Luthor's Undersea City
I warn you Superman - keep clear of the oil well mystery - or die!
Sorry... I choose to meddle in the oil well affair.... and I refuse to die!
When oil wells suddenly stop producing, Clark Kent is sent to cover the story. As Superman, he wonders if there's some special significance to this. As he runs, he is targetted by a missile, which of course, he counterattacks. Luthor's face appears on it and warns Superman to mind his own business. That only encourages Superman who heads to the Oklahoma oil fields to investigate, just missing Lois Lane who has also gone there. Naturally Clark and Lois run into each other in town, where they not only learn that the Pacific Ocean is rising, they're kidnapped by Luthor's men, who remembered how they interfered before.
Clark renders Lois unconcious with a nerve pinch, and then starts messing with the driver, ripping off the steering wheel, crushing the brake, and sitting there as they guy shoots him in the head. The roadster runs off the road, presumably killing the two thugs, while Clark (still in his suit and glasses) leaps clear with Lois. When she recovers, they hire a plane to take them over the sea, where they spot a city under a glass dome rising from the water. It's not Atlantis, it's Luthor's undersea domain, filled with dinosaurs and giant rats. A pterodactyl attacks the plane, and though Superman and an again unconcious Lois make it safely into the city, Luthor kidnaps Lois and uses her to control Superman. They have another "hero to villain" conversation where Luthor offers Superman a part in his world domination scheme. After some treachery and some fights with dinosaurs in which Luthor seems to perish, the American air force bombs the city and Superman returns home, writing the story up, with Lois remembering very little of the adventure.
Retro Comics are Awesome
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andersonh1
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Superman #4 concluded
The Economic Enemy
After two rounds with Luthor, this story sees Clark sent to interview Paul Dorgan, "eminent sociologist" about a book he's writing. Dorgan comes across as a conspiracy theorist, writing a book containing proof that mysterious forces are working to prevent the return of "national prosperity", presumably referring to recovering from the Great Depression, since this story was published in 1940. The moment Clark leaves the room, he hears a gunshot. Rushing back in, he finds Dorgan dead, with a scrap of paper in his hand, all that's left of his book. Dorgan knew who the enemy was, but that portion of the page is missing.
The story is all about a hidden conspiracy to cripple industry and cause strikes to keep America from recovering economically. The plot is one of those where Superman has to work his way from one villain to the next highest, and ultimately to the final boss. He has to stop a bomb, a runaway train, and sabotage at a steel mill. In a pretty horrible death, one of the thugs performing the sabotage falls to his death in a vat of molten metal. The gang leader, J. F. Curtis, tries to electrocute Superman, but is himself electrocuted, ending the threat.
Terror in the Trucker's Union
For the final story in this issue, we go back to the social justice genre, as Superman has to deal with problems in a truck driver's union. Racketeers are trying to infiltrate the truckers union, and gangster Gus Snide kidnaps union leader Carlson's daughter in order to force him to bow to their demands. Superman rescues her, follows the thugs who kidnapped her to Snide's hideout, and then rather than bust up the gang, pretends to join them in order to gather evidence. I can't say I agree with Superman's plan here, because it causes a lot of trouble for Metropolis before ultimately succeeding. If nothing else, it does continue the trend of Superman not really caring what the public thinks of him.
The Economic Enemy
After two rounds with Luthor, this story sees Clark sent to interview Paul Dorgan, "eminent sociologist" about a book he's writing. Dorgan comes across as a conspiracy theorist, writing a book containing proof that mysterious forces are working to prevent the return of "national prosperity", presumably referring to recovering from the Great Depression, since this story was published in 1940. The moment Clark leaves the room, he hears a gunshot. Rushing back in, he finds Dorgan dead, with a scrap of paper in his hand, all that's left of his book. Dorgan knew who the enemy was, but that portion of the page is missing.
The story is all about a hidden conspiracy to cripple industry and cause strikes to keep America from recovering economically. The plot is one of those where Superman has to work his way from one villain to the next highest, and ultimately to the final boss. He has to stop a bomb, a runaway train, and sabotage at a steel mill. In a pretty horrible death, one of the thugs performing the sabotage falls to his death in a vat of molten metal. The gang leader, J. F. Curtis, tries to electrocute Superman, but is himself electrocuted, ending the threat.
Terror in the Trucker's Union
For the final story in this issue, we go back to the social justice genre, as Superman has to deal with problems in a truck driver's union. Racketeers are trying to infiltrate the truckers union, and gangster Gus Snide kidnaps union leader Carlson's daughter in order to force him to bow to their demands. Superman rescues her, follows the thugs who kidnapped her to Snide's hideout, and then rather than bust up the gang, pretends to join them in order to gather evidence. I can't say I agree with Superman's plan here, because it causes a lot of trouble for Metropolis before ultimately succeeding. If nothing else, it does continue the trend of Superman not really caring what the public thinks of him.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Batman #27
February-March 1945
The Penguin's Apprentice!
A couple of chance encounters with people who have been robbed of a handkerchief and a hat-feather lead Batman and Robin to the trail of the Penguin, who it turns out, has an apprentice. This young man is never given a name, but while he wants to be an author, his father and grandfather were criminals, and the boy's father once saved the Penguin's life. The Penguin promised to show the boy "the trade". The boy spends his time, not in studying the Penguin's crime files, but writing a biography of the Penguin. Naturally this appeals to the Penguin's vanity, and he attempts to have the book published by a counterfeiter friend of his, and after capturing both Batman and Robin, attempts to obtain Batman's endorsement. Batman manages to put the Penguin away after a fight on the hands of a giant clock, and the boy gets his book published (with a less flattering portrait than the Penguin wanted). There's a fun humorous streak in this story about the boy's "fine criminal bloodline" all being unsuccessful crooks, and of course the Penguin's vanity is once again his downfall.
