Number 2361: Seems like old times...

One million years ago sounds like a long time, and it is. But there were no dinosaurs one million years ago, despite the premise of Tor, created, written, drawn and colored by artist Joe Kubert. Tor looks more like Tarzan, a tall, muscular white European, wandering from place to place in that world of a million years ago, encountering primitive tribes. Tor is a type of prehistoric social worker, solving problems for people who are presumably what we think of as “cavemen.” I believe the idea for Tor came from the 1940 movie, One Million B.C., which Kubert may have seen; it was very popular.

I have met people with a peculiar religious viewpoint, who believe that humans and dinosaurs literally existed together, so perhaps they would not see Tor as fantasy, but as a slice of life from the past. I like the page by Kubert, featuring himself and his co-editor Norman Maurer, where they opine on the modern world with its nuclear weapons, compared to the world of a million years ago. It is earnestly said, “If it weren’t for man’s inherent desire to conquer evil and injustice, he would have destroyed himself long ago...”

Tor is well drawn, and unlike most comic book creations Tor belonged to Kubert, so in later years he could cash in on the character. That was almost unheard of in those days, so Joe Kubert had a rare kind of relationship with his publisher, Archer St. John.

From Tor #4 (1954):

Number 1920: Joyriding with Speedy

“Case 1009” is the last of a series of one-shot crime stories that appeared in Boy Comics, from the first issue (#3) to #10 (1942), which is where we take our tale of young Earl “Speedy” Feehan. Speedy loves cars. He loves them so much he steals borrows them and hot-rods around his home town. He thinks this sort of activity is okay — it’s just for kicks, y'know — but then he boosts the wrong car. He steals some classified war files left in a car by a government guy, and Speedy is confused for a Nazi spy.

The story, written by Dick Wood and drawn by Norman Maurer, is more cautionary tale than crime story. Certainly Speedy gets his punishment at the end, but his thefts are represented more as youthful folly than actual crimes. Maybe the attitude toward taking someone else’s car without permission was different in 1942 than it is in 2016. Nowadays he would probably get a lot more than six months in reform school for the same crime. I also hope George Anderson of Naval Intelligence got some form of censure or punishment from his superiors for being stupid, leaving secret defense plans in his car while spending the night in a hotel.

Number 1599: “I’m a lumberjack, and I’m not okay...”

There should be a lesson in this crime story from Boy Comics #32 (1947) but I'm darned if I know exactly what it is. Regarding the two college dropouts who ride the rails to a logging camp looking for a meal and end up with jobs, it could be there is danger there, and not just because being a lumberjack is a really dangerous job. It also has to do with not messing with the boss's wife, especially a blonde who dresses in nylons and high heels in a logging camp and longs to see the sights of New York. Or it could be the lesson that some people — like the boss's wife — will stab someone in the back. Literally. Finally, it could be that an executed prisoner should be checked for signs of life before putting him in a coffin.

Crimebuster, the titular hero of the tale, pops up here and there throughout most of it. He doesn’t show up until page 7.

This is a tale of a wrongful conviction, and there is probably a lesson there, also. Police should always take a closer look, and not just the word of the hot blonde and a guy about to run off with her. It is nicely illustrated by Norman Maurer.

Number 1565: Giving 3-D a Whack

Three dimensional comic books and movies were a quick-moving fad in 1953, and the story is told that only the first 3-D comic book (Mighty Mouse from St. John) actually made money. Other publishers jumped in on the fad, only to lose money.

Whack #1, also from St. John, was not only a 3-D comic, but an attempt to cash in on the success of EC’s Mad. To be fair, EC put out a couple of 3-D comics to compete with St. John. But with the 3-D fad finished, Whack lasted one issue as a 3-D comic, then reverted to a 10¢ four-color format for two issues using stories prepared originally to be printed as 3-D.

Get out those red-blue anaglyphic glasses if you have them to see one of Whack’s attempts at humor and satire with the story, “Ghastly Dee-fective Comics” drawn by Norman Maurer and inked by Joe Kubert. It’s scanned from my copy of Whack #1. If you don’t have the red-and-blue lenses you can read the story in a black line version, directly below the 3-D version. It was prepared by a fan and posted online. By now the ink on all fifties 3-D comics has pretty much faded so the conversion isn’t perfect, but my thanks to that person anyway for their trouble.

If you would like to know how to make your own 3-D glasses. Click on the thumbnail, a link to an article from Boy’s Life to tell you how.

Following that is one of the stories prepared for 3-D but instead printed in standard comic book format. It’s by Kubert, inked by Maurer. The claim in the story, belied by having to print it in four colors rather than 3-D, is that the 3-D comics were best sellers. For me it’s of interest because it has caricatures of Kubert and Maurer, and even their boss, Archer St. John, as “St. Peter.”