he leads the pharaoh's undead legions to rescue the Tigress. By the end it seems as though Zatara and the Tigress are best buds, so I'll be interested to see where that relationship goes.  But this story was really good, with some rad scenes and an epic scale.

Cover by Creig Flessel

'Barry O'Neill' (by Leo O'Mealia): The newly revived Fang Gow captures Jean LeGrand and her father, while Barry and Dr. Bonfils try to survive a water-filled cavern set as a trap.  Again this is solid, and I'm impressed by O'Mealia's willingness to shut up and let the art tell the story. It's almost marred by the appearance of some very awful Chinese dialect, but that character starts talking normally when he reveals that he's a secret agent, so it's all good.

'Tom Brent' (by Jim Chambers): I have no idea what happened in this. Our heroes are being menaced by natives, until the pirate leader shows up and guns them down in his plane.  The pirate leader then tries to kill Brent, but Brent escapes and flies off in the plane.  Then he's attacked by a cobra that was in the cockpit.  Then the authorities show up to arrest the pirate leader. What happened to the snake? What happened to the natives that were still there?  It's supposed to be a conclusion, but it's like there's a huge part of the story that's missing.

'Federal Men' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): Steve Carson leads an attack on a racketeer who is holed up with a tommy gun in an abandoned house. After the house catches fire, Steve tries to rescue the criminal, only for the whole structure to fall on him.  It's a good cliffhanger to an otherwise average story.

'Dale Daring' (by Will Ely): This starts a new story, in which Dale and her father return to their South American rubber plantation only to find that it's being run by unsavoury natives who are ready for an uprising. It's not great, but at least I can say that I don't really know where it's going.

'Cal 'n' Alec' (by Stockton): This finally delivers the punchline to the buried treasure storyline, and it turns out that the map was given to them by some guy they know who has never appeared in the strip before. A very poor conclusion.

'Captain Desmo' (by Ed Winiarski): Desmo also starts a new adventure, in which he agrees to help a British army colonel who has been framed for treason.  Of more interest than the plot, though, is that Desmo's sidekick Gabby asks Desmo why he wears his flight goggles at all times (even to bed). He doesn't get an answer, but I get the feeling there will be one eventually.  Cool!

'Don Coyote' (by Stockton): Don spends this strip fighting the guy he annoyed last time, and survives through dumb luck. It's not bad, but I miss Hash and Hamburger, Coyote's old sidekicks.

'Dot & Danny' (by Romer): This is about two kids who presumably get up to shenanigans and annoy their parents. Their mother tries to pretend she's out when a friend calls, but Dot accidentally gives her away. At least, I think that's the joke, because I'm not sure I get it.  This feature never appears again.

'Ol' Oz Bopp' (by Russell Cole): Oz spends most of this strip talking about what awesome lives the American Indians have, and how he wishes he lived the same way.  I'm still waiting for the punchline.  And it seems I'll be waiting forever, because this is the last appearance of the strip.  It was about an old man doing old man stuff, but mildly amusing. You know what, I'll kind of miss him.

'Professor Doolittle' (by Bob Kane): This sets up a gag where Doolittle keeps going into manholes and coming up with money. It turns out he's playing cards with the workmen down there, which is at least a joke I can understand.

'Hot Money' (by Whitney Ellsworth): This starts strongly with a bank robbery gone wrong, but peters out once it starts to focus on the FBI tracking the robbers down. It continues next issue.

'Tod Hunter, Jungle Master' (by Jim Chambers): Tod is still a captive of the arab Hassim. I was having trouble following this strip last time, but I think I've caught up here. Tod's buddy Paul has turned traitor and is trying to flee with the rubies, while Hassim wants them for himself. That doesn't mean it's good, it just means I understand the plot now.

'The Golden Dragon' (by Tom Hickey): Our hero Ian meets the abbot, who rattles off a few pages of cryptic prophecies and mumbo jumbo.  I'm a sucker for that sort of thing, so I enjoyed this quite a bit. Then we get into some plotting from the evil Torgadoff, and it looks to me as though this strip is heading to a conclusion pretty soon.

'Rusty and His Pals' (by Bob Kane): Rusty and his pals find themselves as the guest of Ichabod Slade, a white man in charge of the natives on the island. After his intriguing introduction, it turns out that he is just another dull villain creating counterfeit money. And whatever happened to the Chinese dude and his pirates from a few strips ago?  They've vanished from the story completely after a huge build-up..

'Anchors Aweigh' (by Fred Guardineer): Don succeeds in rescuing Red, but El Diablo escapes.  My prime suspect for being El Diablo, Marshall, then goes to great lengths to prove his innocence by showing up as El Diablo's captive. I'm still not convinced!  Also, I love El Diablo.  He's just a guy in a suit with a sack on his head.

August 1938: New Adventure Comics #30

Cover by Creig Flessel

'Anchors Aweigh' (by Fred Guardineer): Don infiltrates a ship that's been supplying guns to El Diablo, and proceeds to pistol whip, punch, kick and explode everything in sight.  If there's one trait I admire in these Golden Age heroes it's the ability to dish out some serious consequences, and that's definitely on display here.

'Tom Brent' (by Jim Chambers): Jim has arrived in Stambul, where he deals with a gang that's kidnapped the local consul and taken his place as their first step to taking over the city. The story is unremarkable, but Chambers draws the hero with the biggest damn forehead I ever saw.

'Federal Men' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): Steve Carson catches a murderer with the help of the Junior Federal Men Club.  Is it wrong that I wanted all of those kids to die?  Because I am so sick of them.

'Nadir' (by Will Ely): Nadir is sailing with a friend in the South Seas when they are attacked by river pirates. (With speedboats, might I add.)  He beats them with hypnotism, but later on they get their revenge, and the strip ends with Nadir strangled and about be bundled into a car. It's the usual stuff, but at least the cliffhanger is pretty good.  Or it would be, if it was ever resolved, because this is the last we see of Nadir and his rad turban.  And it looks like he just got totally killed by pirates, which is at least a memorable way to go.

'Cal 'n' Alec' (by Stockton): When last we left Cal and Alec, they had just found a gold mine. But, as will happen, an outrageous Mexican stereotype gets mad at them and attacks them with dynamite, sealing the mine.  It's unfortunate, but you know, I seem to remember that these guys found a whole lot of gold a while ago and were already filthy rich.  Don't these writers know that they should never ignore the continuity?!?

'Captain Desmo' (by Ed Winiarski): In the last issue Desmo and his sidekick Gabby had infiltrated the bandits led by Sheik Ben el Hassar, but this month their scheme goes awry when Gabby drops his wallet and the Sheik sees his real street address in Brooklyn. Honestly, I'm more interested in Desmo's permanent headgear than the actual story.

'Deep Sea Gambling' (by Terry Keane): This is a prose story about a deep sea diver who bets his partner that he can stay underwater longer than him.  Yes, there's a bit of life-threatening stuff later on in the story, but at least the author here has realised that he only has two pages to work with, and has kept it appropriately small scale.

'Tod Hunter, Jungle Master' (by Jim Chambers): Tod Hunter had just found a priest inside a giant statue, who had been using it to control the natives for years.  After throwing the priest off the top and killing him, Tod uses the statue to order the natives to free his friends, then makes his escape. A happy ending, except for the one member of his party who is plotting something. To be continued!  (As if I care.)

