“Yesterday’s” Comic> Thrilling Comics #1

Turned out “Cash” was the name of the tiger. It was not a good prize.

Thrilling Comics #1

Better Publications, Inc (February, 1940)

We’re getting near the end of this month of comics. March might actually start some time in March…if that makes sense to you. We have another new comic, and one I’m going into completely blind. This could be a mistake, it could be amazing, or somewhere in between. For the record, this is not the debut of either Doctor Strange you’re thinking of, though to make the connection stronger his real name is Thomas Hugo Strange. Is he the strange one or just the adventures he has? We’re about to find out and see who he’s sharing the comic with, and whether or not I’ll be checking out any further issues.

[Read along with me here]

The Amazing Adventures Of Doctor Strange by Alexander Koster & Dick Hughes

This Doc Strange is a scientist and crimefighter. In this story the Faceless Phantom wants the secret to a deadly “delta ray” gun and will kidnap the scientist’s daughter to force the secret out of him. This adventure goes around the world, with everything possible that could happen to him. He gets amnesia, fights in a boxing match to win some kid the prize money to pay the mortgage after his father is killed, regains his memory, and. won’t this story stop already!!!!!!!! Look, I’m not against a Golden Age comic having a full comic story, which this isn’t, but this story is so long, so padded, and so full of ridiculous coincidences it just gets dumb. Doc makes this chemical that gives him superstrength and indestructibility, but given what he survives without it even before the Faceless Phantom steals it I’m not sure Strange needs it. By the time the villain’s true identity is revealed I long since stopped caring. If I’m going to complain about other Golden Age stories not having enough pages at times, this one suffers from too many and it’s just as bad. It’s almost half the book, possibly fully half the book, but it really doesn’t need to be.

From there we get a bunch of gag pages with The McCoys and a text story before finally getting to a regular comic tale.

“Nickie Norton” Of The Secret Service by Kay

Wait, is he in the Secret Service or a reporter? Kay, you do know that the “Secret” part isn’t some shadow group, right? Especially when it’s revealed he’s a famous Secret Service agent. They can work with the police. Also, are they in Mexico? Did I miss something? A spy wants the plans for a new submarine but the creator wants to give it to America (I’m guessing the government in general or the military directly), so the spy goes after the coins that reveal where the sub is located. Norton and his partner, Lefty, get involved and they’re the only people I know I can root for. The cops are inept and I can’t tell whose side they are on. At some point a lot of stuff happens and I can’t follow it. I think the good guys win. I just stopped caring.

This is followed by a short comic, a few pages, of a supposed real life former Texas Ranger and his adventures back in the Old West. Honestly, folks, I just stopped caring, unprofessional as that is even for an amaetur.

overall

I will not be coming back to this comic. This was just a slog. It’s like they came up with a bunch of plots, decided to do them all, and the end result is not interesting. If this is how this comic goes, I’m gone. Turns out the title is a lie, because this comic wasn’t thrilling at all.