At first I didn't think I'd like this comic, but I was wrong. It's a satisfying read.
"Bert and Sue:" Someone ought to compile a list of all the comic-book knock-offs of Nick and Nora Charles. This pairing stresses detection over humor. Sue seems to do most of the detecting. The story is okay but it has logic problems. Sloan's plan to murder Hiller depends too much on chance. For it to work Hiller must first want to smoke, then he must smoke one of the planted cigarettes, then he must ask for water after smoking it. If Hiller hadn't wanted to smoke Sloan would have been out of luck. And what about the deadly water? It's offered to Hiller by someone other than the murderer, meaning Sloan poisoned the water in advance assuming that only Hiller would want to drink it. If Hiller had grabbed a glass of champagne instead, the wrong person might have drunk the water and wound up dead. The artwork is adequate. Something strange is going on in Sloan's glasses. It looks like the colorist tried to suggest either reflections or Sloan's eyes using color without an outline.
Being the only weird story, "The Unseen" doesn't fit with the rest of the mag. It's one of a thousand variations on the practical-joker-gets-his theme in comics. The ironic conclusion would have worked better if we'd been shown first how the shower was supposed to have worked. Sid Greene's art is the weakest in the book. Most young artists' early work shows a hint or two of their mature style. However I'm darned if I can recognize Greene in any of this.
By the way, my favorite joker-gets-his story was in a Charlton weird story comic. The joker does all kinds of rotten things, then dies. He awakes to find himself an angel in heaven. I guess I wasn't so bad after all, he thinks. Suddenly his wings fall off and flames billow around him. Satan steps into the panel saying, "What's the matter--can't you take a joke?"
"Mack Martin:" This is my favorite story in the issue. At first the art in turned me off, but I quickly began to enjoy it. Though his anatomy isn't always up to the task, the artist does a commendable job with interesting layouts and expressive hands. The artwork has a certain Rudi Palais vibe, but I don't know RP's work well enough to say this is his doing. The story is good of its type.
"Hurry Up Harrigan:" The art is the best part of this feature. True, the faces are a bit cartoony. The rest of the artwork makes up for that: good figures, good posing, good sense of place, good perspective. The artist really has a way with drapery. The folds on the men's jackets are worth studying. I know this comes out of left field, but the drawings remind me of Ralph Lane, the first artist on the Vic Flint newspaper strip. The script is okay, though with just one suspect the only mystery is how Johnson pulled off the murder. The opening scene made me do a double take. Harrigan sits down in a movie theater next to a woman he doesn't know and puts his arm around her, expecting her to be charmed. In fact it seems the reader is also expected to find the stunt amusing. I can't believe that even in 1948, anyone would think this is cool.
"Mr Risk:" This story opens like a chapter of a serial. We're dumped into the middle of a complicated story and the author acts as if we already know everything about it. If not for the splash panel logo I'd have wondered if a page was missing. Everything moves at a breathless pace. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the plot points don't add up (just what is the phone book bit all about?). Abdul is a refreshing change from most ethnic sidekicks. He's smart, speaks normal English, and holds up his end of the action. It's amusing, though, that "Chink," who is obviously supposed to be Chinese, speaks not in in stereotype comic-book Chinese dialogue, but in dem-dat-dose gangster patois. Artwork on this story is solid but unexciting.
My time reading this comic was well-spent. I liked everything, especially Mack Morgan.
Author
Topic: Week 170 - Super Mystery Comics v7 5 (Read 2932 times)
