'Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds Volume Two' and other PS Artbooks

SILVER AGE CLASSICS: MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS VOLUME TWO

Reprints Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #6-10 (Charlton, Dec 57-Nov 58)

I don't remember reading Volume One, or if I reviewed it if I did. But I should remember it, if it was anything like this one. This book stands above a lot of 1950s "suspense" books I read, both pre- and post-Code, for one reason: Steve Ditko.

I can't say anything about Ditko's suspense work that hasn't already been said, and better. He is a master, even in the late '50s. For those unfamiliar with his work from this period, you need only look at his short stories slightly later for Marvel in Amazing Adult Fantasy, Tales of Suspense, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish and Journey into Mystery.

At Marvel, Ditko was paired with writer Stan Lee. At Charlton, according to the Grand Comics Database, it was probably Joe Gill. In both instances, I assume Ditko did most of the heavy lifting in the plot department, and the other two gentlemen did mainly dialogue. I could be wrong, though!

Either way, Ditko's contributions to Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #6-10 are by and large what you should expect. I expected gems, and that's what I read. They were usually 4-5 pages, sometimes as little as 2, sometimes as long as 7 (especially in the later issues). And there are 15 of them! Ditko did the entirety of issue #6! Strangely, his later efforts are narrated by the Mysterious Traveler, leading me to believe they were intended for Tales of the Mysterious Traveler, which originally ran concurrently (1956-59).

You'll also stumble across two Gene Colan stories (not peak work, but noticeable) and one Dick Giordano (the man was consistently good throughout his career). The bulk of the rest of the stories are by some guy named Bill Molno, with whom I'm not familiar, but whose work is generic. One story (and a cover) is by Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio, a decent journeyman with whom I have become familiar in other Charlton books.

I have two more Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds collections in my to-read pile, and they just moved to the top.

PRE-CODE CLASSICS: OPERATION: PERIL VOLUME THREE

Reprints Operation: Peril #10-14 (ACG, April/May 52-Dec/Jan 53)

I put off reading this one as long as I could, as the first two volumes were gawdawful. But it came up in the "rotation" in the to-read pile, and I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with. I'm glad I did.

Make no mistake, the first couple of issues in this collection suffer from the same flaws as the previous nine issues. The "Danny Danger" and "Typhoon Tyler" strips -- private eye and South Seas adventurer, respectively -- are garbage even by a written-for-kids standard. These two would engage in preposterous adventures where they'd spout smart-aleck dialogue while being unabashedly altruistic for no reason whatsoever -- and would always get the girl, whom they'd dump, because who in their target audience would want an icky girl hanging around? Painful.

Danny Danger would get the girl, but not dump her on panel -- she was just gone by the next issue, where Danny would end up with another babe. But Typhoon Tyler was an active jerk about it. Here's how the Typhoon Tyler story ends in issue #9:

Girl: "Typhoon -- once I wanted nothing more than the island of our legends -- to see palms towering again above the golden beaches! But now I know how little it will mean -- unless you stay!"

Tyler: "Only a fool would turn that down, honey! But that's what I happen to be -- a fighting fool -- and golden beaches and kids like you are things I wave at -- outward bound!"

Here's how the Typhoon Tyler story ends in issue #10:

Girl: The treasure means nothing to me, Typhoon -- a person can't lose something they never had! What I can't give up is something I've found -- because I know it's love! Please, darling -- don't go away!"

Tyler: "You know me pretty well, honey -- putting up an argument like that! But if you knew me better -- you'd wait until the morning tide to speak a single word -- goodbye!"

I say he's gay.

Anyway, the only upside to these two strips was the art. The GCD credits "Danny Danger" to Leonard Starr, but it looks like Jim Mooney to me. (Maybe he inked it. Or ghosted it.) And "Typhoon Tyler" is by Ogden Whitney, who is always professional.

Another ongoing feature is "The Time Travelers," which has two advantages to set it above the others. One is that the protagonist -- a young, two-fisted scientist with a time-machine in the form of a rocket -- has a constant assistant/girlfriend, so it's not as misogynistic as the other two strips. The second is that the travelers do indeed go back to other times, so we get a little history education, even if it filtered through a story for kids.

The rest of the issues are made up of various short fillers about sanitized military or Western events. Nothing memorable.

But then comes issue #12, and Halleluah! The Korean War has arrived!

It's strange that it took two years for Operation: Peril to jump on the Korean War bandwagon, but what a relief when it does. "Danny Danger" is called up (he's a reservist) and becomes an espionage agent for Army Intelligence. Meanwhile, Typhoon Tyler (inexplicably) becomes an ace fighter pilot. Gone are the constant ditching of women, because there are no women! Gone are the inexplicable acts of altruism, because now they have a mission! They're still smart alecks, though.

I won't say Operation: Peril #12-14 are good comics, because they're blandly mediocre. And, of course, really racist toward North Koreans. But at least by being war comics they're not as actively bad as Operation: Peril #1-11.

Operation: Peril only lasted two more issues, which isn't enough for another collection, so I may never get to read them. Which, at this point, is a shame. I managed to force myself through the terrible issues, so I should at least get to read the ones that are marginally better.