'Robin Hood' (by Sven Elven): This strip continues the business with the knight Sir Richard, as he confronts the Abbott he owes money to and tricks him into lowering the debt. The focus on Richard instead of Robin and his men in this installment sucks a bit of the life out of it, I'm afraid.  And that's the last installment, which is a shame.  There have been other adaptations far more boring than this that ran for ages (I'm looking at you, 'A Tale of Two Cities').

'Rusty' (by Bob Kane): Rusty and his pals escape the pirate ship and make for a nearby island where they meet a big native with a sword. The only thing this strip has going for it is that the main characters all have distinct personalities. But when they amount to Plucky Kid, Kid With Glasses and Fat Kid, that's not saying much.

'The Golden Dragon' (by Tom Hickey): This strip has its most exciting and eventful episode yet. Thrill, as our heroes pack!  Gasp, as they travel! Yes, it's filler for the first half, but the last scenes feature Cockerill, who was captured last month, being thrown in a cell with a giant snake. I'm not sure who the story wants me to root for, though, because I seem to remember Cockerill as a traitor and potential rapist. Uh, go snake? Oh, and I finally paid attention, and know what the heroes of this strip are up to: they're looking for the lost treasure of Genghis Khan.  Actually writing about this stuff is a great aid to my memory.

'Don Coyote' (by Stockton): Don Coyote was thrown in prison last issue, and this month he escapes. There's a touch of suicide humour, but other than that it's mostly slapstick, which takes a very talented artist to pull off in comics. Stockton isn't that artist, I'm afraid.

'Dale Daring' (by Will Ely): Dale and her friends hold Li Hoang hostage as they escape the Mongol village. Of course they are pursued, and the strip ends as the pursuing natives are sent tumbling into a chasm by Our Heroes. It's a weird cliffhanger that leaves the villains as the ones being threatened.

July 1938: New Adventure Comics #29

Cover by Creig Flessel

'Anchors Aweigh' (by Fred Guardineer): Don and Red continue to search for the South American crime lord El Diablo.  (You know he's bad news, because whenever they mention him the local police chief starts shouting frantically.)  There's the usual sleuthing, and a pretty good bar fight; it's actually not too bad.  But if Mr. Marshall of the American Embassy isn't El Diablo I'll eat a bag of dicks.

'Tom Brent' (by Jim Chambers): Jim deals with a mutiny and some diamond thieves aboard his ship in the most basic of adventures on his way to "Stambul".  Is this an old-timey word for Istanbul, or a patented fictional comic book city?  (It looks like my first instinct was correct.)

'Federal Men' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): This strip is back on form.  I love how Steve Carson saving the presidential candidate from assassination is a minor event before the main plot starts.  In this story, an evil triumvirate is trying to take over America by undermining its principles.  It's high stakes stuff in a similar vein to the way the strip started, and I'm happy to see Carson back having adventures and punching dudes again.

'Nadir, Master of Magic' (by Will Ely): This is continued from last month. Still rocking his awesome turban, Nadir deals with a movie producer who is trying to kill an actress who spurned him. It's notable for having the first silent fight scene that I've encountered so far in this project.  Also, Nadir seems to believe that if he kicks a man out of a twenty storey window it counts as suicide.

'Cal 'n' Alec' (by Stockton): Cal and Alec are complaining that nothing interesting happens to them anymore (oh, really?) when they find an abandoned gold mine. I'm not even sure if this strip is supposed to be funny any more.  It's been cycled around through so many creators that it has lost a lot of its identity.

'Captain Desmo' (by Ed Winiarski): Desmo and his friend Gabby infiltrate the tribe of Sheik Ben el Hassar, trying to find a girl he has kidnapped.  In doing so, Desmo gains the favour of the Sheik, and the displeasure of the other tribesmen.  The only thing that really entertains me about this strip is that Desmo wears his flight helmet and goggles absolutely everywhere, even to bed.

'Gold Fever' (by Jack Anthony): This is a prose story about a gold prospector who everybody thinks is crazy because he claims to have millions of dollars worth of gold in his shack.  After he murders someone, the authorities track him back to his shack, and after an avalanche they find he really does have the gold. These stories are becoming a colossal waste of time.

'Tod Hunter, Jungle Master' (by Jim Chambers): Tod rescues his friends and they make their escape from the tribesman and their evil empress.  On the way they try to steal some rubies from a statue, but Tod falls inside and finds a priest living there. This is all a bit inspired by "She", I think, but without the eeriness and alien quality that story possessed.

'Don Coyote' (by Stockton): Don is hoodwinked by a thief, who steals his horse and purse, and leaves him to be framed for stealing a pig.  The punchline has him all locked up, but apparently this story is to be continued.  Like 'Cal 'n' Alec' this strip used to be funny, but I just don't know any more.  It's also by Stockton, which is a thing with these two strips.  It seems that whoever works on one also does the other.

'Robin Hood' (by Sven Elven): Robin Hood meets a knight who is down on his luck and in need of money, and a priest with an abundance of gold.  Anyone with even a minimal knowledge of the Robin Hood stories can see where this is going, but it's by far the most entertaining series I've seen from Sven Elven.  It's probably due to the strength of the source material, but it's very fun and jaunty.

'Dale Daring' (by Will Ely): Dale is in a tough spot, about to be doused with boiling oil by the grandfather of one of her old villains.  Of course she's rescued by her boyfriend Don Brewster, and they take the villain Li Hoang captive.  But other than the potentially gruesome torture scene, nothing here stands out.

'Rusty and his Pals' (by Bob Kane): The villainous Long Sin and his crew have taken over the ship and put the crew overboard in a boat. But the kids Rusty, Specs and Tubby are still on the ship, along with their friend Steve, who they rescue from walking the plank. This story isn't helped by Long Sin's ridiculous accent, or by me constantly wondering if Bob Kane actually drew it.

'The Golden Dragon' (by Tom Hickey): I really have no idea what the continuing story is here.  A few Americans and a band of cossacks are in Mongolia for reasons I can't recall.  But just when I was thinking this would be another forgettable installment, their camp is attacked by skeletons, who make off with some of the cast. I'm pretty sure they'll turn out to be guys in suits, but it's still worth it for the initial thrill of seeing friggin' SKELETONS.  Awesome.

June-July 1938: New Adventure Comics #28, Action Comics #3

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Anchors Aweigh' (by Fred Guardineer) is a new strip.  It features members of the US Navy getting involved in the business of South American crime lord El Diablo, and right off the bat it endears itself to me by including something resembling a super-villain.  The action is adequate, but at least the Navy setting hasn't been tapped out yet.

'Tom Brent and the Dope Ring' is a new strip by Jim Chambers.  Tom Brent is a seaman, whose friend is killed by a ring of dope smugglers.  He manages to get the ring arrested, despite their attempts to frame him.  It's the standard stuff, but it does have one startling observation to make: apparently, waterfront cafes are the "root of all evil".

In 'Federal Men' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) Steve Carson is still investigating a kidnapping perpetrated by master criminal The Cobra.  It's gratifying to see Steve back to his old self, as he strangles a cobra with what appears to be his tie.

