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[MarkWarner]

Judging by the lack of posts on last week's Drift Marlo, it was either a big turn-off, or some sneaky site has kidnapped the majority of the reading group. Hopefully it is the former, and they will make a grand reappearance for this week's book.

A while back I had this message

"How about Seven Seas Comics for the reading group? A whole ocean-themed book is a bit unusual. Also, it has some Matt Baker art; he's doing what appears to be a Pacific variation on the Jungle Girl theme."

Well. it would be rude not to!

So here is the first in the series (and also a very early scan for the site): https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=1412.

The South Sea Girl story starts on our page 42, but after a quick glance there appears to be a feast of goodness ... so feel free to review c2c or choose another one

Happy reading!!

[Morgus]

Overall, the art was top notch though out the whole comic, but who can resist Matt Baker doing a super hero version of Dorthoy Lamour?  Great legs, and great poses. "May the gods of fortune smile on me." You said it, Alani!! But with that lovely artwork, I think they already did. Lots of fun and a gnarly cool read.

[SuperScrounge]

Captain Cutlass - Eh, okay, but not my type of story. The bar wench looked good, though.

Tall Story - Cute.

Tugboat Tessie - Not as funny as the writer seemed to think it would be. Melody looked good, though.

Harbor Patrol - Okay.

The Silver Whistle - Meh. You didn't miss much if you didn't read it.

Crossbones Charlie - Okay.

The Ol' Skipper - Eh.

Salty Stuff - Would have been better if they had shown how to make those knots.

Sagas of the Sea - Feels like the writer felt this was such a familiar story that there was no need for details helpful for those unfamiliar with it.

South Sea Girl - The story's not that good, but the art is nice. If Alani wanted to attract more sharks she shouldn't have killed that one. Sharks stay away from dead sharks.

[K1ngcat]

Sorry, I tried but I just couldn't get enthusiastic over this one. Too much archaic dialogue in Captain Cutlass made the story hard to follow (and "trepanning"? Are they really going to drill a hole in his head?)

I guess I'm just a landlubber at heart, even the pretty girls couldn't keep me interested. Some nice artwork in places though a bit over detailed for my liking. Somebody splice me a mainbrace, I'm done here!

[Kracalactaka]

I like looking at this title solely for the Baker girls in Tugboat Tessie and South Sea Girl. The rest does not float my boat. (Could not resist that pun.)

[crashryan]

I like this more than others seem to. My taste for off-the-beaten-path genres, I guess.

The cover is great. It certainly would have caught my eye on the racks. I like the nicely-detailed ship. Of course, nothing like this happens inside.  Inside, the first thing I thought of is Classics Illustrated comics. No surprise. Alex Blum and Robert Webb are major Classics contributors. I'm not sure why I never warmed to these two. Webb, especially, puts a lot of work into his figures and backgrounds. But there's a clunkiness I don't care for.

"Captain Cutlass" is a decent origin story. The attempted shanghai is a bit confusing, thanks in part to Blum copping out in some important panels. All is forgiven with the appearance of the barmaid.  I agree with K1ngcat. The "authentic" dialogue is tiring to read. Overall the story is good enough to make me want to read another episode.

"Tall Tales" and "Crossbones Charlie" are wastes of space. At least the latter is only two pages; "Tall Tales" goes on forever.

Speaking of out-of-the-way genres, "Tugboat Tessie" reminds me of the long-vanished "life on the waterfront" genre. It was fairly common in movies and magazines of the 20s and 30s. I even remember a TV series in the late 50s (Harbormaster by name) that must have been its last gasp. Tugboat Tessie is obviously a knock-off of Tugboat Annie. Annie (inspired by a woman who started a major tugboat company) first appeared in short stories in The Saturday Evening Post. They began in 1931. There were 75 in all, Wikipedia says. I remember reading them in the Post during the 1950s. Anyway, MGM made a hit movie in 1933 with Marjorie Main and Wallace Beery. It must have made quite an impression. Adults still reminisced about them when I was young.

As far as Tugboat Tessie is concerned...meh. The story isn't amusing but it is confusing. The art doesn't help. Bill Jetty is supposedly pulling a line of barges which Tessie had planned to pull. The crooks want to steal the cargo on those barges. The barges are a big deal, right? So why don't we ever see Bill's tugboat pulling barges? Look at page 16, panels 1 and 5. No barges. On page 18 we're given a teensy corner of an (out-of-perspective) barge before the camera pulls back to reveal...one barge. Even though Tessie clearly told Melody to "swim to the last barge" on page17. Shoddy. One more gripe: Everyone talks about heavy fog but neither artist nor colorist gives us any. Even the many pleasant views of Melody can't redeem this one. Speaking of Melody, it looks like Matt Baker drew her and another artist drew everything else.