PRE-CODE CLASSICS: BEWARE

Reprints Beware #10-12 (Youthful, June-Oct 52), Phantom Witch Doctor #1 (Avon, 1952), Night of Mystery #1 (Avon, 1953)

I don't have much to say about these middling to bad pre-Code horror stories. Beware has crappy art, and stories that are poorly constructed, but are pretty violent (for the '50s). You know, knives being thrown into people's necks and the like. Some are so wildly bad that there's an upside: Even veteran readers will have no idea where some stories are going. I call these "kitchen sink stories" because all sorts of bedlam occurs that the writer may (or may not) try to tie together in the final panel.

The first story in Beware #10 adapts Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum."

This Beware continues from Fantastic #9, and becomes Chilling Tales with issue #13. Weirdly, it also continues at Trojan as Beware #13-16, before the numbering reverts, and finishes its run as Beware #5-14. Then Merit picks it up for one issue, Beware #15. So there are two issues of Beware #13-14, both at Trojan, and two issues of Beware #15, one at Trojan and the other at Merit.

The two one-shots have marginally better art and stories, but are blander.

PRE-CODE CLASSICS: THE BEYOND VOLUME THREE

Reprinting The Beyond #11-15 (May-Sept 1952)

I don't have much to say about this one, either.

The art is a notch more professional than Youthful's Beware, including some Mike Sekowsky (a virtual superstar compared to the others). Chic Stone and Gene Colan both contribute a story, which is not their best work.

The stories are constructed in a more professional manner than Beware -- which has a downside, in that they're predictable. In most stories, the bad guy is going to get his comeuppance at the end of the story in an ironic manner, an ending most veteran readers can guess around page 2. But at least they make sense.

PRE-CODE CLASSICS: HORRIFIC

Reprinting Horrific #4-8 (Mar-Nov 53)

Of the three horror books I've looked at today, this is the best.

First, I can go no further without mentioning the gigantic heads. Evidently, the publisher of Comic Media thought huge faces on covers sold comic books, so Don Heck drew gigantic faces, either monsters or ordinary people in extremis, on 14 covers. It's just a weird and delightful thing.

Heck also does some interior art, as do familiar names like Don Perlin (of later Defenders fame) and Rudy Palais (doing his best Will Eisner). While not the Sistine Chapel, Horrific is consistently a notch above drek like Beware and The Beyond. The stories seem more professional, too, but that might be because my hackles relaxed amid higher quality artwork.

I don't know why this book doesn't have a volume number, although the PS Artbooks website calls it "Volume One." Comic Media did publish Horrific #1-3, with the third issue beginning Heck's epic run of gigantic heads, and should be Volume One, but that doesn't exist as far as I can find. Horrific continued to issue #14, which, if reprinted, would have volume numbers, so I guess PS Artbooks has no plans to reprint them. 'Tis a puzzlement.

PS ARTBOOKS PRESENTS: CLASSIC ADVENTURE COMICS VOLUME THREE

Reprints The Hooded Menace (Realistic Comics, 1951), The Unknown Man (Avon, 1951), Marco Polo (Charlton, 1962), Robin Hood (Dell, 1963), Robinson Crusoe (Dell, 1964)

The "Classic Adventure Comics" volumes are always a surprise mish-mash. This one has one oddball Western and four movie adaptations, ranging from 1951 to 1964.

I don't quite know what to make of "The Hooded Menace," the first story in the one-shot comic book of the same name. At first glance it seems like a KKK metaphor, but it doesn't necessarily play out that way. It takes place in the Pacific Northwest after the Spanish-American War, where some (white) veterans of that war start a "Fun Club" where they put on red KKK outfits and terrorize the local Latino population. President Theodore Roosevelt sends the Army out to put them down, with the commander delivering moral speech at the end.

Did Realistic Comics do a KKK story and change their minds -- and all of the names and dates? Did a writer slip in a KKK metaphor when nobody was looking? Was there any historical justification for this? I don't know. But I feel this story is important in comics history somehow.

The artwork starts out mediocre and slides downhill pretty quickly. (It looks like an artist change. Perhaps to change black faces to Latino ones? Another mystery.) The book is fleshed out by a generic pre-Code crime story and a generic Mike Hammer swipe.

The best of the movie adaptations is Marco Polo. With cover and art by Sam Glanzman, and story (probably) by veteran Joe Gill, it's really pretty good. I never saw the movie so I don't know how much fidelity the adaptation has, but there's a genuine sense of suspenseful narrative. I actually care a little bit about old Marco by the end, even though I know a lot of this "history" is invented out of whole cloth.

Not so Robin Hood and Robinson Crusoe, whose lead characters I don't care about at all. The adaptations are poor in the sense that the book seems like a series of movie scenes stitched together, with little regard to character development or a sense of building suspense. And the less said about The Unknown Man, which is excrutiatingly boring, the better.

