“Trigger-Men by Trade” appeared in Fox Comics’ March of Crime* #7 (actually #1, 1950). No writer is listed, but the artist is Wallace Wood. Grand Comics Database gives him total credit, and he may have done it himself, but I think the odds are that another artist or two helped him out. It seems most, if not all, of Wood’s jobs for Fox have something in common: the splash page is usually the best artwork in the story. Early Wood collaborator Harry Harrison explained the team’s dealing with the art director at Fox in an interview in Graphic Story Magazine in 1970: “We would slide in this ten-page pile of crap with a real good splash page for the first page on top. He would look at only the top page and count the other nine, flipping through them real fast. Nobody really cared about the quality. No one looked at these books; no one read the things very carefully.”
Also, Fox was a slow-payer, if he paid at all. He soon went bankrupt and Star Comics, run by L.B. Cole, picked up his inventory. Over the next couple of years Star reprinted many stories originally published by Fox, the self-proclaimed “King of the Comics.” This story does not have a GCD record of being reprinted.
I note that the indicia indicates that March of Crime was formerly My Love Affair, and that annual subscriptions were available under the new title, which causes me to guess that they had been available under the old title. I thus imagine a distressed subscriber finding a crime comic book in his or her mailbox when he or she had expected what Fox had been offering as tales of romance. I doubt that Fox sent any refunds.
ReplyDeleteThe only characters in this story who are possibly not killed are the three figures shown in the background of 2:3 and the two in the background of 7:7!
On page 8, it is as if Reddy and Walsh managed to get out of their vehicle and to the break in the railing with absolutely astonishing speed. I don't know whether the script given to Wood had such an absurdity or Wood introduced it, but it speaks to those involved simply not caring.
By the way, I have looked at a significant amount of manga recently, and some of it seems to have been influenced by the style that Wood adopted when seeking to be humorous. It's possible that the similarities are a case of convergent evolution, but I think that one or more of the Japanese artists were influenced by Wood. (Relative timing makes it unlikely that the influence somehow went in the other direction.) Manga seem to involve a significant amount of uncredited collaboration, and I don't know who is actually carrying Wood's influence.
Very nice variety in your postings. I didn't really see Mr. Wood in the art here. I guess cause there were no women or aliens. Silly me. Crime comics are always too much crime for me, but I enjoyed reading this well done tale of evil cold-bloodedness. Thank you Pappy.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, Roy Thomas told of subscribing to All Star Comics, and after a couple of issues with Justice Society of America found All Star Western in his mailbox. So I know it happened.
ReplyDeleteWe are assuming someone actually subscribed to My Love Affair and then got a violent crime comic instead. From love to murder! Shucks, Daniel, there is a whole cable television network, ID Discovery, devoted to just such stories...24 hours a day.
I have no doubt Japanese manga artists would find Wallace Wood's artwork appealing; I haven't seen it, but I'll keep my good eye open and see if I can spot it.
JBM, I strive for variety. I try to mix up the subject matter, because readers of 70-80 years ago had a lot more to choose from than today's comic book buyers. A couple of crime or horror or love or even funny animal comics are usually part of the monthly bill of fare. I also try to show a super hero story every other posting.
ReplyDeleteIn the last few months I have been limiting my time spent looking at a computer screen. I have always worked one to two months ahead (right now I am finishing up December postings), but I am slipping behind my own schedule. As anyone who has followed this blog knows it is strictly a one-man circus I'm running.
I was considering a life of crime but this changed my mind. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNice to see a Wood-ish story I never saw before.
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