Son Of Vulcan - A Legend Reborn!

Let me be clear. I'm not against reboots at all. In fact I'm rather a fan of them, when they work.

So it doesn't bother me that DC decided to lift the name of "Son of Vulcan" and attach it to a new hero in 2005. It has been done before, specifically the birth of the Silver Age of comics with the birth of new heroes like Flash, Green Lantern, and Atom. All three of these heroes look different and have different costumes from their original Golden Age sources, and only later were connected to them in any real way other than similarity of powers, and in the case of Atom not even that.

DC has a long history of this sort of thing. So the question becomes, how good is the reboot. In the case of Miquel Devante, the new Son of Vulcan, not bad really.

Lots of spoilers follow so tread carefully.

The story begins with the Floronic Man committing a murder and then deciding that salad bars are slaughterhouses. At the resturant in the town of Charlton's Point he decides to attack is sitting Miguel Devante and his friend Sienna. The Floronic Man is stopped by the sudden appearance of a superhero named "Vulcan", with the help of Miguel who slices off Floronic Man's arm. This creates a bond between the hero and the boy. Their heroism becomes the subject of news media, in particular a reporter named Josey Masulli. Miguel returns to the Derby Youth Home where he it is revealed he is an orphan. Vulcan returns to his secret base in Still Space and in conversation with his companion Pandora speaks highly of Miguel. Miguel is being punished by the headmaster of the orphanage. He is sent to his room after a beating. Meanwhile a mysterious villain with a mad on for Vulcan attacks the captured Floronic Man. Vulcan returns to tell Miguel that he wants him to become his superhero sidekick and together they face the threat they believe to be Floronic Man but is not and as the story closes Vulcan suffers a fatal wound to his torso.

The fatally wounded Vulcan transfers his powers to Miguel by branding his face with the imprint of his hand and Miguel, the "Son of Vulcan" erupts with fire destroying a large building and sending the assailant away. Without training and with the corpse of Vulcan having vanished, Miguel is left to explain things to the authorities, who arrest him. Pandora appears and frees him from custody and transports him to the Forge where he is supposed to be trained for his new role. Meanwhile the villain's mate moans about her absence. Praetor reveals himself aboard the Forge as Miguel's mentor and asks for the "First Law" which Miguel does not know. Praetor gives Miguel a tour of the Forge and introduces him to the heritage of heroes he has become part of, while Pandora goes to collect the remains of Vulcan. After the tour, and having asked Miguel to name the Law two more times, Praetor following programming tries to eject Miguel from the Forge and into space.

Pandora grieves for Vulcan while Miguel holds onto the door of the Forge for dear life. While the JLA talks of having a funeral for the hero Vulcan, Pandora arrives back at the Forge in time to save Miguel from space by removing her arm and sending it to retrieve him. It is revealed she is an artificial being and she and Miguel then try to leave the Forge which is destroying itself per its programming having assumed the line of Vulcans is broken, since Miguel could not recite the Laws. They are just about to escape in Vulcan's "Justi-Flyer" with the Encyclopeiae Vulcanus when Praetor corrupts Pandora's programming and Miguel is just able to fly away with her as the Forge destroys itself. Meanwhile the villain who killed Vulcan returns to her mate and it is revealed that they are Pale Martians and the surviving male seeks renewed revenge on the Son of Vulcan.

Miguel tries to hock his Vulcan sword to get enough money to return home and goes to an establishment run by Funky Flashman. He has to stop a robbery and is able to get some money to boot. Meanwhile at the Twilight Assisted Living complex a man hears news reports of Vulcan and is reminded of a time when he was called into service as part of the Vulcan tradition. Funky Flashman is fascinated by the sword his employee took in and contacts the Pale Martian who arrives immediately with deadly results for the help. At the funeral for Vulcan trouble is brewing when assorted villains show up in particular a gang dubbed the "Coalition of Crime". Miguel who showed up at Vulcan's grave is attacked and battles the offbeat collection of baddies until the old man shows up and teleports them away to relative safety.

