The Peacemaker - Our Future World!

The Peacemaker #3 is dated July, 1967. Dick Giordano is listed as editor for the first time on the lead feature, and Joe Gill gets his first credit as the writer. He is referred to later in the letters page as the creator of Peacemaker. Pat Boyette is the illustrator and he did the cover.

"Our Future World" begins by describing Gerda Hain, world beauty and scientist, and how she has been chosen to be part of a select group of humans who will survive the coming nuclear holocaust. Others mentioned are mountain climber Hilary Smythe-Jaynes, football star Tony Holusky, and typist Eileen McGowan. These are people chosen by Enrico Lucetti, a physics prodigy who speaks directly to the reader and describes how man will survive the coming disaster by going deep into the sea and he reveals how he's created underwater men himself to help this endeavor.

The story then cuts to the present day and follows Christopher Smith and Gerda Hain as they take a date on the beach. Gerda wants a quick dip in the sea before they have some champagne but she is abducted by Lucetti's mermen. Smith investigates, swimming through shark-infested waters and he is also attacked by the mermen. He goes back to shore and gets his gear to become Peacemaker. As Peacemaker he quickly subdues the mermen and finds Lucetti's underground city under a great shell at the bottom of the sea. He sees Gerda being taken inside and attacks, but eventually he sees it smarter to let himself be taken captive. Inside he confronts Lucetti who describes his plan to Peacemaker and Hain (who by the way immediately recognizes Peacemaker as Smith as does Lucetti). Hain will join Lucetti's paradise and Peacemaker will become a merman. Peacemaker attacks and he and Hain look to foil Lucetti's plans as Part ends.

"Peacemaker Patter" offers up five fan letters. Most are complimentary of the new book but one laments the loss of Fightin' 5 in their own book. Suggestions are made to have Steve Ditko take over the art. There is some discussion about the fact that Peacemaker should eschew his laser and stick to more conventional weapons, an idea Giordano throws out to the fans for more comment. One writer wonders how Charlton can have such a quick response time on letters, getting them in the very next issue most of the time, and Giordano explains they wait until literally hours before press time. This is one of the quirks that made Charlton different for sure.

Part 2 of "Our Future World" begins with Peacemaker and Gerda Hain trying to escape Lucetti's dome. They fend off sharks, but Peacemaker is convinced that Lucetti will want to trigger the nuclear holocaust he's preparing for and indeed Peacemaker finds a battery of nuclear missles at Lucetti's dome city. Peacemaker and Hain are recaptured and again taken before Lucetti. Peacemaker is imprisoned in a hard transparent shell that is resistant to his laser and specially designed penetrating shells. Confident Lucetti ignores Peacemaker when he fogs up the shell making himself invisible. Lucetti prepares for the launch of his missiles while Peacemaker is burning through the floor. He finds Hain below and they find the missile controls which Peacemaker quickly destroys. The missiles self-destruct and Peacemaker and Gerda escape. A desperate Lucetti though finds himself at the mercy of his own sharks.

The Fightin' 5 return in a story titled "Special Prisoner" written by Joe Gill and drawn by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. The story begins with a U.S. official named Lowell Sims being abducted by U.S. forces for safekeeping. It turns out that Granite Gallego, a member of the FF is a double for Sims and the plan developed by the leader Hank Hennessey is for him to become Sims and get kidnapped by enemy agents who have already kidnapped an important nuclear scientist named Dr.Roy Farney. This is arranged and Granite is quickly taken prisoner and flown to Farney's location. Meanwhile Frenchy, Tom-Tom and Sonya follow and parachute into the location to rescue them both. After some exchanges the do indeed rescue the pair and escape the enemy base. A sidebar to this action has been Sonya and her attempts to win the respect and trust of her colleagues. Granite especially is tough on her though we find it's because he's romantically interested too.

The book closes with another outstanding Charlton Action-Heroes house ad, this one announcing the debut of Blue Beetle and the coming of the Big "C" on the covers.

