Number 2530: Gary Concord and the death by miasma

We see Gary Concord, the main hero among the other heroes of this tale, in the first panel of “The Miasma of Death!” Gary is an Important Man in 2240 A.D. He is the High Moderator of the United States of North America. That sounds important, all right. Gary gets to wear a stylish blue helmet and short-shorts that look like he put on his underwear that morning and forgot to wear his trousers.

A madman (or course he must be mad!), Dr Tor, is issuing dire threats with the diabolical form of death, so Gary and his pal Alec, and a beautiful blonde called Carlotta Zambezi (a great scientist, as claimed by Dr Stark) have quite a threat to stop. Our High Moderator says, after hearing a description of the malodorous gas, “Its victims strangle on their own exhalations!”

Wait, Gary...we residents of Earth in 2021 A.D. have paper masks we are using to try and fend off a deadly virus. Maybe if you ask around you’ll find a box of them somewhere in storage.

I have one more thing to add. Gary’s pal, Alec, has a handsome mustache, waxed on the ends, making him look like the villain in a melodrama. In one of the last panels Alec has his arms around two men with beards. Hairy faces being in vogue right now gives them all a classic look.

From All-American Comics #14 (1940). Grand Comic Database credits Jon L. Blummer for both writing and drawing.

Number 2192: Good night, Dr Mid-Nite

Dr Mid-Nite, the secret identity of blind Dr Charles McNider, was a stable, if second tier superhero, for DC Comics from 1941 to 1948. His Wikipedia entry claims he was the first superhero to have a physical impairment. He pre-dated Marvel’s Daredevil by a couple of decades. His first appearance was in All-American Comics #25 (1941), his origin told by creators Chuck Rozenstein and Stan Aschmeier, who signed his work Stan Asch.

Once again, as we showed with Green Lantern a few weeks ago (Pappy’s Number 2180), the hero disappeared after a final appearance in All-American Comics #102 (1948). The only warnings to the reader were replacing Green Lantern on the cover with the Western star, Johnny Thunder, and an announcement on the bottom of the one of the pages to watch for all new adventures of Johnny Thunder in the new All-American Western.

The decision to replace the superhero contents of All-American with cowboys probably disappointed those superhero fans still left, but such is the nature of the business. The characters served their purpose, but when they no longer sold other genres were tried.

No scripter is listed by the Grand Comics Database for this final Dr Mid-Nite story, but the artwork is credited to Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs.

Number 2135: The High Moderator vs the Mad Imperator

From http://www.herogoggles.com/DC-goldenAgeHeroes.html comes this about Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man:

“Ultra-Man: 1939,  All-American Comics #8. When Gary Concord loses his parents in WWI, he vows to wipe out war. By 1950, he has created a chemical that is so powerful it would frighten mankind to peace. However, another war breaks out and in a bombing raid in the U.S., his lab is blown up and Gary is chemically thrust into suspended animation. He wakes in 2174 to a world engulfed in war. Gary has undergone a transformation as well, taller than most men and superior strength. He uses his knowledge and new talents to bring about peace. His son, Gary Jr., inherits his father's stature and strength, becomes caretaker of his father's formula and continues the fight for peace as Ultra-Man.”

I like that Gary is the High Moderator of the United States of North America, which is a distinguished title. The villain of the tale is Tor, who also has a title, the Mad Imperator. If nothing else, the writer-artist, Jon L. Blummer, gets thumbs up from me for such important sounding offices, even if one is “Mad.”

“The Miasma of Death!” — something of a stinker of a tale, ho-ho — is from All-American Comics #14 (1940). and is credited with writing, penciling and inking by Jon L. Blummer. All-American Comics was the flagship title from publisher Maxwell Gaines, future publisher of EC Comics, and father of William M. Gaines, who went on to publish Mad comics and magazine. The editor of All-American was Sheldon Mayer, who was in his early twenties at the time, but already an accomplished cartoonist (“Scribbly”) and future creator/artist of the long-running Sugar and Spike comic book for DC

Number 2052: Green Lantern and Doiby Dickles go to a costume party

The original (if you prefer, “Earth Two”) version of Green Lantern puts on a costume over his GL costume for a party. He and his dumpy little buddy, Doiby Dickles, take on a villain from the future who landed in America in the 1940s after aiming for another time. Knodar, the villain, is the world’s last criminal! Also the dumbest for missing his time target. (Not much smarter are the future people who put the last criminal in a museum jail, rather than a real prison.)

