Number 2246: “Ripped from today’s headlines”

Reading this Black Rider episode, published in 1951, is like reading this morning’s newspaper: Unwanted sexual attention and assault, scapegoating an emigrant, and rich man using his power for nefarious deeds. Of course those problems have been around for the history of humankind, but it doesn’t make “The Strange Man” seem any less relevant. Being a comic book story, though, means the problems are solved in nine pages by a masked vigilante.

Black Rider stories used the comic book template, featuring a disguised hero. In this case Black Rider is the secret identity of town physician, Dr Masters.

It is well drawn, as per the Grand Comics Database, penciled by Al Hartley and inked by Jay Scott Pike. If pretty, sexy females were needed at the company that eventually became Marvel Comics, they weren’t drawn any better than by those artists, in this case working together. The story is credited to Robert Bernstein, a writer who worked in comic books for decades.

From Black Rider #13 (1951):

Number 2187. Black Rider, fake gold

The opening of this Black Rider story reminds me of macabre conversations my buddies and I had when we were very young. What would be the absolute worst way to die? My personal fear was being buried up to my chin, having honey poured on me, then eaten by ants. (I was a morbid kid.) Nowadays I can think of a couple of dozen usual ways I don’t want to die, and despite all of the things that can kill me within the range of possibility, eaten by ants, no matter how rarely that would happen, makes me shudder.

Black Rider, who is secretly Doc Masters, goes up against a gang making counterfeit gold coins from lead and “good Mexican gold.”

The art is done by one of Atlas Comics’ top artists of the fifties, Jay Scott Pike. It is written by Robert Bernstein, another long-time comic book scripter.

“Vultures of the Rio Grande” is from Wild Western #19 (1951).

Number 2099: The Jaguar and the Sea Circe

The Jaguar, part of the Archie Adventure Series, seems very tame. Ralph Hardy is a zoologist, and as the Jaguar is ruler of all beasts. Any thrills from that must have been seriously muted by the Comics Code, which kept any real dangerous stuff out of most comic book stories. For instance, in “The Sea Circe from Space!” sex is part of the plot, yet so mild it barely registers. The Sea Circe is in a one-piece swimsuit-styled costume, and has definite sex appeal, but her animal magnetism does not seem to work on the ruler of all animals, Ralph the Jaguar. He chooses not to go off with the Sea Circe and rule the universe.

They are on an island, far from his home. Did he think he might at least invite her to his room? Apparently not. Oh, noble Ralph.

The story was written by Jaguar creator Robert Bernstein, and the artwork is by comic book journeyman, John Rosenberger.

From Adventures of the Jaguar #3 (1961):

Number 1893: The Jaguar and the Fourth-Dimensional Force

The Jaguar was a character who, as Toonopedia says, was basically cut from the same cloth as the Fly. They were both published by Archie in another attempt to introduce some superheroes into their line.* I didn’t buy The Fly after Simon and Kirby left (and especially when the Fly became — ugh! — Flyman). I bought a couple of issues of Adventures of the Jaguar, but probably because they had pretty girls on the covers.

John Rosenberger, who drew the feature, was not an artist I associated with superheroes. Robert Bernstein, who created and wrote the Jaguar stories, was a journeyman scripter who wrote a lot for DC. And in reading this story from Adventures of the Jaguar #3 (1961), it has some of the same genial goofiness I expect in DC Comics of that period.

*I haven’t forgottten that when Archie Comics were born as MLJ Comics, their early line was made up of superheroes, including the Shield, the Wizard, Black Hood, Hangman, and several others. When they revived those characters as the Mighty Heroes in the mid-sixties I believe they failed because of the art, and presenting the characters as “camp.”