This is solid issue of Peacemaker, with enough intrigue and a neat science fiction element. This nod to science fiction gives the Peacemaker a broader flavor, making it more than just an espionage story, albeit an espionage story with super weapons. This was my very first issue of Peacemaker, and for many years the only one I saw. The cover is superb, very dramatic and very romantic in the broad sense pitting the Peacemaker and a Merman against each other with Gerda looking on. This cover is a fave of Fred Hembeck too, and you'll see his homage above. And even the Fightin' 5 feature this time seemed complete and the storytelling was tighter too. All in all one of the stronger issues of the Action Hero run.

To read the complete comic book go here. 

More to come.

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The Peacemaker - The Ultimatum!

The Peacemaker #2 is dated May, 1967. Again we have three stories, two featuring the Peacemaker. Again I assume these were stories produced originally as back ups for the defunct Fightin' 5 comic and now are gathered under The Peacemaker title. Pat Boyette is on the art chores for the lead feature as well as the excellent cover. Joe Gill is the writer of all the stories though there is no credit in the comic.

"The Survivors" is the first story and begins with Christopher Smith inspecting a uranium processing complex in an Balkanesque unnamed country. He notes that guards are posted and their weapons are pointed at the source of the uranium, a mine opening. He investigates adn soon finds himself under attack by mysterious pale beings who don't appear to have faces. They know who Smith is and the leader named Beel shows Smith a vast underground city. It seems these are the slave laborers who worked in the mine, and who have been transformed by the radioactivity they had to endure. Further they discovered this lost city and some awesome weapons with which they plan to overwhelm their former masters and invade the upper world. They will also used a strange power to changed their appearance and Beel changes to look like Christopher Smith. Smith takes a chance to escape becomes Peacemaker but is soon captured and caged. As he watches the former slaves transform into lookalikes for the leaders of the world. Peacemaker uses a bomb to free himself and he stops their underground mole machine with his powerful helmet laser. It explodes and sets off a chain reaction in the cave due to its peculiar reflective nature. The entire underground domain explodes as Peacemaker flies back to the surface, and destroys the dangerous mine.

"Peacemaker Patter" gives us a look at two creators, two bios written by the subjects. First is a bio and photo of the ubiquitous Joe Gill written with a great deal of deprecating humor. My favorite involves the "generous" nature of Charlton. Ernie Bache writes his own bio and also provides a picture. There is a note that the next issue of Peacemaker will feature a full-length story, and that his origin will soon be addressed. Also a shout-out by editor Dick Giordano is given for the new Blue Beetle book.

"The Ultimatum" is the second Peacemaker story and begins with Christopher Smith delivering a warning to Premier Gekk, a corrupt leader in Central Asia, building a vast military force. Smith along with his secretary return to their chalet and Smith reports and urges that military action be anticipated against Gekk's forces. During a parade intended to show military strength Gekk reveals his vast and swift air fleet armed with great cannons which fires atomic shells. Smith becomes Peacemaker and flies to his own experimental aircraft and flies into the sky to intercept Gekk's forces. His jet's greater speed proves superior and he destroys several of the enemy planes and causes the balance of the attacking force to fly into their own base destroying the threat. He then uses a non-deadly nerve gas to disable the balance of Gekk's ground troops.

The Fightin' 5 are back in a story with no title, drawn by the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, that picks up some time after the events of the previous adventure which resulted in the disabling of Hank Hennessey and the death of Irv "The Nerve". The remaining member (Tom Tom, French the Fox, and Granite) discuss events with leader Hennessey who now has one arm and wears an eye patch, and has become a desk jockey. They use a computer to select the replacement for Irv and surprisingly the choice is Sonya the Soviet agent who helped in the last adventure. They are suspicious, but can only follow orders as the team heads into the north to investigate a Communist installation which seems to pose a threat. They investigate using air packs but soon are captured. It appears that Sonya betrayed them and they feel vindicated if annoyed at that turn of events. But Sonya is merely pretending and helps the team to escape and destroy the base before flying back to home base. Nonetheless the others plan to watch her closely.

This issue also has another great house ad, prominently featuring the Peacemaker in a pose taken from the debut issue.

Peacemaker really comes across as a one-man army in this issue, especially the second story. The impassive way that Boyette draws Christopher Smith makes him rather reflective and more than a bit spooky. Boyette reportedly did not like to do superheroes, finding the slug fests boring to draw. In Peacemaker he doesn't do much in the way of hand-to-hand but instead has Peacemaker use some very high tech to dominate his enemies. That laser is proving to be very potent.