"Harbor Patrol" is a better story. Bob Hebberd puts in more effort than Tessie's artist, though he cheats a few important panels. I like the shots of the checker-suited crook running over the docks with a dummy over his shoulder.

"The Ol' Skipper" isn't much of a story but the art is pretty good, especially the first page. Blum seems to like drawing ships. The Sargasso Sea has figured in so many popular culture tales (I fondly remember Doc Savage and "The Sargasso Ogre"). This is the first time I've seen the seaweed "growing so fast" that it ensnares a ship. I would have liked to have seen some seaweed in the ocean shots, though.

"Salty Stuff" brings memories of Boy Scouts. I still use a couple of these knots. Clove hitches are good for tying stuff to a car. Try though I might, I never managed to learn to tie a bowline.

"Sagas of the Sea" is a fair documentary. Rather a downbeat ending.

"South Sea Girl" is a disappointment. Matt Baker's Alani is gorgeous, but that's about it. Baker hasn't yet got his drawing together. Too many silhouettes and too much odd perspective. The story doesn't make sense. Exactly why do the bad guys bring a load of machine guns to Alani's island? Why do they mow down the islanders? Wanting to build "a hideout for international intrigue" doesn't tell me much.

Finally, did I miss something?  What is Ye Block Island of which we have this nice map? I can't find it in any of the stories.

In sum, this comic is okay.  Not a ten; more like a 6 or 7. I would read another issue to learn how the hot barmaid does as a member of Captain Cutlass' crew.

[MarkWarner]

I just about managed  to struggle through this c2c, and here are my thoughts:

Captain Cutlass: An Errol Flynn swashbuckler. As a kid this genre left me cold and it has ever since. I hope the rest of the book is not in this vein!

Mermaid Funny: I rather enjoyed this, normally the funny inserts are dire. It was certainly better than Captain Cutlass.

Tugboat Tessie: After the Loony Tunes style wolf-whistles died down I remembered the old adage:

"Before you marry the daughter, look at the mother"

Surely Melody won't end up looking like Tugboat Tessie??

Harbor Patrol: What an excellent if somewhat bizarre story about a shop dummy!

Crossbones Charlie: Two pages of unfunny!

The Ol' Skipper: I rather liked the artwork, it had a gothicy Treasure Island feel to it.  But, who in their right mind, landlubber or not kills an albatross??

Salty Stuff: A great instructional which I really should study, as my knot tying skills are woefully inadequate!

Sagas of the Sea: To be honest at this point I am becoming rather sowestered out.

South Sea Girl: I guess I may be at odds with most of the group on this, but after the really excellent title page, the art and story left me rather flat. That is with the notable exception of the shark fight on our page 49.

Verdict: I was rather disappointed and scored it just about a hit. This was mainly because of Melody (mom worries excepted).

[The Australian Panther]

I am a bit late coming to this one, spent too much time thinking about it and not putting finger to keyboard.

I quite liked it. I actually took the trouble to download all the 5 issues of the title.

Manny Lee Stokes was a prolific pulp writer who wrote under many pseudonyms. Some of us would know him best for the books he wrote inder 'Nick Carter' . Also perhaps as author of the Aquanauts series. He obviously has a thing for nautical tales.

https://everipedia.org/wiki/Manning_Lee_Stokes/

This site has the most comprehensive list of his books, but as is par for the course, does not mention any comic book work. If anybody can fill me in on any other comic work by him, I would be obliged.

Ok. The work.

liked the Mermaid frontispiece.

Captain Cutlass. I actually liked the archaic dialogue and the attempt to stay true to historic detail.
Well drawn and a good origin tale.

The 'humourous' strips were never my favorite part of golden age comics ( DC continued them courtesy of Murry Boltinoff well into the 70's) I just see them as wasted space.

Tugboat Tessie. This is pretty much the same idea as Tugboat Annie. Originally a movie in 1933 it was apparently a popular B movie franchise. and a TV show in the '50's. How taste changes hey?
Again. good art, reasonable story.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051249/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Harbour Patrol.  I like the artist's attention to detail re the dummy. We see 'The dame' in silhouette and what is odd is that 'she' is not restrained but lets herself be thrown into the water. The figure is drawn indistinguishable as a real human being, the only clue being the stiffness of her stance.
All adds to the realism of the scene. That said, the narrative makes no sense. Why would you hide a diary in a dummy and throw it into a river. Fun but silly.

