July 1940: Hit Comics #3

Cover by Lou Fine

'Casey Jones' (by Munson Paddock): It's the final appearance of Casey Jones, our one and only train-driving hero. The freight business isn't exactly rife with excitement, so I'm not surprised that this is the final installment. In this story, Casey is carrying some valuable cargo, and must deal with saboteurs. This is exactly the same plot as in last issue, which highlights just how limited the railroad setting is.

In other stories:

'Hercules' (by Dan Zolnerowich) infiltrates the Burns Koffin Gang, and smashes it from the inside. 'X-5 Secret Agent' (by Courtney Thompson) rescues an enemy agent who refused to steal from the US government. 'Jack and Jill' (possibly by John Lindermayer) are hosting their Aunt Agatha, who turns out to be a jewel thief in disguise. 'The Red Bee' (possibly by Charles Nicholas) investigates some crooks who are using city supplies to build private residences. 'The Strange Twins' (by S.M. Iger and Alex Blum) face off against each other in India, where Rod Strange is running an opium ring. 'Bob and Swab' (by Klaus Nordling) deal with spies who are sending naval information to foreign submarines. 'The Old Witch' (by Pierre Winter) tells a story about ghostly cavaliers who return and manipulate a girl into committing murder. 'Blaze Barton' (by Henry Kiefer) makes a trip to the Earth's core, where he helps a society of beautiful women in their war against the hideous Core-Creatures. And 'Neon the Unknown' (by S.M. Iger and Alex Blum) goes looking for a missing explorer in a lost underground prehistoric world.

July 1940: Crack Comics #5

'The Black Condor' (by Lou Fine): A man calling himself the Sapphire King is using giant eagles to kidnap sailors, so that he can use them to retrieve sapphires from a pool inhabited by a deadly giant octopus. The Black Condor puts a stop to the whole operation, but sadly never tangles with the octopus.  He does totally punch out a giant eagle, though.  And as always, it looks fantastic. I just recently discovered that Lou Fine was Jack Kirby's favourite comic artist, and it's a title well earned.

'The Clock' (by George Brenner): The Clock must capture the Jay-Bird, a criminal who flies by means of a cable attached to a plane overhead. It's an absurd premise, but I'm quite taken with the way the Jay-Bird just swoops in, guns people down, and swoops away again. He's audacious! And a bit crap! But it's a lovable combination.

In other stories:

'The Red Torpedo' (by Henry Kiefer) battles the Lone Shark, a pirate who is robbing ships single-handedly with his technology. 'Madam Fatal' (by Art Pinajian) helps a circus that is up to its neck in debt. In 'The Space Legion' (by Vernon Henkel), Rock Braddon stops a revolt on Mars. 'Alias the Spider' (by Paul Gustavson) deals with a mad scientist who is experimenting on young girls to make them deformed and super-strong. 'Lee Preston of the Red Cross' (by Bob Powell) is shot down behind enemy lines, and earns her freedom by flying wounded general to hospital. And 'Wizard Wells, Miracle Man of Science' (by Harry Francis Campbell) takes on some racketeers.

July 1940: Smash Comics #14

 Cover by Gill Fox

'Espionage starring the Black X' (by Will Eisner and Dan Zolnerowich): The Black X quits as a spy because he is in love with the sinister Madame Doom. As fate would have it, at the same time she is building an army of slaves who are willing to drink explosives and turn themselves into suicide bombers. The Black X eventually comes to his senses and stops the plot, but he can't stop Madame Doom from killing herself to avoid capture. It's more good stuff from Eisner, who somehow manages to sell the idea that X has really quit, and provides some genuine pathos in the conclusion. Zolnerowich turns in some good art as well, with a very capable Eisner impression.

'The Ray' (by Lou Fine): Ray Terrill is a reporter, who gains amazing light-based powers when he is on a hot air balloon that passes through a cosmic storm. His first adventure involves stopping some crooks from stealing an explosive formula, and it's not particularly exciting. But the art by Lou Fine is great, especially in the origin sequence.