Barney Blaine, the man who rescued Miguel tells him some of his history. Meanwhile the Coalition of Crime made up of a sorceress named Witchhazel, a little and smart dinosaur named Dino-Mite, a cowboy-themed centaur dubbed Charliehorse, a man-monkey-robot combo named Monkey-In-The-Middle, who are joined later by Scramjet and Fishmonger wonder what happened to Son of Vulcan and his rescuer. They seek them out and attack until Miguel is able to activate his fire powers and and repels them until he and Barney once again teleport away leaving the Coalition to deal with some heat-seeking missles fired by Scramjet. Barney and Miguel try to get Miguel's sword back from Funky Flashman but fail. Then Barney tells Miguel at long last about his heritage. In a story titled "The Martian Chronicles" we learn that the Pale Martians had been invading Earth for millions of years. Eventually they activate mankind's Meta-gene capacity. Men discover fire and drive the Pale Martians away. To remind themselves of the threat they create messages and through history man then fights and repels this enemy who pretend at times to be gods. Until finally during the time of the Romans, a hero is uses the technology of the "gods" from Mars creates the weapons of Vulcan and begins the tradition which has at last come down to Miguel. This saga is related by Barney to a disguised Martian who then telepathically gives him a heart attack.

The Pale Martian has captured Miguel, the Son of Vulcan and using DNA gotten from Funky Flashman derived from the Secret Society of Super-Villains injects his unborn children. When Miguel revives and attempts to escape he is confronted by the shape-shfiter but fights back and is successful as the brutal battle rages. Miguel seeking escape is confronted by the Children who look like ersatz versions of the Secret Society, but Miguel able to repel them. Furious the Pale Martian attacks a final time before Miguel finally burns him down. As the Laws of Vulcan are recited, Miguel visits his friend Sienna in Charlton Point, his friend Barney at the hospital, retrieves the Justi-Flyer and Pandora, and approaches Titans Tower where he confronts his destiny as a hero.

Later it is shown that Son of Vulcan did indeed join the Titans, becoming a member of Titan's East.


This is a tasty update. I actually like the premise and the eventually blending of sci-fi and mythic elements. Scott Beatty, the writer name checks the original creators of Son of Vulcan (reporter Masulli and two cops named Fracchio and Tallarico) and the whole story begins in Charlton Point and at the Derby Home. That kind of nominal respect for what has come before buys a lot of tolerance from me as a reader. I rather liked the story.

But the artwork is a whole other deal. Keron Grant creates lovely artwork, but dang if his storytelling doesn't downright confuse me at times. And it's not so much his panel arrangement which is reasonably standard, but the lack of real shadows and depth in the images making many things incomprehensible to my eye. I literally just cannot make out what is going on even as I look at it. This is a classic instance of style overwhelming functionality.

There is one section in the fifth issue, the "Chronicles" section which is drawn by Al Milgrom and things get less stylized and much clearer. In this section too, the original Vulcan looks remarkably like the classic Johnny Mann character. So while it is common for most to say there is no connection between this series and the original, I'd imagine that over time a connection was going to be made.

As a reboot this is as solid as any I've seen and we have a good hero at the end able to take on the world, with a little more training. While I wish that DC had given the original a spin in a storyline all his own, I have to confess this 2005 limited ain't all that bad a substitute.

And I'm very surprised at myself for saying that.

That wraps up my look at Son of Vulcan. I've learned a lot about this misfit hero, especially his brief turns at DC. I hope you have too.

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DC's Son Of Vulcan!

After the collapse of Charlton Comics, their properties were divided up among lots of folks. Somehow Son of Vulcan was included in the "Action Heroes" purchased by DC Comics as a gift of sorts for then editor Dick Giordano. Son of Vulcan had more in common with the Fightin' 5 who were left behind in this deal than he did with any of the other Charlton heroes. Sarge Steel made sense because he was Giordano's baby, but Giordano only worked on one issue of Son of Vulcan, the debut issue for which he supplied a cover.