The Pearl of Peril!
Bruce and Dick are not home, so Alfred goes out to a restaurant for dinner. A shabby man in the diner finds a pearl in his meal, and after "remembering" that he has no cash, tries to sell it so he'll have money to pay for dinner. It's all a scam of course, as Alfred learns when he dashes after the man, not because he recognizes the scam, but because the man took Alfred's check instead of his own. Once again, the clueless Alfred foils a crime by accident, which is of course the plot of every single one of these Alfred 4-pagers.
Voyager into Villainy!
A famed explorer dies and in his will leaves clues to his fortune in various foreign countries that he's visited, with the person who solves the money to inherit his money. Fellow members of his "explorer's club" go hunting the clues with no success, and it takes Batman to figure out that the clues were actually planted in the maps of those foreign countries, not the countries themselves. A few murders later, the villain is exposed. Batman finds the money, but donates it all to charity.
A Christmas Peril
While others throw their money away, I'm making a quarter-million dollars by cornering all Christmas trees in town and quadrupling prices! Shrewd, eh?
Gangster Happy Hogsby is hassling the Christmas merchants, forcing them to raise prices and give him the extra profits. Backing Hogsby is millionaire Scranton Loring, who inherited his uncles's money, but hasn't a clue about giving and generosity. His only thought it making more and more money. If you suspected that Batman and Robin plan to show him the error of his ways, you'd be right. They kidnap Loring right in front of his butler and guardian, and open his eyes to all the suffering in Gotham that the poor go through, things Scranton has been insulated from due to his wealth. But it turns out that the butler is working with Hogsby and plan to steal Scranton's money, but Batman puts a stop to that plan. The story ends in a way that only a 1940s Batman Christmas tale could, with the Batplane decked out like Santa's sleigh, delivering gifts, and Batman and Robin breaking the fourth wall to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
February-March 1945
The Penguin's Apprentice!
A couple of chance encounters with people who have been robbed of a handkerchief and a hat-feather lead Batman and Robin to the trail of the Penguin, who it turns out, has an apprentice. This young man is never given a name, but while he wants to be an author, his father and grandfather were criminals, and the boy's father once saved the Penguin's life. The Penguin promised to show the boy "the trade". The boy spends his time, not in studying the Penguin's crime files, but writing a biography of the Penguin. Naturally this appeals to the Penguin's vanity, and he attempts to have the book published by a counterfeiter friend of his, and after capturing both Batman and Robin, attempts to obtain Batman's endorsement. Batman manages to put the Penguin away after a fight on the hands of a giant clock, and the boy gets his book published (with a less flattering portrait than the Penguin wanted). There's a fun humorous streak in this story about the boy's "fine criminal bloodline" all being unsuccessful crooks, and of course the Penguin's vanity is once again his downfall.
The Pearl of Peril!
Bruce and Dick are not home, so Alfred goes out to a restaurant for dinner. A shabby man in the diner finds a pearl in his meal, and after "remembering" that he has no cash, tries to sell it so he'll have money to pay for dinner. It's all a scam of course, as Alfred learns when he dashes after the man, not because he recognizes the scam, but because the man took Alfred's check instead of his own. Once again, the clueless Alfred foils a crime by accident, which is of course the plot of every single one of these Alfred 4-pagers.
Voyager into Villainy!
A famed explorer dies and in his will leaves clues to his fortune in various foreign countries that he's visited, with the person who solves the money to inherit his money. Fellow members of his "explorer's club" go hunting the clues with no success, and it takes Batman to figure out that the clues were actually planted in the maps of those foreign countries, not the countries themselves. A few murders later, the villain is exposed. Batman finds the money, but donates it all to charity.
A Christmas Peril
While others throw their money away, I'm making a quarter-million dollars by cornering all Christmas trees in town and quadrupling prices! Shrewd, eh?
Gangster Happy Hogsby is hassling the Christmas merchants, forcing them to raise prices and give him the extra profits. Backing Hogsby is millionaire Scranton Loring, who inherited his uncles's money, but hasn't a clue about giving and generosity. His only thought it making more and more money. If you suspected that Batman and Robin plan to show him the error of his ways, you'd be right. They kidnap Loring right in front of his butler and guardian, and open his eyes to all the suffering in Gotham that the poor go through, things Scranton has been insulated from due to his wealth. But it turns out that the butler is working with Hogsby and plan to steal Scranton's money, but Batman puts a stop to that plan. The story ends in a way that only a 1940s Batman Christmas tale could, with the Batplane decked out like Santa's sleigh, delivering gifts, and Batman and Robin breaking the fourth wall to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
The Green Arrow Golden Age Omnibus vol. 1
More Fun Comics #73
November 1941
Case of the Namesake Murders
Oliver Queen and Roy Harper debut in a story about a series of murders where men are killed in the same way that famous men sharing their last name were killed. So George Lincoln is shot in the head just like Abraham Lincoln, John Hale is hanged just like Nathan Hale, etc.
It's made clear from the first panel in which they appear that Green Arrow and Speedy have been operating for a while and are already well known as crimefighters. And as Roy Thomas points out in the intro, this series is not shy in copying elements that made Batman and Robin successful. Oliver is wealthy, and he and Roy live in an apartment with a secret tunnel leading to an underground garage where the "Arrowplane" is housed. Despite oddly being called a plane, it's a car. There is a catapault under the seat so Green Arrow can launch himself up the side of buildings and over obstacles, etc. It's much the same formula as Batman, only with archers. There are no trick arrows as of yet though.