Cover by Leo O'Mealia

'Superman' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): Superman rescues some trapped miners, then goes after their boss for not keeping his mine up to safety standards.  This is where Superman-as-social-crusader really comes to the fore.  Whereas modern Superman might be more concerned with global threats, this is a guy who just wants to make sure a single mine is safe for its workers.  His plan involves getting the boss down into the mine to see the conditions his workers face every day.  It's not as thrilling as the previous two installments, but there is still a certain visceral satisfaction in seeing the wealthy mine owner brought down.  It's pretty easy to imagine a lot of adult readers back in the day having the same reaction.

'Scoop Scanlon' (by Will Ely): Scoop investigates a murder at a dance palace, and finds a girl who is getting men to take her driving so that her pals can rob them.  When Scoop's sidekick Rusty says "good story, eh Scoop?" at the end, even he doesn't sound convinced.

'Pep Morgan' (by Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer): Middleweight boxing champion, major league baseballer, now automobile racer.  Pep earns the ire of some thugs when he refuses to throw a race.  Despite sabotage, another racer trying to knock him off the track, and some dudes just cold shooting at him, Pep wins, and also manages to catch the crooks afterwards. This is exactly the sort of guy I would have hated in high school.

'Shifty Simpson' (by Russell Cole): This is a humour strip, in which Shifty steals a purse and has a very hard time finding a private place to look inside it. When he finally does get a look inside, he finds a note from the police.  It's fairly amusing.

'The Adventures of Marco Polo' (by Sven Elven): Marco fights a tiger with a spear, then cuts its head in half with a sword.  Note to Sven: more of this please.

'Sports at Sea' (by Dick Lawlor): This is a prose story in which a ship is caught in a storm.  To be honest, the author's insistence on describing the sun as a "fiery planet" was distracting me the whole way through.  Truly, our science powers have come a long way since 1938.

'Tex Thomson' (by Bernard Baily): When last we left Tex, he and Bob were in the secret Sealed City as guests of the one-eyed Gorrah.  As could be expected the Gorrah's a bad guy, and tries to have them killed.  But Tex escapes, finds the real Gorrah, and together they defeat the impostor.  Only he's beaten when he falls into one of his own traps, a pit filled with water. And might I add that it was shallow enough that a man could touch the bottom?  Come on you guys, he's totally not dead, never mind what the caption says!

'Chuck Dawson' (by Homer Fleming): Chuck, last seen being held at gun-point, escapes and spends most of the strip running from, punching and shooting his pursuers. But: oh no! They're planning to use his horse for something crooked!  Wake me if a robot shows up.

'Zatara, Master Magician' (by Fred Guardineer): This strip is pulling out all the stops. Wealthy men have been getting murdered by a gang called Death From Above, who gun them down from their airplanes (extra awesome points for the skull and crossbones on their plane).  Their leader is The Tigress, who we met last month, and she's been using her feminine wiles to get herself written into the wills of the victims before they're murdered.  Zatara manages to defeat them, although he can't capture the Tigress. I honestly don't know why, because the guy can do anything.  If he can teleport people, turn them to stone, and summon a plane out of thin air, I don't see why he can't stop this woman from running away (unless it's because she's a sexy lady, in which case fair play).  Nevertheless, this is diverting enough.  At the very least I enjoy seeing what ludicrous trick Zatara is going to pull next.

May 1938: Detective Comics #16, More Fun Comics #32, New Adventure Comics #27

Cover by Creig Flessel

'Speed Saunders' (by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel): Speed investigates a gang of opium dealers who have 1) killed an FBI agent; 2) hidden his corpse in the grave of Joseph Bannon, then 3) hidden Bannon in the sewers to be found by a telephone services company.  You know what, I can't make heads or tails of that plan either.


'Larry Steele' (by Will Ely): Larry was nearly burned alive by gangsters last month, and in this continuation he has to go back to the warehouse where he left their leader tied up to find out the location of a stash of valuable Persian rugs.  Of course the bad guy escapes, and most of the strip involves him and Larry fighting in a burning warehouse.  The problem I have with the whole thing (and with basically all of the Golden Age adventure strips) is that the good guy always seems to have the upper hand.  The creators never even try to pretend that he's in jeopardy.  It goes against every instinct I have about how a story should work.

'Cosmo' (by Sven Elven): Cosmo is called into a museum to investigate the theft of some Indian jewels. At first it seems like a glowing mummy is haunting the museum, but it turns out to be a jewel thief in disguise, Scooby-Doo-style.  (The museum curator mentioned finding the jewels on an expedition to India with Cosmo, and I vaguely remember a story that could fit the description. Perhaps this is a sequel?)

'Bruce Nelson in Too Many Crooks' (by Tom Hickey): This is the concluding chapter of the latest Bruce Nelson story. It wraps up the whole affair with the Omar Diamond pretty neatly; Bruce captures the smugglers and gets the girl, naturally.  It's probably the least interesting chapter in this serial for some time, and it's not helped by the many pages of exposition at the beginning.

'The Tattoo Trap' (by Gardner Fox): This is a very rudimentary prose story about a detective who goes undercover to catch a group of counterfeiters.

'Spy' (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster): Bart and Sally investigate a man who is selling secret FBI documents to the ambassador of Baralvia.  There's a bit more intrigue than is usual in this strip, a couple of decent twists, and some decent banter between Bart and Sally.  I wouldn't mind if it was this good all the time.  (I just noticed this, but every one of these stories ends with Bart and Sally making out while their boss watches from behind his desk with a grin on his face.  It's a bit weird.)

'Finger-Print Farson' (by Russell Cole): This is a little more than a chase sequence, with Farson after a criminal.  It's not quite as pointless as his strip from Action Comics #1, but it's close.

'Buck Marshall' (by Homer Fleming): Buck tackles some pretty clever bank robbers. One of them was a ranch owner who hid his horse and declared it stolen, used that horse in the bank robbery, then traded it to a stranger so that he'd get the blame for the robbery.  It's about the smartest plan I've seen in this series.  Still, it seems like you can't turn around in Sage City without someone being murdered, robbed or rustled.

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): 'Slam Bradley' is back to something resembling its best.  Slam and Shorty go undercover (complete with tap-dancing lessons) in a Broadway show to find out who has been robbing the theaters.  Events are complicated by the presence of Joan Carter, an investigator who specialises in tailing Slam and swooping in at the last minute to solve his case and claim the reward money. It's very funny stuff, and I'm really happy to see my favourite series regain some of its mojo.

Cover by Vin Sullivan

I don't have a scan of More Fun Comics #32, so I can't write about it.  But what's this I see over at http://www.comics.org/?  Doctor Occult's next appearance is in All Star Squadron #49?  Egad, that isn't until the 1980s.  It seems as though I've read my last Doctor Occult story for some time, which is a shame.  It was one of the more consistent and enjoyable strips around.

Cover by Creig Flessel

Oh my god, is it really the last appearance of 'Captain Jim of the Texas Rangers' (by Homer Fleming)?  Seriously, it's about time, because that strip had descended into farce a long time ago.  Captain Jim has been chasing the same gang of cattle rustlers since issue #1, making exactly no progress at all.  All that ever happened in it was an endless series of escapes and captures.  Needless to say, Captain Jim still hasn't caught the rustlers when it ends.

