“Yesterday’s” Comic> Sarge Steel #2

“That’s one fly down!”

Sarge Steel #2

Charlton Comics Group (February, 1965)

“Man Who Blackmailed The World”

CHARACTER CREATOR: Pat Masulli

WRITER: Joe Gill

ARTIST: Dick Giordano

[Read along with me here]

Sarge is approached by a former Nazi sub captain and his female partner, who have stolen Polaris missiles and are planning to blackmail the world, both countries and rich people at a resort in Luxaco in the Mediterranean (I couldn’t find proof this is a real country). What the partner doesn’t know is that after getting the money he’s planning to launch the missiles anyway because he’s still a crazy Nazi who wants to destroy the world. After being forced to accompany them to prove their claims to the government and the rich people, Sarge finally manages to sink the submarine and get him and the girl out of there before they drown. She’s still going to jail but she did think it was a bluff, so maybe her sentence won’t be as bad?

What they got right: They actually do explain why they went to a private detective to be their messenger boy due to still having government connections. One scene is at the submarine base in Groton, Connecticut (Charlton was headquartered in Derby). It’s nice to see my home state represented. The action is well done.

What they got wrong: Paul the killer, which is how Sarge refers to him every time, sure takes a lot of abuse without being knocked out cold or dying. The deflected bullet off of Sarge’s steel hand in one scene should at least have done something to him. The use of a newspaper story as a exposition device is oddly used here, when Sarge already met with the villains off-panel, not realizing they were baddies at the time when agreeing to the second meeting. (Despite what the internet tells you, Nazis can reform. It just so happens this one didn’t.)

What I think overall: While not usually my brand of stories, I’m actually enjoying this series thus far. While I wouldn’t have read it if not for him being one of the characters DC bought after Charlton’s closing, that might be a mistake on my part. We’ll see where this series goes.