The Montana mentioned in the title of this, my 2300th posting for this blog, is artist Bob Montana. He is best known for being the artist who gave the original look to Archie and his gang back in 1942. Before he became linked to Archie (comic books and a long-running newspaper comic strip), he drew more regular comic book fare for various publishers. That includes this episode of the Fox from Blue-Ribbon Comics #18 (1941).
Montana could draw superhero action as well as the more passive Archie teenage poses. He could also draw the sort of thing that caused the hue and cry of those who thought comic books unfit for young minds. The splash panel for this tale is a good example. In Archie comics being “stabbed in the back” was not shown as literal, as it is here.
The Fox is another costumed hero who has no super powers. He is Paul Patton, a newspaper photographer with a hidden camera hidden in his chest emblem. The first body cam?
MLJ, who published Blue Ribbon Comics #8 (1940), where this story appeared, cut back its roster of costumed and super heroes over time, and became Archie Comics. While this episode of the Fox seems relatively tame, early MLJ had a reputation for rowdiness.
The Fox was gone after the last issue of Blue Ribbon (#22, 1942), not to be seen until the mid-sixties, when Archie Comics resurrected their MLJ heroes.
Artist Irwin Hasen, who went on to draw Green Lantern for DC and in the fifties drew “Dondi,” a popular newspaper strip, was another of those early comic book journeymen. He died in 2015 at age 96.
This is a re-telling of the origin of Mr Justice from the last issue of MLJ’s Blue Ribbon Comics. Mr Justice, also called the Royal Wraith, was a ghost who apparently discorporated and returned intact in Jackpot Comics #5.
Why was this the last issue of Blue Ribbon Comics? I will guess it was because in 1942 paper rationing was instituted as World War II began for Americans. MLJ, like other publishers, had to trim where they could. Just a guess, mind you.
Joe Blair wrote and Sam Cooper drew this tale. It has a hideous green spectral figure popping out of the splash panel: “the ghost of Rogers,” as the Grand Comics Database explains. MLJ was still in its wilder phase, which began to tone itself down as they shed themselves of superheroes over a period of time before morphing into Archie Comics.
Mr Justice (also referred to as the Royal Wraith) was a supernatural hero who appeared in MLJ’s Blue Ribbon Comics. This particular story pulls out all the stops, and includes the evil eye, a soul being yanked from a body, Satan making a deal, and Mr Justice confronting Satan himself on the devil's own territory. It is one of the reasons that the early MLJ Comics were popular. They later got into the Archie business, and dropped their lurid fare for a more “wholesome” style.
The story is written by Joe Blair, and drawn by Sam Cooper. The name of the blind soul-seller, Ribo, is an anagram of Biro. Charles Biro worked for MLJ with the same sort of gusto as he did for other comics, particularly Lev Gleason, with Boy Comics, Daredevil, and Crime Does Not Pay. Besides being an inside joke, I see the name assigned to such a sinister and twisted character as a paean of praise for a master of early comics and exploitation.
From Blue Ribbon Comics #19 (1941).
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Number 584
The imitation Flash Gordon
My correspondent, Nix, who supplies me with great scans from MLJ comics, has contributed this from Blue Ribbon Comics #1, November 1939.
Back in the earliest days of the comics, when they were almost exclusively anthologies, they tended toward certain types:a cowboy, a magician influenced by Mandrake the Magician from the newspaper comics, a spaceman like Flash Gordon...you get the picture. Dan Hastings is the spaceman, and he's not only influenced by Flash Gordon, he appears to be lifted right off the Sunday funnies.
Well, sorta...the artwork by an unknown artist isn't Alex Raymond, but the story is sort of a mishmash of various Flash Gordon stories, including the Saturday matinee serials with Buster Crabbe. Dan has his Dale in Gloria, his Dr. Zarkov in Dr. Carter, his Ming the Merciless in Eutopas, his Mongo in planet Mexady. Errrrr...Mexady? Even though it's issue number one we're dropped into the story with no prelims, no backstory, so it's as if the writer expects us to know about Dan already. And we do, if we read Flash Gordon every Sunday.
Anyway, it's not so surprising to find an imitation Flash Gordon in Blue Ribbon Comics #1, when the lead strip is an ersatz Rin-Tin-Tin called Rang-A-Tang. I love the old MLJ comics but at the company's beginning originality was not a strong point.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Number 416
Origin of Mr. Justice
This is a followup to our Halloween posting, Pappy's #405. Correspondent 1506NixNix writes: I saw the comment asking about Mr. Justice, whether he was a ghost like the Spectre. This is the origin story from Blue Ribbon Comics #9. It was published in 1941. Mr. Justice was a good character from MLJ but the company went another direction and by 1943 he was dropped in favor of the Archie comics.
Story is by Joe Blair, artwork is by Sam Cooper. Don Markstein's Toonopedia gives us the short course on Mr. Justice here.
...and what is that name again? The name of the kidnapped girl's family? Piddle? Did I read that right? Let me look...yup, I read it right.