Green Arrow goes into action and meets the members of a club composed of men with famous last names. He catches a thug who kills one of the members and learns where the gang leader is. Disguising himself (another element copied from Batman), GA infiltrates the gang, but they see through his disguise fairly quickly. He's tied up and left to die, but escapes and rescues a couple of the men from the club from being killed, and Green Arrow thinks he's figured out the killer's identity. It's a member of the club, of course, Ezra Samson, and oddly enough, GA doesn't attempt to capture him, but shoots an arrow into the tire of his car, killing him in the ensuing crash. The motivation for the murders was money, since Samson was the club's treasurer. In a final panel that once again borrows from Batman, Oliver and Roy keep a trophy case with momentos of their cases.
I'd read that 1940s Green Arrow was just Batman with a different coat of paint, and there's a lot of truth to that. You could easily put Batman and Robin in this story and change almost nothing and it would play out exactly the same. I'll be curious to see if Green Arrow becomes more distinct from Batman over time, or if the writers just stick with what works.
Nicknames: The Wizard Archers, the Cyclone Kid (for Speedy)
Early oddities: Oliver Queen has brown hair instead of blond.
More Fun Comics #73
November 1941
Case of the Namesake Murders
Oliver Queen and Roy Harper debut in a story about a series of murders where men are killed in the same way that famous men sharing their last name were killed. So George Lincoln is shot in the head just like Abraham Lincoln, John Hale is hanged just like Nathan Hale, etc.
It's made clear from the first panel in which they appear that Green Arrow and Speedy have been operating for a while and are already well known as crimefighters. And as Roy Thomas points out in the intro, this series is not shy in copying elements that made Batman and Robin successful. Oliver is wealthy, and he and Roy live in an apartment with a secret tunnel leading to an underground garage where the "Arrowplane" is housed. Despite oddly being called a plane, it's a car. There is a catapault under the seat so Green Arrow can launch himself up the side of buildings and over obstacles, etc. It's much the same formula as Batman, only with archers. There are no trick arrows as of yet though.
Green Arrow goes into action and meets the members of a club composed of men with famous last names. He catches a thug who kills one of the members and learns where the gang leader is. Disguising himself (another element copied from Batman), GA infiltrates the gang, but they see through his disguise fairly quickly. He's tied up and left to die, but escapes and rescues a couple of the men from the club from being killed, and Green Arrow thinks he's figured out the killer's identity. It's a member of the club, of course, Ezra Samson, and oddly enough, GA doesn't attempt to capture him, but shoots an arrow into the tire of his car, killing him in the ensuing crash. The motivation for the murders was money, since Samson was the club's treasurer. In a final panel that once again borrows from Batman, Oliver and Roy keep a trophy case with momentos of their cases.
I'd read that 1940s Green Arrow was just Batman with a different coat of paint, and there's a lot of truth to that. You could easily put Batman and Robin in this story and change almost nothing and it would play out exactly the same. I'll be curious to see if Green Arrow becomes more distinct from Batman over time, or if the writers just stick with what works.
Nicknames: The Wizard Archers, the Cyclone Kid (for Speedy)
Early oddities: Oliver Queen has brown hair instead of blond.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Detective Comics #96
February 1945
Alfred, Private Detective!
I don't care for the 4-page Alfred stories all that much, but can a full 13 page story about Alfred playing detective do a better job? Yes and no. At least Bruce and Dick are fully aware that Alfred causes more trouble than he solves and can put him off when he tries to accompany them when they head out to bust Stoney Peters and his gang. Alfred takes his vacation and goes to the nearby town and opens his own detective agency. He's finished his book and his course and knows what to do, and he's going to show Batman! Sadly for him, his first client is Stoney Peters, who fled Gotham after escaping Batman, and who has set up shop in this quiet little town. He hires Alfred to track his intended banker victim. Alfred ends up in jail, Batman has to clear his name while busting the gang, and just like the four page Alfred series, Alfred gets lucky and helps defeat the crooks and gets his name in the paper. It's a better plot than usual, but Alfred is just clueless, and never quite learns his lesson.
As an aside, this may be the first time we learn Alfred's last name. I can't recall. It's not Pennyworth, it's Beagle. Alfred Beagle, private investigator.
Detective Comics #97
March 1945
The Secret of the Switch!
Notorious Gotham gangster the Slasher, head of a crime combine, commits suicide and out of guilt leaves a note implicating the other members of his gang, telling whoever finds it where each gang member is hiding and where they've hidden the loot. Batman rounds up two of the gang and turns them over to the police. With Slasher dead and Benny and Joe in jail, that leaves Nick Petri. Nick had the rest of the loot in a booby-trapped safe. It turns out, as Batman suspected, that Slasher faked his death in order to draw out Petri and take all the loot for himself. There's no honor among thieves. Slasher could not open the safe because it was secured with seven switches, with only the correct one safe to use, and the others wired up to a bomb. Batman works out that a heavy rainfall in Gotham the previous year flooded the basement and the bomb is harmless, much to Slasher's anguish as he's captured, because he realizes that none of this was necessary and he could have taken the loot at any time in the last year. This was a good crime mystery, and a solid action piece where Batman got to use both brains and brawn.
February 1945
Alfred, Private Detective!
