Duke Douglas!

Comic Media was a short-lived publisher from the early 50's, and they put out some handsome material in their brief existence. Their go-to artist appears to have been the painfully underrated Don Heck who of course went on a decade later to be a mainstay at Marvel during its early days. Boardman Books gathered up the Duke Douglas stories in a slim volume first published in 2015. It is this book which I read for the reviews below. 

(Not in this collection.)

Danger was one of the company's flagship titles and begins its run in 1953 with a wide range of manly men engaged in a variety of sweaty activities as evidenced by this debut cover by Heck. These are, as the banner announces, stories about "Men Without Fear". Don Heck returns for the next couple of issues with some covers that promise some wild and intriguing adventures indeed.

But then with the sixth issue a new regular feature was introduced, drawn by Heck. Not named on the cover this is Duke Douglas, a dapper secret agent who appears by the many montages he is featured in on this cover and others to be engaged in all sorts of clandestine adventure. But in fact, Douglas does not appear inside the comic but only on the cover. It must've been quite odd for a reader attracted by the Heck artwork to find nothing inside to correspond. 

Duke Douglas debuts inside the seventh issue of Danger in a story entitled "Khyber Incident" in which he attempts to forestall the "Reds" from stirring up trouble in the mountains of Asia. The lead story is drawn by Don Heck. A second story titled "Escape to Death" sees our hero try to rescue a diplomat who might have been betrayed by the one he loves most.  This story was drawn by Pete Morisi. No writer is indicated for either tale in this issue. 

Ken Fitch is credited as the writer of "Crash in the Alps" drawn by Don Heck for the eighth issue of Danger. (This is the only time any writer is identified on a Duke Douglas story.) In this one Duke is trying to retrieve plates which would result in counterfeit money which could well cripple the fragile European economy. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" is drawn by Pete Morisi, We see Duke kill and kill again to rescue a damsel in distress from the very heart of the Kremlin. Did Duke kill Stalin? The story suggests he might have. 

With the ninth issue Duke's name finally rates a cover and the action here goes more for mood rather than action. "Ransom in Oil" was drawn by Don Heck and has Duke battling Red spies to gain contracts with rich Arab leaders. That Duke rescues a sheik's daughter only helps his case. "Racket Man" is a text piece in which an unnamed protagonist presumed to be Duke is loaned out to the FBI to help capture a man who has made off with a million bucks and fled to Brazil. "Intrigue" drawn by Heck has Douglas go into a long-term deep cover to uncover a Red plot, but he must toy with the emotions of a young woman to help his mission, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend who is drafted to fight in Korea. "Dedication" is a one-page text story in which Duke uncovers a grisly murder scheme. 

"Trouble in Morocco" has Duke join the Foreign Legion to discover why things are not going as planned. The death toll is high in this story drawn by Don Heck. "Trial by Fire" is drawn by Bill Discount and sees Duke seeking the secret of a man who seemingly died in a deadly car crash. Frankly the hero in this one doesn't resemble Duke all that much, but each artist seems to have his own take on our spy hero. "Oil" is a Duke one-page text tale in which he solves the murder of a Pentagon official and uncovers a Red spy. 

"Accomplice in Murder" in the final Comic Media issue of Danger puts Duke in a ticklish position where he must cover up a murder in order to uncover a deeper plot. The story is the final Duke Douglas comic story and is drawn by Don Heck. "Choker" is a one-page text tale in which Duke spots a hidden clue revealing that murder has been done. 

Duke holds down Danger until 1954 when it completes its Comic Media run, the company having given up the ghost. You can almost imagine him firing his gun into the fourth wall at the creditors. Charlton Comics was in a position to swoop in and gathers up much of Comic Media's material and titles, though Duke Douglas and Don Heck alike are gone from the covers when they relaunched the title in 1955. The series runs a mere three issues before a dramatic transformation takes place.

If you would like to savor some of those vintage Danger adventures, then check out this link. 

Rip Off

The Big-Screen Spirit!

When The Spirit was released to the cinemas a nearly two decades ago now, I was hopeful that some of Will Eisner's greatest creation would be translated to the big screen at long last.  I'm not naive enough to imagine that the translation would be seamless or that I'd be completely happy, but I held out hope that given a solid comic book man like Frank Miller was in charge, that the essence of the character would remain.

I hoped in vain.