Speaking of time, Green Lantern’s time as a forties superhero was coming to a close. With this issue, All-American Comics #100 (1948), Green Lantern was replaced on the cover by the Western hero, Johnny Thunder. A couple of issues later, All-American Western would replace the venerable flagship title of Maxwell Charles Gaines’ original comic book line, in partnership with DC Comics. Green Lantern would go on until 1949 with his own title, and until 1951 in All Star Comics, but after that would disappear until the new (if you prefer, “Earth One”) version would appear in 1959. Sheldon Mayer, who had been editor, quit that position to go back to drawing. Issue #100 was the first by editor Julius Schwartz, and the powers-that-be at DC thought some changes in the line-up were in order.

Credits by the Grand Comics Database have John Broome as writer, and Irwin Hasen the artist.

Number 1895: Up 'n' Atom

The original Atom was a second-tier costumed hero for DCs. The Atom is a small guy who worked out and pumped up his body, then put on a costume to battle crime. The art in this story, from All-American Comics #71 (1945), is by Jon Chester Kozlak, and is written by Joe Greene. In addition the Grand Comics Database tells us the editors are Sheldon Mayer and Julius Schwartz.

Anyone who knows the Atom in his 1961 incarnation knows the two characters have nothing in common. The second Atom can make himself small and retain his mighty wallop. I have said that DC used the old name, but appropriated the powers of Doll Man. Doll Man had been moribund since 1953, and then the publisher, Quality Comics, was sold to DC in '56. Doll Man was a direct influence on the modern Atom, but at least they owned the rights to the character they were swiping from. As it turned out, Doll Man did show up in the DC Universe again, but that isn’t a concern here.

Number 1453: “A Thousand Years a Minute!”

Sucker that I am for time travel tales, here is a four-chapter sequence from 1939. “Adventure In the Unknown” was a series appearing in All-American Comics, and these chapters appeared in issue numbers 9 through 12.

Writer Carl H. Claudy was born in 1879. Before there were comic books he was noted for his books on Freemasonry and his science fiction stories for boys. He worked for DC from '39 to 1943. Claudy was also a journalist, also authored books on photography and aviation; an all-around, all-American author! He died in 1957, but several of his books on Freemasonry are still available at Amazon.com

This story sequence from All American, illustrated, according to the GCD, by Stan Aschmeier, is one of those cavemen and dinosaurs tales of “one million years ago.” The cavemen wear shaggy blue shorts, and there are no cavewomen, who are presumably back in the caves keeping the home fires burning. Our heroes, Ted and Alan, befriend a caveman named Ikki, who becomes their helper. In the last chapter, in a burst of feelgood emotions for their new pal, Alan says, “I've a great idea, Ted!...Let’s take Ikki back to 1939 with us!” To which Ted replies, “Sure — we’ll donate him to a zoo — or a sideshow!” All heart, that Ted.

**********

In time for Halloween...

 The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics: 

 Jack Cole's Deadly Horror

Jack Cole, one of the greatest cartoonists to ever work in comic books, did several horror stories during the horror boom of the '50s. (After a short time he was out of comic books altogether, and drawing sexy women for Hugh Hefner.) The horror stores are unsigned, and some of them have the heavy hand of inkers other than Cole, but they are immediately identifiable as being by the creator of Plastic Man.

Jack Cole's Deadly Horror editor Craig Yoe (attempting to hypnotize us into buying the book in the picture above) prints a statement by me where I say that Cole never got far from his bigfoot cartooning origins. Even though the horror comics would seem to be far from Cole’s “Burp the Twerp” comedy one-pagers, the same level of craftsmanship and even, yes, FUN — albeit grisly — have gone into each page and panel.

The book, being number four in Yoe's ongoing series of horror comics reprints, fits right in with its predecessors, and as you can see from this look at one of my Pappy Studio bookshelves, looks mighty handsome when stacked with those volumes. (As well as the other books I keep in a rotation depending on what I’m researching at the moment. The other crap stuff on the shelf is eye-candy I can't seem to put in boxes and store away in my basement.}

The Cole book is highly recommended, just as I’ve recommended other Yoe books before. It’s because Craig Yoe has a fine sense of design, history, and the importance of a good horror story right before Halloween to, you know, set the mood for a chilly autumn evening when the wind is whistling down your chimney like the howls of souls in torment...tree limbs like skeletal fingers are tap-tap-tapping on your windows...and you feel that delicious terror that comes from looking up from a horror story startled, thinking, “Did I just hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs toward me?”

 Bargain priced at a suggested retail or $24.99, it’s inexpensive enough for you to get a copy for yourself, and one for the horror comics loving friend on your Christmas gift list.

The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics #4 Jack Cole's Deadly Horror is available from your local comic book store or online retailer including Amazon.com, Bud Plant, and yoebooks.com