I don't care for the 4-page Alfred stories all that much, but can a full 13 page story about Alfred playing detective do a better job? Yes and no. At least Bruce and Dick are fully aware that Alfred causes more trouble than he solves and can put him off when he tries to accompany them when they head out to bust Stoney Peters and his gang. Alfred takes his vacation and goes to the nearby town and opens his own detective agency. He's finished his book and his course and knows what to do, and he's going to show Batman! Sadly for him, his first client is Stoney Peters, who fled Gotham after escaping Batman, and who has set up shop in this quiet little town. He hires Alfred to track his intended banker victim. Alfred ends up in jail, Batman has to clear his name while busting the gang, and just like the four page Alfred series, Alfred gets lucky and helps defeat the crooks and gets his name in the paper. It's a better plot than usual, but Alfred is just clueless, and never quite learns his lesson.
As an aside, this may be the first time we learn Alfred's last name. I can't recall. It's not Pennyworth, it's Beagle. Alfred Beagle, private investigator.
Detective Comics #97
March 1945
The Secret of the Switch!
Notorious Gotham gangster the Slasher, head of a crime combine, commits suicide and out of guilt leaves a note implicating the other members of his gang, telling whoever finds it where each gang member is hiding and where they've hidden the loot. Batman rounds up two of the gang and turns them over to the police. With Slasher dead and Benny and Joe in jail, that leaves Nick Petri. Nick had the rest of the loot in a booby-trapped safe. It turns out, as Batman suspected, that Slasher faked his death in order to draw out Petri and take all the loot for himself. There's no honor among thieves. Slasher could not open the safe because it was secured with seven switches, with only the correct one safe to use, and the others wired up to a bomb. Batman works out that a heavy rainfall in Gotham the previous year flooded the basement and the bomb is harmless, much to Slasher's anguish as he's captured, because he realizes that none of this was necessary and he could have taken the loot at any time in the last year. This was a good crime mystery, and a solid action piece where Batman got to use both brains and brawn.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
I need to stick with one book or the other until it's done, but until I decide which one, I read a couple more Green Arrow stories. They're already giving him some higher caliber villains than just gangsters in suits and fedoras.
More Fun Comics #74
December 1941
The Silent City!
So that's it! The Voice has found a way to filter out all sound waves... so that silence reigns while his gang strikes!
It doesn't take long for Green Arrow to start facing what one might call supervillains, even if they're pretty low-key compared to later ones. In this case, "the Voice" has silenced the city. Car horns and explosions can't be heard, and neither can guns or bank alarms, a fact the Voice's men use to rob a bank in what has to be a test run. Soon a plane flies over the city threatening permanent silence if the Voice is not paid ten million dollars. Green Arrow offers his services to the mayor and while he and Speedy find and put a stop to the gang's bank robbery, Speedy is captured and taken hostage. A determined pursuit allows GA to board a submarine and rescue Speedy, but only a few gang members are caught, not the Voice, who taunts GA over shortwave radio. GA works with the mayor to set a trap, an armored truck full of money, and he uses arrow-fired signals to overcome the silence and direct the police. The Voice has come on his latest crime attempt, and is captured with his men, ending the threat. Oliver keeps the silencing device in case he ever needs it someday.
More Fun Comics #75
January 1942
Professor Merlin's Crime College!
One of Green Arrow's modern villains is Merlyn the archer, someone almost as capable as Oliver Queen is with the bow. There's a similar character on Arrow, Malcom Merlyn, played by Doctor Who's John Barrowman. I have to wonder if Professor Merlin is the earliest iteration of this character, though he's not an archer in this story, but a proficient criminal who makes his money teaching others to commit crimes. He's got a monocle and a forked goatee, so while not costumed, he has a distinctive appearance. His men steal cars, but GA and Speedy are able to learn the location of the stolen merchandise. Merlin and Green Arrow meet, and a full out fight with the gang ensues. The numbers are too great, and Merlin takes GA out in a car at gunpoint, intending to have him drive off the cliff, but Speedy follows and pulls the old "shoot out a tailight so the cops will pull them over trick". Merlin escapes before the cops arrive since it's dark. A second attempt to round up the stolen car gang is successful, but unlike the Voice, Professor Merlin had the sense not to be in on the crime, and he is not captured. He of course vows revenge.
Add one more bit of the Batman formula that GA copies: bad puns. Speedy sings out "C-arrow-lina Moon!" while shooting at a gangster, and GA quips "it's time to re-tire" when tossing a tire over the head of a thug to corral him. Yes, they're awful, but I have to admit I chuckle a bit.
More Fun Comics #74
December 1941
The Silent City!
So that's it! The Voice has found a way to filter out all sound waves... so that silence reigns while his gang strikes!
It doesn't take long for Green Arrow to start facing what one might call supervillains, even if they're pretty low-key compared to later ones. In this case, "the Voice" has silenced the city. Car horns and explosions can't be heard, and neither can guns or bank alarms, a fact the Voice's men use to rob a bank in what has to be a test run. Soon a plane flies over the city threatening permanent silence if the Voice is not paid ten million dollars. Green Arrow offers his services to the mayor and while he and Speedy find and put a stop to the gang's bank robbery, Speedy is captured and taken hostage. A determined pursuit allows GA to board a submarine and rescue Speedy, but only a few gang members are caught, not the Voice, who taunts GA over shortwave radio. GA works with the mayor to set a trap, an armored truck full of money, and he uses arrow-fired signals to overcome the silence and direct the police. The Voice has come on his latest crime attempt, and is captured with his men, ending the threat. Oliver keeps the silencing device in case he ever needs it someday.