SILVER AGE CLASSICS: KONGA VOLUME ONE

Reprints Konga #1-5 (Charlton, Jun 61-Mar 62)

Konga was a 1961 movie that Charlton adapted in Konga #1, with cover by Dick Giordano, story by Joe Gill and art by Steve Ditko. That's quite a lineup, and it must have sold pretty well. Because Charlton came right back two months later with Konga #2, even though both Konga and the scientist who created him died in Konga #1. (Two months doesn't seem like enough time to get sales figures in 1961, but maybe they had other indications.)

Who starred in Konga #2? Konga No. 2. It turns out the dead scientist had a protege, who re-creates the experiment that created the first Konga out of chimpanzee, and it is Konga II who stars in the series until its finale with issue #23. (It then turns into Fantastic Giants for exactly one issue, which reprints the first issue of Konga and first issue of Gorgo.)

Journeyman Charles Nicholas drew the second issue (with Sal Trapani inks), but Ditko returned for issues #3-15 (with the exception of #11, also drawn by Nicholas). All the Ditko stories were reprinted by IDW, so I've already read them. Now I've read them again, because I forgot them the first time, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. Still, it's Ditko, so you decide.

PS ARTBOOKS MILITARY COMICS SOFTEE VOLS. 1-2

Reprints Military Comics #1-8 (Quality, Aug 41-Mar 42)

I mentioned these books in the "Comics I Have Read Today" thread, and I will repeat what I said there: The "Blackhawk" strip that leads each issue is worth reading, but everything else is almost unreadable.

It should be noted -- since I didn't know this until I started reading this series -- that each issue of Military Comics was split in two, with the first half devoted to Army stories, and the second half to Navy stories. It was more of a conceit than a reality, in that most of the various features were not, at a glance, either Army or Navy. Many involved aviation, something both the Army and Navy had, but modern readers think of as a separate force. In practice in these stories, they were.

"Blackhawk" is a prime example of this. The strip led the book, and hence the "Army" section, every month. But what did Blackhawk have to do with the Army? Or for the Army Air Corps, for that matter? It was a private air force. And it wasn't much of an army, in that there were only seven of them.

There were more to start with, which is one of the reasons to read "Blackhawk" -- history. Learning how legendary characters evolved into their modern form is fascinating to me, and the Blackhawks did some evolving. The first issue was Blackhawk's origin -- he was just Blackhawk then, as he didn't become "Janos Prohaska" until Howard Chaykin got ahold of him -- and there was no team yet. In the second issue Blackhawk introduces an English pilot to "Stanislaus, Andre, Hendrick (not yet Hendrickson), Boris, Zeg and Olaf ... you'll meet the rest of them later." The following issues kill and resurrect Andre, drop Boris and Zeg, introduce Chop-Chop (as comedy relief, but also as an aviator, fighter and cook) and establish Olaf as the strong man. I don't remember exactly when, but by the 8th issue there are definitely only seven Blackhawks.

Another reason to read "Blackhawk" is the art. Chuck Cuidera was influenced by Will Eisner, but his own style was strong and evocative. By 1945, when the Blackhawks got their own title, it was worth the price of admission. The early work isn't as good, but you can see where it's going.

Eisner's influence was pervasive through the Iger & Eisner shop, so the other Military Comics features also had passable artwork -- the more Eisner influence, the better. But they doesn't mean they were good. Here are the features that appear in the first eight issues:

Blue Tracer: A two-fisted scientist invents what amounts to a huge flying bullet, that can also function as a tank and a submarine. It can also hover and is an earth-borer. Tracer and his Australian sidekick bedevil Nazis as independent fighters. Why it wasn't put into mass production isn't clear. It could do anything the plot called for, so there's not much drama. (Issues #1-8.)

Loops and Banks: Two bickering Marine fliers fight the Japanese in the Pacific mostly outside the chain of command. One is shorter and heavier than the other, but I never bothered to learn which was which. (Issues #1-8)

Shot and Shell: One of them is some sort of Southern or English know-it-all dandy and the other is the muscle. They also bicker, and fight the Axis mostly outside the chain of command. I think it's supposed to be funny. (Issues #1-8)

Yankee Eagle: The Dr. Doolittle of war comics. He talks to animals, and his main sidekick is an eagle, and somehow he fights the Axis outside the chain of command. A cheetah joins him in later issues. (Issues #1-8)

Miss America: A reporter (later an FBI agent) gets the power to transmute matter from the Statue of Liberty in a dream. Since she can do virtually anything she can think of, there's not much drama to be had here. (Issues #1-7)

Death Patrol: Another group of aviators who largely fight outside the chain of command. The gimmick here is that each issue a member or two dies, and the squad gets replacements at the beginning of the next issue. The downside is nobody sticks around long enough for the reader to care, and they are all stereotypes anyway. (Issues #1-8)

Archie Atkins: Archie, his two buddies and a goat fight Germans and Italians in North Africa, largely outside the chain of command. (Issues #1-3)

The Sniper: This strip features a guy who dresses like Robin Hood, but is evidently supposed to be terrifying. He hunts Nazis with bows, rifles, etc. Outside the chain of command, of course. (Issues #5-8)

Secret War News: Secret battles and espionage, that I don't think actually happened. Al McWilliams contributes sometimes, which is worth something. (Issues #2-8)

Inferior Man: A comedy strip that isn't funny. (Issues #7-8)

Re Military Comics:

To enjoy a feature you’ve got to get onto its wavelength. Shorter features can be over before you tune in. And when you’re reading Golden Age comics the mind can start strongly resisting tuning in, because it’s being asked to do so too much. There are many short features, good work mingles with dross, and when they’re not in fantastic genres it complains they’re mundane.

