“This is the handicap veteran’s spot, you jerk!”
Prize Comics #1
Feature Publications Incorporated (March, 1940)
Another new comic. Everyone wanted to do something with their presses between magazines back then. Or maybe by now comics were big enough that everyone wanted into that game. While nobody here is memorable, at least one character name made a return to comics in 2020. So either someone was remembered or someone desperate to make a comic without making their own characters went through the public domain and said “I can race/gender swap this one because they had a new name and this is decades later anyway”. Stay tuned to see who.
Power Nelson: Man Of The Future
That future being the far-off year of 1982, only two years shy of Big Brother, though the splash page shows us the tech was already there. Apparently the mongols took over after the third World War. Okay, sure. A man is chosen to be given the power necessary to free New New York (poor York can’t stop getting destroyed) from Emperor Seng I, presumably because his first name is “Power”. Kind of surprising that the villain keeps his word when he puts Power to three challenges THAT WERE WEAKER THAN ALL THE “ROCKET” VEHICLES AND WAS ONLY KNOCKED OUT BY AN ENTIRE FLOOD OF ATOMIC BOMBS!!!!!! I don’t think they knew what an atomic bomb was at the time. I’m mostly here for the weird names for vehicles (like the Rocket Roller tanks), and the clearly sci-fi of the time. It’s a dumb story but fun in that window through time way.
Ted O’Neil: The Barnstormer by Nella & King
Having trashed his plane, adventurer for hire Ted has to get a job at the air circus, and deals with a rival for the position after the other guy fails to force himself on Midge, the circus’ owner. They have time for a couple of dirty tricks by the rival, but his name isn’t in the title. It’s a pretty good story. I wonder how much they can get out of an air circus but one of my favorite shows as a kid was a stunt cyclist for a regular circus. It’s possible.
Jupiter: The Master Magician by Greg Chapian
Ah, there’s one in every anthology it feels like. Jupiter was sent from Jupiter to fight racketeers. Racketeers. Truly the most dangerous criminal on the planet and only a guy with magic powers could stop. Aim higher, guys! Here we have a crooked building supply company or something that hired guys named “Killer” “Strangler”, and the deadliest of all…”Shorty”. Allying with reporter Jim Johnson (so long as his name is kept out of the story–we’ll see how long that lasts), Jupiter does all kind of magic stuff to save people and stop the villains. Someone needs to tell Chapian that invisible just means can’t be seen, not can also walk through stuff, but it’s another magical hero. Could be a fun set of stories. He’s mostly showing off in this one…which is typical of the magic heroes at the time.
Jaxon Of The Jungle by Edgar Allen Jr.
As in Mike Jaxon, jungle guide. His current client is part of a plan to steal other plans from a crashed plane pilot. So Jaxon has to sort that out. I thought this would be a Tarzan knockoff. We haven’t had a lot of those thus far. It’s the weaker story thus far but given the high quality for the time so far it’s the opposite of faint praise. (Faint scorn, maybe?)
Secret Agent M-11 by Cardwell
Well that breaks the formula. Thus far we’ve gone back and forth between costumed superhero and normal hero. Now we have two normal guys in a row. An international spy ring wants to steal the gold from a cargo ship and M-11 has to stop him. It’s not a bad story but a couple of times the dialog balloon placement is messed up.
K The Unknown by Thomas Brown
Douglas Danville is friends with a pretty private detective, Terry Dane, but he’s also vigilante K The Unknown…in this issue. Later he takes on the name The Black Owl according to Comic Book Plus, with a black woman taking the K The Unknown name in Thrilling Nostalgia #1 from 2020, a member of a superhero team called The Liberty Brigade. K the first only uses the name here as he and Terry find a dead body in a snowman and have to find the killer. Another issue with balloon placement but not a bad introduction. Changing the name was the right move, but I’m curious to see if he alters the costume besides replacing the big letter K on his shirt. Not even a stylized K. Just drew a big letter on his shirt and called it good.
Buck Brady Of The FBI by Malcolm Kildale
Buck is sent to track down counterfeiters…but the leader is his twin brother who ran away years ago and turned evil. I hope this isn’t his only opponent in this series, but the story’s biggest flaw is speeding it’s way through the telling.
Storm Curtis Of The US Coast Guard
A sinking boat during a storm calls for help and Storm Curtis is sent out…possibly for the same reason Power Nelson was given power. He ends up caught in a spy operation to get the US into World War II for…some reason. Apparently nobody could wait for Japan to do it for them. Now if Storm can spend less time worrying about his model boat he might save the day…though is hobby also provides the clue to the operation? It’s an interesting story to end the issue on, but not all that spectacular.
overall
The stories and characters are products of their time. I can see why they didn’t move on. That said, I kind of like them for that and I’ll be keeping an eye on this series.
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