More Fun Comics #75
January 1942
Professor Merlin's Crime College!
One of Green Arrow's modern villains is Merlyn the archer, someone almost as capable as Oliver Queen is with the bow. There's a similar character on Arrow, Malcom Merlyn, played by Doctor Who's John Barrowman. I have to wonder if Professor Merlin is the earliest iteration of this character, though he's not an archer in this story, but a proficient criminal who makes his money teaching others to commit crimes. He's got a monocle and a forked goatee, so while not costumed, he has a distinctive appearance. His men steal cars, but GA and Speedy are able to learn the location of the stolen merchandise. Merlin and Green Arrow meet, and a full out fight with the gang ensues. The numbers are too great, and Merlin takes GA out in a car at gunpoint, intending to have him drive off the cliff, but Speedy follows and pulls the old "shoot out a tailight so the cops will pull them over trick". Merlin escapes before the cops arrive since it's dark. A second attempt to round up the stolen car gang is successful, but unlike the Voice, Professor Merlin had the sense not to be in on the crime, and he is not captured. He of course vows revenge.
Add one more bit of the Batman formula that GA copies: bad puns. Speedy sings out "C-arrow-lina Moon!" while shooting at a gangster, and GA quips "it's time to re-tire" when tossing a tire over the head of a thug to corral him. Yes, they're awful, but I have to admit I chuckle a bit.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
World's Finest Comics #17
Spring 1945
Crime Goes to College!
Genius Darby Deems goes to college, where he has no time for socializing or fraternities or friends. He graduates in two years with his degree in dreams and psychology, a degree he intends to put to criminal use. He starts up a radio show and calls himself Dr. Dreemo, with the point of the show being to take callers and analyze their dreams. Bruce and Dick are listening to the radio one night and catch the show. Dreemo's plan is to give a false analysis of the dream, but in reality to blackmail people based on what is learned from their dreams. Dreemo figures out one man must have committed a murder in his past based on his dream, and he turns out to be correct. Another man has his fortune hidden in his house. As part of his plan to trap Dreemo, Bruce goes on the show and describes his dream. Dreemo decides that Bruce must be the Batman, but the use of dummies and doubles puts an end to that and confuses the crooks enough for Batman to round them all up.
More Fun Comics #76
February 1942
The Secret of the Centuries!
Oliver and Roy are fishing in the country when they hear a cry for help. It's coming from a nearby castle, which Oliver notes belongs to eccentric millionare Andrew Boling, who had it brought over brick by brick from England, and who has his staff dress up in costume. Switching to GA and Speedy, they fight their way past what appears to be a robed monk to enter the castle and rescue Boling, who is being tortured on the rack by more monks. After taking him to a hospital, Green Arrow and Speedy return and have a number of fights and narrow escapes throughout this castle. It's all a plot by international jewel thief Kruger to steal a hidden treasure. GA and Speedy figure out where it is, but so does Kruger, who reaches the hidden cache first, only to die when poisonous gas is released from the vault. Kruger's gang is rounded up, and GA takes a mace as a trophy.
Spring 1945
Crime Goes to College!
Genius Darby Deems goes to college, where he has no time for socializing or fraternities or friends. He graduates in two years with his degree in dreams and psychology, a degree he intends to put to criminal use. He starts up a radio show and calls himself Dr. Dreemo, with the point of the show being to take callers and analyze their dreams. Bruce and Dick are listening to the radio one night and catch the show. Dreemo's plan is to give a false analysis of the dream, but in reality to blackmail people based on what is learned from their dreams. Dreemo figures out one man must have committed a murder in his past based on his dream, and he turns out to be correct. Another man has his fortune hidden in his house. As part of his plan to trap Dreemo, Bruce goes on the show and describes his dream. Dreemo decides that Bruce must be the Batman, but the use of dummies and doubles puts an end to that and confuses the crooks enough for Batman to round them all up.
More Fun Comics #76
February 1942
The Secret of the Centuries!
Oliver and Roy are fishing in the country when they hear a cry for help. It's coming from a nearby castle, which Oliver notes belongs to eccentric millionare Andrew Boling, who had it brought over brick by brick from England, and who has his staff dress up in costume. Switching to GA and Speedy, they fight their way past what appears to be a robed monk to enter the castle and rescue Boling, who is being tortured on the rack by more monks. After taking him to a hospital, Green Arrow and Speedy return and have a number of fights and narrow escapes throughout this castle. It's all a plot by international jewel thief Kruger to steal a hidden treasure. GA and Speedy figure out where it is, but so does Kruger, who reaches the hidden cache first, only to die when poisonous gas is released from the vault. Kruger's gang is rounded up, and GA takes a mace as a trophy.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
More Fun Comics #77
March 1942
Doom Over Gayland
I have to admit, I get a laugh out of the unintentional implications of the title. "Gayland" is an amusement park, and people are turning up dead, drawing the attention of the police as well as Green Arrow, who goes to talk to the owner of the park, Sloan. Speedy is attacked by four men in devil costumes (reminding me of the three devils from Detective Comics #50, almost a year earlier, though I don't think they're meant to be the same men) and captured. GA rescues him and then he and Speedy go to try and prevent the death of the fourth victim. They barely succeed, and a second attempt by Green Arrow to adopt a disguise and infiltrate a gang (the first being back in his first story) fails. The state police eventually arrive and GA helps them capture the four devils. The whole thing was a plot by Sloan to get his operating partners out of the way, one way or the other, because an oil field is under the park.
