Number 2546: Bathroom stop 20,000,000 miles

 

I am not sure more than one episode of “The Space Speedsters” ever appeared. Nedor Comics sometimes had guest appearances from other comic characters in their comics. The story, “The End of the World,” appeared in Black Terror #23 in 1948. "The Space Speedsters" are not promised to return, either in the next issue or in any other comic book. That seems to be be a sign it was a one-and-done feature. 

Going through my archives I have shown more than one story from other publishers that include a spaceman and his girlfriend flying through space in a ludicrously small craft. This one gets some sort of howler alert you can see in the panel above, where the space guy says, “I figure that planet is 20,000,000 miles from Earth! We’ll make it in under five hours, Jinx!” Perhaps he is telling her because based on the size of the spacecraft, five hours might be the as long as Jinx and the pilot/boyfriend, Randy Colman, can go without needing a toilet.

I’m old, I think of things like that.

No writer credited; art credited to Stan Aschmeier by the Grand Comics Database.

Number 2520: “As evil a wench as ever carried a gun!”

 

Lady Serpent is the evil wench who kills. She not only strikes fear in the hearts of her gang, but also the police. Sergeant MacGooligan has a “fierce headache” caused by the Lady Serpent busting out of jail. He tells the story of her escape to Black Terror and his young companion, Kid Terror, in their civilian identities as a pharmacist and a soda jerk. The prison break ends tragically because Lady Serpent guns down the prison warden and a police detective, which gets the Terror Twins, as they are called, into action.

Black Terror had a long run in the 1940s. I counted 127 issues of comic books where Black Terror appeared between 1941, in America’s Best Comics, Black Terror, and Exciting Comics, when Black Terror's run ended in 1949.

This story is drawn by the team of Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin, and is from Black Terror #23 (1948):

Number 2126: “Good American muscle”

Things look slow at pharmacist Bob Benton’s shop. Slow enough he can shut down the store and take off for Wyoming to visit his uncle Richard’s ranch. Bob takes along his young assistant, Tim, and his girlfriend, Jean. Tim isn’t too happy about Jean coming along. A couple of days ago I spoke of underage pals of grown men in the superhero business, and here we are again. Tim probably needn’t have worried about Jean intruding, since Bob sends Jean into the next room of the ranch while pointing out that he and Tim will be staying together.

The story itself is some hokum about a villain called Dr Ghoul who kidnaps people to turn them into his gang members. I am vague on the motives of Dr Ghoul’s gang. All I took from the story is Dr Ghoul aims to steal Uncle Richard’s ranch payroll. I wouldn’t think it would require such an elaborate setup to make a gang by placing kidnap victims in what looks like an iron lung and dosing them with electricity.

As the Terror Twins are about to be put into the machine Black Terror warns Dr Ghoul not to waste his time, because he and Tim are made of “good American muscle!” He failed to mention the reason for his own powers (super-strong, bullets bounce off) is he ingested some drug with “formic ethers.”

The Grand Comics Database lists Ed Moritz and Ed Hamilton as artists. Ed Hamilton is not Edmond Hamilton, science fiction writer and also scripter for Batman and Superman. The GCD doesn’t guess at a writer. From Black Terror #12 (1945):

Number 1730: The Scarab levitates out of comic books

The Scarab was a superhero who appeared late in the game, in 1945’s Exciting Comics #42 (1945), at a time when superheroes were being replaced by other features in comics. Other superhero mainstays of the Nedor line, Black Terror and Fighting Yank, hung around for a few more years.

This feature in Black Terror #20 (1947) is the Scarab’s last appearance. The Grand Comics Database gives Ken Battefield credit for the pencils. I am lazy today so I am swiping the GCD’s synopsis for the story: “ An old Egyptian tells Peter a story of a strange secret potion of weird power that was buried in the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Am-Re in the year 1445, whose tomb was uncovered by a group of beggars and thieves searching for water. They drank of the potion before their ‘deaths’ and are scheduled to arise again from the dead today!”

As for the teaser panel on top of this page, haven’t you ever wished you could get out of a bad situation by levitating? Actually, I have not, but next time I’m cornered by a black cat I’ll try it.

Number 1670: New masthead, old origin story

I have a new masthead, based on the cover of Exciting Comics #49 (1946), drawn by the greatest Golden Age cover artist of them all, Alex Schomburg. As you can see I have done my usual, distorting the illustration to fit over the top of the blog. Forgive me, Schomburg fans.

Black Terror was a superhero from the World War II era, who lasted during the 1940s and in this original incarnation disappeared before 1950. According to Don Markstein’s Black Terror Toonopedia entry, the Black Terror was instantly popular. I think it was the costume with the skull and crossbones. Otherwise Black Terror’s adventures during the war involving saboteurs, Nazis, Japanese and the usual suspects, were fairly typical of the era.

Black Terror’s origin, brought about by “formic ethers” is pure hokum. That is de rigueur for a superhero origin, which just has to give off some illusion of making sense. It is from Exciting Comics #9 (1941). Story attributed to Richard E. Hughes, art by D. Gabrielson.

Here is another Black Terror story. You can see it and a link to another BT story by clicking on the thumbnail.