This comic was reprinted in the late 70's under the Modern imprint.

To read the complete comic book go here. 

More to come.

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Peacemaker - Collector's Edition!

The Peacemaker Vol.3 #1 is dated March, 1967. Pat Boyette is the artist on the first two stories and the cover. There is no writer listed for the stories but presumably Joe Gill is responsible.

The first of two Peacemaker stories is titled "The Killer on the Reef!" and begins with American envoy Christopher Smith heading to the west coast and boards a trawler to investigate recent mysterious incidents of vandalism and destruction among the fishing fleets of the world, and the sinking of ships is attributed to some power other than the governments of the world. As the trawler heads to its location a scuba diver begins to destroy the nets with explosives and attaches one to the ship itself. The scuba diver then announces to the ship's captain that "The Commodore" is responsible and the ship will be destroyed in one minute.

Christopher Smith becomes Peacemaker and using special undersea gear dives into the sea to confront the attacker and prevent the bomb from doing its deadly work. He detaches the bomb and sends it into a school of deadly sharks. He follows the deadly diver to a mysterious submarine and after dispatching him goes himself into the sub to confront The Commodore. He meets the leader who claims all the wealth of the oceans is his and he will kill to maintain his claim. Peacemaker uses his helmet laser to destroy key equipment and the sub begins to suffer small explosions. It surfaces and the men disembark just before the whole shebang goes up. The Commodore, now in custody, explains that in mere days he would've met another at the south pole and together they would've ruled the world. Smith ends the story wondering about this new threat.

"Peacemaker Patter" written by Dick Giordano, the editor, explains how Peacemaker is a revised version of the defunct Fightin' 5 comic which had featured Peacemaker in its last few issues. Now the tables are turned and Peacemaker is the lead and a revised Fightin' 5 is the back-up feature. There is also a biography of artist Pat Boyette (presumably written by the artist himself) along with a photo.

The second Peacemaker story is titled "The Hidden Power". It begins with Christopher Smith getting slapped by the ambassador of a seemingly innocuous Balkan country under the sway of the Soviet Union. This challenge is inexplicable unless the country has gained some great power, and reconnaissance does indicate that the country has new planes and nuclear capabilities. Becoming Peacemaker, Christopher Smith uses his own experimental jet to fly to the area where he encounters a cargo plane he finds curious. He follows it and discovers a base at the south pole, an expansive base hidden in the depths of the ice.

His plane is detected and a heat-seeking missile is dispatched, but Peacemaker cuts off the power to his plane and deploys a flare which lures away the missile and in fact brings it to home where it destroys those who launched it. Meanwhile Peacemaker's plane uses a parachute to land safely. On the ground he encounters troops but uses non-lethal nerve gas to defeat the guards and he descends into the complex through a shaft which becomes a hellish endurance test as massive heat from the nuclear furnaces is vented through there. He survives the ordeal and arrives at the bottom and quickly destroys the facility and returns home. With the capability destroyed the Balkan ambassador is quick to apologize to a polite Christopher Smith.

The Fightin' 5 are back in a story titled "Ruler of Darkness" presumably written by Joe Gill and featuring artwork by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. The action begins right in the middle as a Balkan dictator named Leontid Jrozva has his agent Sonya hold Hank Hennessey(FF4), the leader of the F5 at bay while he describes his attempts to pressure the major powers to go to war as they ought. Sonya shoots Hennessey, but it proves to be a ruse as she radios Irv "The Nerve" Haganah (FF2) that he should meet her at a graveyard where they uncover Hennessey's casket to find him rather fit. Hank radios Frenchy the Fox(FF1) who is flying above and who lands to pick them up. An enemy jet appears and Hank fires a pistol but one loaded with special anti-aircraft ammunition that destroys the enemy.

The team then heads back to base where they debrief Sonya who indicates that the dictator has missiles and that they should both inform their respective governments. The Fightin' 5 plus Sonya then parachute back into the region and Hank and Irv destroy the dictator's capability to fire missiles by destroying the master communications array. But the electricity involved is deadly and kills Irv and seriously injures Hank, destroying his arm and one eye. Sonya then uses a destruct switch to destroy the dictator's base. The Fightin' 5 carry their dead and wounded home as the story ends.