Whatever the case, Son of Vulcan became part of the DC Universe and apparently shows up in Crisis on Infinite Earths, though I have to confess I don't remember him and I can't find him among the multitudes drawn by George Perez. He does get a nice page in The History of the DC Universe by Wolfman and Perez.

Unlike Blue Beetle and Captain Atom, Son of Vulcan did not get his own series, and unlike Thunderbolt and Peacemaker he did not get his own limited series, and unlike Nightshade and Sarge Steel he did not get worked into a series as part of the cast.

He did get an appearance in the all-hands-on-deck comic DC Challenge where he was cover featured and got all of one page to show his mettle before disappearing back into the mists.

It's notable in this comic that he is again written by Roy Thomas, the scribe who wrote his last adventure at Charlton. Don Heck supplies the art. 

Son of Vulcan did rate his own entry in Who's Who in the DC Universe, specifically issue twenty-one. You can barely see our hero clinging to the edge of the back cover of the issue. 

Then he falls into obscurity once again. Alas Son of Vulcan doesn't even rate a doppleganger in Alan Moore's Watchmen series, but he is left once again to sit on the sidelines waiting for his next big break if it is to come.

It does come (sort of) in a four-part limited event titled War of the Gods, a massively complicated storyline in which Son of Vulcan does indeed appear and even makes a few covers before actually coming to his end.

That's right, they kill him off.

And that's the end of Johnny Mann, the anti-war reporter and veteran who challenged the gods and found his own destiny.


Johnny deserved better.

It's clear that DC could've done more with Son of Vulcan than they did. They just didn't appear to want to do much. Maybe it was merciful that he was killed off. Maybe they save him from some future indignity.

Maybe.

"Son of Vulcan" is a great name and many years later that name was used again by DC Comics. That will be the focus of tomorrow's post. 

More to come.

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Son Of Vulcan - The Second Trojan War!

Son of Vulcan Volume 2, Number 50 is dated January, 1966. The editor in chief and creator of Son of Vulcan is Pat Masulli. The artwork is supplied once again by Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. They also supplied the artwork on the cover. The big news this time is that Roy Thomas, a neophyte writer from the fan community offers up the script, Roy "Not-Yet-The-Boy" Thomas begins his comics career here with this story in the final issue of Son of Vulcan. Here's a link to see what else was on the stands when this issue arrived.

"The Second Trojan War" begins with Johnny Mann of World-Wide Correspondents interviewing movie director A.J. Colosso who is making a movie about the Trojan War. Colosso regales Johnny with some background info, essentially laying out some of the more famous details from Homer's epic saga. But then a scream from Lisa Collins, the starlet of the picture sends Colosso running. Johnny takes that chance to transform into Son of Vulcan.

He finds the actress threatened by runaway horses pulling a chariot, and using his strength from the gods, the "Mightiest of Mortals" pulls horses, chariot and all into the sky and out of harm's way. Lisa is ecstatic and gives her hero a big kiss but then is frustrated when Colosso fails to get this moment on camera denying her the publicity. Then the actor playing Achilles quits the movie. Son of Vulcan agrees to play the part and help Colosso out.

The scene shifts to the secret lair of Dr.Kong, the arch-nemesis of Son of Vulcan who is using his defective robot assistant "Adam Klink" to undermine the movie production for reasons that go unstated.

Son of Vulcan starts his movie career but has it interrupted when Lisa is again threatened by a falling wall, but she is saved when Son of Vulcan puts himself between her and the falling debris. But she is unhappy he didn't just sweep her up in his arms out of harm's way. The section closes with Lisa unhappy with Colosso and her hero Son of Vulcan and SoV convinced there's more to her than meets the eye. Dr.Kong threatens to do more mischief.

