The Primus Reports #6

The sixth issue of Primus is the second with George Wildman as editor. And apparently a shift was made away from photo covers, and finally Joe Staton is allowed to do his own distinctive cover for the book. Joe is still the artist in charge and Joe Gill is still the scripter of record.

The first Primus story is titled "Death is Waiting" and it begins with Primus under attack by mysterious scuba men. He fends them off and keeps a mysterious canister he'd found attached to a buoy in the sea. On board the Orca he and Toni get the canister unlocked and find Heroin. The Orca comes under attack using a bazooka and Primus is forced to surrender. He gives the canister to a sinister looking oriental we come to find is named Yang and Primus is knocked out. He awakes to find himself tied up and the Orca rigged to explode. He escapes and gets rid of the bomb and after finding a location from Charlie by radio sets off to find Yang and the kidnapped Toni.

Part II is titled "Dealers in Quiet Death" and it begins with the leering Yang analyzing his heroin and taunting Toni. Primus swims ashore and is detected almost immediately. He is captured taken to Yang who surprisingly offers him his life and Toni's if he'll deliver the heroin and bring back the seven million dollars it will yield. Primus agrees and while Toni stays behind he goes to the rendevous but slips a bomb into the drugs which demolishes the plane and presumably the pilot. Primus takes the money back to Yang but gets the jump on him and he and Toni capture the gang. Toni rewards Primus with big wet kiss.

This issue's Human Fish story doesn't have a title, but it involves Professor John Wilmore in a daring rescue of some trapped workers trapped in a tunnel in the East River after an explosion. He works to save them and even has to make one last daring swim to save a man who has gotten seperated from the others. His girl impressed she offers him breakfast.

The second Primus story is titled "A Weapon Used to Kill Whom?" and it begins with Primus finding a .38 Magnum while seaching for stolen jewels in a dirty canal. Two thugs named Ralph Rinkler and Dixie Galt who threw it away see him retrieve it and seek to get it back. Ralph attacks Primus that night but Primus manages to throw him into the canal. The next day Primus and Toni give the gun to police and learn that Ralph works for Galt and both of them work for a gambling bigwig named Marvin Schwartz. Primus goes to the estate of Frenchy Smith a rival criminal and finds him dead by gunshot wound. Galt shows up with a gun, but Primus escapes ultimately by tricking the gang into driving their boat into shallow water. Meanwhile Toni has found the jewels. Later the pair smooch in a local resturant.

The style Joe Staton uses in this issue is really beginning to develop into the style we're accustomed to from him. He's becoming more confident as a storyteller and there's little or no evidence of another artist touching his work up. This is solid issue.

One more to come.

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