Arrow tricks: GA and Speedy save a man from falling to his death by using arrows to "stitch" a rip in his parachute, and when falling towards the crocodile pit, shoot a "fence" of arrows all around the crocodile to keep him from moving... all while falling.
March 1942
Doom Over Gayland
I have to admit, I get a laugh out of the unintentional implications of the title. "Gayland" is an amusement park, and people are turning up dead, drawing the attention of the police as well as Green Arrow, who goes to talk to the owner of the park, Sloan. Speedy is attacked by four men in devil costumes (reminding me of the three devils from Detective Comics #50, almost a year earlier, though I don't think they're meant to be the same men) and captured. GA rescues him and then he and Speedy go to try and prevent the death of the fourth victim. They barely succeed, and a second attempt by Green Arrow to adopt a disguise and infiltrate a gang (the first being back in his first story) fails. The state police eventually arrive and GA helps them capture the four devils. The whole thing was a plot by Sloan to get his operating partners out of the way, one way or the other, because an oil field is under the park.
Arrow tricks: GA and Speedy save a man from falling to his death by using arrows to "stitch" a rip in his parachute, and when falling towards the crocodile pit, shoot a "fence" of arrows all around the crocodile to keep him from moving... all while falling.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Batman #28
April-May 1945
The linework restoration in this issue is not as good as usual. Maybe DC had a poor quality copy to work from originally? I don't know. I know they don't have the original artwork/film for any of these 1940s stories, and have to work from actual comics, so the quality of the source material no doubt varies from issue to issue.
Shadow City!
Wealthy men around Gotham are approached by a man who keeps his identity concealed beneath a hat and coat, and promised quite an adventure at "Shadow City", an Arabian Nights themed gambling hall in a shady part of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne learns from a friend of his that he's going there that very evening, so naturally Batman has to investigate. It's all a scam with fake Arabs, and a street and casinos hidden inside a warehouse, approached via a dark street and a freight elevator designed to make the victim think he's driving normally. It's all run by the Joker, and since we don't see him every month, it's not as annoying when he turns up again, though he's never been as good as he was in those first few stories. He does get to display a certain amount of ruthlessness as he leaves not just Batman and Robin, but his own gang of 50 henchmen behind to burn to death while he runs with the money he's scammed. He doesn't get far before Batman catches up wtih him and puts an end to his scheme.
The Great Handcuff King!
Alfred decides that handcuffs are just the thing he needs to capture criminals that he, as a proficient private detective, tracks down. So he buys a few pairs and goes to show them off to a butler friend of his down the street. His friend is out of town, and the "replacement" is actually part of a gang there to rob the house. Alfred, clueless as always, won't take a hint and leave and wants to demonstrate his knowledge of handcuffs, and ends up accidentally handcuffing all the crooks to each other, holding them while the police arrive. Another accidentally solved case gets Alfred some praise from Bruce and Dick, but Alfred swears off handcuffs as too tricky for him.
Shirley Holmes, Policewoman!
These rare stories with a strong female protagonist remind me how male-centric this series usually is. That makes sense, given that the vast majority of plots involve a man and a boy fighting a bunch of male gangsters, and I usually don't even think about it, but when the series offers something different it really stands out.
Alfred is walking in the park when he spots a "masher" hitting on an unwilling woman. Alfred, gallant gentleman that he is, intervenes and is punched in the face for his trouble, whereupon the girl uses a judo throw to knock the masher to the ground and handcuffs him. She's Shirley Holmes, and she's an undercover cop with the Gotham police. Batman enlists her to help put an end to a string of con rackets going on around Gotham, run by "The Count", Michael Strait. The sting works well for a time as Shirley infiltrates the Count's gang, only for a chance encounter with Alfred once again blows her cover. Batman goes after her, and between Shirley, Batman, Robin and Alfred, the gang is rounded up. Shirley takes Alfred out for a night on the town as a way of saying thanks for his help. It's fun to see Alfred get the girl for once.
Batman Goes to Washington!
Batman and Robin prevent the suicide attempt of Danny the Dip, an ex-con who is trying to go straight, but who can't get a job, because no one will trust an ex-con. Batman determines to try and help him and a few others like him, and he makes a public appeal over the radio for someone to give these men who have done their time a chance to start over. Senator Henry Vandercook hears the broadcast and submits a bill to help, asking Batman to come speak to the Senate in support. Yes, it's the masked lawman (not really a vigilante at this point) as one of the most admired and trusted men in America, coming to the senate in full costume. Gang leader John Skye doesn't want all those unemployed former gangsters going straight, causing him to lose his workforce, so he makes a number of attempts to stop Batman reaching Washington. Ultimately he does capture Batman and Robin, locking them in a safe to suffocate, but Danny and some other ex-cons use their criminal skills to find and rescue them, putting an end to Skye's plans. The bill passes, giving the ex-cons a chance to go straight like they wanted.
The patriotic idealism is laid on pretty thick in this story, with Batman in front of the US flag and quoting the Gettysburg address, and he and Robin touring the Washington mall with the ex-cons. This is the type of scenario that would seem to be more appropriate to Superman with public hero persona and his "truth, justice and the American way" tagline, but that phrase is just as applicable to Batman at this point in his history. I have to think that in 1945, after four hard years at war with totalitarians like the Nazis, the freedoms America offered in contrast must have been all the more appreciated, so it's not surprising to see the writers promoting a patriotic message.
April-May 1945
The linework restoration in this issue is not as good as usual. Maybe DC had a poor quality copy to work from originally? I don't know. I know they don't have the original artwork/film for any of these 1940s stories, and have to work from actual comics, so the quality of the source material no doubt varies from issue to issue.