This comic was reprinted in the late 70's under the Modern imprint.

This is a solid issue of entertainment. Pat Boyette produces some dandy work. The plots are a wee bit creaky in places, presumably rushed given the length of the stories. Either of these stories could easily have been expanded to fill the whole issue. I assume these are stories already produced for back up in the cancelled Fightin' 5 comic. There is less braying about peace in these tales, and Peacemaker comes off as what he mostly is, a private soldier and agent who acts in what he believes to be the immediate best interests of world order, if not world peace necessarily. It is peculiar that in the second story he's actually fighting to maintain the balance of terror between the superpowers.

The Fightin' 5 story suffers from some clumsy storytelling but does pack a lot of change to the status quo into a very few pages. The death of Irv was a big deal to me when I first read this issue many years ago in the Modern reprint. Even at that late date the unheralded death of a main character was very unusual, and I can only it was more so in the 60's when this story first appeared.

Read the complete comic book here. 

More to come.

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Thunder Agents Classics Volume Six!

This is my review of the sixth and final volume collecting up the original run of Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (including spin-offs Dynamo and NoMan) as collected by IDW. While these reprints are not ideal in every way, they are handsome enough and offer the vintage 60's saga in a handy-to-read format unlike any I've possessed.

These tales are less impressive than their mighty legend, not unlike the beloved EC Comics, but nonetheless they are worthy stories which showcase the strengths and weaknesses of Silver Age comics thoroughly. Wally Wood and company (Dan Adkins and Ralph Reese mostly) are at their best as are Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, Chic Stone, Reed Crandall, and so many others. Artistically George Tuska and Mike Sekowsky turn in some strong work but alas the stories lack much of the spy glamour which attaches to the more atmospheric Wood stuff.

Here are the final issues of the classic original run which are included in this latest volume, which sadly does not feature one of these great recreation covers by Ryan Brown. This one is only credited to Wally Wood, though clearly it's been given a brush up. All the new material from the final issues is here right up through the finale which featured only a few pages of fresh material.

There was a delay of many months between issue seventeen and eighteen of the run. The cover of the eighteenth issue is by Reed Crandall and the nineteenth is a composite. 

A full year passes before issue twenty hit the stands. It's almost all reprints with only one new quick story reprising the origins of THUNDER and Dyanano. The cover is by Chic Stone. 

Next week the focus will be on that other Tower super agent. 

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The Fightin' 5 - Monster From The Abyss!

Fightin' Five Volume 2 #41 is dated January,1967. The Executive editor is Pat Masulli and the Managing Editor is Dick Giordano. The script is by regular writer and creator Joe Gill along with Bill Montes and Ernie Bache on the artwork. The cover is by Rocke Mastroserio. This is final original issue of the Fightin' Five to be published.

The "5" are Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5.

"Monster from the Abyss" begins under the ocean when Dr. Aquilla and his scuba-wearing henchmen try to take control of the nuclear submarine and underwater laboratory the U.S.S. Plankton. Aquilla has established a base under the sea where he mines precious gems and minerals. He perceives the Plankton as a threat and orders his men to take control of it. In the course of that a missile is sent astray which ends up going deep into a trench. Meanwhile the Fightin' 5 approach the area concerned over Aquilla's activities. The missile goes to the bottom of the trench where it explodes just above the head of a gigantic sleeping reptile. The ancient creature is understandably upset and rises from the depths to see what has awakened him and encounters another missile which explodes on contact.

"Aquilla's Doom" begins as the creature attacks the U.S.S. Plankton and the Fightin' 5 arrive on the underwater tableau. They begin to try and distract the mammoth creature and do draw its attention away, but it then seeks to attack them. Aquilla sees this and is happy to see the creature handle his enemies for him. The Fightin' 5 try to draw the beast away and succeed, but when Plankton crew try to emerge to effect repairs, they are attacked by Aquilla's men who issues an order for them to surrender their ship. The Fighitn' 5 though manage to turn the sea monster and it starts to destroy parts of Aquilla's undersea base. Aquilla's attempts to attack Hank with a squidlike ink gun only attract the creature to him and he has to swim for his life hiding in the coral. To save the undersea despot the Fightin' 5 use a small bomb and get the creature to swallow it. It explodes but only gives the monster the hiccups. This does though distract him, and he swims away while the Fighitn' 5 go to rescue the crew of the Plankton and capture Aquilla.

