How does he get out of that thing when has to use the bathroom?
Pep Comics #1
M.L.J. Magazines (January, 1940)
The future Archie Comics decided to debut their own superhero anthology series. More recent comic fans may recognize a couple of characters from The Mighty Crusaders, namely The Shield and The Comet. I’m not sure what happened to the other characters.
The Shield by Irving Novick
FBI Agent Joe Higgins is secretly the crimefighter The Shield, which is only known by his boss. That’s a bad premise. I’ve done that myself in stories in my head. His costume is bulletproof and whatever else the plot will probably need blocked…proof. Like when the lead of a spy ring tries to blow him up because he’s too busy looking through their files to not punch the guy’s lights out. How that costume, with exposed face and skull, is bomb proof, car proof and bludgeon proof, though not great fall proof, is beyond me. We also also see him climb a wall, used spy gear, and apparently knows his chemicals. Not sure how the sliding timeline handles him surviving the Black Tom explosion of 1916 during World War I, but that’s part of his backstory, though not his powers. The powers need a bit of checking but it’s not a bad introduction for the obligatory patriot superhero. We’d have to wait until the end of this year for Captain America, but we have The Shield.
The Comet by Jack Cole
So Jack Dickering discovers a chemical gas that makes him lighter than air…when injected into his body. It also gives him laser beam eyes after enough doses. Dude’s just making all the bad decisions. At least he’s smart enough to get rid of the formula and become a superhero. Not sure how ordinary glass stops his laser eyes, but the villains working a murder insurance racket with typhoid germs figure it out. Also, our hero DISINTEGRATES ONE OF THE CRIMINALS after interrogating him! Dude? What the hell? He told you what you wanted to know. Then he kills the rest of the gang. Yes, their actions are monstrous but you’re supposed to be the good guy here! Totally not okay with this “hero”.
Jocko by Dick Ryan
Returning from time in the circus, Jocko the gorilla is asked by the other gorillas to help them build a road because he’s been to civilization…which taught him how to swindle them, and he’s quite brazen about it. This seems more like social commentary than actually trying to be fun. I know because I do a commentary strip.
Sergeant Boyle
Henry “Hank” Boyle is just a soldier who joins the British military while living in England. (He’s American.) No superpowers here. Of course the way he almost singlehandedly takes out an entire German platoon when he and his men accidentally ends up behind enemy lines you wouldn’t know it. He’s basically an action hero in this story and it just got silly near the end without trying.
The Queen Of Diamonds by L. Streeter
Okay, so sometime before this Flash Gordon comic wanna-be got started a white man saved the planet and his daughter is now the queen. So some other white man who only goes by The Rocket wants to check her out and become her slave. I…I don’t even know where to start about how dumb this hero is, as he has to stop an uprising by the clan of the old ruler the first white boy stopped. Something was not fully thought out here.
Fu-Chang by L. Streeter
Wait, a Chinese crimefighter who isn’t colored yellow? That’s like…three since I’ve started going over these Golden Age comics, and I’ve read a lot more than three. I guess going to university in America changes your skin because the villains are still yellow. A man tries to force a woman to marry him by offering to prove her father’s innocence, but it’s up to Fu-Change, his fighting skills, and his…magic…chess…men…brought…to…life by a yellow faced god statue that also comes to life when he asks it for help…what was with this Streeter guy?
Bentley Of Scotland Yard by M. Gutwirth
A werewolf stalks a young woman…or at least that’s what it’s meant to look like in this story out of a darker Scooby-Doo story. No talking dogs here, just a really smart inspector. It’s…okay I guess. A step up from the last two stories at least.
The Press Guardian by Jack Binder
If you’re hero is The Falcon, why not call him that? If there was already a Falcon in some other comic, don’t call him that in this story. He apparently helps one newspaper bring justice and nobody suspects that he’s connected to the paper? Also, Flash Calvert is apparently such a great reporter that the cops just let him barge into a crime scene. Right. Surprisingly Flash is not the Falcon OR the Press Guardian. That has some interesting potential, following the guy who gets saved by the superhero rather than the hero himself.
The Midshipman by Will Harr (writer) & E.M. Ashe, Jr
Lee Samson is the Navy midshipman we’ll be following. Lee rescues a lady pilot but when he chooses a date for a reward he finds himself competing with a fellow oarsman from a nearby college, and he’s willing to cheat. This isn’t a crimefighting story, but just the story of a Navy cadet who proves to be a better man than his rival. It wasn’t too bad.
Kayo Ward by Phil Strum
We end on a story about a boxer named Lew Ward. Actually, he starts by working in a steel mill until he saves a boxing manager from some thugs. The manager convinces him to be a boxer so he can marry his girlfriend (the boxer, not the manager), but the other fighter is a sore loser. Not my kind of story, but it was done well enough.
overall
This first issue is a mixed bag. Some stories don’t make sense, there’s a murderin’ hero, and the comic ends on stories that don’t involve fighting the same kind of evil as the rest of the comic. I might give this comic a few more chances but I can’t say I’m impressed with their debut issue.
BW Media Spotlight 