Number 392


Super Mighty Mice


There was a time in the 1950s when both Supermouse and Mighty Mouse were published by the same company. Pines Comics took over Paul Terry's Mighty Mouse from St. John, and Supermouse was continuing from being under the Standard Comics logo to publisher Ned Pines' final comic book imprint, Pines Comics.

For some reason the issues of Mighty Mouse during this era had no numbering. This story is from the July, 1957 issue; the Supermouse strip is from the 100-page giant, Supermouse Summer Holiday Issue #1, published for summer, 1957.

Single Issue Review: X-Men #8

X-Men had continued to specialize in one-off stories, but much like the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four, they quickly found their major antagonist. Magneto (who appeared in the first issue) and his evil mutants (popping up in #4) became regulars in the early issues of X-Men, much like Dr Doom had a few years earlier in FF, and Zemo and the Masters of Menace in the Avengers.

But there really had been little development of the individual characters. Yeah, Bobby (Iceman) and Warren (Angel) had a little feud going and yes, we knew that Scott and Jean were in love with each other, but the team still really hadn't been fleshed out much beyond that.

X-Men #8 (November 1964), while still a one-off story, offered some interesting developments that would characterize the team for the rest of their history.

The book starts with what by now had become somewhat cliche in X-Men stories; an introduction in the Danger Room, where the drills were being ordered by Scott:



Later that page was the end of the snowman-looking Bobby, as he adopted the chiseled ice sculpture look that would characterize the rest of the series. It was a good move.

We had always heard that the outside world distrusted the mutants. Now we found out just exactly how much. While on a break in Greenwich Village, the Beast saves a little kid who has climbed up on a water tower. But the crowd quickly turns ugly:



This was a theme that would recur over and over in the X-Men, and clearly Stan is drawing parallels to racial prejudice here. Angered over his treatment by the crowd, Hank quits the X-Men and becomes a pro wrestler. Of course, he was the second Marvel character to enter the ring; Spiderman had a brief career as a grappler as well.

The Beast discovers the newest menace facing humanity: a fellow wrestler named Unus the Untouchable. Unus' power lies in his ability to fend off any attack:



Hank observes the Mastermind, one of Magneto's minions, in the audience. Afterwards, we learn that Unus has asked to join up with the Evil Mutants. He comes across a bank robbery in progress and steals the money from the crooks. When the X-Men face him they discover his invulnerability. Returning to the school in Westchester County, they discover that Hank is back.

But is he on the side of good or evil? He is using his scientific knowledge (previously undiscussed) to create a ray that will dramatically increase Unus' powers. At first the X-Men fight to prevent him from using the ray, but he succeeds in bathing the villain in its beam, and it turns out that he was acting for good, as Unus discovers his uncontrollable powers prevents him from doing certain necessary things, like eating:



This idea of a villain so powerful that the only way to defeat him is to make him more powerful is one that would recur many times over the years. The Beast reverses the ray's effects and Unus agrees to go back to the wrestling ring (apparently the authorities don't want him for the bank robbery).

Overall issue comments: A solid story with some movement forward in the characterization of the X-Men, especially the Beast and featuring beautiful sequential art from Jack Kirby. Unus did not go on to become one of the major villains in the Marvel pantheon, but aside from that this is an excellent example of the Marvel magic.

#067.Indrajal Comics 23 (Hindi)

It's another selfless contribution by Anurag Dixit .

220-1974-Phantom-Moortiyon Ke Taskar

Password: bookscomics.blogspot.com

It was reprinted as V2403 -1987- The Snares of Fortune.

Trivia Quiz #12 Answers

1. Blackhawk, Stanislaus, Andre, Olaf, Chop-Chop, Hendrickson, and _______?

Chuck. Actually Chuck was originally the American of the group, as Blackhawk himself was Polish in the early stories (although that eventually changed).

2. What was the real name of Lady Blackhawk? What villainess did she become for several years during the 1960s?

The real name of Lady Blackhawk was Zinda Blake; she currently is featured in Birds of Prey. She became Queen Killer Shark for a number of issues in the 1960s.

3. Name the villain:

The Sniper

4. What kind of bird was Blackhawk's mascot, Blackie?

This was supposed to be the trick question, because my impression had always been that he was a raven or a blackbird, but it turns out he is indeed a black hawk:



5. Name the villain:

King Condor had several appearances in the Silver Age; he used mechanical birds to help him with his robberies.