On a similar note, we see the end of 'Sandor' (also by Homer Fleming).  Sandor was raised in the jungles of India by wolves, and he spent all his time fighting against the evil Rajah Maharajah.  This strip had the same problem as 'Captain Jim' above, in that it never went anywhere.  It's just been months and months of Sandor running around in the tunnels under the Rajah's palace and killing his guards. Still, it did have Sandor wrestle a panther one time, so it had a leg-up on the cowboys.  When we leave Sandor, he is still trapped in those tunnels, and I like to think he stayed there for years and years, becoming some sort of legend to the Rajah's guards, who refuse to go down there for fear of meeting him.

April 1938: New Adventure Comics #26

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

Holy cats, the latest 'Federal Men' strip may be the greatest thing ever.  It kicks off with Steve Carson delivering a speech about traffic safety to a group of students, which isn't the most exciting start, but the opening caption certainly got my attention.  It says: "Steve Carson, Ace Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is engaged in what he considers the most important task of his life: convincing children of the need for rigid safety observance."  No, not saving Washington DC from a gigantic atomic-powered tank.  Not saving the President of the USA from being shot through the head by super-villain terrorists.  Not even stopping a giant robot from devastating New York City.  No, to Steve Carson it is far more important to tell a bunch of kids how to safely cross the street.  The mind boggles.

After Steve has recruited all of these little goosesteppers into his Junior Federal Men Club, everything goes swimmingly until a drunk driver hits adorable little Jane.  The JFMC kids summon a police car, and who should show up but SANDY KEAN.  Sandy mother-fuckin' Kean from 'Radio Squad', kids, in the world's first inter-title crossover, shows up to chase this drunk driving maniac.  (Cliche alert: there is one shattered fruit stand.)  And Sandy doesn't mess about.  He chases this guy off a bridge to, and I quote, "a terrible death!"

Then Steve Carson shows up in the final panel to announce that "Jane will be crippled for the remainder of her life."  Perhaps I'm heartless, but this thing had me in hysterics.  It's so absurdly grim and earnest in its attempts to get kids to be safe, but it takes everything just one step too far.  I'm sure Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster never intended it as a parody, but it's a great one.  'Federal Men', all is forgiven.

It looks as though Bob Kane is becoming DC's new go-to guy for humour strips.  His latest offering is called 'Rusty and His Pals', and its about a gang of kids who get blown out to sea and taken aboard a pirate ship.  It's not bad so far, but "The Goonies" sort of gave me a soft spot for kid gangs.

'Captain Desmo' is a new serial by Ed Winiarski, who looks to be picking up a fair bit of work at the moment.  Desmo's a pilot adventurer, up against the villainous Genghis Ahkim, but other than that it didn't really stick with me.  As often happens, late night reading had me napping between every panel.

March-April 1938: New Adventure Comics #25, Detective Comics #15, New Book of Comics #2

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) features Junior Federal Men Club nonsense again this month, but with a twist: it's the JFMC of the year 3000!  This story is absurd.  A bunch of kids find a bound volume of Adventure Comics in the library (yes, in the year 3000), and upon reading it they decide to form their own JFMC club.  Coincidentally, the only criminal in the world just happens to be in the museum with them.  The end of the story is a bit of a let down, but the set-up was so ridiculous that I kind of had to love it.

(You know, these comics read as very alien to me, a mere 70 years in the future from when they were published.  I can only imagine what they would read like to the kids of the year 3000.)

It appears as though we've seen the end of 'Monastery of the Blue God' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Munson Paddock).  The heroes never did get around to finding those gems, or even the eponymous monastery itself.  I'm wondering if this is a side-effect of Wheeler-Nicholson leaving his editorial position, that he's also dropping the writing of all of his strips.  I hope not, because he's one of the best writers of this early period.

Oh no!  'Chikko Chakko' (by Ellis Edwards) is finished!  Where will I get my dose of mildly offensive Mexican humour now?  (To be honest, I actually did enjoy this strip a lot.  Which may make me a racist.)

'A Tale of Two Cities' (by Merna Gamble) ends.  One day I have to read the book, because this comic adaptation was boring as hell.  Some stories are tailor-made for visual adaptation, but this isn't one of them.

'Captain Quick' (by Sven Elven) has also bit the dust.  It was never great, but there was a period in the middle where he was raiding Spanish ships like a pirate that caught my interest.  The strip ends with him in America fighting against Injuns, and one can only presume that he is successful given his all-around invincibility in earlier installments.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Speed Saunders' (by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel): Speed, along with his companions Doris and Dick Dane, gets caught up in a jewel theft on a cruise liner.  This is the beginning of a continued storyline, which is a shame, because in the current format I much prefer the one-off stories.

'Oscar the Gumshoe' (by Bob Kane): This is a gag strip about an inept detective.  It's notable only for its creator, one Bob Kane.  Keep an eye on this guy, he's going to be significant in the future.

'Buck Marshall' (by Homer Fleming): Buck investigates a stagecoach robbery. He's able to work out by looking at footprints that the main suspect, an Injun, wasn't the culprit, because apparently all Injuns walk with their toes curled in.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but it's the sort of blanket racial stereotype you get in these comics a lot.

'Larry Steele' (by Will Ely): Larry is kidnapped by goons, who plan to burn him alive in a rug warehouse, and collect insurance for the fake rugs at the same time.  Despite the whole situation being neatly wrapped up by the end, this is to be continued.  I have no idea how (or why).

'Bruce Nelson in Too Many Crooks' (by Tom Hickey): This continues the latest Bruce Nelson yarn, with Bruce having just shot Parsons and claimed the diamond for himself.  Bruce's supposed criminal turn plays out for a while, with him framing some other crooks for the murder, and making a deal with another would-be thief to fence the diamond in New York.  Of course the other shoe drops by the end of the strip, with Bruce having set the whole thing up to catch the diamond smuggling ring. We'll see how that turns out next month.

'Lightning Strikes Twice' (by Gardner Fox): This prose story is about a man who is struck by lightning, and presumed dead.  He is inexplicably alive, despite the description of his body as charred and blackened, and goes on a crazy rampage.

'Spy' (by Siegel and Shuster): Bart and Sally take on Mr. Death, who has been killing diplomats for their role in starting wars.  Alas, he's not as awesome as his name makes him sound, although he does have the patented crazy-face that Shuster draws.  Shuster draws about four facial expressions, and I love all of them.

'Bring 'em In Brannigan' (by Russell Cole): Some bankers are bringing a whole lot of money to a hotel room to make a transaction, but they never show up.  It turns out that they were shown to the wrong room and kidnapped, in an elaborate scheme to steal the money.

'Cosmo' (by Sven Elven): Cosmo actually has a bit of excitement this issue.  He's involved in a plane crash that was orchestrated by a failed businessman who wanted to steal the gold consignment on board.  There's some shooting, a bit of fist-fighting, and a villain getting thrown over the side of a cliff.  It's a step up from Cosmo's usual nonsense.

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): Slam and Shorty are framed for murder in this story, and spend most of it fleeing from the cops.  This one is a step back in the right direction, with an infusion of cross-dressing humour when Shorty poses as a wealthy heiress to draw out the real murderer.  But Slam is still a shadow of his former self, as he gets knocked out by a bottle-wielding thug.  He doesn't even punch anyone, which is a crime.

The last page of the issue is an advert for Action Comics #1, which is coming next month.

Cover by Many Creators

 

I don't have a scan of this book, but it seems to reprint elements from More Fun Comics #15 and 16, and New Comics #11.  And no, I'm definitely not re-reading them.