"Green Goo" is a one-page text story about the sudden and dangerous appearance of a murky green ooze which rises from the ocean's waters and begins to creep across the ground. After much hubbub and speculation about its origins, and some significant damage a military officer suggests that great ditches be cut to allow the goo to follow the path of least resistance back to its origins in the sea. It works for now.


Part 2 "Prisoners of Doctor Kong" begins with Son of Vulcan using a great gladiator's net to throw the stone debris into space. He and Colosso then discover the metal footprint of Adam Klink and suspect sabotage. That night Adam Klink appears and kidnaps Lisa and Son of Vulcan sees and follows. But when Klink drops down a narrow hole in the ground, SoV is forced to change back to Johnny Mann to follow him down. This allows him to be captured by Dr.Kong and he manacled to the wall and gagged.

Kong then introduces his weapon, the Anima-Ray which he plans to use to animate great statues like the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx and thus conquer the world. Kong leaves to start more trouble for the movie company and leaves Johnny being guarded by the clumsy Klink. But Johnny is at last able to remove his gag and transforms into Son of Vulcan and with one blow demolishes Adam Klink. He then follows Kong and is stunned at what he sees.


Part 3 "The Trojan Horse Walks!" starts as Son of Vulcan is confronted by the enormous Trojan Horse, built for the movie, and the behemoth is walking and promptly attacks Son of Vulcan. The battle rages, as SoV calls down a mace.

Ultimately he uses bow and a flaming arrow to begin a fire in the mouth of the giant false horse but it makes the Horse even more wild and out of control. Son of Vulcan saves the director Colosso from being crushed under the hooves, but then he realizes that Lisa Collins is captive inside the Trojan Horse.

Rushing into the monster, he frees Lisa and the Horse at last burns to the ground. Dr.Kong then animates a local stream of water and sends it against Son of Vulcan but with the water pursuing him wherever he went, SoV is able to turn it against Kong by flying right past him. Overwhelmed by the water, Kong's Anima-Ray is destroyed and the threat is at last over.

The scene shifts several months later to the Hollywood premiere of the movie "Warrior Against Troy" starring Lisa Collins and Son of Vulcan and Lisa Collins is interviewed by Johnny Mann. She is upset and throws a camera at his head when he suggests the star of the movie is Son of Vulcan and not Lisa herself, somehow Johnny interprets to mean Lisa might be interested romantically in the Son of Vulcan.

Dr.Kong plots further trouble from his jail cell in final panel.

"The Strangers" follows several aliens as they arrive one by one across the globe and are confronted by various creatures in various climates. They are startled by a snake, upset by a skunk, bothered by a hornet's nest, assaulted by a snapping turtle, attacked by a bull, and swatted by a housewife before deciding to leave the planet and head home with the words "Go!Man...Go!!". The artwork is by Ernie Bache.


This is the final issue of Charlton's Son of Vulcan series. With a costume redesigned by fan Dave Cockrum last issue and a complete script by fan Roy Thomas this issue, it's clear that Charlton is attempting to tap that base of dedicated comic book readers who have been kindled by the success of DC and Marvel especially. This script by Roy is a bit of a Hail Mary, a last-ditch attempt to generate some interest in Son of Vulcan, a hero who clearly seems not to have found an audience.
The stage is set for a change of editorial regimes as Pat Masulli will give way to Dick Giordano and the era of "Action Heroes" looms.

This particular story is very different from previous issues in that the gods are not present at all. Only Vulcan is referenced at all but he is not seen. Of course there's much mythology present in the shape of the movie about the Trojan War, but the whole feel of this story is different. Ironically in this story about the most famous war in history, the anti-war theme which has been a part of most previous issues is ignored.

One thing though that does alas come through is a change in personality for Son of Vulcan. He sounds more like the perpetual adolescents that populate early comics, the kind who are awkward around girls for no particular reason. That's clearly an attempt to characterize Son of Vulcan, but it's a bit of a cliche and doesn't fit him I fear.

