“Yesterday’s” Comic> Blue Ribbon Comics #3

I wonder if that’s what all those pouches were for in the 1990s?

Blue Ribbon Comics #3

M.L.J. Magazines, Inc (January, 1940)

Okay, Blue Ribbon Comics, you’ve got two strikes and the next ball is coming down the field. The last two issues have not had any really interesting stories, so this is kind of your last chance. If you don’t impress me with this issue’s stories I’m done with the comic. There’s a lot of Golden Age anthologies to go through and you’re really going to have to bring at least a B game to hold my attention. Will it? Let’s read and find out.

[Read along with me here]

Rang-A-Tang The Wonder Dog by Jack Binder & Will Harr

Wanna-be Rin-Tin-Tin and his master, police detective Hy Speed (the kind of name that usually leads to superspeed powers or a race car motif more than a police detective with a supersmart dog) are chasing bank robbers, especially after they take his girlfriend hostage. I’m not sure a bloodhound could track the crooks as well as Rang-A-Tang, and I’d like to know when the police got a doggy parachute in 1940 (technically 1939 given when the story was actually written) but otherwise this was actually a pretty good story. Okay, you have a good start. Then again, if Charlie Chan couldn’t keep me coming back to an anthology on his own, the dog isn’t going to have any better luck. That’s one, but you need to show me more.

Mystery Thriller Of The Month featuring Stuart Logan

Stuart is what we could call a consultant today, called in to help the police when they’re really baffled. Otherwise he’s an amateur “socialite detective”. Called in by his friend in the district attorney’s office, Stuart works with Sergeant Keith when a man is found stabbed by a sword in his chair. I was worried this would be one of those stories where the police detective is mad because the amatuer is on “his turf”, but they actually work pretty well together, and it’s only one piece of evidence Stuard notices that allows him to solve the case. Okay, that’s two, but hopefully the next comic does a better job getting the narration to fit in the panels than these first two. Hope you liked him, because he isn’t coming back according to Comic Book Plus.

The Silver Fox

The police detective with a silver streak in his hair investigates an apparent suicide…until evidence suggests it was murder. I have to admit I’m impressed. The story ended a page or two early, but as a police procedural it worked very well, as the Fox does his investigation. I wonder what happened between issues? Or was I just in the wrong mood those two days? Comic Book Plus says this is the Silver Fox’s last appearance. That’s too bad, but at least he’s taking the dumb wolf versus dumb-named bears story with him that follows.

Scoop Cody: “Ace” Reporter

The quotation marks are odd. Is he not really an ace reporter? No murder this time; it’s back to thievery. A famous diamond (aren’t they all in these stories?) is stolen and Scoop is deputized to help find the thief. I mean, he does, but does that actually happen? Or did it happen back then? Seems unlikely. Also, the Marvel shows up again. I suppose it’s different to see the hero’s actions from a different perspective, but he honestly wasn’t needed in this story. The writer just make things for him to do, like save Scoop or stop the bad guys, that could have been done with other characters. Otherwise this could have been a good story without him. As to who the Marvel is, I guess he’s taking over because Scoop is also not returning. Not sure how I feel about that.

Corporal Collins: “Infantryman”

Again with the quotation marks. Collins manages to use a magnet gadget, his fists, a captured Nazi plane, and his fists to take out an entire Nazi garrison by himself. Yeah, right. It’s unbelievable, but entertaining. Collins is pretty cold using one living Nazi as a meat shield while shooting through him and another guy. Yeah, I know, they’re Nazis so who cares, but still… Also, the only other one besides the dog to be coming back next issue.

Devils Of The Deep by E.M. Ashe, story by George Nagle

Comic Book Plus screwed this one up by leaving one page upside down. In this one, a pirate gets revenge on rival pirates to tried to muscle in on his turf. You see, the writer seems to think modern day pirates were like mobsters. So Red forces a scientist to make a monster for him. The comic teases this is only the beginning but Comic Book Plus says this is the only story. I hope they’re right because this story wasn’t very interesting. I won’t miss it.

Secret Assignments: “The Lost Ship” by M. Gutwirth

It’s Jack Strong’s final assignment because he’s going away, too. This time someone is attacking his uncle’s ships to take his contracts. All Jack has to do is rescue the crews of the ships and take the villains down. Way too easy.

Bob Phantom

That name will never stop being lame, and while he’s also leaving this comic, he’s moving to Top Notch Comics next month, just to make that title a lie. Then again his enemy is Tim, who works with Hank and for Snaky Simms. We aren’t going for “intimidating” here, kids. While it’s fun at first watching him slowly kidnap thugs on their way to a job, you start to realize how boring he is, a real Gary Stu, in how he takes them all down. I just don’t care.

Crime On The Run by Jack Cole

You guessed it. This comic isn’t coming back either. At least not until 1944 and a different publisher. Bank robbers in 1939 shot a man walking into the bank during the robbery, and at another robbery the “negro” member shot a teller for no reason, only to get himself and another member killed by the angry bank manager. Using the clues, police get the rest of the gang. Supposedly a true story with the crooks the only ones who have their real names. I mean, points for not treating the black guys as the usual stereotypes of the time. One of the leads the police gets is from the negro’s not-criminal half-brother and nobody has big lips or weird accent. Otherwise, this just kind of happened.

OVERALL

Honestly, the only reason to stay is to see what replaces the ones going away, since so many are. Even the ones that were actually good this issue are disappearing, with the most boring moving to another title. All we get to keep are the dog and the American who brought his gadgets to the British during World War II, with the mighty Bob moving to a different title. I’m curious to see what the replacements do, but they should have dropped Bob and given us more Stuart Logan.