The Spirit we meet on the screen (Gabriel Macht) is a mopey self-absorbed hipster who bounces around town in his overly stylish tennis shoes like a noir Spider-Man. He's got some fetish for "his city" and waxes on endlessly about how he and the city are connected. (A bit too much of the Batman-brew for me.) That would be okay, save that this connection is largely ignored after an overly long set up.

As bad though as The Spirit is, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) is a disaster. The mysterious largely unseen villain of the comics is transformed into a loquacious maniac who kills for sheer delight. Both he and the Spirit it seems have been transformed into supermen of a sort and battle each other out of some grand ennui which more than anything else seems to inform this culture. The city and its occupants seem bored, and the audience cannot be far behind.

The women though are beautiful -- Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, Sarah Paulson as Dr. Ellen Dolan, Paz Vega as Plaster of Paris, Jamie King as Lorelei Rox, and Scarlet Johansson as Silken Floss. The filmmaking is at least stylish and visually arresting in places, but overall, The Spirit as imagined by Frank Miller rambles too far from the source material and finds itself lost. It's a rather dull story actually with some clever set pieces which after it's all said and done don't add up to a good movie. The Spirit deserved better. 

It's a shame really. Will never saw it. That's probably a blessing.

Rip Off

The Small-Screen Spirit!

Sam Jones was quite something. He burst into my consciousness with his outlandish but irrepressible take on Alex Raymond's classic hero Flash Gordon in the early 80's movie which attempted to revive the franchise and earned many an admirer in doing so. It has a vintage charm nowadays for me, and I've always thought Max Von Sydow the ideal Ming, but Jones always looked a little bit in over his thespian head in that one. Well with The Spirit, a presumably failed ABC 1987 pilot he does a little better in my estimation. There are some pretty big problems with this one, but for the most part they ain't at the feet of Sam Jones.

Being a TV production, it seems the problem might have been budget. The highlights of this show are the settings in Wildwood Cemetery and a few of the noirish settings which felt spot on for The Spirit as established by Eisner oily pen. But also on hand were many bright daylight scenes in the heart of suburbia which totally compromised the effect. And let's talk about the Spirit's suit, it's supposed to be black isn't it. I always assumed the blue was the classic blue-for-black conundrum which early comics faced. Having Sam Jones show up in the bright afternoon to Central City in a bright blue suit we know will become the Spirit's togs really created a breakdown in tone. On the plus side is Ellen Dolan (Nana Visitor) who is lovely and sexy and P'Gell (Laura Robinson) who is arguably even more so. I also liked the top thug in this one, a guy dubbed "Bruno". Ebony renamed "Eubie"(Bumper Robinson) shows up as a frisky kid who helps the Spirit survive his origin and then mostly disappears. Commissioner Dolan is well portrayed by Gary Walberg, a veteran TV actor as well. 

I wanted to really like this one, didn't expect to do so, but ended more pleased than I expected -- if all that makes any sense.

Rip Off

Danger Street Signs - The Creeper!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

Arguably the finest title for a comic book ever was Beware The Creeper invented by Steve Ditko for DC Comics way back in 1968. It's wildly evocative and makes for instant drama. The Creeper was in some ways a typical Ditko invention, a costumed crimefighter who in his day job was a relentless seeker of the truth who didn't turn away because of the malign influences of special interests. Visually The Creeper is unlike just about any hero, donning a costume made from bits and pieces in a costume box. He's a bright yellow and green and red vigilante who strikes as often by night as by day, a cackling fiend for justice. (Note: Look closely at this cover designed by Carmine Infantino and rendered by Steve Ditko at the street scene below the falling Creeper and you can just make out a little dog taking a wee on a hydrant. Those zany comic book creators!)

Beware The Creeper debuted in Showcase, making The Creeper the only character to appear in both DC's Silver Age vintage try-out comic and its Bronze Age counterpart 1st Issue Special. The story is scripted by Michael Fleisher but the artwork is by Steve Ditko himself, though Mike Royer handles the inks.  

A bit of a treat in this attempt to restart The Creeper as a single character is the use of the villain Firefly, a vintage baddie from a 1952 issue of Detective Comics. He's goofy and yet still formidable, an ideal villain for a weirdo hero like The Creeper. Alas this didn't result in a new series for Jack Ryder's clownish alter ego. He'd have to wait several years before getting a back-up in World's Finest Comics when it shifted into its Dollar Comic mode. 