"Adam Klink" is a clear reference to "Adam Link" the creation of Eando (Earl and Otto) Binder who appeared in science fiction stories and in comics tales. It's a clever spin, and the idea of a malfunctioning henchman robot is a neat one.

All in all this is a sturdy enough comic, but it turns away from what made Son of Vulcan distinctive, perhaps with good reason. It's regrettable the series ends with this story, but I imagine Dr.Kong is still in prison to this day. What a wretched little man.


With the next issue, the numbering will continue, but the title will change to Thunderbolt, the action hero created by Pete Morisi. Looking at the house ad above, it seems this was a last minute decision as the ad suggests that Thunderbolt will continue and so will Son of Vulcan. But apparently Thunderbolt's series gets cancelled after a single issue and he takes over for Vulcan's favorite Son.

Charlton apparently was able to get quick results from the sales of its books and the company wasted no time in making moves to maximize sales and the precious shelf space they battled for each and every day.


There is some evidence that Roy Thomas and fan artists Biljo White and Sam Grainger proposed a revised Son of Vulcan to Charlton Comics, but nothing came of it. A single page of this proposal can be found in Bill Schelly's Fandom's Finest Comics. It showcases a sleeker Son of Vulcan, minus the large helmet and the full armor.

Later Son of Vulcan will get sold to DC Comics along with the other "Action Heroes" (how he got grouped with them is anyone's guess)and next time we take a look at his brief time at DC Comics.

To read the complete comic book follow this link.   

More to come.

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Son Of Vulcan - The Diamond Dancers!

Son of Vulcan Volume Two, Number 49 is dated November 1965. This comic continues the numbering of Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds. The editor in chief and creator of Son of Vulcan is Pat Masulli. The script is by Joe Gill. The interior artwork is by the reliable team of Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. The cover art is by Bill Fraccio and the inks are by Rocke Mastroserio. (The Grand Comic Book Database attributes these inks to Tallarico, but I disagree.) Here's a link to see what else was on the newsstands when this Son of Vulcan comic first appeared.


"The Diamond Dancers" begins in the big city where Dr.Kong, arch-enemy of Son of Vulcan is inspecting some diamonds at the Diamond Exchange. He then heads over to the theater where under the name of "Changchin" he is appearing in a play titled "A Chinese Folly". There he removes his large ring which is actually a camera and orders a young lady to develop the film.

Meanwhile Johnny Mann is interviewing the head of the Exchange and asks him if he thinks the two billion dollars worth of jewels are in threat of robbery and is assured such a thing is impossible.

Dr.Kong gets into his costume and heads to the stage while Johnny decides to take in a show. He recognizes his old enemy despite the costume and make-up and changes into Son of Vulcan, this time sporting a somewhat more elaborate costume. (More on that later.)

The Story then shifts back in time to the end of last issue when Mars was under attack by sea creatures. He escapes that threat and then finds large stores of diamonds in the Arctic. He decides to use this wealth to assume the identity of Warren Masters, and heads to the city and the diamond exchange. He finds himself outside the performance of "A Chinese Folly" at the same time that Son of Vulcan is demanding to see Dr.Kong.


Son of Vulcan confronts Dr.Kong and the two battle, Kong using his enormous electric sword and SoV using an axe. Son of Vulcan is struck down by Kong as Mars/Masters appears. The two villains talks and decide to work together to defeat their common foe. To that end they find a great pile driver at a local building site and using a steel beam drive the invulnerable Son of Vulcan deep into the Earth, creating a prison for him.

"The Magic Wand" is a one-page text piece telling the story of a television show and its special effects guru Burt Carsons. Carsons was contracted to create effects for a new show called "The Magic Wand", particularly a way to seemingly explode boulders and he does so by creating a "magic wand" powered by electricity which is immensely powerful and which is then used by its creator to take over the world.

