“Suck it, Kent!”
The Blue Beetle #44
Fox Feature Syndicate (September/October, 1946)
Are we nearing the end of the Golden Age anthology? Now we have three stories, only one of which has a Blue Beetle feature so we aren’t out of the anthology format yet. No Joan Mason backup, but also no lame serial story. I miss when this was just a Blue Beetle comic with one backup that happened to be a poor attempt at comedy. Now they’re falling into what Holyoke was doing, but I was under the theory that Holyoke was trying to replace Blue Beetle in his own comic. I hope that’s not what’s going on here.
The Blue Beetle: “Triple Trouble”
Wait, when did MIKE become a rookie patrolman and why is Dan still one? Did someone forget Mike was older as well as Irish? The story starts with the police looking to curb juvenile delinquency (take that, Wertham!), but it turns into the Blue Beetle uncovering an insurance fraud plan with furs. The fraud story works okay but the kids feel forced into the plot, possibly being an actual swipe at Wertham. Don’t bother. He thinks Dan turns into a giant beetle to fight crime. Also he won’t have a book out that screws over the industry for some years yet.
Minit Mystery
I might as well discuss this one. It’s two pages instead of one (does that make it a two minit mystery?), as an unnamed detective (would allow the misspelling of “minute” if his name was Matt Minit or something) tries to figure out a mysterious death at a home showing. It’s actually not bad for what it is. DC’s Scooby-Doo comics should take notes.
Johnny Earthquake: “The Enigma Of Noface” by Sid Tyler
Never heard of Johnny Earthquake? Neither have I, and there may be good reason. Despite his name, Johnny doesn’t have earthquake powers. He’s just some dude with the last name Earthquake. He and Rusty Ringle…really?…are detectives and apparently not very good ones, even if they do eventually solve the crime of the kidnapping of the debutante they were hired at the last minute to protect. It’s not awful, but they’re only safe because one of the ladies among Noface’s gang (and “Noface” is just a dude with bandages covering his face) falls for Johnny. So not very good but not crap.
Bronze Man: “Statue Of Doom” by Alec Hope
Randy decides to take a walk while his train is being repaired and finds the judge in town is his old wingman…and frankly rather obsessed with Randy, who he thinks is dead. I guess Randy is doing more than hiding his allegedly scarred face from the readers. When he learns bad guys are targeting the judge’s war on local crime in Randy’s name, Bronze Man leaps into action. Outside of how weirdly obsessed the judge is with Randy (even naming his son after him and putting a statue of the pre-disfigured major in the town square, and mentioning him whenever he gets the opportunity, which would have worked better if this was Randy’s hometown and they were honoring a local fallen hero), this isn’t a bad story, and Randy decides to secretly visit his other comrades.
Overall
This was a nice set of stories, with Johnny Earthquake being the weakest, but I would have rather had more Blue Beetle and more Joan Mason stories.
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