Compounding this, in Military Comics some of the better features - “The Blue Tracer”, “Death Patrol”, “Shot and Shell” - are written in a full-speed-ahead style that buries the plots with action.

I’ve found interest in creators can be a pathway in. Cap mentioned Chuck Cuidera and Al McWilliams. These issues also have art by Bob Powell, Fred Guardineer, Klaus Nordling, Jack Cole, and Dave Berg.

Of the writers, I can name Dick French, who at some point took over writing “Blackhawk” and is credited on “The Song of the Blackhawks” in #8, and Ted Udall, who the GCD says is the “Ted” credited on “The Sniper” in #7.

Tex Blaisdell is credited on the “Sabotage” gag panels, “Diary of a Draftee”, and some text items. I remember him as one of Curt Swan’s inkers on “Superman” in the 1970s. “Miss America” in #3 is credited to Tom Hickey. He drew the Bruce Nelson serials in the early issues of Detective Comics.

“Q-Boat” in #1 is attributed by the GCD to Henry Kiefer. He was the artist of “Wambi, the Jungle Boy” in Jungle Comics.

“Loops and Banks” and “Yankee Eagle” have false bylines. “Loops and Banks” was drawn by Powell, and the GCD takes him to have written. The feature repays a close look; it was only 6 pages, but they get a lot in, and there’s an element of military reality in the mix as well as silliness.

"Yankee Eagle” was drawn by Bill Smith. He was the co-creator, with Jerry Siegel, of DC-AA’s “Red, White and Blue”. The GCD attributes all the stories to him pencils and inks, but I think he didn’t ink the later ones. It’s my guess the writer was Charles Biro. His trademark shocking violence appears, Von Weissmann’s escape and return in #2 reminded me of Iron Jaw, and Jerry's affinity for animals is paralleled by Crimebuster’s partnership with Squeeks.

I’ve been trying to crack who drew the attractive “Miss America” story in #4. My best guess is Creig Flessel pencilled, someone else inked. The “X of the Underground” intro in #8 has got to be by Rudy Palais.

Matching stories to events of the time can pay off for WWII stories.

War in China stories appeared in “The Blue Tracer” in #3 and #9. They’re both pre-Pearl Harbor. The war in China was being depicted in Terry and the Pirates. (I’m sure #9’s story is pre-Pearl Harbor because it has the heroes fighting the Japanese and no post-Pearl Harbor rhetoric. In #10 they fight the invading Japanese in the South Pacific and it’s there in spades.)

When the story in #4 was done the Axis conquest of the Balkans was recent. It's a story where the Blue Tracer fights deep inside Axis-held territory.

The “Loops and Banks” and “The Blue Tracer” stories in #6 both involve Iceland. They’re a reflection of the handover of the defence of Iceland from the British to the US in Jul 1941.

The “Loops and Banks” story anticipates Pearl Harbor: the unnamed enemy, implicitly Germany from its planes, attacks with the goal of wiping out the US garrison. A major engagement is fought, and the garrison is only saved from being overwhelmed by the arrival of further forces. The depiction of the invasion might be partly based on the Battle of Crete. It must be one of the first stories of the period to depict the contemporary US fully at war.

In “The Sniper” in #8 Pierre Raval is based on Pierre Laval. He looks just like him. At the time Laval was a collaborationist leader. He’d been Pétain’s Vice President (and twice Premier in the 1930s), but Pétain had dismissed him in Dec 1940. He was shot and wounded in an attempted assassination in Aug 1941. The Germans had him made Head of Government in Apr 1942.

The timeline of the stories’ creation:

The “Archie Atkins” instalment in #3 involves the German capture of Benghazi 4 Apr 1941, and was likely written in response to the event. The issue appeared 1 Aug.

“Secret War News” in #4 is about the sinking of the Bismarck. This happened 27 May 1941. The issue went on sale 5 Sep. The covers of #4 and #5 blurb each other’s “Secret War News” stories, so the Bismarck one may have been rushed into print.

“Secret War News” in #8 is about the Lady Shirley’s sinking of U-111. The event occurred 4 Oct, the story datelines the release of the information as 9 Oct, and the issue went on sale 9 Jan 1942. In between the Lady Shirley was herself sunk, with the loss of all hands.

The title’s first post-Pearl Harbor content is in #9, which has a text item about Pearl Harbor and an “Inferior Man” filler expressing post-Pearl Harbor-level hatred of the Japanese. The issue came out 11 Feb 1942. That’s just two months later, but these were items that could be done closer to publication than most. In #10, on sale 10 Apr, “Phantom Clipper”, “The Blue Tracer” and “Secret War News” are post-Pearl Harbor. In #11, on sale 6 Jun, “Blackhawk” and “Loops and Banks” are.