Part II "The Living Tomb" begins as Son of Vulcan calls out to his adopted father Vulcan for help but it turns out that Vulcan and Venus have been forbidden by Jupiter to help SoV since his activities had forced Jupiter to banish Mars. Nonetheless Vulcan sends a fireball to help and it ignites a seam of coal in the ground around SoV and this allows him to explosively escape the trap.


Son of Vulcan then seeks out Dr.Kong and changes to Johnny Mann to do so. Meanwhile the two villains are working together to break into the Diamond Exchange, which shares a wall with the theater and while Kong uses fireworks to create a distraction on stage, Mars/Masters uses a bazooka to break through. Johnny Mann confronts Kong but must change to Son of Vulcan to escape his sword which then breaks on SoV's mighty shield.

Mars/Masters then appears and uses gas to subdue Son of Vulcan. Then he and Dr.Kong gather the diamonds and repair the wall, being careful to put Son of Vulcan within so he will get the blame. But the villains fall out as Mars wants Kong to pay for his crimes, but Kong is too clever and captures the god in a booby-trapped chair.



In Olympus Vulcan sends the real King Midas to assist Son of Vulcan by changing the Diamond Exchange wall to softer gold which SoV can break through easily.


He confronts Mars/Masters and learns that Dr.Kong is seeking to escape by boat. Flying to the docks, he finds the ship and learns that Kong is not yet aboard. He then goes underwater, finds Kong's one-man submarine and disables it. As Kong sinks to the bottom, Son of Vulcan returns the stolen diamonds and when he returns to the theater finds Mars gone but threatening to return.

"Enemies of the Deep" is a three-page comic story featuring dangerous sea creatures such as the hammerhead shark, the sea leopard, the killer whale, and the moray eel. The story features art by Frank McLaughlin.


This is hugely fun, if hugely goofy issue. The way the two villains with their immense abilities work so mightily to steal some paltry diamonds is mildly hilarious. Son of Vulcan seems to completely stumble across the plot, and this story to a greater degree than earlier one seems utterly dependent upon coincidence to work.


The new look of Son of Vulcan is the handiwork of a young Dave Cockrum, who would be very famous later for revising the look of DC's Legion of Superheroes and later Marvel's X-Men. This new armor is more detailed, but I'm not sure myself if it's a stronger design. The added details seem I think to detract from the basic shape, and make the whole thing a bit muddy. But if because of the perceived dreary costume or whatever, clearly the series was lagging in sales, and this was an attempt to salvage it. Cockrum gets no mention inside the issue, but they did give him billing of his work on the cover itself, possibly since covers typically go to press last.

This penultimate issue of Son of Vulcan is a hoot, but with only a single Charlton episode remaining things look grim for our hero.


This story was reprinted by Alan Class in Uncanny Tales #87.

To read the complete comic book follow this link.   

A little more to come.

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Nature Boy!

Nature Boy by Jerry Siegel and John Buscema debuted in 1956. It took over the series numbering of firefighting Danny Blaze and ran for three issues before surrendering the series to the Li'l Rascal Twins. Nature Boy is Dave Crandall, a young boy who was lost at sea and found by a multitude of gods who granted the youngster a raft of powers just by invoking their names. He was returned to his comfortable home with his parents and grew to young manhood where he used his abilities to master nature to fight crime and injustice. In the first issue he battles a dictator of a supposed "Utopia" and helps combat the devastation of a flood. We get a brief glimpse of Nature Man when an adult Dave Crandall wanders the land helping out folks who need it. Blue Beetle also appears in the debut issue in story drawn by Rocke Mastroserio. 

To read this issue follow this link. 

