Number 2553: You need not be a devil to have horns

If a writer runs out of ideas for villains there is always the devil to go to. Can't get much more evil than the devil. But lots of people called “devil” don’t always live up to the title. Like the devil in this Spy Smasher story. He has what are supposed to be horns coming out of his head, but look more like a couple of paper cut-outs pasted to his forehead. It is enough for the “devil” to carry on the look, without a supernatural origin. Some people in real life have horns, and they can appear anywhere on the body. Look up cutaneous horn on the internet. I’ll bet not one of the unfortunate folks who are shown in photos with those growths turned out to be evil.

Spy Smasher was lucky enough to have lasted through World War II as a Fawcett comic book character. Spy Smasher also appeared in a movie serial. So he was popular enough in his time when smashing spies, but after the war when postwar shenanigans of spies were especially dangerous, Spy Smasher was retitled “Crime Smasher,” and had a short run.

Grand Comics Database has no idea who wrote or drew this episode. I believe the Jack Binder comic shop had something, if not all, to do with it.

From Spy Smasher #3 (1942):

 

Number 2455: Ibis calls on god

My headline is correct. Ibis and his girlfriend, Princess Taia, call on their god, whose name is Osiris, “The God of Egypt.” It is when things get tough; the bad guy sends a storm their way, and when Taia asks if Ibis’ magic wand, the Ibistick, can help, he says he has a better idea. He’ll call on their deity.

All I can say to that is Osiris must not have much else to do if he can answer a prayer that quickly.

Ibis was the magic man of Whiz Comics, and later, his own title. He came from thousands of years ago and if not wearing his turban, would fit right in with the modern world. Unlike the usual comic strip and comic book magicians, Ibis uses his Ibistick to do the magical stuff. Magic wands have been staples of magic stories for how long? Millenia, perhaps; anyway, a long, long time. You fans of Harry Potter will know all you need to know about a magic wand.

The Grand Comics Database lists the artist as Alex Blum with a question mark. I believe it is Blum. He was an old time artist who went to work in the comics. He did a lot of Classics Illustrated book adaptations. He was born in 1889, so he was in his early fifties when he took this assignment. Alex Blum died in 1969.

From Whiz Comics #16 (1941):

Number 2394: Captain Video vs A.I.

Growing up in the fifties, besides comic books I read a lot of science fiction. Some of that science fiction (as well as comic books) used robots. Sometimes the robots were smarter than the people in the story. Sometimes they wanted to take over from humans. I was able to assure myself that it was all just fiction. Nowadays I worry about the near-future when robot cars share the road. The funny thing about fiction is that sometimes it turns into fact.

Captain Video and his ranger meet up with some smart robots who have killed their creator, and are in the process of taking over. Since comic books are produced by humans and not robots the prejudice is for the flesh and blood guys and not the artificial guys.

The television program, Captain Video, was on the air for a few years from the now long defunct Du Mont Network. Du Mont also manufactured televisions, as you can see here with this luxurious 1951 model.

Because of their money problems the television productions were low budget, including Captain Video, where it would be obvious when they were cutting corners with the futuristic stuff, like space helmets. The satire from Mad #15, “Captain TVideo,” drawn by Jack Davis, points out some of the cheap props. Did they actually use shirt cardboard cut to look like a space helmet? I don’t know, but it’s a funny idea.

At least the story I am showing today is free from budget constraints. No budget for props in a comic book. Whatever a writer can think up and an artist can draw costs the same as any other comic book. “Island of Conquerors” is the last Captain Video story from Fawcett, after six issues in 1951. It is from issue #6 (1951), no writer credited, but drawn by George Evans and Martin Thall.

Number 2385: “This will shake the sauerkraut out of your teeth!”

Captain Midnight had several incarnations: radio show, newspaper comic strip, movie serial, television series (re-branded as “Jet Jackson”) and comic book hero. Dell Comics originally, then Fawcett for 67 issues from 1942 to 1948. He was a popular guy.

I’m not an expert on Captain Midnight, but I like some of the Fawcett comics I’ve read. This story caught my eye because it has a familiar concept. It is about a miniature drone, or radio controlled plane, the flying eye, as they call it, with television camera in it to keep tabs on the enemy. Yes, there was television in 1943, but it was still in development. and as I understand it, that development was shelved during the war at the request of the U.S. government. So Captain Midnight, who built the small robot plane, must have been doing the work on TV himself. The story is also about a group of Nazis led by Herr Hacker. “Hacker”? hmmm, a word known to us 21st century folks, but in this story Herr Hacker actually does hack...with his sword.

The Grand Comics Database has no guesses on either a writer or artist, but I think the artwork was done by the Jack Binder comic art shop; the lettering gives it away to me.

From Captain Midnight #10 (1942):