Number 2597: When Madam Fatal could have been arrested

It is no secret that the character, Madam Fatal, dressed as an old woman. Madam was risking arrest in several cities, including (or all places) San Francisco. It was illegal for a man or woman in less enlightened times to cross-dress. The actor, Richard Stanton, took up the role as the old woman to help him solve the crime of his daughter’s disappearance.

Art Pinajian created the character of Madam Fatal, who appeared in Quality’s Crack Comics #1-22.

I've also included a two page story of Slap Happy Pappy, who is yet another Li'l Abner take off. He was created by artist Gill Fox for Crack Comics #1, and continued on after Crack Comics #9 with stories and artwork by Jack Cole.

Using a mirror as evidence, I, your aging blogger, Pappy, look more like Slap Happy Pappy every day.

From Crack Comics #1 (1940):

Number 2584: The Clock strikes midnight

The Clock, created by George Brenner, is known as the first masked hero in comic books.  The Clock was yet another rich person who put on a mask, and went out to take on criminals. The pulp magazine heroes were the inspiration, and they were what the Clock was striving to be. Pulp magazines had a lot of text, and undoubtedly daunting for children to read. The Clock was a bridge between pulps and comics. He appeared first in Funny Picture Stories in 1936.

Clock creator George Brenner went to work for Everett “Busy” Arnold. Brenner created other characters, including my favorite, Bozo the Robot. Arnold made Brenner editor of the Quality Comics line, but he was fired in 1949. (Some say it was because of drinking, although some dispute that. So, another mystery from the Golden Age.)

In this story we have an element I call a dumb idea that for some reason works. The Clock sends the villain a business card that says he will strike at midnight, and he does. Despite being warned, the bad guy gets the Clock in his house. Only in the comics.

I like a couple of things. One, when a henchman says about the District Attorney, “He has a ‘way’ with gals...ha-ha...if ya get what I mean.” Maybe the kids reading this comic in 1940 didn’t know what he means, but I get it. And in the very last panel the Clock, as Brian O'Brien, tells his friend and helper, Pug, that because he knows the Clock’s secret identity he can tell no one, even if it should mean death. Pug agrees. In my opinion, asking someone to die for you is really asking a lot, if ya get what I mean.

From Crack Comics #1 (1940):

 

Number 2566: My brother, the super dead hero

                                                                               

Captain Triumph, singular, is actually two characters, one living...one dead. Lance and Michael Gallant (appropriate last name for a super hero) are identical twins. They even share a birthmark on their wrists. Michael gets blown up by some Nazi saboteurs, and Lance swears vengeance. He is visited by the ghost of Michael, who tells him when there is some derring-do what they will dare to do to get vengeance against Nazis. Lance just rubs the birthmark and voila! Lance now has Michael's powers, bequeathed to him by “The Fates of Greek Mythology” and becomes a superhero with the name Captain Triumph. I'm showing the origin story here, so you can see how it works. I notice that Michael doesn't get a funeral. He is dead, yet quick to reveal himself to Lance, explaining the new super hero job, and there is no mourning or a pretense of grieving for a dead brother.

Captain Triumph appeared in Crack Comics for a few years, originally drawn by Alfred Andriola. Andriola’s career was resurrected a few times. He began as an assistant to Milton Caniff on Terry and the Pirates, then got the job of doing the Charlie Chan comic strip. Charlie Chan was a popular detective character of the time, but the comic strip only lasted a short time and if I’ve got this right, was cancelled after Pearl Harbor. Perhaps it was like today, when people don’t distinguish Asians from each other. Andriola then became an assistant on the Dan Dunn comic strip, which ended a year later. The day after it ended Andriola was back with Kerry Drake, a comic strip character in the Dick Tracy tradition that went on in newspapers until Andriola died in 1983.

The origin story of Captain Triumph is from Crack Comics #27 (1943):

 

Number 2375: The Black Condor...he’s so Fine!

Don Markstein’s Toonopedia says of the character, Black Condor: “The Condor's origin story wasn't too implausible, at least by superhero standards.” I guess if you consider being raised by condors, and learning to fly by watching other condors not too implausible, then yes, Black Condor fared well by the standard of superhero origins. If that is not enough, the Black Condor’s secret identity was him taking the place of a deceased United States Senator, Tom Wright. There are so many things illegal about impersonating a senator, alive or even dead, that I cannot imagine it happening except in a comic book.

What truly redeems Black Condor as a feature of early comic books is the artwork of Lou Fine, born Louis Kenneth Fine in 1914. He was one of the (excuse me) finest artists of the Golden Age, whose work was not only influential to other artists, but jumped off the newsstands at comic book readers. The Black Condor was done and gone in Quality’s Crack Comics after issue 31. Fine, who had been helping to ghost the Spirit while Will Eisner was doing military service, left comic books in 1944 and went into advertising. Later in his career he drew some newspaper comic strips. Fine died of a heart attack in 1971 at the young age of 56.

From Crack Comics #15 (1941):

Number 2231: The Clock: “...a piece of rubber hose...”

The Clock is one of the earliest comic book heroes, appearing as early as 1936. His adventures, all signed by George Brenner, went on through several comic book titles, until the Clock stopped in 1944.

The Clock had been in comics published by Centaur, then Quality Comics, where he first appeared in Feature Funnies (title later changed to Feature Comics). He helped kick off Crack Comics, where today’s story appeared. The thing I first noticed were the gaudy colors of the stone work in the splash panel. The publisher, Everett “Busy” Arnold wanted more colors in his comic books, because kids liked colors. (Arnold was color blind.)

As I read the story I noticed that the bad guy, Moe Klone (love that name) was on bail for murdering a cop. That made me wonder where in America a guy could be arrested for killing a police officer and be released on bail. Well, nowhere, that is where. Unless the judge is taking a payoff, that is.

The other thing I noticed is Clock’s advice to the Police Captain: “...And a piece of rubber hose applied to the right spots, Captain, should make Klone tell you how he planned to leave the country.” So the Clock is encouraging police brutality! And did I tell you the Clock was once District Attorney? Now retired, and living as a society fop secretly meting out justice and also encouraging the third degree, Brian O’Brien is the man under the mask.

I have a couple of other Clock stories I showed in 2011. You can go to them with the link below.

This story is from Crack Comics #14 (1941).

For two more vintage Clock stories, click on the thumbnail.

Number 2217: Alias the Spider: “Hiya, Rat!”

 

 Alias the Spider...eh, not so much revulsion, but although he came from powerhouse Quality Comics, not such a long career. Here is what Don Markstein’s Toonopedia says: “He didn't have any superhuman abilities, or any special ones that were particularly spider-like. In fact, nothing about his appearance or actions suggested spiders, except naming his car (fastest in town, of course) The Black Widow. Apparently he just thought calling himself The Spider sounded cool.

Whatever the reason, the character was created by cartoonist Paul Gustavson, whose other creations for Quality include The Human Bomb and The Jester. Gustavson continued writing and drawing ‘Alias The Spider’ for about two and a half years, which was most of the time the feature lasted.”

The feature ended in Crack Comics #30; this is from Crack #21 (1942), written and drawn by Paul Gustavson.