Number 181


The Big Little Hero


Doll Man was a superhero who hung around for a long time, considering how fast some superheroes disappeared after the end of World War II. But then, Doll Man Quarterly, and before that, Feature Comics, where Doll Man appeared, were published by Quality Comics, which had an all-star lineup, good artwork and great distribution. When they went out of business in the 1950s most of their heroes were sold to DC Comics, who went on to great, long-running success with their version of Quality's Blackhawk. Later on they re-introduced characters like Doll Man and even Plastic Man.

This particular story, "The Tiny Terrors," is from Doll Man #6, dated Summer, 1943.

It's drawn by Al Bryant, who does a competent job. Not spectacular like Doll Man creator Lou Fine, but good enough in its own right.

The story itself is kind of a horror story, if you have insect fear. A mad scientist (and there are no other kinds of scientists in comic books), Dr. Dlee, discovers how to make insects big. His plot is to kill all the other humans on the planet. The war, going at the time this story was written, drawn and published, isn't mentioned in the story, but its effects are felt "off-camera." I see Dr. Dlee as having snapped under a form of war psychosis. The mad doc joins a long list of would-be conquerors and destroyers. And, of course it's up to Doll Man to stop him! The side effect to making the insects big is to make them intelligent, and murderous.

This story has one of those illogical comic book run-that-one-by-me-again-wouldja? moments on page 6, where an impossible transition is made. I'll let you spot it for yourself, but when I read it I had to go back and see if I'd missed something in the timeline established by this story. Nope, I didn't.

Doll Man has what I think is the worst name in the history of superhero comics. What boy of the era would be caught dead reading something with the word "doll" in the title? Apparently a lot of them, but maybe they kept their copies hidden so their buddies wouldn't razz them. Doll Man also had a costume that was right out of the Will Eisner/ Lou Fine costume shop. The bare legs and arms, along with the elf-shoes, would probably be OK during the summer, but in winter weather he'd be one cold, shivery little fella. I look at these costumes that Fine designed as somewhat fetishistic. It showed on a cover like Doll Man Quarterly #5, which featured Doll Man in male bondage.

All of that aside, "The Tiny Terrors" story is fast-moving and entertaining. You know, what it's supposed to be.

My copy of Doll Man #6 I got for free from a comics shop owner. It had been seriously mouse-chewed in the upper right corner. Only the last three stories are salvageable, but of course I took it from him, mouse-chewed contents and all. The cover shown above is one I took off the Internet. As longtime Pappy's readers know by now, Pappy's comics collection includes a lot of coverless comics, tear sheets of stories, damaged and unsellable comic books. That's OK, because you are a beneficiary, as I make digital copies to preserve them.

Number 2310: Little man in a big world, big man in the comics

It was once my opinion of Doll Man, who could shrink yet retain the strength of a grown man, that boys may have been reluctant to buy a comic book with the word “Doll” in the title. Doll Man was the star of Feature Comics for a long time, and shared the mark of success with other Quality Comics heroes, like Plastic Man, by gaining his own title. Wartime paper rationing caused the title Doll Man Quarterly to be suspended in 1943, but Quality revived Doll Man’s comic book in 1946. He continued appearing on newsstands until 1953. I assume from Doll Man’s track record that boys were not deterred from buying a comic book with the word “Doll.” So much for assumptions.

This is the first story from the first issue of Doll Man Quarterly (1941). Grand Comics Database lists the artist as John Cassone with a ? to indicate they are not sure.

Doll Man was created by Will Eisner. Here is the origin story, plus a get-small horror story, and a link to the origin of Doll Girl. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1987: “It’s that binkety blank little Doll Man again!”

I have shown a lot of Doll Man stories over the years, 17 by my count, including this one. There were several artists who worked on Doll Man. I see the same challenges for any artist where the size of the character against the normal size of objects has to be consistent. The art on this particular early entry to the Doll Man series is by Reed Crandall, but how much of the art I don’t know. Some of the poses are obvious Crandall, some aren’t. I wonder if someone else inked him, and/or if other artists pitched in and helped with some of the pencils. Something I do know about Crandall is that many of his superhero poses ended up in the swipe files of other artists. He was just that good.

Doll Man, who is Darrel Dane when he is full-sized, has a girlfriend named Martha. Later on in the series Martha became Doll Girl, but in the early days she was a typical superhero girlfriend who couldn’t tell her everyday boyfriend was really super. (And he took pains not to include her in the secret.) In this entry Martha gets to kick some butt, and like many other girlfriends of heroes, gets tied up. Truthfully, I was so busy looking at each panel for Crandall poses I missed most of the story. It probably doesn’t matter that much, does it? The most surprising thing to me about the story itself is told in this spoiler alert. If I were you and didn’t want to know, I would skip the next paragraph and go right to the story.

[SPOILER ALERT]: At the end of this story Doll Man, in his miniature form, has to steer a car out of danger and tells the bad guys, "I have a driver's license!" I assume he got his driver’s license as Darrel Dane, rather than as his diminutive alter ego. He would have some explaining to do for any cop who pulled him over as Doll Man. But...wait. On page 7 we see that Doll Man can instantly become Darrel Dane, so when in peril while driving down a narrow mountain road, why not just transform to his larger self? Ah, there’s no dangerous fun in that![END SPOILER]

From Feature Comics #56 (1942):

Number 1471: Doll Man and the Vulture

I once opined that Doll Man was the dopiest name for a superhero ever, because I thought boys would be unlikely to buy a comic book with the word “doll” in the title. Maybe I was wrong (the character was around into the early ’50s, after all), or maybe boys had their sisters buy Doll Man Quarterly for them. Anyway, I've come up with a solution. Rename Doll Man “Action Figure Man” and the problem is solved.

But Doll Man is no longer being published...so...never mind.

This is the third posting for our Week of Quality, spotlighting Quality Comics of the 1940s. Today’s Doll Man story comes from Doll Man Quarterly #1 (1941). It’s time to mention the obvious, that these early Quality issues had weird coloring. The colorist(s) presented jarring color schemes, including a Caucasian flesh tone that looks like everyone has jaundice. I’m not sure it’s what was intended, but it runs through this issue. Years ago I read (was it in The Steranko History of the Comics?) that publisher Everett “Busy“” Arnold, who had a very hands-on approach to his comic books, was color blind. He might ask a staffer, “What was the color of the cover of last month’s Hit Comics?” because he couldn’t see it. Maybe that explains the oddly colored magazines from the early years of the line.

The art credit is given to John Cassone ? The question mark means the Grand Comics Database is not sure.