Michael Rebain got the first question, while Michael Sensei got all but #3.

Number 391


The scourge of Atlantis


Dick Ayers returns to Pappy's with a soggy tale from Strange Worlds #2 from 1959. The first issue of Strange Worlds was the first title published after a hiatus when Martin Goodman, publisher, sold his Atlas Distribution company, then had to seek distribution from his competition, DC Comics. Strange Worlds is post-Atlas, but pre-Marvel Comics. "I Am The Scourge Of Atlantis" is obviously not part of the Sub-Mariner/Marvel Universe. It owes its ending to "Ping Pong" in Mad. Oops. Should I have posted a SPOILER ALERT tag before telling you that?

**********

This is one of those novelty company ads from comic books. Some of these items seem almost terroristic: Hot Seat! Sneezing Powder! Itching Powder! Exploding fountain pen! How about scaring the crap out of your parents with a hypo needle that seems to plunge into your arm? "Mom! Dad! Watch me jolt up some heroin, yok yok!" Weapons of mass destruction: a sling shot with "riflelike accuracy. Excellent for targets or small game." Balanced throwing knives...little brothers watch out. You will be a target.

Of course we have the famous X-Ray Specs and "Throw Your Voice" gizmo. I'm sure plenty of kids threw them down in disgust when they realized they'd been duped.

Nowadays we need stuff like Fake Muslim Beard, Exploding Cell Phone, Shoe With Fuse. Real laugh-out-loud fun stuff.

Number 390


Dunc and Loo come through


I found Dunc and Loo #5 at an antiques fair just a week ago. It's one of those moments that comic collectors live for. I've been writing about John Stanley, posting stories, reading his stories posted on other blogs, and so it was synchronicity finding this comic in the midst of a stack of otherwise common '80s super hero comics.

Further synchronicity occurred last Sunday when Frank Young of Stanley Stories posted stories from Around the Block With Dunc and Loo #3. The comic book gods had to be interceding in these events.

These two stories from #5 are wonderful. The gags are funny, the characters are funny, the drawing is great. Bill Williams drew Dunc and Loo in a vibrant style with a fluid brush line, perfectly complementing Stanley's layouts.

Single Issue Review: Blackhawk #148

This issue (May 1960) would seem very familiar to Batman fans because the editor at the time, Jack Schiff, was also in charge of the Caped Crusader's books. Check out the cover:



Not substantially different from the September 1961 issue of Batman:



In the opening story, Four Dooms for the Blackhawks, the Blackhawks visit a space research center, where scientists are attempting to recreate conditions in space and on other planets. The plot and setting for this story are direct swipes from Detective #208 (June 1954). Here's the cover of that issue:



And the similar situation in Blackhawk #148:



In the story the bandits are trying to steal a force field projector, but Blackhawk foils the scheme cleverly.

The second story, is another obvious swipe from an even earlier Batman comic. Here's the origin, complete with another classic "Suddenly something snapped in his mind" bit:



From Batman #55 (Oct-Nov 1955), we met another guy who couldn't stand bells:



In a memorable scene from that issue, the Gong lowers Batman and Robin onto a bell buoy where he assumes they will eventually tire and fall off; so too it is with the Bellmaster:



In the cover story, Blackhawk faces the Secret of the Flying Serpent. In this case the story appears original. Blackhawk and his men discover a hidden valley where the Aztecs still remain, now ruled by a corrupt archaeologist pretending to be Quetzalcoatl who has discovered a flying serpent (whose mutation was caused by radiation). The radiation angle is interesting; I'd have to look to see if there's an earlier example of radiation imparting superpowers. Certainly this predates the Marvel Silver Age, where seemingly every character under the sun got his powers from radiation (Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the Sandman, etc.).

The Blackhawks eventually defeat the phony Quetzalcoatl and the flying serpent dies in the battle. As noted earlier, a fairly similar story came up in Batman again a year later, with a flying serpent, a hidden valley (Mayan instead of Aztec).

Overall the stories are entertaining even if two were borrowed from earlier Batman adventures. The artwork, by Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera, is solid if uninspired; I'd much rather read these stories with their artwork than with Sheldon Moldoff, who did most of the Batman stories of the time.