The Sarge Steel Reports - File #108

Sarge Steel #8 is dated March-April 1966. Pat Masull [sic] is listed as the creator, and clearly this is Pat Masulli's name mispelled which is stunning given he's the Executive Editor of Charlton at this time. Joe Gill is again scripting and Jon D'Agostino supplies the letters. Bill Montes and Ernie Bache return for the art chores. The cover for this issue is by Rocke Mastroserio.

File #108 "Case of the Terrible Talon" begins with Part I "The Talon Takes Sarge Steel". After a symbolic splash showing Sarge shooting at a mechanical talon, the story opens on a West German street where Professor Froelig is kidnapped. In Dusseldorf two men discuss the crime and attribute it to The Talon, a criminal mastermind terrorizing Germany. That evening a group of West German businessmen and other important types gather to plan a response and agree that they need Sarge Steel to take on the Talon. A waiter overhears this decision. We cut to Sarge as he heads out to take on this assignment and Bessie gives him a big kiss before he goes. In the taxi on the way to the airport he is met by a U.S. agent who tells him he's on his own. In the air on the way to West Germany Sarge finds a mysterious talon symbol in the bottom of his coffee cup, an ominous sign indeed. After landing he is met by Herr Wolffhundt who takes him to a cafe where the waitress pulls a gun and other men show up using a stun gun to knock out Steel and kidnap Wolffhundt. They leave a message on Steel's chest saying "Leave Germany or Die!". Sarge recovers and gets a car but as he leaves a beautiful redhead climbs into the passenger seat and presents herself as a West German agent. At that point a helicopter appears overhead.

"Tank Trouble" is a one-page text story about two WWII veterans, one American and one German who meet at an agricultural show and realize they know one another. They led men into battle during the war against one another and after the German leader had the advantage a clever tactic by the American resulted in a defeat forcing the German officer to flee Nazi German or be killed. He made contact with American forces and surrendered.

Part II is titled "The Faceless Man" and begins with Sarge's car being picked up by a giant electric magnet suspended from a helicopter. The car and Sarge and the German agent Gerta are taken to the Talon's headquarters in the mountains of East Germany. There Sarge meets the masked Talon and is shown the scale of Talon's operation. After attacking an armored agent though Sarge is again hit with the stun gun. He awakes strapped into a high-tech device dubbed the "Hypno Chair" which is used to gather information from him and defeat his free will. Sarge seems to succumb but when he is released he attacks Talon and knocks out his savage dog with his steel fist. He uses a device called the "Wailing Wallet" which emits tear gas to help him free Gerta and the pair take their unconscious Talon out of the headquarters as his men follow. Sarge then takes one of his shoes and throws it, and since that shoe is actually a delayed time bomb it explodes and allows them to escape in Sarge's Mercedes-Benz. That car is rigged with cannons on the front which they use to escape the Talon's compound.

Part III is titled "Trial of a Terrorist" and begins with Sarge and Gerta in the Mercedes under fire from Talon's men. Sarge uses rear canons to stop pursuit. The helicopter appears overhead and begins firing radar-controlled rockets at Sarge's car, but then a Messerschmitt Rocket Fighter appears disabling the helicopter and allowing Gerta and Sarge and the prisoner to escape. They drive through the East German border and deliver Talon to stand trial. As the trial begins the Talon, still masked, faces witnesses. Then word comes that his forces are coming to free him and a counter attack is ordered. A man wearing a rocketpack is stopped by Sarge and then a great metal claw snags him and pulls him into the air but Sarge is able to use his own weapon to disable the helicopter that has captured him. Taking the rocketpack Sarge flies clear as the helicopter crashes. Then in a sudden turn of events, Sarge suggests they let Talon go free but spread the story that he betrayed his own men making him forever a fugitive from his own people. Talon is sent packing as Sarge taunts the now helpless terrorist.

