“Do you mind? I’m trying to redecorate. This would look better near the rose garden.”
Speed Comics #3
Brookwood Publishing Company (December, 1939)
Somehow I missed this one when I was doing December, 1939 comics. I don’t think I really “missed” anything, mind you. My past self in the previous review said this was the last chance to stay in my review list. So if this impresses me, I’ll review the next issue next week. If not, we’ll leave this comic behind, though you can keep reading if you want to.
Shock Gibson
A wealthy heir is rejected by the girl he loves, so he joins the French Foreign Legion to forget her…then disappears. Not that it really matters. The “plot” is just an excuse to have Shock fight arabs, fight Nazi stand-ins, then expose how the stand-ins were cheating the arabs so they’re good guys now or something. The heir is an afterthought for most of the story. I guess writing scenes without a plot isn’t a recent occurrence.
Crash, Cork, & The Baron by Fred North
Our trio learns that there’s a man in the area with a bounty on his head and they hope to collect. Crash lives up to his name when he gets shot down and is later joined by Cork while the Baron is forced to fly this one out. They learn the man is treated as an immortal because…he has a beard? For well-drawn black African natives, a rarity in 1939, they’re still written stupid. Crash and Cork just have to shave him to expose him, and then appoint his not evil niece (I think…she doesn’t even attempt to stop her uncle from getting them eaten by ants) because her blond hair shimmers in sunlight. There’s more story here than the last one, but it’s still dumb.
Ted Parrish: Man Of 1000 Faces
This one is almost good but it’s too short. Someone is robbing Ted’s fellow actors during parties, a clear inside job. Ted uses his disguises to find the guilty party and capture the gang. Like I said, too short but with more promise than the first two stories if it had more time.
Biff Bannon Of The US Marines by Remington Brant
A jealous rival for a girl’s affections leads to Biff stopping the mob, who are out to sink a Marine ray gun. Why would the mob care what the Marines have to defend the country unless they planned to steal it for their own criminal activities? The motivation is all wrong here. Also, our hero gets to look like a dope.
Smoke Carter by Joe E. Martin
Although the logo makes it look more like “Carper”. Arsonists are destroying cars on ferries so their owners can collect the insurance. They don’t plan it well and get beaten by a firefighter. It’s not bad, which for this comic is practically praise.
Landor: Maker Of Monsters by Gregory Torey
Our title villain survived the last encounter, though not without his face being seriously messed up. Now he wants revenge on our heroes by sending a giant mosquito to kidnap the girl. Then they blow up Landor’s castle. Some villains never learn. It wasn’t terrible, but I’m calling personal preference on this one. It didn’t work for me personally.
Texas Tyler by Harry Walters
Get it? Because he’s from Texas or in Texas or something. At least he didn’t live in Bismarck or Walla Walla. No offense to anyone living there. I’m sure it’s a nice place, but it’s not a name that sounds tough. Anyway, Tex is looking for temp work at a ranch and gets involved with cattle rustlers, who of course have an inside man. It’s a very basic story, possibly due to length (the common enemy of these anthologies).
Spike Marlin by Carl Larson
I don’t know how Spike figures out Peg Leg Peters was behind forcing part of a ship’s crew behind so they could pirate the boat, or how he got out there so fast with the men left behind, or what the point was of having him fight two guys just so he could fail to get a date with the waitress again. What I do know is that sometimes I can’t follow what direction I should be reading the panels. The art is the only thing that isn’t a failure.
overall
Okay, past me. I read it, didn’t like it, and will not be continuing this series. Your welcome, future me.
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