Taken together these suggest there was normally a 3-4 month lag between events and the appearance of the issues.

On the premises:

Since the material in the collection predates Pearl Harbor, except for “Loops and Banks” and “The Atlantic Patrol” the features in this run weren’t about the American military at war. Some star non-Americans - “Blackhawk” principally, “Archie Atkins”, “H.M.S. Barracuda”, “The Sniper”, “X of the Underground”; some involve Americans in WWII - “Shot and Shell”, “The Blue Tracer”, “Death Patrol”, “Q-Boat”; some use spy plots - “Yankee Eagle”, “Miss America”. Miss America also combats criminal threats to American rearmament.

The features with American leads use different devices to get their heroes into action. In “Shot and Shell” the heroes bumble their way into trouble. In “The Blue Tracer” Bill Dunn was serving with the British as an engineer until his division was destroyed, stranding him in Ethiopia. After the Blue Tracer is built he and Jones use it to wage their own war on the Axis everywhere, much as Batman and Robin wage a private war on crime. In “Death Patrol” in #1 the characters are Americans who volunteer to flying for the RAF, escapee convicts except for Del. The first replacements are American criminals too, but from #4 the cast was diversified. In “Q-Boat” the crew of the Albatross are American “privateers”. Captain Foghorn appears to be a self-financed idealist.

The comedy fillers were gag pages in #1-#4 shared by “Sabotage” and “Camp Capers”, “Abercrombie McZombie”/“Diary of a Draftee” in #5-#6, and “Inferior Man” from #7. The background of these was the US draft, the subject also of the text item in #1.

“The Atlantic Patrol” was about the Battle of the Atlantic. The US instituted patrols in Apr 1941. This is also reflected in “Loops and Banks” in #4 and “The Blue Tracer” in #5, #7.

The instalments of “Secret War News” in the collection are a mix of real and fictional stories. The fictional ones have British (#2, #5) and French (#6) heroes.

Industry background:

The earliest WWII features I’m aware of are MLJ’s “Corporal Collins” (Blue Ribbon Comics #2, on sale 20 Oct 1939) and “Sergeant Boyle” (Pep Comics #1, on sale 16 Nov 1939). But before them there were service and spy features, and aviation features which later became war features like "Hop Harrigan" . The initial lead feature of AA-DC’s All-American Comics (#1 on sale 1? Mar 1940) was “Red, White and Blue”, which combined the serviceman and spy genres.

The first superheroes to fight in WWII include Centaur's Amazing Man in a storyline starting in Amazing Man Comics #8 (on sale 13 Nov 1939), and Marvel's Sub-Mariner in a storyline starting in Marvel Mystery Comics #3 (on sale 17 Nov 1939). These were both drawn by Bill Everett.

The first war comic I know of was Dell’s War Comics/War Stories (#1 on sale 9 Jan 1940, eight issues in total 1940-1943).

The first long-running one was Fiction House’s Wings Comics. The first issue went on sale 14 Jun 1940. At that point the indicia of Fiction House titles credited Malcolm Reiss as editor, Will Eisner as Art Director, and Jerry Iger as Feature Editor, so I take it the contents were prepared by the Iger/Eisner shop. By 1941 Eisner had sold out his interest in the business to Iger and established a separate shop.

Military Comics was the second long-running war comic. The first issue was dated for Aug 1941, but went on sale 5 May, before Germany invaded the Soviet Union (22 Jun). Police Comics started the same month.

Will Eisner’s involvement:

Quality’s titles credited the editor in the indicia. Military Comics was initially edited by Eisner. The GCD credits the editing on all the issues to Eisner, but the indicia of #2 credits Ed Cronin and the indica of #8 Gill Fox. These might be mistakes: Cronin was the initial editor of Police Comics, Fox took over that title from #7. But some other explanation might be correct. Eisner was otherwise credited until John Beardsley took over with #13.

The GCD credits the cover of #1 to Eisner (with assistance from Fox, citing an archive’s listing). It’s visibly in Eisner’s mature style.

The covers of the other issues in the collection are attributed by the GCD to Chuck Cuidera, or to Cuidera and Bill Smith because of their use of “Yankee Eagle” splashes. But I would think Eisner, as the editor, had a hand in them. The cover of #5 is related to the splash of the Spirit section for 20 Oct 1940, and #2’s employs a similar idea (while depicting a scene from the story). #8’s has Cuidera’s signature.

The Army and Navy Section boxes give the pages on which they appear a similar look to the splashes of the Spirit sections.

“Secret War News” always started with a faux-newspaper splash page. These had a “Secret War News” masthead with spruiker side-boxes. They look even more like the mastheads of the Spirit sections, where the middle item was the name of the newspaper.

The Navy boxes:

Up to #14 the splashes with the Navy section boxes were placed on p.33, the right side of the centre spread. The boxes didn’t appear in #15-#18, although the Army ones still appeared on “Blackhawk”.

The Navy boxes initially appeared on “Yankee Eagle”, then on “Phantom Clipper”, which replaced it from #9. “PT Boat” replaced “Phantom Clipper” from #17 and carried the Navy boxes from #19, but wasn’t placed as the other features had been.