Shadow City!
Wealthy men around Gotham are approached by a man who keeps his identity concealed beneath a hat and coat, and promised quite an adventure at "Shadow City", an Arabian Nights themed gambling hall in a shady part of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne learns from a friend of his that he's going there that very evening, so naturally Batman has to investigate. It's all a scam with fake Arabs, and a street and casinos hidden inside a warehouse, approached via a dark street and a freight elevator designed to make the victim think he's driving normally. It's all run by the Joker, and since we don't see him every month, it's not as annoying when he turns up again, though he's never been as good as he was in those first few stories. He does get to display a certain amount of ruthlessness as he leaves not just Batman and Robin, but his own gang of 50 henchmen behind to burn to death while he runs with the money he's scammed. He doesn't get far before Batman catches up wtih him and puts an end to his scheme.
The Great Handcuff King!
Alfred decides that handcuffs are just the thing he needs to capture criminals that he, as a proficient private detective, tracks down. So he buys a few pairs and goes to show them off to a butler friend of his down the street. His friend is out of town, and the "replacement" is actually part of a gang there to rob the house. Alfred, clueless as always, won't take a hint and leave and wants to demonstrate his knowledge of handcuffs, and ends up accidentally handcuffing all the crooks to each other, holding them while the police arrive. Another accidentally solved case gets Alfred some praise from Bruce and Dick, but Alfred swears off handcuffs as too tricky for him.
Shirley Holmes, Policewoman!
These rare stories with a strong female protagonist remind me how male-centric this series usually is. That makes sense, given that the vast majority of plots involve a man and a boy fighting a bunch of male gangsters, and I usually don't even think about it, but when the series offers something different it really stands out.
Alfred is walking in the park when he spots a "masher" hitting on an unwilling woman. Alfred, gallant gentleman that he is, intervenes and is punched in the face for his trouble, whereupon the girl uses a judo throw to knock the masher to the ground and handcuffs him. She's Shirley Holmes, and she's an undercover cop with the Gotham police. Batman enlists her to help put an end to a string of con rackets going on around Gotham, run by "The Count", Michael Strait. The sting works well for a time as Shirley infiltrates the Count's gang, only for a chance encounter with Alfred once again blows her cover. Batman goes after her, and between Shirley, Batman, Robin and Alfred, the gang is rounded up. Shirley takes Alfred out for a night on the town as a way of saying thanks for his help. It's fun to see Alfred get the girl for once.
Batman Goes to Washington!
Batman and Robin prevent the suicide attempt of Danny the Dip, an ex-con who is trying to go straight, but who can't get a job, because no one will trust an ex-con. Batman determines to try and help him and a few others like him, and he makes a public appeal over the radio for someone to give these men who have done their time a chance to start over. Senator Henry Vandercook hears the broadcast and submits a bill to help, asking Batman to come speak to the Senate in support. Yes, it's the masked lawman (not really a vigilante at this point) as one of the most admired and trusted men in America, coming to the senate in full costume. Gang leader John Skye doesn't want all those unemployed former gangsters going straight, causing him to lose his workforce, so he makes a number of attempts to stop Batman reaching Washington. Ultimately he does capture Batman and Robin, locking them in a safe to suffocate, but Danny and some other ex-cons use their criminal skills to find and rescue them, putting an end to Skye's plans. The bill passes, giving the ex-cons a chance to go straight like they wanted.
The patriotic idealism is laid on pretty thick in this story, with Batman in front of the US flag and quoting the Gettysburg address, and he and Robin touring the Washington mall with the ex-cons. This is the type of scenario that would seem to be more appropriate to Superman with public hero persona and his "truth, justice and the American way" tagline, but that phrase is just as applicable to Batman at this point in his history. I have to think that in 1945, after four hard years at war with totalitarians like the Nazis, the freedoms America offered in contrast must have been all the more appreciated, so it's not surprising to see the writers promoting a patriotic message.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
More Fun Comics #78
April 1942
The Black Raider
Sooner or later, you crooks will pay the bill in full for every crime you've committed!
Ho-ho! Any bills I pay you won't be there to collect them!
The thing that struck me about this story is just how much more grim it is than the usual quip-filled Golden Age fistfights we so often see. Green Arrow and Speedy take the Arrowcraft (a boat) out to try and end the threat posed by some murdering, thieving harbor pirates, led by the ruthless Captain Kilgore. The pirates sail around in what looks like an old wooden sailing ship, though it's equipped with a torpedo launcher. GA and Speedy track them to a derelict graveyard of ships and of course, GA tackles the whole crew by himself while Speedy stays with the boat, ready to back him up if needed. GA is clubbed on the head mid quip and dumped into the ocean to drown. Speedy picks him up, GA returns to the pirate ship and talks briefly with imprisoned cabin boy, runaway Johnny James, before the pirates hear the two talking and capture GA again. This time they encase his feet in a tub of cement and then toss him in the ocean. I seem to remember something similar happening to Green Arrow during the Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues in the early 70s. In any case, Green Arrow here escapes drowning by firing an arrow-line into one of the wrecked ships and hauling himself out of the water, the cement still attached to his feet. The pirates spot him and are about to just shoot him, when Kilgore decides he might have money, so since they've had so much trouble killing him, why not hold him prisoner until after their next raid, and see what they can get, then shoot him.