In the second issue in stories written by Joe Gill and drawn by Rocke Mastroserio Nature Boy fights to bring peace to the world by attempting to contain worldwide aggression and confronts corporate powers who are bringing starvation to regions of the United States which should be generating lush harvests. Later he stops an air invasion and rids natives on a remote island of their oppressive leader. Nature Boy seems to have an endless array of powers but mostly he uses weather effects and lightning to get his way. There is also a story about Pecos Bill by Bob Powell. 

To read this issue follow this link. 

Siegel and Buscema return for the third and final installment of the short series. In this one, adorned by one of comicdom's most outlandish yet memorable covers, we get our hero saving the town of Centerville from an invader from Jupiter and he goes on a journey across the globe and confronts evil in the Sahara. Later he battles for justice in the Khyber Pass and finally helps a youngster when kidnappers invade. We get a one-page glimpse of Nature Girl who fights to save an elephant from a hunter. Siegel seemed to want to evoke the Marvel Family with this series, and if it had been given time, we might've seen an origin for Nature Girl. But it was not to be as this wraps up the run of Nature Boy. 

To read this issue follow this link. 

 

Nature Boy was brought to the attention of modern readers as he's given an entry in The League of Regrettable Superheroes by Jon Morris. 

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Baffling Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes!

Few names in popular fiction are more famous than Sherlock Holmes. The character originally created and delivered to the world by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in fifty-six short stories and four novels became a fabulous hit and was soon adapted to the stage and to film beginning with many silents and right on through to the modern day when new Holmes projects show up every year. Charlton Comics tried to capture a little of that Holmes magic in two issues of a comic series. The first issue you can read at this link. 

The second of the two Sherlock Holmes comics can be read at this link. 

I bring up Sherlock Holmes because I've just completed re-reading the stories, this time not in the order of their publication which has been my norm, but rather in the chronological order as they fall in the life and career of the great detective. This biographical approach is developed by William S. Baring-Gould who assembled The Annotated Sherlock Holmes. I've had these two volumes in my collection for nearly sixty years and have only used them as reference from time to time. This reading though, I marched through the two hefty tomes.

I was assisted as well by Baring-Gould's "biography" of Sherlock Holmes titled Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street. The author uses the copious details contained in the stories along with a healthy dose of imagination to organize the great detective's "life" into a proper story from his childhood until his death in 1957. In addition to his many conflicts with notable villains such as Professor Moriarty, Sebastian Moran, and others we discover that Holmes also helped to solve the Jack the Ripper murders and searched for the Yeti in the distant Himalayas. It's all great fun, and it's always nice to revisit Baker Street from time to time. 

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Son Of Vulcan - Fury Of The War God!

Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds Volume 1, Number 48 is dated September, 1965. The editor-in-chief and creator of Son of Vulcan is Pat Masulli. The cover is by regular artists Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico, who also provide the artwork on the main story inside. The writer is again Joe Gill. Here is what else was on the newsstands when this issue arrived.

"Fury of the War God" begins with a symbolic splash page showing a chained Son of Vulcan threatened by a disguised Mars, God of War and despairing of getting aid from Olympus.

The story proper begins in the jungles of Vietnam where Mars is checking out the ongoing struggle between the forces of North and South Vietnam. A furious lightning bolt erupts and he is summoned to the throne of Jupiter who voices his displeasure with his son and his warlike ways, and wishes he could be more like the Son of Vulcan.

The scene shifts to the offices of the news syndicate which employs Johnny Mann and who is getting his latest assignment. It is to go to the waters of the Arctic and explore the disappearance of three meteorologists. The waters are the domain of a whaler named Captain Tusk. Johnny thinks a better story is to be found in the Near East where mobs have been attacking embassies, but he is overruled.

The scene shifts again to the Near East where it is revealed that Mars is manipulating the crowds to create the attacks on the embassies, to foment aggression against the Americans. Jupiter though has had enough and punishes Mars for his meddling by casting him down to Earth, and stripped of much of his godly might and power. Ironically he is cast down right into the area of the Arctic into which Johnny Man is headed.

