Number 1975: American Crusader and the fiendish fungi

Before there was such a thing as an atom bomb there were stories about smashing atoms. Included in them was the unlikely origin of American Crusader, credited to artist Max Plaisted. American Crusader was a costumed patriotic hero. Super (and non-super) patriotic heroes are a Golden Age genre within the larger superhero genre, and to that list you can add American Crusader.

Archie Masters, a “timid, cautious astronomy professor” is American Crusader (Public Domain Super Heroes.) This particular story features giant mushrooms and a plot to force the Americans to end the draft of young men into the armed forces. It also features a long-haired, bearded “Old Man of the Mountains,” who wants to end wars. With those elements, this story, from Thrilling Comics #23 (1941) could have been re-worked in the sixties. Sinister Nazi saboteurs are actually behind the plot, and two-fisted super patriot American Crusader kicks butt.

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SUPER WEIRD HEROES PLENTY WEIRD, ALL RIGHT!

Tomorrow is the annual Pappy's Turkey Awards day, where I show the most offbeat comic book story I have read this year. Visit tomorrow and see if you agree with me. But whether you do or not, if you buy SUPER WEIRD HEROES, the newest entry in Yoe Books’ attractive and enjoyable comic book history, you will admit it is aptly named.

There are 40 superheroes (in Volume 1...Volume 2 is still to come) and all of them qualify as weird. A couple of the stories have appeared in this blog, but in the Yoe book you get them on fine paper for permanence.

I believe I share the same eye that Craig has for the oddball and strange in comic books. And that is a medium that, especially in its early days, rolled out comic books which had 64 pages to fill,  often using some mighty screwy material to fill those pages. Consider Fantomah, the jungle girl whose face turns into a skull. She was the creation of Fletcher Hanks (here as "Barclay Flagg"), and Craig shows an early Fantomah strip by Hanks in the form of original art. That is rare; not something you will see every day.

Some other weird heroes I enjoyed reading about in the book are the Black Cobra and the Cobra Kid, Hydroman, Fire-Man, the Hand, Kangaroo Man, Spider Widow...the list goes on. I spent an evening in a state of sheer joy, reading one amazing story after another — and that is testimony from a man who reads old comic books every day of his life.

As with all of Yoe’s books, attention is paid to even the smallest detail. Craig and his wife, Clizia Gussoni, are partners in their endeavors, and the result of their professionalism and love for comics shows through in every book they produce. Despite the weirdness of the characters in SUPER WEIRD HEROES, by including them in such a beautiful package Craig and Clizia have given these often laughable superdoers dignity they could not have hoped to have had in the old cheaply printed and disposable comic books of a couple of generations past.

Highly recommended! Available from the usual book and comic store outlets.

9" x 11", 320 pages with editorial material by Craig Yoe. $39.99 US retail.

Number 1974: Gotta have gimmicks: the Ibistick and the Magic Snoot

Magicians in the comics had to have a gimmick. For Prince Ibis, who came back to life with his girlfriend after 4000 years as Egyptian mummies, it is the Ibistick, a magic wand that vibrates when evil is near. In the case of Basil Wolverton’s funny character, Mystic Moot, it is his nose that is the source of his magic powers: “I’ll simply point my snoot at your loot!” he tells the bad guy.

These stories are both from Ibis #3 (1945). According to Comic Vine, Mystic Moot was a parody of Ibis. This story is his introduction, the first of 13 stories Wolverton did of the character. It is full of his usual funny drawings and Basil’s word play: alliteration and internal rhyming.

The Ibis story, credited to Bill Woolfolk for the script and Gus Ricca for the artwork, looks like it was inspired by the 1942 Val Lewton movie, The Cat People. But then, stories of humans shape shifting into animals probably go back as early as the time our distant ancestors first sat around campfires telling stories. This story also has that comic book property of mixing religion into the plot. In this case using Purgatory (Catholic) and Belial (Hebrew).

Number 1973: Queen Torchy

Oops! Torchy can’t resist the impulse to try on an ancient Egyptian queen’s clothes — and yikes! what clothes! — and turns on the wrong guys, who see in her the reincarnation of their ancient queen.

This funny, beautifully drawn (mis)adventure of cute, sexy Torchy, is early in the series. It was the fourth Torchy story published, appearing in Modern Comics #54 (1946). The artwork is by Torchy’s creator, Bill Ward.

Number 1972: Justice for Mr Justice

This is a re-telling of the origin of Mr Justice from the last issue of MLJ’s Blue Ribbon Comics. Mr Justice, also called the Royal Wraith, was a ghost who apparently discorporated and returned intact in Jackpot Comics #5.

Why was this the last issue of Blue Ribbon Comics? I will guess it was because in 1942 paper rationing was instituted as World War II began for Americans. MLJ, like other publishers, had to trim where they could. Just a guess, mind you.

Joe Blair wrote and Sam Cooper drew this tale. It has a hideous green spectral figure popping out of the splash panel: “the ghost of Rogers,” as the Grand Comics Database explains. MLJ was still in its wilder phase, which began to tone itself down as they shed themselves of superheroes over a period of time before morphing into Archie Comics.

From Blue Ribbon Comics #22 (1942):

Number 1971: Sierra Smith: Alex Toth tells the story

Alex Toth did the artwork on the Sierra Smith backup feature for Dale Evans Comics for the first 11 issues of that title.

Like many artists who entered the comics field in the era he idolized comic strip artists Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. It is too bad he didn’t have a long-running comic strip of his own, but for some reason he was never syndicated.

Toth could be cranky and opinionated, but no one ever accused him of not being able to draw. He was also not shy about telling other artists what he thought of their work. On the subject of painted comic books his wikipedia entry quotes him: “. . .in a 2001 interview he criticized the trend of fully painted comics, saying ‘It could be comics if those who know how to paint also knew how to tell a story! Who knew what pacing was, and didn't just jam a lot of pretty pictures together into a page, pages, and call it a story, continuity! It ain't!’ Toth lamented what he saw as a lack of awareness on the part of younger artists of their predecessors, as well as a feeling that the innocent fun of comics’ past was being lost in the pursuit of pointless nihilism and mature content.” I sometimes did not agree with Toth, feeling sometimes he was being obdurate just for its own sake, but on that opinion I agree. I think this story is yet another example of Toth “telling it.”

From Dale Evans Comics #3 (1949). Story by Joe Millard.

Here is another Sierra Smith story. Just click on the thumbnail.