February 1938: Detective Comics #13, More Fun Comics #30, New Adventure Comics #24

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Speed Saunders' (by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel): This story  is total nonsense.  It starts well enough, with Speed on the hunt for the only witness who can testify in a murder case.  After that Speed is shot by the murder suspect's goons, but survives due to his bullet-proof vest.  So far so good, but once it gets into the courtroom all story logic goes out the window.  The murder case at the start of the story is completely abandoned in favour of Speed accusing the man who shot him, and then out of nowhere he's exposing the judge as a corrupt official. None of this flows logically, and it's undoubtedly the worst Speed Saunders strip so far.  Gardner Fox goes on to become a significant figure in DC history as the creator of the Golden Age Flash, Hawkman, the Justice Society, the Justice League, and the whole Earth-1/Earth-2 multiverse thing.  But that's in the future, and here he's just turning out a crap Speed Saunders story.

'Larry Steele' (by Will Ely): When we last left Larry, he'd crashed his bullet-riddled car into a tree. Of course he's unscathed, and he spends the rest of the strip trying to catch the kidnappers in another car chase.  He even survives yet another crash, and I'd say that two car crashes in the space of four pages has got to be some sort of record.

'Cosmo' (by Sven Elven): Cosmo goes undercover in a circus to figure out who is sabotaging the trapeze act.  It turns out to be a love-sick clown, who gets his comeuppance when he is ripped to shreds by a tiger.  Cosmo actually uses his disguise gimmick in this story, which he hasn't done for ages.  And of course, the circus owner is an old friend of his, because Cosmo is old friends with everybody on planet Earth.

'Bruce Nelson in Murder in the Clouds' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Tom Hickey): Bruce is still investigating the mystery of the exploding planes.  He solves it pretty handily, and the culprit is of course the guy who was just a little too late to catch the plane last issue.  You can generally pinpoint any murder suspect in these comics by finding the first character that the author clears of suspicion.

'Dental Detective' (by Gardner Fox): This is a prose story about a diamond thief who hides his stolen booty inside his false teeth.  It's not very good, but I'm stoked that it's only two pages long.  I can't wait until these text pages are dead and buried (or at least replaced with letters pages).

'Spy' (by Siegel and Shuster): Bart and Sally are tasked with dissuading a politician's son from his gambling habit.  Which they do by robbing him at gunpoint, after Bart offers this immortal phrase: "He won't listen to reason. And so now for violence!"

'The Pine Road Mystery' (by Russel Cole): This is less of a who-dunnit and more of a how-dunnit.   The culprit is obvious from the beginning, but the mystery of how he could kill a man at a time when four other people saw him sleeping is the main focus (answer: he used a wax dummy).  I've mentioned before that I have trouble following Cole's mysteries, and with this one the reason is easily apparent: this strip has over a dozen characters featured, all introduced in rapid succession.  It served to muddy the mystery somewhat, but it muddied the storytelling as well.

'Buck Marshall' (by Homer Fleming): Buck Marshall started off dealing with rustlers, and now he constantly investigates murders.  In this strip, his adversary is a murdering rustler.  I suppose it was inevitable.

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): Slam and Shorty foil the hijacking of a ship.  Not only is the strip losing its potency, but Slam himself gets knocked out twice in the course of this story.  As the stories get blander, so the hero loses his awesomeness.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Dr Occult' (by Siegel and Shuster) investigates a fortune teller, who is possessed by a demon while holding a seance. It's actually quite tense and gripping, with some creepy art.  This has been one of the most consistently good strips for some time.

'Hooves of the Tartar Horde' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Alexander Nikitin) is a new strip depicting the Mongol conquest of Otrar in Persia.  It's set up as a continuing story, but as far as I can tell it doesn't continue after this.

It also looks like 'Spike Spalding' (by Vin Sullivan) has come to an end.  Which is fine, because the main plot involving Spike's resemblance to the king of a foreign country, and the political machinations that ensued, was wrapped up last issue.  This installment sees Spike back in the USA and unhappy about having to go back to school, and there are some plot threads being set up for the future, but it's not a bad place to end.

'Buzz Brown' (by Creig Flessel) is a new strip.  Buzz is a half-eskimo kid who gets picked up in the ocean by a tough sailor.  Both of them get blown out to sea in a storm and picked up by a ship that is headed to Singapore.  There's not much here to interest me.

It's cancellations all around here, as it also seems that 'Little Linda' (by Whitney Ellsworth) is done.  It started off with Linda as an orphan girl having various adventures, until she eventually got adopted by a rich dude.  In the current storyline she has run away to live with lumberjacks, and there is a film crew making a movie there.  Of course Linda looks exactly like the star, and has been performing as her stunt double, and the whole thing ends with Linda about to be taken to Hollywood to become a star herself.  Which is nice, because she's quite a sweet and likable character, and this has been a fairly enjoyable strip.

'Pirate Gold' (by Sven Elven) is also finished.  It ends with the heroes rescuing their lady friend from the Chinese villains, which I guess is as much closure as I need.  To be honest, I could never remember what was going on in this strip from one issue to the next.

'Hope Hazard' is a one-off strip by Alex Lovy.  Hope, the daughter of a secret agent, inherits a mansion and gets involved in the mystery of a stolen diamond.  It's not bad, and the mystery is clever enough that I'll probably nick it for my D&D game.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

This is the first issue that I've noticed Whitney Ellsworth is no longer listed as an associate editor.  He's been there from the beginning.  That leaves Vin Sullivan as the remaining associate editor, with Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson still the man in charge.

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) starts promisingly with Steve Carson on an adventure, and no damn kids in sight.  Then it ends with a kid rescuing him and joining the Junior Federal Men Club.  I think I've reached the point where I actively hate this strip.

'Boomerang Jones' (by Stan Babcock) is a new strip.   Jones is an adventurer who gets hired by an explorer to accompany him into the jungles of Borneo.  They get mixed up with a gang which has kidnapped the daughter of a rubber plantation owner, and the whole thing is wrapped up in this story.  Apparently, we never see Boomerang Jones again.

'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) goes from being attacked by giant turtles to falling into a pool full of crocodiles.  The last panel asks the dramatic question, "Can Steve be saved?!?", but given the way he's bearhugging the fuck out of a crocodile, I'm more worried for their safety.

January 1938: New Adventure Comics #23

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) just gets crazier and crazier.  Steve spends most of the strip punching alligator men in a bid to stop his girlfriend Myra from being forced to marry their king. Then, completely out of nowhere, a horde of giant turtles attacks everybody.

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) is back to showing Junior Federal Men Club nonsense.  In this strip a bunch of girls prove that they're good enough to join the JFMC.  I suppose it's a worthwhile message to be sending, but it really does feel as though Siegel and Shuster are trying to further a cause rather than tell exciting yarns.

'Robin Hood' (by Sven Elven) is a new strip about the eponymous English hero.  I don't know if this is an adaptation of an existing tale or not, but it doesn't really match with any versions that I know about.  In this chapter we see Robin Hood meet a bunch of wardens in the King's forest.  They mock him, and bet him that he can't even draw his own bow.  Robin answers the challenge and shoots down a deer, but is then arrested for hunting the King's game.  This one is quite well done, especially by Sven Elven's usually tedious standards, but I suppose that he does have some good material to work with.  (As a side note, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" starring Errol Flynn came out in May of 1938, a good few months after the start of this strip.)

