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| All I can say is that this is one very weird comic book.
Even the coloring is bizarre.
--Jim |
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| This is actually quite an inspired comic book. I've NEVER seen a comic try to address the concept of the "still small voice" within each of us until reading this book. The writers were clearly "tuned in" and "on the beam" with something pretty good. Sure the jingoism taints it a bit, but in 1945 it was par for the course and pretty tame. If anybody has the sequel "The Post War Plan" - please post it, as I would love to read what these writers were planning for the world at this pivotal moment in history. |
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| Holy angel of God! This is so bizarre that I love it! In essence, Cosmo the Victory Bug is God or something close to it. It even seems to have the power to turn someone over to Satan. At least that what he says that he's doing and he tended to be rather literal everywhere else in the book.
I will say that the combination of "Mad Magazine" style art and dialog combined with relatively serious and straight-faced discussions is hard to reconcile. I just wish that I knew how Cosmo distinguished between victory, hope, and bravery for the two or three sides of a conflict. I have to think through this one. |
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| A brilliant concept - we should all stop and listen to that little voice more often |
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| Unfortunately, the editor and story writer didn?t seem to have a clear picture of what they wanted to do with the assignment, to meet the public service programme?s needs of boosting national morale during the latter part of the war effort, and getting The American People solidly behind The US Government?s actions taken during the war. It?s a hodgepodge mess, with no real direction.
Did the author want to show proof that The Allies had the moral high ground, and The Axis Powers were the villains? They didn?t show that. Showing Nazi and Japanese atrocities would have made that point. But, I think the editors felt that showing such things would be too gruesome for the little kiddies, and too political, given that The American, British, and French governments wanted a strong Germany,friendly to all of them after the war, to also help Germany withstand the threat of Russian Communism. So, the representatives of the public service programme who gave out the contract, probably stated something to that effect before Four Stars writers even started writing a story scenario.
The only other major thrust of the story is the part played by Little Cosmo, The Secret Voice. Is this ?Voice of Right Thinking?, a surrogate for The Creator God of Western Religion? If so, that couldn?t really be shown in such a comic book - especially one that is a propaganda tool funded by The US Government. I think the writers of this story really put themselves in a no-win situation by using this insect as the holder of moral high ground, rather than just stating that The Allies were ?The Good Guys? because they are only reacting to The Axis Powers? aggression of invading other countries, and simply trying to save the latter, implying that The Axis powers are ?The Bad Guys?. As ?right thinking? is never really defined, the reader doesn?t know why USA and its allies were ?in the right?, and ?The Axis Powers? were in the wrong, and why it is such a good thing that Hitler?s Germany was defeated, and why Americans should continue to gather scrap metal, paper, and other used sources of supplies for the war effort, and not have loose tongues, saying where their military family members are and what their military units are doing, to make sure The Japanese don?t get any extra help, until after they are defeated, and the war is over. It seemed that not only did Four Star?s editors do a poor job of meeting the original intent of the contract, but probably the government programme interface person did a lousy job of communicating what his organisation (department) wanted as a product.
The fact that CB+ and DCM don?t have scanned versions of this book?s advertised sequel, ?Little Cosmo - Plan For The Future?, and that I?ve never seen a copy of it in almost 70 years of rummaging through used comic books, and no one else on this thread has ever seen it, means that it seems likely that it was never issued, and the story could well never have even had a scenario written - especially if the US Government programme that was sponsoring the first book, ?The Secret Voice?, didn?t like how that one ended up as a finished product. I doubt that it sold much, and I?ll bet few people who read it would have been ready to mail away 25 cents to get an even more dull one-story book without even any war action scenes - only about plans to rebuild destroyed towns and cities, get food to a lot of hungry people, and build up new international trade systems. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | 1945 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 |
| Notes | Signed in lower left corner (under the word "America's"). |
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| Credits | Pencils: Ronald Marcus (signed) | Inks: Ronald Marcus |
| Notes | Signed in lower left corner (under the word "America's"). |
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| Foreword/Afterword | Now It Can Be Told!! (1 page) |
| Synopsis | Introduction to the comic book about "the greatest secret weapon of the modern world." |
| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Notes | Inside front cover. |
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| Comic Story | The Secret Voice (43 pages) |
| Synopsis | An invisible super-intelligent insect uses his brain radio to direct Allied war strategy, send morale to Allies, drives Hitler to Hell with his voice, and helps build the atomic bomb. |
| Credits | Pencils: Ronald Marcus | Inks: Ronald Marcus |
| Content | Genre: Advocacy; Science Fiction; War | Characters: Cosmo the Victory Bug; Adolf Hitler; Franklin Roosevelt; Douglas MacArthur; Dwight Eisenhower (cameo); Winston Churchill (cameo); Harry S. Truman (cameo) |
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| Comic Story | Hi Folks -- Draw Me (2 pages) |
| Synopsis | Two-page comic of Cosmo telling readers how to draw him. |
| Credits | Pencils: Ronald Marcus | Inks: Ronald Marcus |
| Content | Characters: Cosmo the Victory Bug |
| Notes | This feature does not appear in the version scanned here: http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26515 |
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| Credits | Script:? [as Little Cosmo] | Pencils: Ronald Marcus | Inks: Ronald Marcus | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Characters: Little Cosmo |
| Notes | Ad for forthcoming book with "Reserve Coupon" to have it sent "as soon as it is off the press." |
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| Credits | Pencils: Ronald Marcus | Inks: Ronald Marcus |
| Content | Characters: Little Cosmo |
| Notes | Ad promoting what appears to be a fan club. Readers send a dime for a "nifty badge" and instructions to "Learn to use your 'Brain Radio'!" |
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| Publisher advertisement | Cash for New Cartoon Ideas (1 page) |
| Notes | Contest urging readers to send $.25 to register for American Features Syndicate's "New Idea Contest." First prize $100 for the "youngster" who submits the "best cartoon story idea."
Inside back cover, black and white. |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
