As Dan drove back to Fox Features he “accidentally” left Spunky behind. I wish.
The Blue Beetle #30
Holyoke Publishing (February, 1944)
This is the end of the Holyoke period of Blue Beetle comics. I did a look ahead into the Fox run and only saw Spunky show up once but the Grand Comic Database didn’t call it his final appearance. Still, it means I get a few issues without him.
There’s also a question as to whether or not Fox Features did the same think the Holyoke run did and publish the remaining issues of their predecessor. It made sense with Holyoke publishing the remaining produced Fox comics during the early issues of their run as they purchased all of Fox’s stuff, but did remaining Holyoke comics come with Fox’s reacquisition? I guess we’ll find out.
We’ll also be saying good-by to some of these characters. Holyoke continued a few of the characters’ adventures in the new Sparkling Stars, which I will not be covering even if Comic Book Plus has them available. I was not a fan of this period and there weren’t many stories I cared to continue anyway. That’s the problem with anthologies from a reading perspective. If you only like one or two you still have to pay for the full comic, which is a plus to the publisher but not the publishee. So wave good-bye as we leave the Holyoke stories. Read along with me here.
The Blue Beetle
The only Blue Beetle story in the final Holyoke run and I wish the other comics were more like this one. Blue Beetle and Tina are called in to Chicago because we have another Nazi working with a mobster, not that the villain being a Nazi matters. They’ve been kidnapping people for ransom and if the ransom isn’t paid they’re put into a pit of poisonous spiders and snakes and the poison-ridden bodies sent to the family as a warning to the next ones. An inventor helping the US come up with new weapons for the war is the next target, and Dan (who appears to have no secret identity left) fails to track the kidnappers, getting Tina mixed into the situation instead. Blue Beetle rescues all the kidnap victims and the baddies get a visit to their own pit.
It’s actually an okay story a shame we didn’t get more like this from the Holyoke comics. As for Tina, I don’t know for sure but I don’t think she’s going to show up as Dan’s love interest when Fox returns, though the GCD doesn’t call this her final appearance. We’ll see if she shows up again and in what capacity.
Petey And Pop by Swis
Apparently Holyoke is using their last The Blue Beetle comic to lead people to their new comic and debuting a comedy segment here. It’s more than one page so I have to review it. Not much to the two pages though. Petey is a little boy and he shoots his dad (the “Pop” of the title) with a “bean shooter” which leads to a bunch of problems with his neighbor. It’s not very interesting and certainly not getting me to the other comic. At best it’s page filler to make the count.
Magic Tricks For Young And Old by Sidney Lazarus & Vance Service
This one meant well but needs to work a bit on the presentation. Professor Presto and his talking rabbit Stoogie show off a bunch of magic tricks, a few number puzzles, and then on the last page explains how to do the tricks. It’s something that works better in animation than in images.
Durrand Draw: The Case Of The Escaped Suspect! by Monty Mulford
The police want Draw’s help in finding a man they believe to be innocent, but Jiggers gets kidnapped, an aunt shows up but I thought she was a girlfriend…the execution needed a lot of work. It’s like they shoved a longer story into a few pages. The end result is everything is so rushed you don’t end up with a very interesting mystery to solve nor do you really get to see Draw solve it. It’s too bad because the plot was okay but the story isn’t allowed to live up to it.
F.B.I. And War Sabotage
This is our first propaganda piece of the issue. It’s just a series of dry case reports using the occasional photograph to show how the FBI managed to stop kidnapping, saboteurs, and other criminals. It’s okay, but it has to be something you’re interested in.
The one-page gag that follow is notable because while the comic credits someone named “Heck”, the Grand Comics Database says that “Hiram Was His Name” was a reprint from Wow–What A Magazine where it was credited to Bob Kane. Given some of Kane’s questionable history when it comes to crediting his team, who really knows? It’s not very good whoever wrote it.
The Night Club Mystery
A newspaper editor is hanging out at a local nightclub, and the featured performer, because he suspects something is up. So does the performer but she wants to be a reporter. It’s a decent enough little story, maybe a bit rushed at the end, but given what I’ve been reading in this series lately a better offering than usual.
Ali Baba by Charles Loeb
Apparently nobody told Loeb that this was the last Blue Beetle comic in their company and Ali’s adventures were moving over to Sparkling Stars. Ali and his new friends (his old ones are never even mentioned) are rescued from a tub of cement left in the middle of nowhere apparently by a living time bomb who gets so mad hearing about Merlin that he explodes. Okay. Then they go on the run from Merlin’s genie before accidentally ending up at the circus and in the ring with the “Wild Man Of Borneo”. This comic just wants to make as little sense as possible now and I won’t miss it.
Drop Towers by Ed Forre
Drop and his unnamed air squad are tasked with rescuing captured agents in Malaysia, part of “occupied China”. Information leads them to a temple where they foil a Japanese trap. It’s also not a bad story. Where has writing like this been the previous issues? It’s not outstanding but it beats what I’ve been reading.
Boxie Weaver by Ink Higgins
Our last story for the issue. Boxie has a shot at the champ, but only if he can beat the guy the champ just beat. It’s a hard fought battle but Boxie wins. However, the champ’s manager wants 50% of Boxie’s contract because while the champion is a nice guy his manager isn’t. Ace turns him down, so there’s a question as to whether Boxie will ever get his fight. It’s not a bad story if you’re into boxing, and it’s closer to what I thought this comic was going to be. It’s nice to see that the champion is actually looking for a good boxing match instead of acting like a pro wrestling heel. You’ll have to see for yourself how that story works out because it’s also moving to Sparkling Stars.
Overall:
If the stories had been more like this issue (minus Ali Baba, which is still a disaster) I might have enjoyed these comics better. At least the Holyoke run of The Blue Beetle is going off on a high note rather than the junk it’s been doing up to this point. Will Fox return to their old ways? Will they restore Dan’s secret identity? Will Tina and Joan fight for Dan’s affection or will Joan be after the other identity? Will Mike Mannigan get a break? And will anyone remember The Blue Beetle has superstrength and bulletproof chainmail armor? To find out, tune in next week. Same Blue Beetle time…wait, I think that’s someone else.
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