Bill Patrick seemed to have disappeared for a few months, but he's back in this issue with 'Monty of the Mounties', a one-off strip about a Mountie on the trail of a dangerous criminal, who arrives just in  time to see said criminal being beaten by his wife.  What would a Golden Age comic be without a dose of good old domestic abuse comedy, eh?

December 1937: New Adventure Comics #22

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) sees Steve Carson outsmarting a guy selling forged stamps in a rather forgettable adventure, but at least the Junior Federal Men Club are nowhere to be seen.

It seems like we've seen the last of 'Vikings', by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Anthony Blum.  The strip ends with the main character Ivar rescuing his love Sundgrid and sailing away from his enemies.  A reasonably satisfying conclusion to a middling strip.

It's also the end of 'She', the adaptation of the H. Rider Haggard novel by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Sven Elven.  I'm not sure I really get the ending, to be honest.  So She takes her reincarnated lover to her personal flame of youth, that has kept her young and alive for centuries.  To show off how it works, She bathes in the flames.  But then She is withered and dies?  It doesn't make much sense, but I'm not inclined to go back to previous issues and piece it together.  Perhaps I'll figure it out when I read the novel, which I plan to do, because this adaptation was quite intriguing.

There's a new strip called 'G-Woman' (by Creators Unknown) about a female secret agent, but it seems as though this is its only appearance.  She claims to be the only female agent in the USA, so I guess she's not in the same continuity as 'Sandra of the Secret Service'.

November 1937: New Adventure Comics #21

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

I've been fairly disinterested in 'Captain Bill of the Texas Rangers' (by Homer Fleming) ever since it began, like, a million years ago.  Part of the reason is that Homer Fleming draws every damn character the same, and when they're all white dudes in cowboy hats it makes things 100% harder to figure out who is who.

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) has gone beyond a joke.  Again we're subjected to the exploits of the Junior Federal Men Club, in which some kids trail a guy just for the hell of it, and it just so happens that he's a crook.  I have so many problems with this thing, not the least of which is that it's taken over what used to be a great strip.  And pity poor old Steve Carson.  Only a year ago the guy was blowing up submarines and piloting giant robots.  Now he's the administrator for a kid's fan club.

This month's 'International Good Neighbor Club' mentions the threat of war in Europe and Africa, which is the first rumblings we hear about World War II in these comics.

September 1937: New Adventure Comics #20

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) has been completely taken over by the Junior Federal Men Club at this point.  This strip is about a bunch of kids helping to foil a bank robbery, in direct contradiction to the club edict that its members should never attempt to arrest a criminal.  What we're getting here is less a story, and more a piece of advertising, and it's really quite irritating.

'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) is once again quite fun. His girlfriend Myra has been captured by the Devachan, but the villain and his captive both get caught by the Alligator Men, who actually ride alligators.  Myra is wed to their king, but when Steve shows up to stop the wedding she orders him thrown in jail for some reason. It's a good cliffhanger.

Otherwise there's not much going on, but it's occurred to me that I should explain why I'm covering Detective Comics in more detail than New Adventure Comics and More Fun Comics.  The reason is the sheer volume of stories in the latter two titles.  Detective has maybe eight strips per issue, and they all come in at a decent length.  New Adventure Comics and More Fun Comics have a lot more, and many of them are just two pages per issue.  I'd go mad trying to find something to say about them all.  But I'm going to list all of the ones in this issue of New Adventure (not including those above) as a way of showing you the current status of the book.

'Captain Jim of the Texas Rangers' (by Homer Fleming): An old Texas ranger takes forever to capture rustlers.

'The Golden Dragon' (by Tom Hickey): Two Americans have adventures in Mongolia.

'Goofo the Great' (by Russell Cole): A regular humour strip about a stage magician, and probably my favourite of Cole's various creations.

'A Tale of Two Cities' (by Merna Gamble): Adapts the Charles Dickens novel, and is dreadfully dull as a comic strip.

'Vikings' (by Anthony Blum and possibly Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson): This is about a bunch of Vikings having adventures, and not nearly as fun as it sounds. Even when it's Vikings vs. Druids.

'Cal 'n' Alec' (by Ray Burley): A cowboy humour strip that was funnier when Bill Patrick was on it.

'Dale Daring' (by Will Ely): A strip about a female adventurer.  It's novel, you see, because she's a woman.

'Monastery of the Blue God' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Munson Paddock): An American soldier and his fiancee hunt for jewels in Mongolia, while other foreign spies try to stop them.

'Laughing at Life' (by Vin Sullivan): A regular collection of one panel gags that are occasionally funny and often inscrutable.

'Don Coyote' (by Ray Burley): A humour strip about a medieval knight that was also funnier when Bill Patrick was on it.

'She' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Sven Elven): A quite good adaptation of the H. Rider Haggard novel.

'Chikko Chakko' (by Ellis Edwards): A humour strip about a Mexican, full of the usual jokes about Mexicans.  It makes me laugh, but you'd never see anything like it around today, and rightly so.

'Detective Sergeant Carey of the Chinatown Squad' (by Joe Donohoe): A detective has adventures in Chinatown, and uses the word "chink" in every sentence.

'Ol' Oz Bopp' (by Russell Cole): A humour strip about an old man and his various observations.  Can be funny, can be indecipherable.  Much like old people in real life.

'Sandor' (by Homer Fleming): A jungle boy in India fights against the evil Rajah.  Seems like it's been going forever with no forward momentum.

'Captain  Quick' (by Sven Elven): An English sea captain fights against the Spanish.

'Nadir, Master of Magic' (by Will Ely): A magician fights crime in a suit and turban.

'Just for Fun' (by Russell Cole): A regular humour strip with no set cast or premise.  It's just Alger's usual comedy, which is either amusing or baffling.

That's twenty regular features per issue, so you can see why I don't cover them all.

August 1937: More Fun Comics #24, New Adventure Comics #19

Cover by Vin Sullivan

 

The absurdity levels skyrocket in 'Marty McCann' (by Ed Cronin).  In the last issue he beat the number one contender for the world heavyweight title.  In this issue, through yet another series of ridiculous events, he beats up the actual champion.  There's something quite charming in the brazen stupidity of it all.

'Radio Squad' (by Siegel and Shuster) features a strange story about a guy named Harry Owens, who wanted to be a radio announcer but has ended up as a policeman.  He practises his announcing skills over the police radios, and gets simultaneously fired by the police and hired by a radio station.  It's an adequate story so far as these things go, but it's almost presented like Harry Owens is a real person.  He could be this guy, but there's no mention of a radio career on that page.  The time-frame matches up, at least.

'Doctor Occult' this month is another pretty good one from Siegel and Shuster.  A bunch of guys have been turning up dead in mysterious circumstances, with the letters H.D. on their forehead.  The culprit is a painter, who is killing them by painting them into lethal situations.  It's a well-used story element, but I just love the touch that he is signing all of his victims.

Speaking of which, the H.D. in question is Henri Duval, who the more attentive among you may remember as the star of one of Siegel and Shuster's earliest strips.  That version of Henri Duval was a swashbuckling musketeer-type character, and has no overt connection to this painting murderer, but it's still odd that they would recycle the name.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

I'm struggling to find something to say about this comic, to be honest.  There are no new strips, no strips ending, and nothing really noteworthy going on.  Everything is just chugging along as before.  Normally I'd chime to say what's going on in 'Federal Men', but I'm tired of writing about how that strip has become a pale shadow of its former glory.  The only other thing going on is that 'Don Coyote' and 'Cal 'n' Alec' are back after a bit of a hiatus, and they're now being done by a guy named Ray Burley, who is not the originator of either strip.  Both were originated by Robert Leffingwell and continued by Bill Patrick, and among the better humour strips, but now they've lost a lot of their distinctiveness and flavour.  I'd probably be happier if they had just disappeared for good.