"Blue Four Top Secret" is a three-page feature drawn by Rocke Mastroserio in which the gimmicks and devices featured in the main Sarge Steel story are described in further detail. Shown and described are the "Wail Wallet", "The Shoe", "The Stun Gun", "The Hypno Chair", and a full-page on the Talon-copter the enemy agents used.

This is issue is fully devoted to the high-tech environment of the Bond-like super-spy world. Gone utterly is the noir atmosphere of previous issues. This is reinforced as again the first-person narration is absent. Sarge is here completely dependent on gimmicks and gadgets to fight the enemy who likewise use a host of machines to wage battle. The helicopter is very like the helicopter in You Only Live Twice though even more high-tech. The hypno chair scene reminded me of Goldfinger and the Mercedes-Benz was just another version of Bond's Astin-Martin. Clearly the attempt is made, as is evident on the cover to play the super-spy angle to the hilt. It's a fun issue, but not quite as emotionally compelling as earlier installments of the series.

This is the last issue of the series to be titled "Sarge Steel" but that's not the end of Sarge yet.

More to come.

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Faces Of Love!

Here's a Valentine's Day treat. Some classic Charlton covers showing folks in love. With what is sometimes a secret it seems.

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The Manster!

Ever since I stumbled across a photo in Famous Monsters of Filmland from this movie showing a man with an eyeball in his shoulder, I've wanted to see it. But I never ever chanced upon it on TV nor have I come across in any collection of old flicks I've bought. Until yesterday that is.

I picked up one of those giant 50-movie collections, mostly junk and curiosities, but sometimes holding some cheapo gems. The Manster is one of the latter. It also is called The Split.

Apparently this movie is an English-language Japanese production, set in Japan but making use of several American actors. I imagine there must be a fully Japanese version of the movie too. The story is fairly straightforward and begins immediately.

After a very exciting opening sequence showing a shaggy man-beast killing three gorgeous Japanese girls in their bath, we meet a mad scientist who lives and works atop a volcano where are imprisoned the wretched human subjects of his past experiments and his amoral assistant, a lovely woman named Tara. A reporter shows up and the scientist immediately plans to inject him with a chemical that will bring about some sort of change, a similar change we are to expect as the shaggy beast that opened the film and who was killed by the scientist when it returned to the lab. Drugging the reporter he injects him and the man begins to change almost immediately. Once a moral and decent fellow he falls into a life of debauchery and starts shacking up with Tara. His long-suffering wife comes in from New York to confront him and he's cruel and dismissive of her.


His problems increase when physical changes begin. First his hand gets shaggy and dark and develops claws. Then that eye shows up in his shoulder, a precursor to the creature which is developing in him. Soon thererafter he grows another head, a savage looking thing. After several murders which get the police involved, the "Manster" returns to the volcano lair and offs the scientist who is by this time filled with regret and consideing suicide. Then the reporter completes his transformation and splits into to two completely different creatures, one shaggy and vile and the other the reporter as he was before the experiment. The movie ends with questions about his culpability for the crimes, since he was under the influence of forces well beyond his control.

Great little flick, that pushes some very bad behavior right in your face. This guy is a miserable fellow for most of the movie, mistreating everyone around him and secretly committing murders. He's also a complete victim, having had no say in what the scientist did to him. The open way his sexual escapades are shown surprised for a movie of this vintage, but it gave the themes a real charge for sure.

The movie seems to be like many monster flicks, about repression. Forbidden Planet comes to mind, as well as just about every Frankenstein movie. Man is a complicated critter with complusions and drives and trying to keep those leashed can really create havoc if they ever slip off. This movie is about one man who loses his moral compass by means of a drug, albeit a drug he did not choose to use. It's a really neat little movie, with a different setting and tone.

After all these decades, I have to say it delivered.

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The Sarge Steel Reports - File #107

Sarge Steel #7 is dated January 1966. Once again Pat Masulli's creator credit is shown. The script is by reliable Joe Gill with lettering again by Jon D'Agostino. The big news here is that Dick Giordano returns for an issue on the artwork. The cover by Giordano is a version of the splash page with the figures of the two masterminds of P.O.W. included.

