When your superpower is using fire like a portal you don’t worry if the plane burns up.
Wonderworld Comics #9
Fox Publications, Inc (January, 1940)
It’s been awhile on this one. I should have looked back on the old review of the previous issue when I said I was done with this series, back when I was going over the various Fox Publications comics for curiosity before deciding to stick with just the Blue Beetle at the time. This will be the last of the January, 1940 comics and I already started the article, so let’s just stick with it. Remind me why I stopped reading this.
The Flame by Basil Berold
The totally not Nazis (because that’s become a trend the past few comics I’ve reviewed) are using mercenaries in a U-Boat to sink American ocean liners. Why? I don’t know, because they were heading to Europe I guess. Angered, the Flame creates the most power explosive ever just to get revenge. I’m not sure if I call it petty, but call it successful, I guess. Is water truly the weakness of the Flame? I don’t think this story said for sure. Also, we’re never getting a name for him. He’s the Flame until evil is vanquished. A long wait is coming.
Yarko The Great by Anthony Brooks
Stage magicians pretend to be Yarko to get a gig at a nightclub. That would be lame, but when they use the ruse to steal from patrons, then kill the girl who tried to blackmail them to get in on the gig, she runs to the real Yarko to tell him what’s going on. Apparently he’s a big deal in the news so you’d think he’d just hear it in the news or a reporter trying to interview him, but it gives him a reason to expose a murderer as well. It’s actually a bit toned down from the usual antics, but I suspect that’s just a story requirement and not them realizing how ridiculously overpowered he is to handle simple thugs.
Shorty Shortcake by Jerry Williams
Oh no, I forgot about this comic. So Shorty and Mr. Mizzen now run the small Mexican (I think) town and need to get the economy going by getting people to work the mine. Apparently snoring enough to shake the volcano does it, with other misadventures following. Now I’m starting to remember why I stopped reading this comic.
Patty O’Day: Newsreel Reporter by Vic Todd
I guess embedded journalists weren’t invented yet, and Patty’s attempt gets her and Ham’s press pass revoked. Then their boat is attacked, then they find a secret fueling station and their camera gets them in trouble again. It also redeems itself at the end, but Patty is somehow more one-track minded than Lois in those days.
Dr. Fung: Master Sleuth Of The Orient by Arthur Dean
Looks like we get a mad scientist on this one, with an army of flying suited “moth” men which Dan insists is pulp novel stuff. I guess he hasn’t heard of The Flame and Yarko. Or The Tick and Arthur. Karno The Chessmen turns people into tiny chess pieces and he wants to add Fung and Dan to the board. I wonder if they went back to rescue those other people who were already transformed. I know he’s a mad scientist but even the Joker would find this goal insane.
Tex Maxon by Cecilia Munson: “Rooting The Road Agents At Rat River Roost”
I don’t know what road agents are but they’re planning to rob a bank while most of the town is at the fair. Unlucky for them that a young man sees them and reports them to Tex and the sheriff. So they come up with a plan to capture them. There’s not much story here, but quite a bit of action if that’s all you want.
Don Quixote At Coney Island
Another story I was better off forgetting, where Don Quixote and his sidekick Sansho just walked out of a story and ended up having misadventures in our world. This time the enemy of all windmills fights a roller coaster. It’s as dumb as it sounds.
K-51: Spies At War by Willis B. Pensie
Our hero has to stop a war in Europe. By now I’ve seen that story so many times it doesn’t interest me as a plot. The story otherwise is okay, as K-51 teams with the bad guy’s mistress who wants revenge on the bad guy. I guess that sets things apart. There have been a few of those as well, but not as much as the apparent catharsis. If only they knew what was coming.
Mob Buster Robinson by Harold Vance
Racketeers try to corner the sugar market and Robinson tries to blackmail him into stopping. That’s an unusual tactic for the good guys. It’s kind of meh story, too.
“Spark Stevens Of The Navy by Nordling
I remembered this strip but not that it was in this comic. It was not a happy memory. Once again a combination of a pretty girl and Chuck being an idiot gets them in trouble as they square off against the alleged descendant of Pierre LaFitte. Can I be done with these two now?
overall
I should have listened to my past self. The Flame is the only interesting story in this book. The rest are uninteresting or annoying. Yeah, this time I’m done with this series. See you when you have your own comic, Flame. Meanwhile, it’s on to February, 1940 for the Golden Age reviews.
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