July-August 1937: More Fun Comics #23, New Adventure Comics #18, Detective Comics #7

Cover by Vin Sullivan

 

There's a new strip this issue: 'Marty McCann, Champion of the Navy', by Ed Cronin.  It's about a member of the US Navy who gets into an argument with the number one contender for the boxing world heavyweight title, and ends up beating him in a match.  It's mostly page upon page of two guys beating the hell out of each other, but not bad for all that.  At the very least it's a break from cowboys and detectives and such.

In other news, it turns out that in 'Doctor Occult' (by Siegel and Shuster) the title character was not dead, just drugged.  So his claim as the first ever resurrected comics character has been retracted.  He beats the Lord of Life this issue, and it must be said that Siegel and Shuster aren't the sort of creators who drag out their stories too much.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

There's more from the Junior Federal Men Club this month.  In a remarkable display of gender equality, apparently girls can join as "auxiliary members".  But what do I know, maybe this really was progressive for the 1930s.

'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster) is once again quite sedate, although there was a glimmer of interest when a man was strapped to a torpedo and fired from a moving train.  But where are the giant robots and atomic tanks and burning skyscrapers I once loved so much?

'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) continues to surprise me, having moved from being one of the most forgettable strips to one of the most memorable.  Steve has a fistfight with the Devachan this month, and the large, impactful panels seem like they've been influenced by Siegel and Shuster's work on 'Slam Bradley'.  I hope there are other creators taking notice as well.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): Speaking of which, this month Slam Bradley and Shorty go undercover as life guards to investigate the disappearances of people swimming in the ocean.  The actual plot is kind of a dud, because it's a whodunnit where the culprit doesn't even appear until he's exposed.  It makes up for it by being super-funny and entertaining.  It even opens with Slam having the time of his life, stopping a man from drowning by punching him in the jaw.  And next issue: hillbillies!  It's going to be awesome.

'Cosmo' (by Sven Elven): Once again, I'm amused that everyone on the planet is a close personal friend of Cosmo.  This time he investigates the murder of a pianist, and like the 'Slam Bradley' strip above the mystery is a total cheat.  Unlike Slam Bradley, there's nothing else of merit here.

'Claws of the Red Dragon' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson): Bruce Nelson finally meets the mastermind of the kidnapping scheme, Lu Gong, who has got to be the chattiest bitch in villain history.  I swear there's a panel where his word balloon takes up a quarter of the page.  Next month is the conclusion to the strip, and I have to give Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson some props, because all of his strips have ended in a relatively satisfying manner so far.  Many others just keep chugging along with no end in sight, but he finishes his stories when their natural time is up.

'Rifles on the River' (by Guy Monroe): This is a prose story about some soldiers fighting bandits who steal an armoured train.

'Gumshoe Gus' (by Bill Patrick): I don't know what has happened to Bill Patrick. I used to really like his strip 'Don Coyote', which really was one of the better humour strips in these comics at the time, but 'Gumshoe Gus' isn't all that funny.  Perhaps it's the focus on a single character, as a lot of what made 'Don Coyote' work was the interplay between the three main cast members.

'Spy' (by Siegel and Shuster): Bart and Sally capture a plane manufacturer who shot down a zeppelin to stop it from hurting his business.  There's a little more tension to their relationship this month, but it's far from the focus I hoped it would be.  Also, this was almost certainly inspired by the Hindenburg disaster, as that had happened just a few months before this issue went on sale.

'Buck Marshall' (by Homer Fleming): Buck arrests a guy who killed the local ranger for not letting his cattle graze more.  Or something.  I confess to being very uninterested in cattle ranch politics.

'Larry Steele' (by Will Ely): Larry keeps driving back to New York, only for his pursuers to push a car down a hill on top of him.  He tracks them down with the help of the FBI, and I quite literally fight to stay awake.

'Speed Saunders' (by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel): Speed Saunders tracks down a cowboy who got kicked out of the rodeo, and was shooting the performers for revenge.  It's a long way from the waterfront for Speed, which could be a boon, except that it makes him just like every other generic detective out there.  I think he should stick with his gimmick for the most part.

June-July 1937: New Adventure Comics #17, Detective Comics #6

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

As I was reading the latest installment of 'Captain Bill of the Texas Rangers' (by Homer Fleming), it occurred to me that he has been trying to arrest the same damn gang of rustlers since the beginning of time.  The guy needs to hire Buck Marshall over from Detective Comics, because that guy goes through a different rustling outfit every four pages.

'Nadir, Master of Magic' (by Bill Ely) is a new strip about a magician detective.  His origin mentions the tragic death of his parents which inspired him to fight crime, so I guess he's a sort of Indian Wizard Batman.  His first adventure sees him trying to solve a pearl theft, and surviving a murder attempt on his own person.  Despite the premise, Nadir doesn't use any magic so far, and the whole thing ends in fairly limp fashion, to be continued next issue.  Still, I love Nadir's business suit and turban outfit.

Ever since the strip a few months ago where the Devachan went murderously nuts, 'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) has been a lot more interesting.  This month Steve breaks a giant vulture's neck with his bare hands, and he's taking over from Steve Carson of 'Federal Men' as the raddest action hero of New Adventure Comics.

Speaking of 'Federal Man', the Junior Federal Men Club is now in full swing, with instructions being issued to its members.  I didn't think this was so bad last time, but now it comes across as a little creepy, like someone trying to construct their own personal child militia.  But then I've never been sold on patriotism or any of that sort of thing.  The good intentions of the 1930s can look a little odd when viewed from a modern perspective.

The actual 'Federal Men' strip (by Siegel and Shuster) is a fairly bog standard story about a jewel thief.  It feels like a really long time since this strip was the best thing around.

Checking in quickly with the resident novel adaptations, I'm getting quite absorbed by H. Rider Haggard's 'She' (adapted by Sven Elven).  On the other hand, I honestly can't keep track of 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens (by Merna Gamble).  It bores me to tears, and seems to gain nothing from being adapted into a visual medium.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Speed Saunders' (by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel): This strip has gone crazy this month, with what might be the very first intelligent ape story in DC history.  Anything with apes and mad scientists usually piques my interest, and this one had the right sort of manic energy to pull it off.  One thing to note, though, is that Speed is now seemingly back with the Harbour Patrol; I suppose he was rehired rather quickly after getting fired a couple of months ago.

'Larry Steele' (by Will Ely): This strip sees Larry's plane being shot down while he's on his way to Hollywood to investigate the celebrity disappearances.  Unremarkable stuff.

'Cosmo, Phantom of Disguise' (by Sven Elven): Cosmo foils some diamond smugglers.  Man, there are jewel thieves all over comics in the 1930s.

'The Claws of the Red Dragon' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and Tom Hickey): In this extra-long installment, Bruce Nelson is recaptured and about to meet the guy in charge of all the Chinese villains in this strip.  I fully expect some outrageous stereotyping next month.

