“Yesterday’s” Comic> Keen Detective Funnies #16 (vol. 2 #12)

The fashion police get serious.

Keen Detective Funnies vol 2 #12

Centaur Publications (December, 1939)

And so we’re back to the Golden Age anthology era of comics after some time away. Keen Detective Funnies is one where I’ve enjoyed enough of the stories that it’s a nice one to come back on. Why does Comic Book Plus list an ongoing number and the actual volume/issue numbers? I don’t know. Since I’m linking there I put both in the article title but this is the second issue of volume 2, though with the way they did numbering back in the day due to shipping rules or something it could be done for that reason. Anyway, back to comics.

[Read along with me here]

The Masked Marvel

A mobster once beaten by the Masked Marvel and the Zs is broken out by other mobsters hoping to set a trap for the Masked Marvel and put him out of their way. At least until greed causes them to all betray each other. It’s kind of interesting watching everything fall apart due to their own failings as human beings before they even attempt to spring their trap. It’s not a total victor. For whatever reason the writer opted to kill off ZL. I don’t remember if he was the guy we actually saw Marvel recruit in their first story because it’s been too long. If so, that’s an extra bit of tragedy since we met him before becoming one of the Zs. A good start to the issue.

Spark O’Leary by Chas. Pearson

Our “radio newshawk” is covering a big gala but one of the guests doesn’t want to be interviewed…and then she gets robbed. Thankfully this didn’t lead to Spark being accused, but there’s more to her unwillingness to be on the radio. It’s actually the key to solving the case after the hotel detective is killed. So far we’re two for two. Can we hit a third?

Dan Dennis: FBI by Gilman

Well, it’s a step down but only on the details. We have a guy with an organ (the musical instrument) that can cause destruction or paralyze anyone who hears it. Dan wants the plans, but so do other criminals besides “The Fiend”, and they’ll try to force Fiend to give them up. In the end he has the plans and the organ and paralyzes the Fiend, who paralyzed the crooks, and I want to know why the paralyzing key was marked “personal” and how the player isn’t hit with the same note. Otherwise, not a bad story. I’ll call it three for three.

“Foggy Night” part 2 by Frollo

It’s been so long I don’t remember part 1, between all the other comics and breaking for Free Comic Book Day reviews. State police officer Jerry O’Keefe and his reporter friend Shorty are captured by mobsters but work to get free and hold them off until help arrives. O’Keefe gets knocked out a lot and gets lucky in dealing with the mobsters. The fog in the title only matters near the end. What really hurts the story is the panel placement, which is so confusing they had to put numbers in the panels so you could tell what order to read it. At least that was added, but it’s not fun to read and not a lot happens. I guess we had to hit a dud sooner or later.

“The Doctor’s Revenge” by Clair S. Moe

A plastic surgeon is forced to remake a gangster’s face and keep the secret to protect his son, studying to become a doctor himself. This slowly destroys his reputation so he fakes his death as both he and his son separately pursue the gangster and gets revenge. Like the title says. It’s a great idea but there just isn’t enough time to give the story the full potential it could have had and wraps up a bit quickly.

“The Devil God Murder Case” by Chas. Pearson

Something is killing members of an exposition and Detective Regan is eventually led to an idol and the Tibetan expert who is actually bringing it to life. It’s a supernatural crime story and it kind of works…if you can handle the racist Asian depictions of the time.

“The Eye Sees” by Frank Thomas

The Eye is literally an eye, a supernatural force that helps an exiled Afghan expose his successor, who also wants the man’s daughter. It’s okay for a one-shot but as a series it’s just kind of weak compared to some of the other paranormal heroes of the period.

Dean Denton: Scientific Detective> “The Case Of The Whispering Light” by Harry Francis Campbell

A movie star is murdered, and of course she worked for Al. And of course it’s a fake cult by the Conqueror, who gets a name in this story, Bolton Gates. Is he finally stopped? Can we get a new villain with a new scheme? That would be nice.

overall

What a nice comic to return to Golden Age Friday on. Most of the stories were good and even the bad ones suffered from execution or one overused villain. Hope to return to this soon.