"Expendable Except" is a one-page text story set during WWII in which a scientist uses his wits and a wine cellar to enable himself and his daughter to escape the Nazis with an O.S.S. agent and emigrate to America.

The Peacemaker has a second installment this issue. The writing is by Joe Gill and the art is by Pat Boyette.

"The War Peddler" picks up the action from the previous issue with Peacemaker having just been shot from the sky by Emil Bork an evil arms dealer. But Peacemaker recovers in the nick of time just missing the ground when his jets restart. Later aboard his own jet he seeks out Bork who is trying to instigate a war by initiating conflict with his own men and equipment and tricking two bordering nations. Christopher Smith learns of his plan, confronts Bork but it is to no avail who escapes in his own helicopter. Smith then becomes Peacemaker and takes to the skies reaching the site of the impending battle. Using his ability the electronically scramble communications and some paralyzing nerve gas he incapacitates both armies. Bork seeing this, shoots four missiles at Peacemaker. Peacemaker uses his helmet laser to destroy three of the missiles and sends the fourth into Bork's own plane killing the amoral war peddler. The blurb promises for Peacemaker adventures in the next issue of Fighin' 5 but there will be no more. Instead, Peacemaker will get his own book. More on that later.

It has long been noted that the sea monster awakened in this issue of Fightin' 5 bears a striking resemblance to longtime Charlton monster-character Gorgo. As can be seen above in this cover by the Montes and Bache team for an issue of Gorgo, the resemblance is amazing. In fact, inside the issue the beast looks even more like Gorgo with the nifty little ear fins added which are missing from the cover.

This is the last regular issue of the Fightin' Five. The title is cancelled, and its place is taken by the debut of a new Peacemaker comic a few months later in 1967. It will be over a decade before the title is revived picking up the original numbering but using only reprints. Those have been covered in previous reports. While Peacemaker takes the lead, the Fightin' 5 are given the back-up position with some few new adventures. 

Read the actual comic book here. 

The Fight Continues in the pages of Peacemaker. 

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The Fightin' 5 - The Agents Of Death!

Fighitn' Five Volume 2 #40 is dated November 1966. The Executive Editor is Pat Masulli and the Managing Editor is Dick Giordano. The story was written by Joe Gill with the regular team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache doing the art. Montes and Rocke Mastroserio did the rather striking cover this issue.

The "5" are Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5.

"The Agents of D.E.A.T.H." (Dedicated Enemies of And Traitors to Humanity) are five rich international criminals who have banded together to take vengeance on the world for a multitude of reasons. The story opens with the Fightin' 5 taking a day off at Cape Cod with their girlfriends. But a relaxing day at the beach changes suddenly when a mysterious but beautiful woman appears and touches Hank who immediately follows her without explanation. She is Lady Dawn, a member of the Agents of D.E.A.T.H. The other members are Enrico Cuomo - an Italian treasure hunter, Anton Vidrian - appliance manufacturer, Thomas Lash - disgraced U.S. military man and financier, and Hans Muller - former boy genius for the Nazis. Aboard their high-tech and high-speed boat they plot the theft of secret submarines from the New London boatyards. Hank appears to be under Lady Dawn's control.

"Candidate for D.E.A.T.H..." begins with the raid which succeeds with the theft of one nuclear sub. While that one is leaving Lady Death and Hank stay to steal another. The other members of the Fightin' 5 though have figured out what must've happened and get their won submarine and use a steel-twine warhead to trap the escaping sub.

"Murder, My Friends" has the Fightin' 5 infiltrate the New London base and Hank appears to gun them down with gas when they emerge from the water. But it's a ruse as he is actually protecting them from the murderous gang. Hank, Lady Dawn and Enrico Cuomo head off in the other stolen sub to their villainous launch. Once there, they try to escape but Hank looking for an opportunity uses his knife to short-circuit the boat's electronics and quickly defeats Cuomo. As Lady Dawn prepares to shoot him he unleashes a smoke grenade and leaps off the boat. Enrico and Lady Dawn escape but the Five imagine they will return.