'Tropical Trouble' (by Gardner Fox): This is a prose story about a secret agent sent to rescue another agent in Honduras.  It sets up a mystery about why the hero, a desk clerk, is even sent on the mission, then doesn't bother to answer it.

'Gumshoe Gus' (by Bill Patrick): Gus goes undercover as a crazy hobo to find a criminal hiding in the nut-house, and by the end of the strip he's in his own padded cell.  I'm not sure if this is a punchline or the set-up for a continuing story.

'Spy' (by Siegel and Shuster): The new status quo begins, with Bart Regan and his fiancee Sally both working as spies.  And magically all of the romantic tension from the previous strips has gone, and they're working together in perfect harmony.  It's a waste of a promising set-up.

'Mr. Chang' (by Ed Winiarski): Our resident Chinese sleuth deals with a mad scientist who is creating giant slaves by injecting people with chemicals.  It seems to me like the mad scientists in these strips are all starting to get a little crazier, and I heartily approve.  This is the final appearance of Mr. Chang, and he goes out as the least racist portrayal of a Chinese character in these comics so far.

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): 'Slam Bradley' is once again very good, as Slam and Shorty go to Mexico to stop a bandit gang.  There is a definite formula to these strips, and it's followed every month.  Shorty always goes undercover, Slam always wins by punching a guy super-hard, and there's always a gag at the end with Slam getting the girl and Shorty missing out.  I also love the standard opening page, usually a full page shot of Slam Bradley just brutally wrecking some random villains.  So far the formula is working, and I anticipate this strip more than any others.

May 1937: New Adventure Comics #16

Cover possibly by Creig Flessel

 

This may be the final appearance of 'Hardluck Harry' by Bill Carney.  It's a funny animal serial about Harry, who gets kidnapped onto a ship's crew, and his adventures trying to escape with the ship's cook, who is an outrageous Chinese caricature.  I'm actually not really sure what type of animals they're meant to be, possibly dogs or bears.  It was reasonably humorous, and even the cook's ridiculous accent became endearing after a while, simply because it's so over the top.

In 'Federal Men' (by Siegel and Shuster), Steve Carson puts a stop to smugglers sneaking Chinese people into the country, but of greater importance is the proper establishment of the Junior Federal Men Club.  As I predicted, they're asking for money.  Still, given the social crusading that Siegel and Shuster often do in their stories, I sense a genuine desire on their part to create a group of youngsters dedicated to helping the country.  Perhaps I'm a sucker, but it feels sincere to me.

'Detective Sergeant Carey' (by Joe Donohoe) has been captured by some Chinese criminals this month.  I don't blame them personally, given the frequency with which he throws the word "chink" around.  I'd be perfectly happy if he never escaped.

April-May 1937: More Fun Comics #20, New Adventure Comics #15, Detective Comics #4

Cover by Vin Sullivan

More Fun Comics #20 is yet another issue of that series for which I couldn't find a scan.  Taking a look at its contents, it looks like I missed very little.  There's the last installment of 'Pelion and Ossa', a funny animal strip about a bear and a penguin by Pete DeAngelo.  Something called 'Bobby and Scotty' reappears for the first time since issue #9, but I don't remember it at all.  And I won't need to, because it never shows up again.  'Lieutenant Leeds' is a strip by Alex Lovy that seems to be a one-off.  It's almost a relief that I get to skip these issues, but on the other hand it makes it nigh-impossible to get into a good rhythm with the strips.  It's no coincidence that I'm enjoying New Adventure Comics and Detective Comics more than this series.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Jungle Fever' by Ed Winiarski debuted in the last issue, but I hadn't paid enough attention to talk about it.  In part two the main characters Red and Curly go to an island to find a plantation (for reasons I couldn't figure out).  Along the way they help put down a mutiny, but there are forces on the island that aren't friendly to them.  Standard island adventure strip stuff for the time.

'Steve Conrad' (by Creig Flessel) has been another fairly boring island adventure strip, but this one features the main villain, the Devachan of Dolorosa Isle, on a one-man murder mission through Steve Conrad's ship. He even goes so far as to lash a corpse to the wheel with a knife still in it.  It's the first time that this strip has been remotely memorable.

Apparently we've seen the last of 'Slim and Tex' by Alex Lovy, a strip about two cowboys who worked on a ranch and got up to hi-jinks.  At the beginning it was about their rivalry for the affections of the lady owner of the ranch, but by the end it was tied up in a plot about a rich girl visiting the ranch, and the goons trying to kidnap her.  And damn it, I need to bring these comics to work with me, because I can never remember whether they ended on a cliffhanger or not.

I don't know what this says about me, but now that 'Captain Quick' (by Sven Elven) has shifted his mission from the rescue of his lady love to straight-up raiding Spanish galleons for booty I'm much more interested in it.

To be honest, I felt much more engaged by all of the strips in this issue.  Perhaps I was just in a charitable mood, or perhaps I'm getting more used to the way these stories are told.  These comics are vastly different to the majority of the others I've read (mostly from the 1960s to the present), and in the beginning I felt like I was doing a lot of work to keep up.  Now they feel a lot more natural to read, and we'll see if that helps my enthusiasm level in the future.  There wasn't even a 'Federal Men' strip this month, so it's very unusual that I found myself so engaged.

Cover by Creig Flessel

 

'Speed Saunders' (by Creig Flessel): Speed investigates a murder involving rival sugar cane plantations.  It seems that even the creators have recognised the limitations of the water police set-up, because this strip has little to do with it, and Saunders is even fired from his job during the story.  That's probably because this strip was created by E.C. Stoner, but last issue Creig Flessel took over.  I'm interested to see if he sticks with it and changes the format.

'Cosmo' (by Sven Elven): Cosmo tackles jewel thieves in Bombay.  I really can't muster any enthusiasm for this strip.

'Buck Marshall, Range Detective' (by Homer Fleming): Buck takes on rustlers.  Again.  Fleming is either terribly unimaginative, or he's taking the piss.  There just has to be more to he can deal with, you know?  Some Injuns, maybe?

'Claws of the Red Dragon' (by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson): The plot thickens as various murder mysteries pile on top of each other. I'm hoping the strip really holds my hand as it goes along, because I'll never keep track of it myself.

'The Evil Oak' (by Gardner Fox): This prose story is a murder mystery where the culprit has his hideout inside a tree.  I've read a few of Fox's sword and sorcery yarns, and he tells a decent story.  This was good by the standards set so far.

'Mr. Chang' (by Ed Winiarski): Mr. Chang is back, and I've noticed that his speech patterns are now much more in the vein of other Asian characters of the time.  It's a shame, because I liked seeing a Chinese guy portrayed as speaking perfect English.  He's still shown to be very clever and respected, but the dialogue grates on me.

'Slam Bradley' (by Siegel and Shuster): "Only a maniac or Slam Bradley would have attempted it!"  The latest 'Slam Bradley' strip kicks off with that awesome line, and I'm very pleased to see that Joe Shuster is back on the art.  It's still the best strip I'm reading, but it doesn't quite have the magic of that first installment.  Slam's character has softened quite a bit, but I was enjoying it more when he was being a jerk to everyone under the sun.  I'm thinking that a large part of the success of this strip is the inclusion of humorous elements.  The other action strips are played straight, but Slam'sSiegel and Shuster doing a lot of that sort of stuff.