Number 1005


Boy King and the Giant


The Boy King rules a country called Swisslakia, which is taken over by Nazis. (This takes place during World War II, if you haven't guessed.) He has a huge stone friend who helps him.

This story is from Clue Comics #1, 1943, published by Hillman. They also published Air Fighters Comics, which became Airboy Comics. According to the Grand Comics Database this origin story is drawn by Alan Mandel and Dan Barry, and written by Charles Biro and Bob Wood. Clue Comics only lasted 15 issues, by which time it had some stories drawn by Jack Kirby. But the Boy King only lasted for nine issues before he was gone, and his last cover appearance was #8.

Number 1004


There's a Riot goin' on!


I'm showing you all of the comic content from Atlas Comics' Riot #6, from 1956, because it's great. It's got top artists: Severin, Maneely, Everett, De Carlo. It's got sharp, funny stories: "Quiet Burp," "Loona the Jungle Girl," "Pascal the Rascal."

Atlas Comics of this era can be, in my opinion, uneven. But with stories running to three, four or five pages if it isn't as well written or well drawn you're soon on to the next one, and hopefully it'll be better. With this issue it's all good.

Number 1003


The Mist is a gas!


Black Hood was out of the superhero stable of MLJ Comics, which after a few years became Archie Comics. "MLJ Leads The Way" was an early slogan, and I'm not sure they led, but they were pretty good followers. Black Hood appears to be patterned after Batman--no super powers, but athletic--and has that square-jawed look that comes right out of the Bob Kane school. Like Batman, Black Hood had some wild adversaries, including the Mist, who could "vaporize his body." In this story Black Hood's savior, the Hermit (see Black Hood's origin in Pappy's #382, and the follow-up story in Pappy's #467), invents a liquid that turns the Mist's gas into a solid. It's a comic book, folks...anything goes.

The story is credited on the splash to Al Camy and Harry Shorten, from Top-Notch Comics #16, 1941:














I showed the very last Golden Age Black Hood story in two parts: part 1 in Pappy's #959 and part 2 in Pappy's #960.