In other stories:

'Magno' (by Paul Gustavson) battles a disgraced physics teacher who has a paralyzer ray. 'Abdul the Arab' (by Bob Powell) uncovers some traitors who are giving information to the enemy of a British colonel. 'Clip Chance' (by George Brenner) competes in a car race. 'Wings Wendall of the Military Intelligence' (by Vernon Henkel) enters Nazi territory to recover some papers. 'Invisible Justice' (by Art Pinajian) deals with some crooks who are mining helium to sell to other countries. 'Chic Carter, Ace Reporter' (by Vernon Henkel) goes in search of a missing explorer, who has gone crazy. 'The Purple Trio' (by S.M. Iger and Alex Blum) deal with a spy who is disrupting shipping near Turkey. And 'Bozo the Robot' (by George Brenner) tackles a mad scientist who has created a monster out of dead body parts (like Frankenstein).

July 1940: National Comics #3

Cover by Lou Fine

'Uncle Sam' (by Will Eisner and Dave Berg): Uncle Sam stops a dictator named Yiffendi from taking over the Philippines. Sam does his usual routine of gentlemanly invincibility, smashing Yiffendi's army without ever losing his cool. Much like Bugs Bunny he defies every law of storytelling, but somehow it still works.

In other stories:

'Prop Powers' (by Toni Blum and possibly Witmer Williams) is caught in a war between rival air transport companies. 'Sally O'Neill, Policewoman' (by Toni Blum and Chuck Mazoujian) stops some jewel thieves. 'Kid Dixon' (by George Tuska) goes to New York, and through a series of unlikely events becomes the heavyweight boxing champion. 'Merlin the Magician' (by Dan Zolnerowich) deals with a crooked orphanage. 'Wonder Boy' (by Toni Blum and John Celardo) beats up a lot of South American natives to rescue a lost expedition. 'Cyclone' (by Henry Kiefer) explores Planet X, and awakens an ancient pharaoh bent on destroying his people. 'Pen Miller' (by Klaus Nordling) stops a murder syndicate that has been hired to wipe out the witnesses against a racketeer. 'Paul Bunyan' (by Herman Bolstein and John Celardo) deals with an evil lumberjack who is trying to steal an old man's gold mine. And 'The Kid Patrol' (by Charles Nicholas) deals with some kidnappers who are after their rich friend Percy.

July 1940: Feature Comics #36

 

Cover possibly by Gill Fox

'The Doll Man' (by Will Eisner and Lou Fine): A mad scientist who is collecting brains decides that he needs the Doll Man's, and he sends one of his lobotomised slaves to capture him. What follows is a creepy tale, with art from Eisner and Fine providing just enough grotesque detail.

'Samar' (possibly by Chuck Mazoujian): This story is something else. Samar finds himself captured by a society of Amazons, where the women rule and the men are slaves. By the time Samar is through with the place, the men are back on top. Not only that, he promises to return to see the former queen "when she has learned her lesson". There's even a shot of one of the women lying protrate with the crotch torn out of her dress. This is pretty bad no matter what era it was made in.

In other stories:

'Rance Keane' (by William A. Smith) deals with a doctor who has given his anti-cancer serum to a crime syndicate. 'Reynolds of the Mounted' (by Art Pinajian) captures the head of a narcotics ring. 'Spin Shaw of the Naval Air Corps' (by Bob Powell) defends the air mail service in South America from saboteurs, one of whom is named "Greg Rucker". 'Rusty Ryan of Boyville' (by Paul Gustavson) rescues a wealthy young boy from kidnappers. 'Dusty Dane' (by Vernon Henkel) is captured by a German-looking guy and forced to join the crew of his ship. 'The Voice' (by Stan Aschmeier) investigates the murders of radio personalities, all of whom were killed by their boss for insurance money. 'Captain Bruce Blackburn, Counterspy' (by Harry Francis Campbell) stops some spies from stealing an experimental motor. And 'Zero, Ghost Detective' (by Dan Zolnerowich) helps a girl whose grandfather's ghost is trying to take her to the afterlife with him.

