He’s come for revenge on the witch doctor who did…that to his legs.
Exciting Comics #2
Better Publications, Inc (May, 1940)
Okay, the first issue was just decent enough to get a “tentative” notation in the “continue reading” list. That and the fact that I remember nothing from the first issue are not the best signs going in. However, there must have been some merit because it’s still on the reading list. So hopefully things will improve from the previous issue. Please? It looks like in only the second issue we already have some replacements, as Comic Book Plus lists a bunch of new first appearances.
Ted Crane & The Leopard Men by Geo. Mandel
When you’re going to an African backlands country in the 1940s, who better to take along than a college athlete who just graduated? I mean, I can think of a few people, but I’m not the professor who brings Ted Crane to help find a missing African tribe. Don’t worry, we also see Africans in civilization, so there’s balance here. They even help save our heroes from the poison-breathing Leopard Men, as Ted plays Scooby-Doo to find out what’s really going on. The professor’s daughter stows away on the trip because we need a damsel in distress. It’s actually a pretty good story to start out on. And our hero and his friends will be back next issue to visit a city of gold.
The Space Rovers
Dr. Matthew Martin has invented his own spaceship in 1940. Remember when going to space was this cool thing we all wanted to do? Meanwhile, we haven’t been to the moon in decades. We’ll never have our moonbase colony at this rate, guys! The usual foreign agents want to steal the rocket, but we have another girl stowaway who launches the ship with her friend Ted aboard. Long story short, they end up on Mercury and have to stop one group from experimenting on another while also saving a local girl from being sacrificed. So was it worth it, Jane? It’s actually not a bad story, AND we get eye candy for fella and lady alike. We’re two for two so far.
Son Of The Gods
John Thesson joins an archeological dig, because those always went well in the Golden Age. Events during the excavation soon leads us to learn he’s the reincarnation of Theseus, who finds the ring of Poseidon, which he will use to become a great crimefighter…somehow, because he doesn’t get the thing until the last page and just agrees to fight tyranny for reasons. The action is okay, but I couldn’t tell you how they got to where they are at the end, and some of the word balloons are misplaced. We have our first dud of the issue.
Dan Williams: Private Investigator
Our first returning character. I think. Again, the last issue wasn’t very memorable, and neither is this story. Dan gets a phone call from a woman, but the call gets cut off. Tracing the call, Dan gets caught up in clearing the woman’s name for murder against counterfeiters. Dan shakes off things that should have killed him like he’s immortal, but that’s not been established, so he just comes off as having a lot of plot armor. This could have been good, but before the story is over, you’ll believe Bugs Bunny was in greater danger than Dan Williams.
Sergeant Bill King
Speaking of impossibly lucky guys, this guy’s back as well. When the battalion captain is kidnapped, Bill has to rescue him while the Germans attack their position. I’ll give him credit for not leaving a German to die wrapped in a barbed-wire fence despite killing so many other Nazis during the story. That’s humane, at least. Otherwise, the story is kind of dull. Like with Dan, Bill never feels like he’s in any kind of danger. It’s boring to read and ruins the action. Both of our returning characters have been duds.
The Mystery Of The Lost Mind
A masked rider appears, but he doesn’t get his name in the title. He also doesn’t get to fight monsters while using a high-tech belt, so points to Japan for that one. He does, however, get to fight another masked opponent that’s been attacking the men of a ranch, and the rider has a connection to them. Some good fights, but the identity reveals are not foreshadowed. I’m guessing this wasn’t intended to be a mystery the readers get to solve. It was decent.
The Sphinx
Rich playboy Ellsworth Forrester is the Sphinx, a secret agent of the police fighting the criminal underworld. Too bad his outfit is just a suit with a domino mask. So many of those in the Golden Age that he doesn’t really stand out. Interesting to see a superhero as a police operative. Looks like he has super strength as a lone power, but it allows him to jump out of the way of a car at one point as he tackles a foreign spy ring and plans for a new tank. It’s actually a pretty good story, and it’s a different concept for a superhero of the time. I guess the police operative thing is why the costume is so basic, but it still doesn’t impress.
The Mask Returns
Another returning character. Another weak costume. It’s a suit again, but a full-head owl mask. Is combining blind heroes with owls a trend Daredevil missed? Also, the suit’s green and the mask isn’t, unlike that other Mask you might be thinking of. The Mask and his team are determined to uncover who their gangster enemy’s true boss is. Don’t want to spoil anything else, except to say don’t bother following the clues. It won’t help you find the villain. A mediocre story to end on.
overall
I guess this gets to stay on the list, but I’m leaving the tentative notation. There was more good than bad, but it’s still not a great anthology series. I don’t expect it to be any more memorable when it hits the rotation again.