Part I of File #107 "The Day They Killed Sarge Steel" begins with that splash image. But the story begins in London where Peter Potter top British secret agent is attacked in his sports car by a grenade and killed. The scene shifts to Moscow where top Sovie agent Gorgie Fyankov is shot down while escorting a prisoner. The scene shifts again to a list held by a beautiful blonde woman named Roja who is holding a list called "POW Top Secret List of Elimination" with all the names on it crossed off save for Nicole Planchet of France and Sarge Steel of the U.S.A. She and her partner Eric Rinn run P.O.W. (Prosecutors Of the World) an organization of killers with the goal to blackmail the powers of the world and show their power by killing all the top espionage operatives. The scene shifts again to a helicopter pad where Bessie witnesses her boss Sarge Steel being gunned down. The news gets out Sarge was shot to death and pictures confirming that are taken and circulated. News also comes that Nicole Planchet has died mysteriously from a poison perfume. A man climbs the building holding Sarge's body to confirm his death, attempting to use the same gas that killed Planchet but Sarge jumps up and punches him in the gut causing him to inhale the deadly fumes. It's revealed that Sarge has been faking his death to give him free rein to chase down the P.O.W. killers.

"The Gift of Two Deaths" is a one-page text piece about a man named Koshinsky who dies but who has his body preserved untouched for three days by his wife since she believes he carries a family habit of reviving from his first death. This gift was given to the family as a reward by an old woman for saving a peasant child from drowning. The story makes a sensation in the media and after the three days the man revives.

Part II is titled "Live Bait in the Shark Tank!" and opens with Sarge getting a ride on a C.I.A. reconnaissance jet which is to take him to the Wetterhorn Valley. Sarge parachutes from a great height, lands safely and is immediately set upon by a Doberman Pincher who turns out to be a "paradog" belonging to Nicole Planchet who also faked her death to get at P.O.W. The trio jump the electrified fence and and use gas to get close to the headquarters. But they are caught and brought before Roja and Rinn where Sarge makes some insulting comments to Roja who is attracted to him. When she tries to scratch him, he uses that moment to throw her into Rinn and he and Planchet escape.

Part III is titled "The Murder School" and begins with Sarge and Nicole confronting a rifleman but Sarge stops him by using his steel fist to plug the barrel causing a backfire. Then the pair encounter several killers with knives and guns and fend them off. Sarge leaps through a window to the outside creating a distraction while Nicole plants an explosive. With only seconds to spare the pair leap off the cliff below the headquarters into the sea and a great explosion destroys the P.O.W. facility. After they get back to land Nicole gives Sarge a kiss to thank him on behalf of the whole human race. The last two scenes show Sarge in Washington DC and confronting his secretary Bessie who is quite upset to learn he has been alive all this time.

"Sport of Judo" is written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin and these three pages narrated by Sarge show how to use Judo, Karate, Hapkido, and Aikido techniques to battle multiple attackers.

This is a pretty good issue. One big change though is that Sarge's distinctive first-person narration is not used in this issue. That might be because of the ruse that he was supposed to be dead, but whatever the cause it really altered the tone of the story. The villains were a bit of a disappointment, as they were set up pretty well but there wasn't enough space to really devote to their demise. They seemed to get beat rather easily. But that's a minor criticism. They also didn't use the classic "The Case Of..." format for the title; that bugs the compulsive side of my character a wee bit.

More to come.

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The Charlton Winter Games!

The Winter Olympics have begun. Above are a gaggle of Charlton covers celebrating winter sports of all sorts.

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The Sarge Steel Reports - File #106

Sarge Steel #6 is dated November 1965. It features a cover Bill Montes and Rocke Mastroserio. This is the first issue of Sarge Steel to have the sub-title "Special Agent". The issue is written by Joe Gill and the art is again by the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache.

