And you thought Batman’s sidekicks were too young?
National Comics #1
Comic Magazines, Inc (July, 1940)
I think this one will usually wait for the Golden Age Friday rotation. I’m doing it now as, unless I’m screwing up, the debut of Uncle Sam, one of the Quality heroes who were later part of the DC universe, just not the main DC universe. They used a few different characters in an alternate dimension, but Plastic Man somehow ended up part of the regular DC universe. Police Comics has a bunch of old Quality heroes that went to DC so that’s why I plan to review more of those for awhile, but two anthologies a week eats up my time. Still, this should be interesting, and if it’s good enough I’ll keep it in the Quality pre-DC rotation for Tuesdays. We’ll see.
Uncle Sam by WM Eisner
…or Will Eisner, who co-created this version of the wartime icon with Lou Fine. This Uncle Sam watched as America grew into the 48 States we know today. (Alaska and Hawaii were still a ways off from joining the Union.) Now with no wars (for a couple of years), he turns to crimefighting because we all get bored sometimes. When the farmlands hit a dry spell, the farmers have to look for work. However, this is 1940 so everyone’s having troubles. Andel Cobra wants to turn them into a fighting force to take over the country and become dictator. (I think someone needs to tell him that having the US Mint’s “dough” doesn’t matter as much when you’re dictator. YOU make the currency!) They kill someone who objects and his grandson Buddy (revealed by DC Comics years later as such) runs into Uncle Sam, who rises to stop them and rescue the President. I have mixed feelings on this one. The folksy bit and the running bit about Buddy handing Sam his hat back when it gets knocked off is amusing, and the parts where he’s fighting the villains are okay. However, people change their opinions way too fast and the Presidential kidnapping is rather fast, too. It feel like this all takes place over a few days at most. That’s just bad pacing.
Prop Powers by Lynn Byrd
Air pirates have been robbing planes of passengers and gold. Prop Powers, best pilot ever or he wouldn’t have his own comic, is sent on the next flight, but also has to put up with a rich dude with a bad attitude…until he sees how he screwed things up and helps stop the pirates. We don’t see that more often, frankly. There’s some pretty good action for the time. It was okay.
Sally O’Neil: Police Woman by Frank Kearn
New member of the police force and member of a family of cops, Sally goes undercover to find a mobster in hiding. The unnamed escort disappears partway through the story and somehow Sally’s brothers show up to the rescue, but Sally is able to take care of herself without coming off as a modern Mary Sue Girlboss. She’s had training and a family legacy. A good introduction for this character.
Kid Dixon by Bob Reynolds
Didn’t know the Sentry started out making comics. Could be a coincidence or maybe Paul Jenkins was doing a tribute? Dan Dixon chases off a bunch of pests from his blacksmith shop, and a passing boxing manager convinces him to change careers. They start with a guy challenging people to fight his boy, but he mistakes Dan’s manager, “Bottle” Topps (real name: B. Galsworth Topps…Galsworth?) for the contender and Dan knocks him out protecting his manager. He’s given the challenger’s job but has to chase off some goons who want to take over. Interesting game of musical managers but not really much to this story. Granted, boxing stories don’t interest me all that much, but it’s a series of quick events that just about flow together and that’s it.
Merlin The Magician by Lance Blackwood
Jock Kellog loses his fortune but his rich uncle just leaves him a cloak…that belonged to Merlin, their ancestor. With the cloak, Jock is now Merlin and has to fight Ares, god of war (Kratos hasn’t taken his title yet), to rescue peace because Ares is bored and an Olympian god. They’re pretty much jerks. First he has to fight the embodiments of poverty and hunger, which turns people towards war. It’s a metaphoric battle given form and it’s just as odd as you think. Nothing new for Golden Age magical heroes.
Wonder Boy by Jerry Maxwell
Sorry, Stan Lee, but you didn’t create the first boy hero who was never a sidekick. We have Wonder Boy, survivor of Viro after a star hit his planet. Now on Earth he unknowingly starts a war as the Mongols think his ship is a star telling them to begin their attack on Europe. Wonder Boy doesn’t know this but goes to help anyway and becomes a hero, even if he did change the army’s orders to retreat before destroying all the Mongols’ weapons. This is clearly a story meant for kids more interested in super action than logic, and on that level it’s kind fun. Plus he blew up Chicago. Can’t argue with that.
Cyclone
No creator credit on this one. It’s 3000 AD and the Solar Council has decided to have a race to a newly found planet, with the winner getting that planet. Cyclone represents Earth but the ruler of Mars will gladly stop the race and take the planet, and Cyclone’s obligatory pretty young stowaway, for himself. It…is a story someone made. Not all that exciting but not really bad, either.
“Pen” Miller by Klaus
A cartoonist who is also an amateur detective. Okay. Miller tries to come up with a plot in which a famous detective is accused of murder because the body was found in his place, which his very Oriental manservant says is already happening to him. So Miller and Niki have to solve the murder. What they don’t solve is why the body was dropped in his place, how such a coincidence happened, or why Niki is such an idiot, yet is brought along on the investigation. There was no thought put into this story.
Paul Bunyan by Herm. Bolstein & John Celardo
I guess the tall tale legend did more stuff after all. Paul joins a logging company and helps deal with a rival, murderous company. It’s surprisingly plain given the source material.
Kid Patrol by Dan Wilson
The best way I can describe this is “what if the Little Rascals fought crime”. All the kid stereotypes of the period are here: the leader, the fat kid who’s always eating, the girl, the black kid with poor grammar, and the one who’s also there. They become official after stopping a bunch of gangsters, but what about their clubhouse on the waterfront burning down? I thought that was going to tie in, but at best looking at the wreckage lets them see the tire tracks they use to track the gangsters. It’s a more interesting kid crimefighter story than the others in this issue.
overall
Would you guys mind if I kept the further issues for the Friday Golden Age comic rotation? Uncle Sam is the only pre-DC character here and the other story I was really invested in was Kid Patrol. Maybe it gets better but this issue really didn’t interest me all that much.
BW Media Spotlight 