July 1940: Marvel Mystery Comics #11

 Cover by Alex Schomburg

'The Human Torch' (by Carl Burgos): The Torch goes against the law to burn down a plague-infested slum. He is also targeted by crooks who want the plague to spread. It's not a great story, but it is nice to see the Torch wreaking some destruction again, even if it is in a good cause. It's also apparent that Burgos has no interest in exploring the Torch's robotic nature. Here his arm is wounded, and a doctor bandages it and expects him to heal like any normal person. Shame.

'Sub-Mariner' (by Bill Everett): An American sailor has been captured by Namor's people. Namor spends the whole story doing things to sabotage the American's chances of escape, but in the end it turns out to be his plot to help the man escape. Which is all well and good, except that he kills this guy's entire crew in the process. In any other strip out there Namor would be the villain, and the American sailor would be the hero. But Namor is just so much more interesting.

'Ka-Zar the Great' (by Ben Thompson): Ka-Zar goes up against Rajah Sarput, an Indian nobleman who takes ownership of Ka-Zar's jungle and uses it to hunt big game. The story ends with Ka-Zar and his pet lion on a ship to New York, and Rajah Sarput surprisingly still ruling the jungle. Normally I wouldn't give extra comment to this story, but it features what may be the first genuine double-page spread I've seen during the course of this blog. It's fairly impressive in context.

'The Angel' (by Paul Gustavson): Last issue the Angel was trapped underground, and here he spends most of the story punching the hell out of seriously creepy ghouls. He meets a girl who belonged to a civilisation that the ghouls destroyed thousands of years ago. She gifts the Angel with a cloak that belonged to Mercury (the god, I assume, though it would be fair to say that Freddie Mercury's cloak would also have magical powers), which gives him the power of flight. I'm not certain whether he keeps it or not. This could either be a significant story, or an inconsequential one (albeit one with awesome-looking monsters).

In other stories:

'The Masked Raider' (by Al Anders) catches some robbers whose leader is posing as an old egg-woman. 'Terry Vance the School-Boy Sleuth' (by Ray Gill and Bob Oksner) tackles a gang of crooks that is fixing motor races by injecting the car tires with mercury.  (Again, probably not Freddie, but there is a joke to be made here about lethel Mercury injections.) 'Electro, the Marvel of the Age' (by Steve Dahlman) deals with some arsonists working for a disgruntled lumber mill president.

July 1940: Nickel Comics #5-6

Cover by Jack Binder

'Bulletman' (by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle): Bulletman takes on a building contractor who is using shoddy materials, in a story that ends with him completely destroying City Hall. It's a pedestrian yarn, but more super-hero stories should end with the hero destroying a government building.

In other stories:

'Warlock the Wizard' (by Creators Unknown) deals with an island dictator who has taken over a mining operation from a pretty girl. In 'Jungle Twins' (by Sven Elven), Bill takes his savage brother Steve to New York, while the villainous Sneed plots to steal Steve's ruby. 'Capt. Venture and the Planet Princess' (by Rafael Astarita) land on a planet inhabited by intelligent spiders. And 'The Red Gaucho' (by Harry Anderson) stops some crooks from stealing an ancient treasure from a South American Amdah tribe.

Cover by Jack Binder

Sorry, no story to talk about here at greater length. This was a seriously boring issue.


'Bulletman' (by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle) tackles a group of protection racketeers called the Blue Devils. 'Warlock the Wizard' (by Creators Unknown) stops a gang that has been kidanpping wealthy tourists. In 'Jungle Twins' (by Sven Elven) Steve and Bill, on a return trip to Africa, are shipwrecked near a castle and forced to fight in an arena. 'Capt. Venture and the Planet Princess' (by Rafael Astarita) helps liberate a planet full of slave miners. And 'The Red Gaucho' (by Harry Anderson) protects treaty papers between Santo Palos and the USA from foreign spies.