“Yesterday’s” Comic> Sarge Steel #6

No, YOU are supposed to catch the PLANE, not the other way around!

Sarge Steel #6

Charlton Comics Group (November, 1965)

“Case Of The King’s Assassin”

WRITER: Joe Gill

ARTIST: Montes & Bache

martial arts teaching section written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin, and featuring Judomaster instead of Sarge this time. I wonder if they mixed up the back-up in the two comics or if this was some attempt at cross promotion, given that Judomaster was about to get his own comic soon?

[Read along with me here]

Sarge is hired to protect a visiting young Arab king, whose cousin wants to seize his throne. Also looking to meet the king is a young starlet, and the two fall for each other, even trying to run off together. After various attempts, and with help from the US government, Sarge manages to take out the cousin and helps the duo get married.

What they got right: A love interest for someone other than Sarge. Given his track record (he’s even approached by an attractive woman to meet his employer…sort of, I’ll get back to that) that’s probably to his benefit. There’s some good action and some good moments with the young couple, who already know each other by reputation and find a lot in common. It feels like a whirlwind romance for a young couple, whatever the future may hold for them. Sarge even notes that she wants “exclusive billing in the royal harem” in the opening text.

What they got wrong: Speaking of the opening, it says that Sarge turned down the request to guard the king from a rich business owner from that country, only to take a reduced offer from the government because it was the government. That would have been amusing to see (maybe without the karate instructions?), but later on we see the businessman use the girl to make contact with Sarge, and he turns the offer down because he already accepted the government’s offer. Later, an agent says he did accept the businessman’s offer, and thus wasn’t working for the US even though he totally was. Somebody changed directions during the creation and forgot to fix it I think. Also, the king (I keep writing “prince” for some reason) is a bit light-skinned for an Arab.

What I think overall: So, is Sarge a “special agent” now or still a noir style detective? I’m a bit confused here. Did he change jobs during or at the end of the story? We’ll see in future stories, but this was a pretty enjoyable tale.