There Mars finds Captain Tusk and his lovely daughter Sally at dinner. Mars then captures the pair of them and makes himself the twin of Captain Tusk, thus taking control of his whaling fleet. He puts his captives in an ice cave where the missing scientists also happen to be.

"Imbalance" is a one-page text piece about a city that suddenly finds that half of it is sinking and other half is rising. It turns out that one side has too many tall skyscrapers and it has created an imbalance. A professor puts forth a dramatic plan to demolish enough buildings on one side to balance the city again. Desperate this plan is used and hence forth any large building on one side will be matched with another on the other.

Part 2 "The New Captain Tusk" begins as Mars disguised as Tusk is leading his whaling fleet on a rampage through the Northern waters attacking vessels and planes alike to establish his claim. News of this violent behavior reaches Johnny Mann who becomes Son of Vulcan and flies to investigate. Following an odd electronic signal he finds the Tusks and the scientists within the ice cave and calls upon Vulcan for aid to help them. Vulcan sends a ball of fire which melts the ice posthaste.

Mars witnesses the release via a remote camera and races to the scene in a rocket-powered snow sled. He finds and attacks Son of Vulcan who soon enough discovers that his enemy is an imposter and has enormous strength. He knocks SoV out and escapes. Son of Vulcan divines that it must be Mars he is battling with and flies after his nemesis, confronting him aboard his ship where once again Son of Vulcan is struck down, this time by a thunder strike. Chained, Son of Vulcan is the fake Tusk's prisoner.

Part 3 "The Villain" has the ship controlled by Mars/Tusk rampaging through the Northern waters with Son of Vulcan chained and held prisoner in the bow. This is seen from Olympus and Jupiter incorrectly surmises that SoV is the culprit behind this latest wave of violence. Vulcan protests, but to no avail. Mars/Tusk continues his attacks until he is confronted by a U.S.Naval vessel armed with nuclear shells.

These shells are fired and the conflagration is ferocious but only succeeds in freeing Son of Vulcan who once again takes after the fleeing Mars/Tusk who tries to use a harpoon gun against our hero. Sally Tusk intercedes and causes him to fire into the ship itself which blows up. Son of Vulcan saves Sally from attacking Killer Whales, but it is left to Mars to save the real Captain Tusk, which he in fact does, proving he is not all bad.

Mars disappears and is presumed dead, but Johnny Mann now safe aboard a naval ship along with both Captain and Sally Tusk is not so sure, and feels he will need to be guarded against the eventual return of the war god.

"Volcano" is a three-page comic story about various real world volcanos throughout the world and history. Mentioned are volcanoes Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Pelee, and Mauna Loa among others. The art is supplied by Rocke Mastroserio.


This is the last issue of Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds by that title. And it was the one issue of the adventures of Son of Vulcan I most wanted since seeing the cover as a boy in early Charlton comics house ads. I mistakenly thought Jim Aparo did the cover for years until I was able to see a copy of the comic firsthand at long last. It's easily the best Son of Vulcan cover aside from the debut issue.

The adventure establishes firmly Mars as the primary opponent of SoV, a similar situation to what Charlton's Hercules will find a few years later under the capable hands of Joe Gill and Sam Glanzman when Ares, the Greek equivalent proves to be his primary menace. We also get a peek at the feud between Jupiter and Vulcan as their sons are compared.

The anti-war theme reappears in this issue, with the conflict in Vietnam described by Mars as not even a proper conflict given its low-tech manner.

It's hard really to understand the nature of Captain Tusk's situation in the Arctic as he seems to claim vast stretches of ocean as his domain. Under what legal right he claims this territory is uncertain and unstated.

Another solid entertainment by rock-solid professionals. With the next issue the amateur fan creators will be making their presence felt on the Son of Vulcan.


The story was reprinted by Alan Class in Secrets of the Unknown #169.

To read the complete comic book follow this link.   

More to come.

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