Debuting in this issue is The Peacemaker. Created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette, this is a new hero in Dick Giordano's "Action Hero" regime.

In "Introducing: The Peacemaker" we meet Christopher Smith, international envoy to the Geneva Arms Conference and dedicated man of peace. On his way to the conference, he is waylaid by arms dealer Emil Bork and his henchmen, and his top-secret papers are stolen. Later Smith attends a dinner party with Bork where Smith weighs his options. Seeing no way to stop Bork by negotiation he puts on his Peacemaker gear and using jet takes to the air. Peacemaker then stops Bork's me from kidnapping three of the conference attendees. A twin-jet bomber takes to the air, and Peacemaker takes chase but seems to be shot down as the first half of the story closes.

This comic has not been reprinted to my knowledge.

 Read the actual comic book here. 

The Fight Continues. 

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The Fightin' 5 - Five Trails Of Death!

Fightin' Five Volume 2 #39 is dated September, 1966. The Executive Editor is Pat Masulli and assuming duties as Managing Editor is Dick Giordano. The script for this issue was by the always reliable Joe Gill and like the art inside was provided by Bil Montes and Ernie Bache. The cover is by Montes with inks by Rocke Mastroserio.

The "5" are Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5.

"5 Trails to Death" begins with an ending of sorts. The Fightin' 5 team battle aboard a Soviet sub to capture Zero, a weirdly costumed and bald mastermind. They succeed and haul their captive to a U.S. base in the Everglades. But Zeru effects his escape almost immediately by using a foggy gas which incapacitates the whole base. But as Zeru runs through the swamp to find his comrades, he is followed by Frenchy who was using scuba gear during the escape. He follows Zeru to a Soviet sub and tags along until the sub eventually docks at what is called "Death Island". He is detected though and the twin dangers of sharks and scuba-wearing opponents appear to kill Frenchy. Zeru checks with his henchman and learns that the island is fully stocked with deadly creatures such as spiders, crocodiles, insects, and fish in addition to high-tech equipment. Meanwhile the Fighitn' 5 have recovered from the gas and begin a search for Zeru. Irv "The Nerve" flies out in a small plane and finds "Death Island" but is shot down by a deadly missle. 

"The Bicycle Soldier" is a one-page text story which discusses the various ways soldiers have been transported over the centuries, including on foot, the use of camels, and such. The focus though is one the Japanese use of bicycles to effectively wage the war in Malaya.

The remaining Fightin' 5 continue to search for Zeru and to that end Granite uses a jet to reach "Death Island" and parachutes in. He battles some crocodiles and is discovered by enemy soldiers and seems to be killed when he responds with a hand grenade. Hank and Tom-Tom have taken a launch and are too heading for the island when they detect a woman in scuba gear beneath their boat. The capture her and head on to the island but the boat is then blown up by Zeru's forces. With all of the Fightin' 5 seemingly dead, Zeru gives the go ahead to his leader that the United States can now be effectively blackmailed using lethal atomic missles located on the island. Then we see Hank walk out of the surf and he quickly obtains contact with Frenchy, Irv, and Granite, who have all likewise survived despite appearances. Then Tom-Tom emerges carrying the girl enemy agent.  Then the members reveal how they survived. Hank and Tom-Tom had an armored cockpit in the boat which protected them, Frenchy was saved by his nylon armor and shark repellant, Irv used a rocket-belt to escape his plane, and Granite used his nylon armor and a handy ditch to evade the explosion. Reassembled, Hank is then seemingly capture and confronts Zeru. At the last moment he grabs an enemy weapon and destroys the command console for the deadly missiles eliminating the threat to the United States. In a furious counterattack the Five appear to kill all the enemy agents including Zeru, though he is not shown. The Soviet ambassador is summarily kicked out of the office once his threat is rendered harmless.

"Experiment 74" is a three-page story drawn by Montes and Bache which describes a nuclear test which after the first part causes a scientist and his military liaison to check out a cave in the blast zone. The stumble upon a large reptilian creature immune to bullets. The escape, but just as the second part of the nuclear test happens, destroying the cave and the presumably the creature too.

This comic has not been reprinted to my knowledge.

Read the actual comic book here. 

The Fight Continues as the Fightin' 5 are joined by The Peacemaker.

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