Next up we encounter the most successful character to launch out of the pages of 1st Issue Special and to do that we have to travel into the depths of the Earth itself. 

Rip Off

Danger Street Signs - Dingbats Of Danger Street!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's continue. 

As his disappointing contract with DC Comics ran its course, Jack Kirby was obliged to knock out fifteen pages a week or thereabouts. With the "Fourth World" cancelled, it meant a lot of random projects got the green light. Among those was Dingbats of Danger Street which ran in the sixth issue of 1st Issue Special. It's the third and final entry by Kirby in the series and in many ways his weirdest. The titular "Dingbats" are four young men ("Good Looks", "Krunch", "Non-Fat" and "Bananas") who live as a small gang of sorts on Danger Street, a part of an unnamed city which seems especially loaded with wild characters and zany criminals. They are not affiliated in any way but a cop named Lieutenant Mullins crosses their path and attempts to help them out from time to time. In the debut story two villains named "Jumping Jack" and "The Gasser" are running amok after stealing some tiny film canister. The film itself doesn't matter, only that the Dingbats come into possession of it and the villains are more than willing to kill to get it back. 

This story was produced when DC suggested that Kirby partner with is old colleague Joe Simon to fashion a new kid gang for the modern world of the 70's as they had done with great success in the 40's and 50's with Newsboy Legion, Boy Commandos, and Boys Ranch. But the two men didn't really want to work together anymore and so each created his own version of a modern kid gang. Simon knocked out three issues of The Green Team with artist Jerry Grandenetti and Kirby did three issues of Dingbats. Eventually Simon's work was published in a manner of speaking Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, but the two remaining Kirby Dingbat stories were not because frankly the artwork was apparently stolen and today is believed to exist in private collections in Europe. 

But the folks at Twomorrows Publishing had access to Kirby's copies and from those finally at long last published the two long-lost Dingbats of Danger Street tales just a few years ago in 2019. Those two tales focus on the background of two of the Dingbats. We learn that "Good Looks" lost his parents when they were murdered before his eyes by the villain "Snake-Meat". The second  Dingbats tale shows how he gets a measure of justice at long last. The third and final Dingbats tale concerns "Krunch", the strong man of the team and we learn that he is related to a devious man named "Birdly Mudd" who wants to imprison the youngster so that Mudd can have full access to rich estate. Krunch is able to escape his Dickensian trap and return to his friends on Danger Street. More stories featuring "Non-Fat" and "Bananas" were conceived but best evidence is they were not produced.

But we are lucky to have these Kirby classics. The Dingbats of Danger Street isn't the best comic Kirby ever produced by a longshot, but the three stories are fun and full of vim, vigor and excitement. Next time it's another superhero revival and the artist is none other than Steve Ditko. 

Rip Off

The Futurians Day!

Dave Cockrum was born on yesterday's date in 1943. Cockrum was an active artist in the fan community of the 60's and an assistant to Wally Wood. He made his first big breakthrough in the back pages of Superboy on the Legion of Super-Heroes feature which soon took over the comic. Cockrum's redesigns of the classic characters was sleek and fascinating. He came over to Marvel and applied the same magic to The Uncanny X-men. One of his most personal projects was The Futurians which he both wrote and drew. 

If you're a fan of the X-Men and the Legion of Super-Heroes, you know that Dave Cockrum was the man largely responsible for the revived interest in both teams during the Bronze Age. He first redesigned the Legion for DC in the pages of Superboy, and then found himself at Marvel where he got to do pretty much the same thing with the X-Men. When Cockrum took over both teams, they were largely defunct, when he left them they were much much more successful. Cockrum left the X-Men and was replaced by John Byrne and the rest (as they often say of course) is history. But back to the Futurians. After Byrne left the X-Men, Cockrum was asked back. Here's what happened later in his own words:

"The only reason I left the book the second time was because I had previously put in a proposal for The Futurians. It sat on Jim Shooter's desk for about a year, and he finally said, "Yeah, you can do this if you want." I was in some doubt whether I should quit the X-Men and do that but I really wanted to do it. Chris and Louise Simonson, the editor, talked me into giving up the X-Men because they thought I was more enthused about The Futurians. That was probably the biggest mistake of my life! That was about the time they started paying the royalties and reprint money. It takes nine months after an issue goes on sale before you get a royalty check so I hadn't received one yet by the time I quit the X-Men. When the first one came it was $2000 right out of the air! I thought, "Geez!" And it got better, and from what I heard, people like Jim Lee were making $40,000 a month on royalties. (That's why they could afford to go off and start Image.) If I had known about that kind of money coming in (even the $2000 a month)you couldn't have pried me off that book with a crowbar. The Futurians was never that successful." (CBA Interview)

The Futurians showed up later at Lodestone, the ill-fated company that also revived the THUNDER Agents, and then there's a much later one-shot which was the up-to-then unpublished fourth issue of the series from Aardwolf which was produced at the time to some extent help out Cockrum with medical bills I believe.

Cockrum's designs largely informed the Bronze Age. They were at once sleek, elegant, and sexy. He was very good with younger heroes, as he did a handsome idealized youthful figure. Personally, I've always preferred Cockrum's X-Men to Byrne's but that's a close call. Certainly 

both men are much better than the talent that has handled the team since their heyday.

He was a great talent.

Apparently The Futurians have been revived for a modern comic. Here's a link. It doesn't have that magic though that Cockrum brought to the feature alas.

 

No matter when or where you found a Cockrum image, it was almost invariably smitten with delicacy and featured an idealized hero or heroine, especially the latter. Dave Cockrum broke into my consciousness when he took hold of the somewhat weary DC Legion of Super-Heroes series and injected it with some new fashions and once in a while new characters. It was a series for a hungry audience which leaped to embrace it and the popularity which the feature had once had, kindled again as these young heroes from the far far future eventually took control of Superboy's comic. Then,  Cockrum left it for greener pastures and allowed another stellar talent by the name of Mike Grell to make a name for himself.

Then it was Marvel which had young heroes of its own to revive and brought forth a new and as it turned out lasting assembly of Uncanny X-Men. Once again Cockrum was the darling of the fanboy set as he drew his marvelous and delightful costumes in stories which struck a chord. Eventually though Cockrum left it for greener pastures and allowed yet another stellar talent by the name of John Byrne to make a name for himself. Eventually Cockrum returned to the mutants and admitted in interviews that leaving might have been a career mistake, but there was no denying that Cockrum was a hit. Cockrum gave us a new Ms. Marvel, the lady currently heating up the theaters and revived at least for a bit. Eventually he gave us his own heroes dubbed The Futurians who tumbled around the Indy marketplace for a few years in an attempt for him to get more remuneration for his hard work. But as much a master of revivals as Cockrum was he couldn't overcome the challenge which we all face and he died much too young leaving a legacy of handsome smiling heroes in his wake.

Rip Off

Veterans Day - The Guys In The Foxhole!

Perhaps the Mainline comic with the most verve and energy was Foxhole, a war comic produced by men who had real experience in the military. While Joe Simon had enlisted in the Coast Guard and spent all of the war stateside, Jack Kirby was overseas as an Army scout in Europe following on some weeks after the D-Day invasion. Here's an interview of sorts about his time in the war.

There's no doubt that Jack Kirby's World War II experiences shaped the rest of his life and career and it finds some early expression here in the highly emotional images which grace these covers.

Once again Simon and Kirby produced four issues for their struggling Mainline company before the title and the balance of the material was sold off to Charlton Comics in 1955.

Charlton produced three more issues of the comic erratically through 1956.

Then the title was changed to Never Again for one single issue in the summer of 1956.

That winter the title was changed again with the very next stand alone issue to Soldier and Marine Comics.

Finally the title was changed again in 1957 to Jerry Drummer and the focus was shifted from modern warfare to the history of the American Revolution.

Jerry Drummer lasted three issues until being cancelled with the eleventh issue in late 1957 bringing the original Foxhole run to an end.

But in 1963 and 1964 the pirate comics operation I.W.Publishing / Super Comics came out with three irregularly numbered issues of Foxhole.

The original Foxhole comic by Simon and Kirby was intended to have significant edge, bringing a energy and depth to the depiction of the horrors of war. As can be seen by this rejected cover for the fourth and final Mainline issue, Simon and Kirby were striving to communicated the violence of war to a broad audience. Despite the rejection of the art, I'm still struck by the amazing portraits Kirby created for the fourth issue, one of my all-time favorite comic book covers.

Rip Off