Number 2482: “The five weapons that shook the world!”

I raised a smile on my face, even on a stay-at-home pandemic day. (I am writing this in September, 2020.)  Mrs Pappy and I watched the filmed Broadway musical Hamilton, and a few days later I found the above panel. That coincidence was enough reason to show the whole story. It is from a Boy Commandos tale, and beyond the Alexander Hamilton reference, the story seems a not uncommon gimmick story for DC Comics. A bad guy has collected weapons tied to famous people and events, and wants to use a machine gun to wipe out Rip Carter to give himself, and the weapon, notoriety.

The Boy Commandos were nearing the end of their run in 1940’s comic books. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1942 as a group of boys fighting in World War II, it ended as a postwar boy gang having adventures with the sole adult in the group, Rip Carter, carrying on from the war years as their leader. Boy Commandos stories were published from 1942 until 1949. They appeared in their own comic book for 36 issues, as a backup feature for Detective Comics (86 issues) and World’s Finest Comics (33 issues) before they were bumped. It was a time of transition in comic books. The old costumed, super and urban heroes were giving way to other types of heroes, like cowboys and Wild West stories.

From Detective Comics #143 (1949). Illustrated by Curt Swan and Steve Brodie.

 

Number 2347: The zoo of the future

The Boy Commandos, created by Simon and Kirby during World War II, were popular enough during the 1940s that they had their own comic book, and also appeared in DC’s World’s Finest and Detective Comics. Like a lot of other comic book characters, they were gone by the end of the decade. They were probably victims of both shrinking comic books for their World’s Finest and Detective Comics appearances, and a shrinking readership of their solo comic. I like the series, but can be impatient with the “boy” angle. They were used for the purposes of making the characters feed into a child’s fantasy of being involved in the war effort, not to mention fighting crime, or even flying in a spaceship.

This is one of those spaceship stories. I like science fiction, and tend to be attracted more to the rockets and futuristic (for the 1940s, that is) costumes. Rip Carter, the adult male of the group, and the boys are kidnapped and sent 20,000 years in the future to help those future people collect zoo animals. Why? Well, they have their reasons, but at the end of the story Rip and the boys are back into their regular lives. We do find out, lest we wondered, that Rip Carter does like adult women.

“The Zoo of the Future” is from Boy Commandos #28 (1948). Art is credited to Curt Swan and John Fischetti. Fischetti is listed with a question mark, since the Grand Comics Base is not sure.

Number 2188: Boy Commandos: Man in the Iron Mask

New masthead today. I want to thank Jim Engel for providing the former masthead, which I have had at the top of the page since December, 2014. It is great, and I still love it, but I feel it is time for a change.

Go to the bottom of today’s post for an explanation of the photo. Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog post...

When in need of a plot, go to the literary classics and steal one. In this case Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas, the last of the saga of the Three Musketeers. It wasn’t even original with Dumas, but based on a historical incident. The Boy Commandos, or at least the adult, Rip Carter (as “Rippon de Cartier”) and boy, Brooklyn (“Brookline”) are playing with museum artifacts (foolishly left out for fools to play with), when they go into a dream that they are the characters in the drama.

The Boy Commandos were created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for DC Comics in 1942, and were popular with readers. After the war they became adventurers, and occasionally slipped in tales like this. I like stories that depart from the usual, and place the characters in fantastic settings. In looking at the history of the Boy Commandos as a feature in comic books, they had 36 issues of their own title, and they appeared as a backup feature in Detective Comics #64 through #150, and World’s Finest Comics #8 through #41. That would probably spell success, but they ended in 1949. By that time several DC series were meeting their fate, cancellation.

This story is from Boy Commandos #25 (1948). The artwork is credited by the Grand Comics Database to Curt Swan, pencils, and Steve Brodie, inks.

The picture on the masthead

In the summer of 1970 my wife, Sally, and I made a trip to Rutland, Vermont, and stayed for a week with Tom Fagan, his wife, Mary, and daughter Deana. Tom was one of the first of the old-time comic fans I met via the U.S. Mail when I joined comic book fandom, circa 1961.  In 1970 I was in my early twenties. Tom was of the age group ahead of me, the guys who were kids when comic books were still brand new. Tom became a lifelong fan from those first days of Batman.

In the snapshot, taken by Sally, I am gleefully showing off three of the most desirable comics from Tom’s collection. Yet they were only a small part of the boxes of gold that made up the Fagan collection. Until that time I don’t remember ever seeing so many Golden Age comic books in one place.

Tom and Mary are now deceased. I heard from their daughter, Deana, some years ago. I didn’t keep up a friendship with Tom. For a few years we exchanged letters, but over time we wrote less and less, and our friendship faded away. It is one of the many regrets in my life. Tom was certainly one of the most unforgettable people I have met.

Number 2059: Boy Commando rides a flying saucer

It has been 70 years since pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing unidentified flying objects over Mount Rainier in Washington State, beginning the flying saucer craze. This story, “Invasion From Out of Space,” comes along relatively early after the first flap of UFO sightings, from Boy Commandos #26, cover dated March-April 1948, which means it appeared on newsstands in January 1948.

And not just flying saucers; the writer figured he might as well throw in Martians stealing Earth’s water,* giant robots, and a pill-sized atom bomb to end the story. Oh, and Commando Brooklyn rides a flying saucer. Not ride in a flying saucer, mind you. It was while reading that part of the story that I came to expect the last panel would be Brooklyn waking up from a dream caused by a heavy meal before bedtime. It may look like a dream, but it’s not.

*Those darn aliens are still after our water! This is from a Cheerios giveaway Justice League comic published this year:

Grand Comics Database credits Curt Swan and John Fischetti with the artwork, but no dreamer is listed as author.

In 1947 the Boy Commandos went to the moon! Just click on the thumbnail.