This time the pirates take away his bow and arrows and lock him in the cabin. Green Arrow (or the "Green Error" as the snickering crooks call him) improvises a bow and signals Speedy, who comes and helps free GA from the few guards left on the ship. The two of them prevent the pirates from robbing a yacht, driving them off, only for the pirate ship to fire a torpedo at the yacht with the cabin boy tied to it. GA dives into the bay, bends the steering fins of the torpedo so it misses the yacht, and frees Johnny. The torpedo circles and impacts the pirate ship, sinking it and killing all the prates, much to GA's dismay, because he wasn't trying to kill them. But he notes that crime always catches up with the criminal in the end, and the story ends with yet another trophy being placed in the trophy case. I really liked this story as a change of pace, and it's nice to see the hero struggle quite a bit more than usual, and take things seriously enough that he isn't making jokes the whole time he fights.
More Fun Comics #79
May 1942
The Boomerang
The Boomerang, Martin Flint, is a disbarred criminal lawyer who secretly sells his services by taking revenge on law enforcement and killing them in the same way the criminals they arrest and convict die. So when "Pretty Boy" Benton goes to the electric chair, the judge who sent him there is electrocuted as he opens the door to his home. Judges are kidnapped and put on the Boomerang's chain gang. Oliver Queen's friend is captured, which leads Green Arrow to investigate the case. He rescues him, and then has to prevent the district attorney from being hanged, and then has to be rescued from the same fate himself by Speedy. The Boomerang is done in by his own weapon when he abandons these murder methods and resorts to a giant boomerang mounted on the deck of his boat. Green Arrow shoots it, causing it to go off course and throw the Boomerang into the sea, with Oliver and Roy wondering if he'll return.
These pre-comics code stories are among the more graphically violent I've seen. Forget the fantastic death traps Batman regularly endures. Last issue saw Green Arrow almost drown twice, and this one shows a man begging for his life as he's led to the electric chair (and a silhouette of the electrocution is depicted), and both the DA and Green Arrow are shown choking to death as they're being hanged (though I think realistically hanging breaks the neck rather than suffocates) while the villains jeer about GA being a good dancer. There's definitely a different tone to these stories compared to other Golden Age strips I've read.
April 1942
The Black Raider
Sooner or later, you crooks will pay the bill in full for every crime you've committed!
Ho-ho! Any bills I pay you won't be there to collect them!
The thing that struck me about this story is just how much more grim it is than the usual quip-filled Golden Age fistfights we so often see. Green Arrow and Speedy take the Arrowcraft (a boat) out to try and end the threat posed by some murdering, thieving harbor pirates, led by the ruthless Captain Kilgore. The pirates sail around in what looks like an old wooden sailing ship, though it's equipped with a torpedo launcher. GA and Speedy track them to a derelict graveyard of ships and of course, GA tackles the whole crew by himself while Speedy stays with the boat, ready to back him up if needed. GA is clubbed on the head mid quip and dumped into the ocean to drown. Speedy picks him up, GA returns to the pirate ship and talks briefly with imprisoned cabin boy, runaway Johnny James, before the pirates hear the two talking and capture GA again. This time they encase his feet in a tub of cement and then toss him in the ocean. I seem to remember something similar happening to Green Arrow during the Green Lantern/Green Arrow issues in the early 70s. In any case, Green Arrow here escapes drowning by firing an arrow-line into one of the wrecked ships and hauling himself out of the water, the cement still attached to his feet. The pirates spot him and are about to just shoot him, when Kilgore decides he might have money, so since they've had so much trouble killing him, why not hold him prisoner until after their next raid, and see what they can get, then shoot him.
This time the pirates take away his bow and arrows and lock him in the cabin. Green Arrow (or the "Green Error" as the snickering crooks call him) improvises a bow and signals Speedy, who comes and helps free GA from the few guards left on the ship. The two of them prevent the pirates from robbing a yacht, driving them off, only for the pirate ship to fire a torpedo at the yacht with the cabin boy tied to it. GA dives into the bay, bends the steering fins of the torpedo so it misses the yacht, and frees Johnny. The torpedo circles and impacts the pirate ship, sinking it and killing all the prates, much to GA's dismay, because he wasn't trying to kill them. But he notes that crime always catches up with the criminal in the end, and the story ends with yet another trophy being placed in the trophy case. I really liked this story as a change of pace, and it's nice to see the hero struggle quite a bit more than usual, and take things seriously enough that he isn't making jokes the whole time he fights.
More Fun Comics #79
May 1942
The Boomerang
The Boomerang, Martin Flint, is a disbarred criminal lawyer who secretly sells his services by taking revenge on law enforcement and killing them in the same way the criminals they arrest and convict die. So when "Pretty Boy" Benton goes to the electric chair, the judge who sent him there is electrocuted as he opens the door to his home. Judges are kidnapped and put on the Boomerang's chain gang. Oliver Queen's friend is captured, which leads Green Arrow to investigate the case. He rescues him, and then has to prevent the district attorney from being hanged, and then has to be rescued from the same fate himself by Speedy. The Boomerang is done in by his own weapon when he abandons these murder methods and resorts to a giant boomerang mounted on the deck of his boat. Green Arrow shoots it, causing it to go off course and throw the Boomerang into the sea, with Oliver and Roy wondering if he'll return.
These pre-comics code stories are among the more graphically violent I've seen. Forget the fantastic death traps Batman regularly endures. Last issue saw Green Arrow almost drown twice, and this one shows a man begging for his life as he's led to the electric chair (and a silhouette of the electrocution is depicted), and both the DA and Green Arrow are shown choking to death as they're being hanged (though I think realistically hanging breaks the neck rather than suffocates) while the villains jeer about GA being a good dancer. There's definitely a different tone to these stories compared to other Golden Age strips I've read.