The Old Skipper. Nice art, Welldrawn ships, Ok Story. Good Detail.

Sagas of the Sea.   Nice 3 pager.

South Sea Girl. Well, this may be early Matt Baker but that first page pinup is fine!

I like that Alani is portrayed as a tough singleminded independent girl. Just the type I am attracted to and usually can't handle.

Now I have been out in boats in widl weather and have been through Cyclones (Southern Hemisphere Hurricanes [No brag, just fact - Walter Brennan] ) so the most unbelievable part of this is when she dives out the porthole into a typhoon and is back on the ship in two panels.
In General the story is a good romp.
Thanks for alerting me to the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It seems that nautical tales are not very appealing to many people these days. To each his or her own.

Cheers

[narfstar]

I pretty much agree with Crash on South Sea Girl. But being a GA book, it did not have to make good sense. So it was somewhat fun.

[paw broon]

As narf notes, "being a GA book, it did not have to make good sense." Fine with me. 
I rather enjoyed bits of this book, particularly Captain Cutlass, although the story starts abruptly. I missed the figure on the floor at first. Why is he there? Who is he?  Fortunately we sort of find out.  But the house is a manse, so is someone living there a minister?  Och, it doesn't matter as we're right into the action.  Then once again, there's a sudden scene change and we're with Yorke getting out of a coach.  Is Geoffrey the figure on the ground on the first page, or maybe it's his father? Just a tad confusing.  But the action starts up again soon and there's treachery, the press gang, a tavern wench, more treachery and those bad redcoats, again.  Swashbuckling action indeed.
The funnies do nothing for me but Tall Stories by Watt A. Lyre?  Dearie me.
Tessie on her tugboat is a bit light and nothing special but Harbor Patrol despite not the best art is quite exciting.
The Ol' Skipper - oh dear.
Sagas of The Sea is gruesome.
I'm a bit out of step with some of you as South Sea Girl didn't appeal much - apart from the way Alani is drawn. 

[crashryan]

Paw, that was one of those confusing pages I mentioned. Here's how I figure it , after a bit of study. In panel 2, the standing figure in grey is Rodney's mom, Elizabeth. The man on the floor is Rodney's dad (no name given). In panel 4 dad (first BG figure) has stood with the help of Elizabeth (partly hidden by Rodney's manly form). Dad calls for Geoffrey. Geoffrey appears in silhouette on page 2, panel 1, and is seen from behind in panel 2. Thereafter he is--alas!--never seen again. This is a pet peeve of mine: a significant speaking character is introduced and exits without us ever having seen his face.

[EHowie60]

Seven Seas comics
Captain Cutlass: my, this certainly is an abrupt start to a story. It's sorta like the plot to Captain Blood? I also noticed the use of the word "trepanning". Wonder how the author thought that was the right word.

Also do we even learn the woman's name?

Tall Tales: I don't get it. Was his wife the mermaid? Or was he playing a joke? If so he was relying on some very specific fish positioning.

Tugboat Tessie: I love the nicknames of criminals in these comics. Yeah, slick job, "Spider"!

Harbor Patrol: see, again! "Mousey" "Whimsical Pete" "Shifty". And in the end they recover the dummy, and the ball in the dummy and the safe in the ball and the book in the safe and the book down in the valley-o.

The Old Skipper: I really like the establishing shot of the Skipper's home on his old hulk of a ship. Sort of a moody panel, not something these comics pull off much. It's a nice story too, a sort of reverse of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Sagas of the Seas: this is indeed based on a true story. The Voturno (with an "o") burned and sank in 1913. Seems like the artist had a reference book to draw from (though from the looks of it there was no picture of the Volturno). And I guess "pouring oil on troubled waters" really does help.

South Sea Girl: this is a variant on the good girl jungle girl type. Alani here is the first one of this type I've seen who's native to the area instead of being a white woman who got adopted by the natives. But besides that it's pretty typical. Broken English, evil white people, and lots of panels designed solely to show off Alani's legs. The art's well done though.

All in all a decent book. I liked the nautical theme, but a lot of the stories were fairly standard stuff.

[SuperScrounge]

Seven Seas comics
Captain Cutlass: my, this certainly is an abrupt start to a story. It's sorta like the plot to Captain Blood? I also noticed the use of the word "trepanning". Wonder how the author thought that was the right word.

Also do we even learn the woman's name?

I believe in issue 2 she's called Sue.