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[MarkWarner]

Firstly I must apologise for the rather sporadic nature of the recent Reading Group choices. "Real life" has been throwing 101 things for me to deal with, during which my venerable and much loved machine has been slowly dying. Sadly it has now finally crunched its last byte. To compound the loss, replacement machine #1 fried 2 of my 2tb drives within a couple of hours of making its (very brief) appearance. Hopefully things have now calmed down a bit ... so let's crack on with business.

This week's book is a choice from an esteemed member of the group

"I am thinking of that beautiful new Slam Bang Comics #6 that dsdaboss provided.!"

The book can be found here: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=68444. As for which story to concentrate on I was going to suggest the first Zorro one, but flipping through it looks like there may well be some gems which could get missed. So it's a free for all week

Happy reading and fingers crossed for a quiet UNEVENTFUL week!

[crashryan]

An entertaining pre-superhero book. Better art than the typical 1940 comic.

"Zoro, the Mystery Man" is certainly a bloodthirsty cuss. The story is steeped in B-movies of the day...the stock casino locale with a wronged heiress saved from suicide even showed up in musicals (e.g. "Let's Face the Music and Dance" with Fred and Ginger). I'm struck by how polished the artwork is. Whoever Alfred Duca is, he's a cut above the early Golden Age norm. Except in the way he avoids drawing backgrounds. Zoro looks like Mandrake. I expected him to be a magician. I don't see what the "mystery" is about him. Everyone knows who Zoro is. If he has another name, who cares? To have a mystery man you need to create the impression he's hiding something.

"Hurricane Hansen:" Kind of a nothing story. Hansen sets out and blows everything up. We never get the impression the fortress is very menacing...we never see it in action. In fact we never even see the entire fortress. The art is clunky in spots, especially the faces, but it's an earnest effort. I'd read another Zoro story but I'll skip Hurricane Hansen.

The factoid about phone calls in New York brought back memories of the days when you could dial a number and hear the correct time. In Snohomish the number was 114. Somebody, probably Gahan Wilson, drew a cartoon showing an emaciated, zombie-like telephone operator sitting in front of a microphone saying, "The time is ten-twenty. The time is ten-twenty and thirty seconds. The time is ten-twenty-one..."

"Jim Dolan" enjoys another nice art job, the figures especially. The story is okay, though the surprise ending is no surprise. "Zoto, the Outlaw Politician" sounds like a great series character.

"Lucky Lawton:" Grat Guth has to be one of the least euphonious character names ever. I was surprised to learn that George Evans was trampled by a bull. Then who was the guy who drew all those great Fawcett comics? Some pal, Lucky, using his dog as a decoy. Guth could easily have shot poor old Pal. Hal Sharp's art is pretty good.

"Diamond Jack:" This story is so odd you'd almost think Fletcher Hanks wrote it. "All the black magic that the Sky Demon made changes to rain that falls softly on the ground." But, hey, any story with flying gorillas is all right in my book. Again Gus Ricca does a good art job. The Sky Demon's face reminds me of Mac Raboy's sharp-toothed bad guys.

"Mark Swift and the Time Retarder" needs much better artwork to sell such an elaborate story. The only really good panels are the Hal Foster swipes. At least the artist puts a little effort into the final page. I had a hard time following the script.

"The War Bird" reads like a World War I story with modern aircraft. It pains me when a story featuring airplanes is drawn by someone who can't draw airplanes.

"Lee Granger, Jungle King" is enjoyable loopy. A beautiful woman raised by the ants??? Lee may be the King, but it's the girl who saves him, not to mention all humanity, with her marksmanship. I wonder why she addresses Lee by his full name. The art has its moments. Overall it has a 1920s vibe.

I had a good time with this book. The only thing that really bugs me is putting the captions at the bottom of the panel even when they're supposed to be read first. An old Italian comics trick. Drives me nuts.

[narfstar]

Zoro was good GA fun. I enjoy eliminating the bad guys no regrets.
Diamond Jack was pretty bad. Take of your cloak and lose your powers and get beat.

[Morgus]

One good time of a  comic. Like everybody else, I liked the first story the best. Zoro reminded me of Tom Conway, the old RKO actor. But man, bullets in cigarettes?? I laughed out loud. Somebody hacks you off? Just stab him. One of my fave comic strips these days is Rip Haywire. The dog in Lucky Lawton reminds me of Rips' dog, he just doesn't talk. Did anybody get a fix on the uniforms they were wearing in Hurricane Hansen? I thought it might be a Civil War story after a quick glance at the first page. Diamond Jack was just plain twisted. Did our hero send away for those hypnotism courses they sold in comics so that lightening came out of his fingers? So...apes with wings were going to use handguns to kill everybody on earth and then settle down to be ruled by The Sky Demon? Wow. Just wow. One unique story. Over all lots of fun and good art.

