Number 2108: Eye-yi-yi!

The Eye is an enigmatic character, its origin never explained. The character was created and drawn by Frank Thomas (the Owl, Billy and Bonny Bee), one of the very early comic book men. (This Frank Thomas is not Disney’s Frank Thomas.)

In a link below you can read another Eye story. In my commentary for that 2014 post I presume the Eye to be a version of God. I have noticed many comics use God, thinly disguised. It is only natural for writers and artists to mix history, folklore, the supernatural and Bible stories into adventures of four-color superheroes.

From Keen Detective Funnies #20 (1940):

The second Eye story is here. The posting from 2014 also includes a link to the first Eye story. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1902: Masked Marvel to the rescue

Crooks threaten to blow up 10,000 people and some buildings. Yet instead of getting after the terrorists and thwarting their evil plans, the police chief allows the Masked Marvel to go after them. “I’d hate to lose ten thousand people,” says the chief. “Maybe I’m foolish, Marvel, but I’m betting on you -- the lives of ten thousand people are in your hands!” Gee, shouldn’t the chief notify the mayor, or the FBI or somebody? I think that top cop may be overstepping his bounds.

But of course the Masked Marvel comes through. Without trying to ruin the story for anyone, you can see how this one is going to end long before the last page.

The Masked Marvel was created by artist Ben Thompson in 1939 for Keen Detective Funnies. This story, reprinted from Keen Detective Funnies #24, comes from the Marvel’s own comic book, Masked Marvel #1 (1940). Like the Fantom of the Fair, who we showed in April,* the Masked Marvel has no origin, no discernible reason for wearing a mask, and what powers he has are ambiguous. As Toonopedia.com explains: “ . . . he didn't even have a wimpy secret identity or, in fact, any secret identity at all. He just showed up out of nowhere, did a good deed or two, and went back where he'd been. Since he had no outside life, it's a mystery why he even bothered to hide his face . . .  The character got around by flying, but not under his own power — he used an ordinary-looking airplane . . .  He also wasn't particularly invulnerable. In fact, he had no defined super powers at all. He was occasionally seen to carry a gun.”

With that sort of lead-in I’ll bet you readers can’t wait to read this pulse-pounded thriller! The best I can offer, in my feeble attempt to justify posting this, is that Masked Marvel, although short-lived, was one of the very early costumed heroes.

*Pappy’s #1878.

Number 1533: I spy, with my little Eye...

“The Eye Sees” by Frank Thomas appeared for a short time in Centaur Publication’s* Keen Detective Funnies, and in a couple of reprint issues, Detective Eye. The Eye was a mysterious creature whose origin was never explained, although in one issue the splash panel proclaims, “The Eye! A symbol of the haunting voice of man’s inner conscience! That mystic all-powerful force that causes evil deeds to boomerang and destroy those who plot them!” With that sort of mystical status you’d think The Eye would be an unseen force, but it has a physical presence, as we see in this story (the second published) from Keen Detective Funnies #18 (1940) when it is spotted by one of the gang members plotting sabotage.

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*Centaur has the distinction of being a comic book company that went out of business during comics’ original heyday. According to Wikipedia, “Centaur Publications, Inc. ceased production at the end of 1940, but continued to produce comics under the name Comic Corporation of America. Centaur ceased publication four years later, primarily due to poor distribution.”

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 Here’s the first story featuring The Eye. Just click on the thumbnail:

Number 1271: Eye in the sky

The introduction of the Eye, by Frank Thomas, is our third posting of four in our early superhero/costumed characters comics week. It's the earliest story, having appeared in Keen Detective Funnies Volume 2 Number 4 (whole number 16), published by Centaur in 1939.

Despite inclusion in our theme week, the Eye doesn't really count as a costumed hero, although he could be said to be super. That is, if working miracles is a super power. So what was the Eye? No one knew, because he was never explained. I assume, as do some other comic historians, that the Eye was some sort of comic book version of God. He appeared for a year, until Keen Detective ceased publishing. He appeared in two issues of his own comic, then went wherever old comic book characters, including comic book gods, go.

Thomas did features like “The Owl” and “Billy and Bonny Bee.” He was a talented cartoonist and writer. I've featured him before, the post before this being this past February: Pappy's #1105.

Tomorrow, the Face.