Case #106 "Case of the King's Assassin" begins with an round of introductions to key characters. Specifically mentioned are King Abhim Fal-Rif a fabulously rich Arab who is the target of kidnappers. Also mentioned is Bibi Cane a blonde American actress. Finally is Shiek Zara-Faid trained by both Moscow and Peking and the enemy of Abhim, the man who wants him dead. The story begins in the city where a beautiful woman named Renshaw appears and entices Sarge who summarily dumps his date to meet this new beauty who takes him outside to encounter Hassim a rich oil merchant who wants to retain Sarge to protect King Abhim. Immediately a car appears and bullets fly but Hassim's car is bulletproof and when the attacking car gets in range Hassim uses some unseen device to blow up the attackers. Despite Sarge telling Hassim twice he has been asked by the U.S. government to watch out for King Abhim Hassim still insists on hiring him. Sarge goes to the airport and is soon set upon by more attackers who he dispatches quickly. He then meets Bibi Cane waiting for Abhim because she thinks he is cute. They head out to Abhim's plane and introductions are made. Abhim seems quite taken by Bibi. Sarge knows that agents are waiting to kidnap Abhim so he has the King disguise himself with a beret and sunglasses and with Bibi on his arm he walks right past the thugs waiting for him. But Sarge is not so lucky.

"New Old Ideas In Warfare" talks about the development of projectile weapons from the earliest rocks thrown from a cliff to the sling to the modern cluster bomb.

"Chase West" is the title of the second part of the Sarge Steel story and Sarge finds himself battling thugs sent to kidnap King Abhim. He gets past them and joins up with Abhim and Bibi in his Jaguar and the trio drive away. Later at Sarge's apartment they two get very familiar while Sarge watches the two. A shadow appears at the window following a mysterious phone call from Hassim who seems under duress. Sarge uses his steel fist to dispatch the gunman and takes to the roof where a sniper lurks, but Sarge uses a detached TV antennae to knock the killer from the roof. When he returns to his apartment he finds Bibi and Abhim gone as well as his sports car. He alerts the police and a manhunt begins.

"$1,000,000,000 Ransom" is the title of the third installment and the story begins with a plane over the stolen Jaguar with Bibi and Abhim inside. Sarge gets cleaned up and heads out to intercept the duo after reports come in as to their location and he arrives just in time as the plane begins to dive and a gunman shoots at the escaping sports car. It wrecks but Bibi and Abhim seem unhurt as Sarge gets them to cover. He then pretends to be shot and the plane leaves. But as the trio try to leave the area they are stopped at a roadblock by Zara's men. Just as Zara prepares to shoot Sarge a jet appears and sets up a smoke screen which Sarge uses to dispatch Zara's men and kill Zara. With the police on the way, the situation in hand Bibi and Abhim ask how they can get married without all the pomp and circumstance a King demands. Sarge shows them the road to Tiajuana and as the story closes he heads to the White House where he is to make a full report as a special agent.

"What Is Karate?" is a three-page piece by Frank McLaughlin and features new Charlton hero Judomaster giving basic information about Karate techniques, gear, and a very detailed presentation of various hand positions.


I adore the cover of this issue, but I have to confess it's one of the weaker issues to date. The romance between Abhim and Bibi is fun and funny but lacks enough time to develop to be really believable. Again there are no real twists in this story and the storytelling by Montes & Bache is really deficient in the story's climax. It's frankly impossible to tell what's going on without the captions which seem at odds with the artwork. As a special agent, Sarge is more in the Bond school and maybe they were trying to add some humor. It doesn't work all that well I think.

More to come.

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A Pack Of Wolves!

Gray Morrow

Larry Lieber

Jack Davis

Unknown

Bill Everett

Ken Bald

Johnny Craig

Frank Frazetta

Don Heck

Neal Adams

Unknown

Bob Larkin

Win Mortimer
Above are thirteen more great werewolf covers from many many different publishers! EC, Marvel, DC, ACG, and more are represented. These are some great images, and that Monsters Unleashed cover by Gray Morrow might just be my all-time favorite werewolf image ever.

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