Both sets of boxes skipped #22. They otherwise remained in use up to #34 and ended together. “PT Boat” ran until just after the war.

The “Stories of the Army and Navy” copy remained on the covers until the title became Modern Comics.

“Secret War News” and “The Atlantic Patrol” in #1-#8:

In #1 “Q-Boat” was placed last. In #2, #4-#6 “Secret War News” was.

In #3 “Death Patrol” appeared last. “Secret War News” was placed so its last page appeared on the left side of the centre spread.

The instalments of “Secret War News” in #2-#4 end with “Hero Stamps”. #5’s ends with a “Secret War Newsreel” and stamp. True stories of heroism and war adventure were a component of entertainment aimed at boys.

In #7-#8 “The Atlantic Patrol” was placed last. The “Patrol” fillers appeared in that position to #15 except in #10, where the last item was “Secret War News”. This might be because the instalment was a response to Pearl Harbor with a “U.S. Hero Stamp” celebrating Gen. MacArthur.

Of the “Secret War News” instalments in the collection #2, #5, #6 are fictional; #4 (the Bismarck), #8 (the Lady Shirley) historical; #3 (Yugoslavia), #7 (Crete) historical with what I take to be fictional trimmings. The British film Sink the Bismarck! (1960) has many of the same details as #4’s.

The “Secret War Newsreel” in #5 is based on an experience of Hallowes’s in Jun 1940, during the Battle of France, not Britain. The final panels are wildly wrong: he hurt his ankle on landing and was taken by British troops to a hospital.

The instalment of “The Atlantic Patrol” in #7 depicts the Greer Incident. I’d not heard of it, but it was important at the time. I was interested to see a caption uses the term “World War II”. #8’s story has no names or dates, so it’s presumably fictional.

Replies

Jeff of Earth-J October 24, 2023 at 5:47pm

I did not buy Horrific but I don't remember why not. Probably because I have Craig Yoe's Horror by Heck and that is enough for me.

Nor did I buy Konga, and I know it's because I have the Craig Yoe version (which is not complete, but it does have all the Ditlo stories). Similarly, I did nor buy PS Artbooks' Gorgo because I have Yoe's all-Ditko volume as well as Fantaco's Gorgo Attacks! which features stories by Joe Sinott, Joe Gill and Vince Colletta. that's all I need.

BTW, I did finally score Seniorita Rio v1-2. I "accidentally" bought v3 (thinking it was a continuation of Fight Comics v1-2 with a title change), and it was your thoughts about Seniorita Rio (in comparison to the the "Lost World" series from Planet Comics) which convinced me to seek them out. You were right, although I still prefer "The Lost World."

All this other stuff I've got but, although it's pretty far down on my "to read" pile, I always read your thoughts to see if anything needs to be moved closer to the top.
Luke Blanchard December 5, 2023 at 2:24am

Re Military Comics:

To enjoy a feature you’ve got to get onto its wavelength. Shorter features can be over before you tune in. And when you’re reading Golden Age comics the mind can start strongly resisting tuning in, because it’s being asked to do so too much. There are many short features, good work mingles with dross, and when they’re not in fantastic genres it complains they’re mundane.

Compounding this, in Military Comics some of the better features - “The Blue Tracer”, “Death Patrol”, “Shot and Shell” - are written in a full-speed-ahead style that buries the plots with action.

I’ve found interest in creators can be a pathway in. Cap mentioned Chuck Cuidera and Al McWilliams. These issues also have art by Bob Powell, Fred Guardineer, Klaus Nordling, Jack Cole, and Dave Berg.

Of the writers, I can name Dick French, who at some point took over writing “Blackhawk” and is credited on “The Song of the Blackhawks” in #8, and Ted Udall, who the GCD says is the “Ted” credited on “The Sniper” in #7.

Tex Blaisdell is credited on the “Sabotage” gag panels, “Diary of a Draftee”, and some text items. I remember him as one of Curt Swan’s inkers on “Superman” in the 1970s. “Miss America” in #3 is credited to Tom Hickey. He drew the Bruce Nelson serials in the early issues of Detective Comics.

“Q-Boat” in #1 is attributed by the GCD to Henry Kiefer. He was the artist of “Wambi, the Jungle Boy” in Jungle Comics.

“Loops and Banks” and “Yankee Eagle” have false bylines. “Loops and Banks” was drawn by Powell, and the GCD takes him to have written. The feature repays a close look; it was only 6 pages, but they get a lot in, and there’s an element of military reality in the mix as well as silliness.

"Yankee Eagle” was drawn by Bill Smith. He was the co-creator, with Jerry Siegel, of DC-AA’s “Red, White and Blue”. The GCD attributes all the stories to him pencils and inks, but I think he didn’t ink the later ones. It’s my guess the writer was Charles Biro. His trademark shocking violence appears, Von Weissmann’s escape and return in #2 reminded me of Iron Jaw, and Jerry's affinity for animals is paralleled by Crimebuster’s partnership with Squeeks.

