Stop flirting with Doll Man! He’s spoken for and doesn’t swing that way.
Doll Man Quarterly #2
Comic Favorites Inc (Spring, 1942)
Time to check in with one of the forgotten DC acquisitions because he’s in another dimension. While Plastic Man managed to be part of the main DC Universe, the other Quality characters ended up on an alternate Earth, where somehow the Nazi’s won and Uncle Sam (whose comics I stopped following because I didn’t much care for them) is now leading a group of heroes to reclaim their world.
As the title suggests, Doll Man’s comic came out seasonally rather than monthly for whatever reason they had at the time. Of course this is still the Golden Age, so while Doll Man holds the title spot we still have an anthology of characters and stories, with Doll Man taking up three of the five stories plus probably a text story. So let’s dive in and see what comes out this season.
“The Crime Combine Strikes” by Erwin Maxwell
There’s no title in the story itself. This is what Comic Book Plus is calling the story so I don’t know where they got it from. A district attorney is under attack by a group of criminals who want his evidence that’s he’s planning to present to the Grand Jury. Nothing specific, just a bunch of papers. It’s as generic a crime plot as they could do, but watching Darrel use both his forms while maintaining his identity…somehow…was interesting.
The Dragon by Fred Guardineer
Ric McGraw wears a Chinese dragon on his shirt while fighting for the Chinese against Japan (back when that was a good thing–in 2026 the reverse is probably more accurate), and they’re all still only slightly less yellow than The Simpsons. 1940s, folks. The Japanese are shelling the coast line, but Ric and his most trusted guerilla fighter, Chang (one of the most stereotypical Chinese names that is actually Chinese and not some lame pun), have a plan to sneak a bomb close enough to the boat to destroy the destroyer. If you’re not too crazed by ye old stereotypes (Chang at least seems to know the English good), this is a decent World War II era story.
“Plague Of Vampire Bats” by William Erwin Maxwell
I guess Comic Book Plus is supplying all our titles for the Doll Man stories. Near a new military base in Trinidad, vampire bats have been causing the soldiers trouble so Doctor Roberts is called in to help solve the problem. Darrel and Martha join in and Doll Man ends up fighting a bunch of bad guys (including a black stereotype that may or may not be a native since he talks like he came from the States), and Doll Man for some reason thinks wants to buy the land. Never confirmed and it sounds like a lame plan all around. Also not sure if Martha is supposed to know Darrel is Doll Man in this story given he explains how he got into her kidnapper’s plane. I don’t think there’s a consensus among the writers what anybody knows. We had people surprised to see Doll Man in the last story and even the villains in this one while a solider is just amazed at his superstrength. There’s also an old white hag witch behind the snakes despite this being Trinidad who is just here to die. It was otherwise forgettable, a plot that needed more time to form into a proper story before it was even committed to paper.
“The Toy Store Terror” by William Erwin Maxwell
Okay, maybe it’s just Maxwell who thinks Martha’s in the dark. She seemed aware of his identity in the first story by…Erwin Maxwell. You know what, I give up. She knows he fights crime in some form except when she doesn’t. Maybe I read something wrong. Anyway, this story, with an easily taken out of context panel of Doll Man beating on a drum. If you followed the link and it’s working, you know the one. The Podunk City…wait, in your supposedly serious superhero comic you named the city Podunk? 1940s strikes again. Anway, the city health inspector is using his authority to run a protection racket on the local toy shop owner and Doll Man has to expose him. It seems to be an excuse to attack the bad guys with toys, and while that’s my kind of fun I can see it not working for everyone. Story’s kind of bland otherwise.
“The American Fuhrer” by the same guy as the rest of Doll Man’s stories this issue
Just tell her already! *AHEM* Anyway, a would-be US Nazi leader wants the professor’s anti-toxin gas. When he can’t bribe their loyal maid…he hires her? What? Bits of the story don’t make sense. Why did it need to be a Hitler wanna-be? Why did the maid go to work for someone other than the family she’s supposedly so loyal to? This story was also not fully thought out.
“The Fog Gas Fury” by guess who
The real Nazis try to trick Doctor Roberts (I looked, and apparently he’s never given a first name in the Quality years) into creating a new kind of smokescreen that infra-red goggles can’t penetrate. Darrel somehow survives getting shot at one point and the rest is just the usual Doll Man antics. Not much else to say here.
overall
I can’t say that they don’t know what to do with Doll Man. The plots are fine. It’s just the execution that’s lacking. And seriously, tell her already, Darrel. You’re going to be marrying that girl and all three of you are in trouble so often you might as well! We’ll find out in another few months their time. The next issue is scheduled for Summer, 1942. It will take us less time.
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