[paw broon]

This is a wild and wacky comic, - so much violence and so many bodies.  Why make a mystery of who Zoro really is?  Doesn't matter.  Sword cane, bullets in fags, blase' about dispatching opponents.  No messing with this bloke.
Hurricane Hansen just isn't very good. Not just him, the story.  The mighty, seemingly impregnable fortress is easily sunk with a bucket of nitro glycerine.  The art isn't very good, especially the faces.  Not a lot going for it.
There is a problem with the Jim Dolan story in as much as when did Sally write the note in lippy that dolan finds?  Can't figure that one out. Apart from that it's all two fisted action with a bit of disguise thrown in. 
Lucky Lawton is a bit blah-blah and the trick with the dog is lame.
Diamond Jack is a right mental story. Difficult to get my ideas about it down.  Thoroughly enjoyed it because it's completely bonkers.
The Time Retarder is very familiar and I'm sure I've commented on this story or another, here or somewhere else.  It's reminiscent of the Beano strip, Jimmy and his Magic Patch, and, of course, Rip Hunter. But the Magic Patch started in 1944 and Rip hunter much later.  Perhaps someone in  DC tHomson and DC Comics saw this strip.  I assume it's not historically accurate.
The flyer strip has Sermians as the enemy, not Germans.
Lee Granger - giant ants again and a mad queen and a talking lion. What's going on?

[Kracalactaka]

I'm glad people are enjoying this book. I recommended it to Mark because it stood out from the pack of the recent Fawcett Friday's uploads. I like the Zoro story myself and I'm always down with giant ants. (when I was a little kid my mom plopped me down in front of the movie, THEM! , and I have had an affinity for giant bug stories ever since.)

[MarkWarner]

As I have said on numerous occasions, I am a big fan of the earlier comics. I like the "cruder" art and the stories are less cliched, due to their age and being the origins (if that makes sense). The Zorro story had a bit more gore than I was expecting

"From the tip of the supposed cigarette speeds a bullet into Zak's brain"

In Hurricane Hansen we learn that "The window's broken a flying fragment from that sub must have done it". This got me thinking, obviously depending on the size of the explosives but is "flying" debris underwater much of a threat after you blow something up?

WOW!!! Diamond Jack is amazingly good. I love the art and the weirdness of gorillas with angel wings



I am afraid both Mark Swift and the Time Retarder and also War Bird did not really do it for me. However "Lee Granger, Jungle King" finishes the book off in style. In simple terms you just can't fail with giant ants, I think it is an impossibility.

Verdict: An impressive hit. Diamond Jack was the best of a great bunch.

[SuperScrounge]

Zoro - Okay. Some flaws in the story. Usually rigged roulette wheels are controlled at the table, not by an unmanned switch out of site of the table. Naming the hero Zoro... did the writer also create other characters like Arzan, the One Ranger, and Doc Avage? 

Hurrican Hansen - Felt like the writer was not too familiar with things like naval tactics or submarines.

Who'da Thought It - Interesting.

Jim Dolan - Who knew sitting at a desk editing stories was so athletic. 

Lucky Lawton - An interesting mystery, but sub-par writing.

Diamond Jack - Eh. When victory hinges on the villain absent-mindedly removing the one thing that gives him victory, it's time to rewrite your story and come up with something better.

Ten Dollars - Not bad.

Mark Swift - Interesting to see a story written at a time when Alexander was still seen as a hero, whereas these days the historical evidence shows more of a megalomaniac whose own general shuddered when he remembered some of the things Alexander did.

War Bird - Was the name Hawk already taken?  Okay story.

Lee Granger Jungle King - Nothing says Jungle King like the name Lee Granger. Should have gone with Arzan.  Wow... what kind of drugs was the writer on?  Psychadelic, man.

[EHowie60]

I saw "Zoro" and got all excited. But no, it's just some guy in a suit. Ah well. It's a decent story though, done in that lovely early golden age style. I liked the cane/sword cane fake out, getting the bad guy to draw it for you. And the cigarette gun! Sounds like something the British would have dreamed up for the SOE to smuggle in to occupied France.

Hurricane Hansen: ah, this was common between the start of the war and American entry into it. They want an American hero but so that he can fight the Axis/the Axis stand-ins they put him in charge of a bunch of foreigners (who are usually British or Chinese). Crashryan is right, Hansen has a really easy time of it.

Who'da Thought it: interesting that they're still talking about the thylacine as though it were alive. The last sightings were in the 30s. Though I guess it hadn't been declared extinct yet.

Jim Dolan: Sally has extremely neat handwriting for someone who's scrawling with lipstick. This is another common feature in pre-1942 US comics, the "Monroe Doctrine" story, where the hero saves the democracy of a fictional Latin American country.

Lucky Lawton: might be just me, but I found this one a weird read. The action was disjointed, and the dialogue hard to follow.

Diamond Jack: flying monkey! And the Sky Demon's tower looks a bit like the Emerald City. Except here every flying monkey has a revolver, like one of those "dark reimagining" movies that get made every few years.

Mark Swift and the...Time Retarder (?) Wouldn't a retarder slow time, not send you back in time? The costumes look decent at least, they're not obviously out of place/time.

War Bird: the Sermian *eyeroll* Baron has a trace of World War I air combat "nobility" to him, respecting his enemy's skill and all. Unusual for a World War II comic, unless this is supposed to be World War I? The planes are all wrong.

Lee Granger: least "jungle" name for a jungle guy I've ever seen. The talking animal companion is not something I've seen before. Also these ants are like four feet long and apparently that's normal here. The ant queen is a pretty girl...well I guess if you start with a talking lion reality is sorta out the window from panel 1.

All in all a decent selection of comics, in a very classic art style.