I’ve been trying to crack who drew the attractive “Miss America” story in #4. My best guess is Creig Flessel pencilled, someone else inked. The “X of the Underground” intro in #8 has got to be by Rudy Palais.

Matching stories to events of the time can pay off for WWII stories.

War in China stories appeared in “The Blue Tracer” in #3 and #9. They’re both pre-Pearl Harbor. The war in China was being depicted in Terry and the Pirates. (I’m sure #9’s story is pre-Pearl Harbor because it has the heroes fighting the Japanese and no post-Pearl Harbor rhetoric. In #10 they fight the invading Japanese in the South Pacific and it’s there in spades.)

When the story in #4 was done the Axis conquest of the Balkans was recent. It's a story where the Blue Tracer fights deep inside Axis-held territory.

The “Loops and Banks” and “The Blue Tracer” stories in #6 both involve Iceland. They’re a reflection of the handover of the defence of Iceland from the British to the US in Jul 1941.

The “Loops and Banks” story anticipates Pearl Harbor: the unnamed enemy, implicitly Germany from its planes, attacks with the goal of wiping out the US garrison. A major engagement is fought, and the garrison is only saved from being overwhelmed by the arrival of further forces. The depiction of the invasion might be partly based on the Battle of Crete. It must be one of the first stories of the period to depict the contemporary US fully at war.

In “The Sniper” in #8 Pierre Raval is based on Pierre Laval. He looks just like him. At the time Laval was a collaborationist leader. He’d been Pétain’s Vice President (and twice Premier in the 1930s), but Pétain had dismissed him in Dec 1940. He was shot and wounded in an attempted assassination in Aug 1941. The Germans had him made Head of Government in Apr 1942.

The timeline of the stories’ creation:

The “Archie Atkins” instalment in #3 involves the German capture of Benghazi 4 Apr 1941, and was likely written in response to the event. The issue appeared 1 Aug.

“Secret War News” in #4 is about the sinking of the Bismarck. This happened 27 May 1941. The issue went on sale 5 Sep. The covers of #4 and #5 blurb each other’s “Secret War News” stories, so the Bismarck one may have been rushed into print.

“Secret War News” in #8 is about the Lady Shirley’s sinking of U-111. The event occurred 4 Oct, the story datelines the release of the information as 9 Oct, and the issue went on sale 9 Jan 1942. In between the Lady Shirley was herself sunk, with the loss of all hands.

The title’s first post-Pearl Harbor content is in #9, which has a text item about Pearl Harbor and an “Inferior Man” filler expressing post-Pearl Harbor-level hatred of the Japanese. The issue came out 11 Feb 1942. That’s just two months later, but these were items that could be done closer to publication than most. In #10, on sale 10 Apr, “Phantom Clipper”, “The Blue Tracer” and “Secret War News” are post-Pearl Harbor. In #11, on sale 6 Jun, “Blackhawk” and “Loops and Banks” are.

Taken together these suggest there was normally a 3-4 month lag between events and the appearance of the issues.

On the premises:

Since the material in the collection predates Pearl Harbor, except for “Loops and Banks” and “The Atlantic Patrol” the features in this run weren’t about the American military at war. Some star non-Americans - “Blackhawk” principally, “Archie Atkins”, “H.M.S. Barracuda”, “The Sniper”, “X of the Underground”; some involve Americans in WWII - “Shot and Shell”, “The Blue Tracer”, “Death Patrol”, “Q-Boat”; some use spy plots - “Yankee Eagle”, “Miss America”. Miss America also combats criminal threats to American rearmament.

The features with American leads use different devices to get their heroes into action. In “Shot and Shell” the heroes bumble their way into trouble. In “The Blue Tracer” Bill Dunn was serving with the British as an engineer until his division was destroyed, stranding him in Ethiopia. After the Blue Tracer is built he and Jones use it to wage their own war on the Axis everywhere, much as Batman and Robin wage a private war on crime. In “Death Patrol” in #1 the characters are Americans who volunteer to flying for the RAF, escapee convicts except for Del. The first replacements are American criminals too, but from #4 the cast was diversified. In “Q-Boat” the crew of the Albatross are American “privateers”. Captain Foghorn appears to be a self-financed idealist.

The comedy fillers were gag pages in #1-#4 shared by “Sabotage” and “Camp Capers”, “Abercrombie McZombie”/“Diary of a Draftee” in #5-#6, and “Inferior Man” from #7. The background of these was the US draft, the subject also of the text item in #1.

“The Atlantic Patrol” was about the Battle of the Atlantic. The US instituted patrols in Apr 1941. This is also reflected in “Loops and Banks” in #4 and “The Blue Tracer” in #5, #7.

The instalments of “Secret War News” in the collection are a mix of real and fictional stories. The fictional ones have British (#2, #5) and French (#6) heroes.

Industry background:

The earliest WWII features I’m aware of are MLJ’s “Corporal Collins” (Blue Ribbon Comics #2, on sale 20 Oct 1939) and “Sergeant Boyle” (Pep Comics #1, on sale 16 Nov 1939). But before them there were service and spy features, and aviation features which later became war features like "Hop Harrigan" . The initial lead feature of AA-DC’s All-American Comics (#1 on sale 1? Mar 1940) was “Red, White and Blue”, which combined the serviceman and spy genres.

