Either this magnifying glass is defective or the Micronauts are having a bad day.
Keen’s Detective Funnies volume 2 #8
Centaur Publishing (August, 1939)
The last one was mixed but had enough interesting stories in it for me to give it a second chance. Not that I really remember any of them outside of the crime-fighting centaur, and that’s all I remember of that. I wonder if maybe having too many stories in one issue makes them harder to remember? Nothing really stands out beyond concepts and maybe an odd scene or two.
Admittedly, Golden Age comics were just an excuse for the printers to make some extra cash between magazines, but legends came from this period. You’d expect big memorable stories, but instead I’m starting to realize why National Comics did as well as it did when the only memorable characters today are the ones they bought or had just enough presence that someone found them and revived them. Speed Centaur was not one of those, and neither is the Masked Marvel and his two lettered friends. Let’s see what this issue has in store.
“Fingerprint Murder” by Frollo
It’s always odd to see a multipart story in these anthologies, but this one has a decent cliffhanger. A fingerprint man for the police has his evidence destroyed, presumably by the killers he was investigating, and has to try to solve the case without getting in trouble with the sergeant to make up for his blunder. This is early CSI type investigating, so it’s neat that they’re trying something different with police tales of the time. Curious to see how this ends.
The Masked Marvel: “The Hawk”
The Masked Marvel and his trio of two-lettered comrades go after a crafty criminal called the Hawk. Why is he called the Hawk? Beast me. This story was actually getting interesting until the villain defeated himself.
Thurston Hunt: “Wharf Rat” by Arthur A. Pinajian
Hunt and his partner Tom, G-Men I think, are after a criminal who operates on the docks. It’s a story that runs rather fast, but it’s a satisfying enough conclusion for a short story. Bragging about being a full story seems like not much of a brag, though.
“Detective Shultz’s Luck” by Gil Fox
If it seems like I’m zooming through these summaries, it’s because there isn’t a lot to discuss without just telling you the whole story. I already link to the public domain scans. For example, this attempt at comedy (which fooled me by going a few pages) has Shultz trying to chase Dagger Dan around the country, finally losing him because the movie Dan went into was one Shultz had already seen. This was a waste of time.
Master Mind: “The Case Of The Millionaire Playboy” by Geo. Merkle
How many Georges went with just “Geo” back in 1939, and why did the practice end while Roberts are still called Bob? Anyway, three people try to kill a bored rich man…and the rich man was one of them. Of course the butler is one and the rich man’s favorite playgirl was another. All failed, but someone succeeded. Can you solve the case before Master Mind flat out tells the cop who did it? It’s actually interesting to see a detective story that encourages the reader to solve it. I didn’t but I can’t solve a Scooby-Doo mystery most of the time.
TNT Todd: Ace G-Man
Todd has to be saved by that newsboy again when he gets himself captured by the Chinese criminals from last time. Continued next issue, hopefully with art that doesn’t look like the rough draft. Maybe this should be about the newsboy saving the day?
Mike Moran: “A Corpse On The Ballots” by Walt Hankman
Another “complete story”, which all but two of them are in this comic so I don’t see the point in pointing that out so often. Moran investigates when a crooked DA candidate grows a conscience, but the crooks he worked for aren’t happy about it. The art is cartoony but unlike the Detective Shultz story is played serious. It wasn’t bad but not really outstanding.
Captain Forsyth and Sergeant Maclean: Spy Hunters by L Field
Forsyth’s vacation is ruined when crates start blowing up Chinese boats in the harbor, but how and what is their actual target? This sounds like a story that is going to be continued next issue (maybe I was too hard on the “complete story” designations?) as our hero is taken off of vacation to track the party responsible down. Except the guy who might have come up with this plan is supposed to be dead. It’s an interesting plan and we’ll see if it leads to anything next issue. A decent story.
Dean Denton: Scientific Detective> “The Ruse Of The Remarkable Ray”
A ventriloquist turned detective who focuses on science? So what if Jeff Dunham went to fight crime? Okay, 1939, you have my attention. He also has an Aztec chief named Tecan (who calls women squaws despite that being an American Indian term) that he rescued as his sidekick. Okay, now you lost me a bit, because the last issue wasn’t very memorable either. I didn’t even remember any of this, but apparently the tag is already in my site’s list, so I must have covered this guy last issue. And the story opens with them and Dean’s pretty assistant Carol visiting a nude ranch. You’re hitting me with a lot of weird here. They’re in San Francisco on vacation…which would explain the nude ranch maybe? The story follows Dean and Tecan (because Carol has cooties and only gets to be introduced in the story) working with the Navy to fool Pan-Eurasian agents who apparently write in English. I’ve easily come across more bizarre stories than this, but it’s still a bit strange. Interesting, but strange.
overall
Enjoyable, but necessarily memorable. It’s clear to see how comics of this time were though of as disposable, and why it’s so hard to find these now. They’re not necessarily terrible, but not something you’d read over and over. Kind of miss the crime-fighting centaur. As a picture of the times it works but only for the historical appreciation really.
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