The first superheroes to fight in WWII include Centaur's Amazing Man in a storyline starting in Amazing Man Comics #8 (on sale 13 Nov 1939), and Marvel's Sub-Mariner in a storyline starting in Marvel Mystery Comics #3 (on sale 17 Nov 1939). These were both drawn by Bill Everett.

The first war comic I know of was Dell’s War Comics/War Stories (#1 on sale 9 Jan 1940, eight issues in total 1940-1943).

The first long-running one was Fiction House’s Wings Comics. The first issue went on sale 14 Jun 1940. At that point the indicia of Fiction House titles credited Malcolm Reiss as editor, Will Eisner as Art Director, and Jerry Iger as Feature Editor, so I take it the contents were prepared by the Iger/Eisner shop. By 1941 Eisner had sold out his interest in the business to Iger and established a separate shop.

Military Comics was the second long-running war comic. The first issue was dated for Aug 1941, but went on sale 5 May, before Germany invaded the Soviet Union (22 Jun). Police Comics started the same month.

Will Eisner’s involvement:

Quality’s titles credited the editor in the indicia. Military Comics was initially edited by Eisner. The GCD credits the editing on all the issues to Eisner, but the indicia of #2 credits Ed Cronin and the indica of #8 Gill Fox. These might be mistakes: Cronin was the initial editor of Police Comics, Fox took over that title from #7. But some other explanation might be correct. Eisner was otherwise credited until John Beardsley took over with #13.

The GCD credits the cover of #1 to Eisner (with assistance from Fox, citing an archive’s listing). It’s visibly in Eisner’s mature style.

The covers of the other issues in the collection are attributed by the GCD to Chuck Cuidera, or to Cuidera and Bill Smith because of their use of “Yankee Eagle” splashes. But I would think Eisner, as the editor, had a hand in them. The cover of #5 is related to the splash of the Spirit section for 20 Oct 1940, and #2’s employs a similar idea (while depicting a scene from the story). #8’s has Cuidera’s signature.

The Army and Navy Section boxes give the pages on which they appear a similar look to the splashes of the Spirit sections.

“Secret War News” always started with a faux-newspaper splash page. These had a “Secret War News” masthead with spruiker side-boxes. They look even more like the mastheads of the Spirit sections, where the middle item was the name of the newspaper.

The Navy boxes:

Up to #14 the splashes with the Navy section boxes were placed on p.33, the right side of the centre spread. The boxes didn’t appear in #15-#18, although the Army ones still appeared on “Blackhawk”.

The Navy boxes initially appeared on “Yankee Eagle”, then on “Phantom Clipper”, which replaced it from #9. “PT Boat” replaced “Phantom Clipper” from #17 and carried the Navy boxes from #19, but wasn’t placed as the other features had been.

Both sets of boxes skipped #22. They otherwise remained in use up to #34 and ended together. “PT Boat” ran until just after the war.

The “Stories of the Army and Navy” copy remained on the covers until the title became Modern Comics.

“Secret War News” and “The Atlantic Patrol” in #1-#8:

In #1 “Q-Boat” was placed last. In #2, #4-#6 “Secret War News” was.

In #3 “Death Patrol” appeared last. “Secret War News” was placed so its last page appeared on the left side of the centre spread.

The instalments of “Secret War News” in #2-#4 end with “Hero Stamps”. #5’s ends with a “Secret War Newsreel” and stamp. True stories of heroism and war adventure were a component of entertainment aimed at boys.

In #7-#8 “The Atlantic Patrol” was placed last. The “Patrol” fillers appeared in that position to #15 except in #10, where the last item was “Secret War News”. This might be because the instalment was a response to Pearl Harbor with a “U.S. Hero Stamp” celebrating Gen. MacArthur.

Of the “Secret War News” instalments in the collection #2, #5, #6 are fictional; #4 (the Bismarck), #8 (the Lady Shirley) historical; #3 (Yugoslavia), #7 (Crete) historical with what I take to be fictional trimmings. The British film Sink the Bismarck! (1960) has many of the same details as #4’s.

The “Secret War Newsreel” in #5 is based on an experience of Hallowes’s in Jun 1940, during the Battle of France, not Britain. The final panels are wildly wrong: he hurt his ankle on landing and was taken by British troops to a hospital.

The instalment of “The Atlantic Patrol” in #7 depicts the Greer Incident. I’d not heard of it, but it was important at the time. I was interested to see a caption uses the term “World War II”. #8’s story has no names or dates, so it’s presumably fictional.
- Jeff of Earth-J > Luke Blanchard December 5, 2023 at 6:38am
  
  To enjoy a feature you’ve got to get onto its wavelength. Shorter features can be over before you tune in. And when you’re reading Golden Age comics the mind can start strongly resisting tuning in, because it’s being asked to do so too much. There are many short features, good work mingles with dross, and when they’re not in fantastic genres it complains they’re mundane.
  
  Insightful thesis, Luke, well-supported with examples.

This reply was deleted.